HEALTH
HERE ARE SOME HEALTH ISSUES TO BE AWARE OF AS TIME GOES BY
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
As we age, our blood vessels become less flexible, putting pressure on the system that transports blood around our body. Even if you have previously had healthy blood pressure, it can start to creep up once you’re over 50.
Almost two out of every three people over 60 have high blood pressure, which can contribute to heart disease and strokes. Lifestyle changes you can make to keep your blood pressure down include maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthily, exercising regularly, giving up smoking and dealing with stress. DIABETES
The rates of people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are soaring, and your risk of developing the disease goes up once you reach 45. It can lead to heart disease, kidney problems, blindness as well as other serious issues and needs to be controlled.
Often it can be hard to tell if you’ve got diabetes – symptoms to look out for include feeling thirsty, going to the toilet a lot, blurred vision, suffering from infections that don’t heal easily, frequent hunger and extreme tiredness.
If diabetes is picked up at the pre-diabetic stage – where blood sugar levels are very high but you have yet to tip over into diabetes – lifestyle changes may prevent it from developing. It is important to have your blood sugar checked.
OBESITY
It’s not unusual for weight to creep on over the years. We tend to be less active the older we get, and we can also lose muscle tone – the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. Menopause can have an effect on weight, with hormonal changes contributing to gains.
Putting on those excess kilos can be slow and insidious, and you may not realise just how much you’ve gained if it’s happened gradually over time.
Carrying that extra weight increases your risk of at least 20 chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.
Even losing just 10% of your body weight may make a huge difference to your health. OSTEOARTHRITIS
Known as wear and tear
arthritis, this painful disease of the joints can get worse as we get older, simply because of how much we’ve used those joints over the years.
According to some research, around 37% of people over the age of 45 have osteoarthritis of the knee. You may increase your chances of developing it if you are overweight as extra kilos put additional strain on your joints.
OSTEOPOROSIS
Often we think of this brittle bone condition as something that only affects people who are 70-plus. But, in fact, half of all Kiwi women over 60 have osteoporosis and once you hit 50, you may be well on the way to developing it, especially once you’ve been through menopause and your levels of protective oestrogen drop.
The loss of bone density is gradual and in some cases people have no idea they have osteoporosis until they break a bone – ie, the wrist, hip or spine.
Talk to your doctor about whether you should have a bone mineral density test to see if your bones are thinning.
HEARING LOSS
Our hearing can deteriorate as we get older, sometimes due to years of exposure to loud noises. Genetics, disease and some medications can also contribute to hearing loss.
If you find that you often have to ask people to repeat themselves or have the TV turned up loud, it may be time to go for a hearing test.
It is not a good idea to just soldier on if you have hearing loss because it can lead to social isolation. If you can’t hear as well as you could, hearing aids can make a world of difference.
VISION PROBLEMS
Your eyes too can become less effective as you age. Once you are over 40, you may notice you need more light to see as well as you used to and that it’s harder to read text that is close up. This is known as presbyopia, and happens because the lenses in your eyes become less flexible over time and your eyes struggle to focus on near objects. It may be treated with glasses, contact lenses and laser surgery.
As you get older, you may also notice problems with glare from headlights while driving at night or the sun reflecting off glass during the day. This is due to changes in your lenses, which cause light entering the eyes to be scattered, rather than focused on the retinas.
Meanwhile, age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over 50. Caused by changes to the macula, a part of the retina, in its early stages it may go unnoticed but if detected soon enough there are treatments that can help to prevent or slow down damage.
Regular eye tests can pick up problems such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts, so you should be seeing your optometrist every two years. BLADDER ISSUES You may find that once you’re over 50, your bladder just isn’t what it used to be. You may notice that you go a lot more than usual, you suffer from leakages or there are times when the urge to go is sudden and overwhelming.
In some cases, you may feel like you need to urinate, but nothing happens. This is particularly common in men, with one in three over the age of 50 experiencing difficulty passing urine. Prostate issues may be to blame – they should see their GP.
As we get older, the elastic tissue in our bladder toughens and becomes less stretchy, which means they can’t hold as much urine as before, so you need to go to the loo more often. Plus, the bladder wall and pelvic floor can weaken – especially if you’ve had several babies – making it harder to empty the bladder fully and causing urine to leak.
Pelvic floor exercises can help strengthen the muscles, making you less prone to leakage. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary.