There have been a lot of news stories lately about medical studies concerning older adults. Some good news, like aerobic fitness in middle age delays the aging process by as much as twelve years. Some bad news, sleep problems can magnify other medical problems in old age like diabetes and heart disease. More than half of older adults report problems with sleep, either restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea, or a type of insomnia. Oddly enough, exercise helps improve sleep. Keep those walking poles handy!
There are some new meds in the chute for Alzheimer’s Dementia. Caregivers, with aging parents at home are often called upon to make medical decisions for their elderly charges, either by court ordered conservatorship, or power of attorney for health care invoked after a dementia diagnosis is made. One of the frequent choices asked for is using antipsychotic medication to reduce aggressive behavior in a dementia patient. There is risk associated with these meds, recently a heightened incidence of pneumonia was identified and it has been long established that the life expectancy is reduced in patients getting these medications for agitation. They do improve the life expectancy for patients getting the medication for other mental health problems. Keeping the person busy, usually with familiar tasks like table setting, is one potential non-medical coping strategy.
There are some other medicine stories worth highlighting. In addition to the caution on escalators I gave a few weeks back, getting in and out of cars is a high risk activity for falls as well. One surprise is they are using Ritalin for prevention of falls with older adults. You may be familiar with Ritalin as a drug used to treat attention deficit disorders in children, adolescents and adults. The improvement in focus from the medication may prevent falls.
Apparently the complex mental process of walking requires better attention than we imagined. I do OK as long as I’m not chewing gum at the same time.