The Aging Body in Healthy Living

Tip for Healthy Aging: Get Proper Medical Care

Your body is constantly changing from birth through death. You know for example that many organs begin to decline early in life and will continue that way more quickly if not addressed by healthy living. Your brain, ears, eyes, colon, bladder, kidneys, lungs, liver, reproductive organs, and heart are all among the organs that can let you down as you get older, particularly if you don't take proper care of yourself. Keeping your body young through healthy living is a matter of exercising regularly, eating healthy foods in healthy amounts, getting adequate rest, getting adequate sleep, and visiting your doctor regularly.

When you get older, it is very helpful to transition to a doctor who specializes in taking care of older people. Physicians who specialize in geriatrics are more qualified to deal with the problems that are common to older patients. They know what to look for and how it manifests itself in older patients. This allows them to provide better care that is customized to the needs of the elderly. Health problems usually effect the elderly much more quickly and dramatically, so quick diagnosis and treatment is especially important to restore health to the elderly.

Thyroidal conditions that strike the elderly may be much different than those that strike the young. As an older person, you may show such symptoms as depression, confusion, loss of memory, and fatigue as a result of a thyroid condition. But other disease processes the elderly may suffer from may have very similar symptoms. Alzheimer’s is a feared disease with similar symptoms to a thyroid condition. Alzheimer's is a disease condition where the brain functions progressively worse over time.

The similarity in symptoms is one reason that getting the proper treatment is best done by seeing a doctor who specializes in geriatrics. Making the right diagnosis will result in proper treatment for the disease the patient actually has, helping to decrease the symptoms and improve the prognosis. Making the wrong diagnosis could result in just making problems worse with medications that do more harm than good.

There are several other important diseases to which elderly people are particularly susceptible. A doctor specialized in geriatrics can improve the chances of a quick and proper diagnosis. Among these other important problems are an aortic aneurysm, a disease associated with dilated aortic walls that can result in death.

Atrophic arthritis can cause vaginitis in females and eventually cause shrinkage in the urethra and vagina. This can be particularly painful as it develops into burning sensations. Sexual intercourse can become particularly painful with this condition. Urinating can also be particularly painful, which may result in a doctor thinking the problem is an infection or sexually transmitted disease, unless the doctor specializes in geriatrics.

A few other common problems elderly people suffer from deserve a brief mention. Bedsores become very common in elderly people as they tend to be in one position too long and have weakened skin and circulation to recover from the damage that results. Cataracts are a common problem that impairs the vision of the elderly. Benign prostate hyperplasia is a condition men can get  when the prostate gets so enlarged that it blocks off the flow of urine. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia can be a deadly condition if it is not diagnosed in the earlier stages.

It is very important to transition to the care of a doctor who specializes in treating people of your age. You need to take prevention seriously and get regular checkups for these problems, as well as getting any symptoms that come up, no matter how minor, checked out by your physician. Your doctor should also be able to provide you with plenty of information on how you can prevent many of these problems and slow the aging process.