There are many ailments that afflict the elderly. Fergus Bescoby investigates the main offenders.
Mark Twain famously said that age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. This may well be the case, but we do all grow older and with this comes associated medical conditions.
We know people are living longer and it has been predicted that by 2050, the number of older persons in the world will exceed the number of young for the first time in history and that the fastest growing age group will be the over 80s.
Even more amazing is that one third of all new born children will now live to 100!
Some interesting stats from Age UK confirm that for the first time in history, there are 11 million people over the age of 65 living in the UK and 27.5 million people over the age of 50. There are 3 million people aged 80 and above in the UK.
As already mentioned, people are living longer and some of the main reasons for this can be put down to new medications and improved surgical and screening techniques.
The body does change though and sadly the body we had at 55 will be very different to the one we have at 75. Many issues, both genetic and environmental affect how we age.
The most common medical conditions affecting those age 65 or older include the following:
- Arthritis
- Alzheimer's
- Heart Failure
- Cancer
- Parkinson's disease
Arthritis
Arthritis in the elderly is a very common chronic degenerative joint disease that is thought to be caused by years of joint use and stress on the tissues surrounding them as well as hereditary factors.
