Old age is more than managing medications. According to Family life medical geriatric care professionals, keeping the geriatric patient comfortable also requires several non-medical factors, including social engagement and feeling connected to their loved ones. Thus, managing an elderly patient’s overall well-being includes caring for their social, physical, and emotional wellness. As a result, elderly patients need geriatric care to help them navigate through the possible life challenges through direct care and support strategies.
Why is geriatric care crucial?
As you advance in age, you will likely face health challenges that were nonexistent before. Over time, you might start to notice the onset or worsening of neurological symptoms. As a result, daily activities you once fancied become strenuous, with bad health days becoming a common thing. Though there are several health conditions common in old age, not all of them are chronic. Acute health conditions that come and resolve suddenly common with old age include urinary tract infections, hearing loss, respiratory diseases, and pneumonia. On the other hand, chronic ailments that an elderly patient can learn to manage as best as they can include arthritis, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Besides acute and chronic conditions, health concerns like dementia only affect elderly patients advancing in age.
What are the common health issues in geriatrics?
The most common impairments likely to appear in elderly persons (geriatric giants) include impaired mental ability, immobility, and incontinence. Unfortunately, these common areas of decline affect both the patient and the caregiver.
Health concerns common in geriatrics include:
Urine incontinence
The health concern means that the elderly patient cannot his bladder effectively. In other instances, the bladder might leak accidentally, making the person feel embarrassed and isolated from others. Though urinary incontinence can happen to anyone, regardless of age, it is most common in elderly people, especially women. The best part of the condition is that an experienced geriatrician can help control or cure the problem.
Sleep apnea
Most patients with sleep apnea stop breathing several times during sleep, for approximately one minute. Failure to seek treatment for sleep apnea might have severe and life-threatening consequences. For instance, doctors link lack of sleep restoration in patients to most health scares, including depression, stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Alzheimer’s disease
The progressive brain condition gradually distorts memory and cognitive skills, eventually stopping the patient’s ability to do common things like caring for oneself. Though memory loss is the first sign you are likely to notice, symptoms vary in different patients. Though Alzheimer’s disease is not preventable, certain lifestyle factors are likely to intensify the ailment.
Osteoporosis
The gradual bone tissue loss common in osteoporosis causes a patient’s bones to weaken and become fragile. The disease increases a patient’s risk of having broken bones, especially after a fall. Treatment for bone deterioration usually focuses on delaying or stopping the loss and determining the proper pain relief threshold for the disease.
Finding a health expert that can help a geriatric patient’s entire family navigate the challenges of caring for an elderly patient is crucial. Call your doctor for more information on geriatric care.
