Blog #4 LTC Wild Card

Title of Article: The Physical Changes of Aging

This article’s main focus is towards the caregivers that take care of the elderly. It talks about the physical changes of aging that occur normally in a body, which are not related or due to disease. Those changes mentioned are sensory changes, changes in bones and muscle, digestion, circulation, and sexuality. The article also notes the importance that not all people age the same. Everyone is unique and therefore all age different.

During the aging process, sensory changes often diminish making it difficult for the person to receive and process information via hearing, vision, taste, smell and touch. The article states, “About 30% of people over 60 have a hearing impairment, but about 33% of those 75 to 84, and about half of those over 85, have a hearing loss.” This makes it difficult for them to communicate with others. With vision, changes can occur at any age, and usually many older people have good-to-adequate site. Some changes may be noted in the late 30’s to early 40’s however mostly with aging the peripheral vision is reduced, along with the flexibility of the eye causing them to take longer to adjust to light changes. Also degeneration of the eye muscles and clouding of the lens are associated to aging. Focusing on near objects is difficult; therefore glasses will probably be required to see well. According to the article, vision impairments such as cataracts, glaucoma, and blindness affect between 7% and 15% of older adults. As for taste and smell, some loss may be associated with aging however it is considered to be very insignificant. The elderly also have less skin sensitivity; however they always have a feeling of being cooler because of the decline in sweat gland activity, poorer circulation and thinning skin. It is still important to remember that the sense of touch connects us to others at any age. Sensory changes have a huge impact when it comes to the physical aging process.

Aging adults, particularly the very old, are at risk to broken bones. They also need to be careful about joints stiffening and connecting ligaments between bones lose their elasticity, thus causing foot and hand pain. The only way to try to prevent problems with muscles and bones is to try to maintain a good diet and plenty of walking, which the article mentions will ensuring to help with their mobility in the years that follow.

Digestion is yet another area that changes when we get older and age. Firstly, the teeth usually fall out because of gum disease more so than the teeth going bad. This can also be easily replaced with a good set of dentures. Secondly, I thought this to be interesting is that the digestive system is especially sensitive to emotions. They seem to have a decreased appetite when feeling lonely, depressed or worried. It is also more common for older people to suffer from constipation.

With circulations, the heart is unable to pump blood the same as when they were younger. The heart slows down, thus causing poor circulation along with the sense of feeling cold. Also with a slower heart comes less energy so they tend to tire quicker. Also the blood vessels tend to loose elasticity thus contributing to the circulation that is already poor, even causing blood to pool in the legs causing edema or swelling.

Lastly, the article mentions the sexual changes, surprisingly the sexual patterns continue, the only thing causing them to change drastically would be the use of drugs or the person’s ability to perform. Nonetheless the sharing feeling of closeness will always be important regardless of age.

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/exercise/benefitsofexercise/03.html