Aging and the Loss of Body Functions

HCS/433

Today numerous elderly people keep on living in their very own homes even though the territories might be in a weakening condition, or there might be hardships persisted because of a lack of assets, or maybe their wellbeing keeps on declining. More established grown-ups support staying in their homes and getting a charge out of the advantages related with that decision. They have an inclination toward having some sort of power over their own security, freedom, and even the mental advantages related with such a choice. To many maturing grown-ups, home is an imperative piece of their lives. It is the place extraordinary family occasions occur and to a considerable lot of the elderly it is a declaration of themselves and their families, their legacy, and culture.

Notwithstanding, even though the present elderly is living more advantageous lives and longer ones, there are the individuals who will encounter issues, or an inability of some sort that can change their day by day living and, rather, make an issue zone of physical or mental incapacity. For a more seasoned individual to sprain their lower leg or have knee medical procedure can spell destruction on their capacity to deal with themselves. Such fundamental assignments as making one’s feast, looking for basic supplies, keeping the house spotless, clearing the leaves and flotsam and jetsam off the means, and the dishes done can make challenges in their home and for the person who does the errands. Indeed, even a basic capacity as climbing the stairs would make a major issue for over 35% of maturing grown-ups (AARP, 2000a lodging review). Especially with regards to a sprained right lower leg or wrist, the more seasoned individual may not drive themselves to-and-from the numerous spots they routinely go to amid a typical week. In any event, over 82% of them wanted to stay in commonplace surroundings of their own homes, particularly if they must have help dealing with themselves.

A man’s race and sexual orientation will have a noteworthy task to carry out if the more established grown-up needs to choose to move or stay in their very own environment. More maturing ladies than men are probably going to stay at home alone, and more established African Americans than Caucasians are probably going to choose to remain at home without anyone else. As indicated by Rubenstein et al., (1992), ordinarily the patients’ professionals flop wretchedly in not surveying how their patients’ understanding of their sickness is influencing them or going to influence them, their capacity to work, or their insight and painstaking quality into self-administration (Cassell, 1991). This circumstance results in practical deficiencies alongside a prerequisite and need for instructive, rehabilitative, and strong administrations as they go about either not knowing or not conceding that it exists.

While African Americans acquire much more casual consideration than their partners (Caucasians), Hispanic seniors are more inclined to live with individuals from the family than without anyone else’s input, or they would be put in an organization of some sort (Li and Fries, 2005).

From the start of maturing, the more established maturing grown-up’s bones have all the earmarks of being in a solid mode and being hard and stale. They are picture flawless with action and are in a ceaseless cycle of being rebuilt in that cycle of recharging and obliteration until the point when the individual passes on. As we age, we lose more bone than is made which results in our bones getting to be slenderer and defenceless to break. Osteoporosis quickens after the more established grown-up achieves 50 – this is a bone misfortune that is continuously weakening, distorting, and excruciating. Breaks are effortlessly done and albeit most seniors do their best to be cautious, a basic demonstration, for example, a hack or pulling on a cabinet entryway can result in a fall. That fall could cause a break or broken bone with little trouble for those seniors who may encounter a propelled type of osteoporosis. Every individual experience this sort of enduring on an individual premise.With the passing of each decade, the senior adult finds that with it comes another infirmity or dysfunctionality which could include their eyesight weakening, otherwise known as presbyopia. That is the main and most common cause for requiring reading glasses and manifests itself as an inability (that increases after age 40) to concentrate on objects near us. The tissues encasing the eyes eventually lost their tonal quality. Fat that used to be there is now lost and that results in the senior’s upper droopy eyelids. At this stage of the lifecycle, cataracts come into the picture as they cloud our vision (they prevent the light from penetrating through the eye via the clear lens. They are barely observable in that they develop at a snail’s pace and there is no pain with them. The iris loses its flexibility and the pupils tend to become smaller while the lenses begin to accumulate other substances (yellow). All of these seemingly minor actions predispose the aging adult to glaucoma which is a product of excessive pressure on the inside of their eyeball. This disease can lead to the loss of one’s vision and their eventual blindness. Scientists are still trying to determine just how one becomes afflicted with glaucoma and why it is more prevalent in seniors, African-Americans, and families with a history of it. The Glaucoma Foundation has, therefore, recommended that everybody be tested for glaucoma every four years; after the age of 45 everybody be tested every two years. Should you be of African-American descent, they recommend testing every two years, or if glaucoma has a history in one’s family, or if the senior adult is nearsighted, has high blood pressure, or using cortisone on a long-term basis.

Presbycusis is another term for hearing loss in the senior adult. The aging adult (after the age of 55), finds a couple of changes occurring, namely a hearing loss on all frequencies, their inability to detect a great many changes in the pitch (sounds) which becomes altered dramatically and affects our speech in less understandable tones to other individuals. Those involved in this science are certain that the main reason for diminished hearing is the loss of hair cells. They are the transmitting impulses (of the inner ear) to the nerve transferring them to one’s brain for the necessary processing. Also, some type of injury, exposure to loud noises, certain types of medications, and nerve damage may also be contributors to causing hair cell loss. The senior adult may even experience dizziness or vertigo, a sense of losing one’s balance as part of their hearing loss. Even blurred vision or a sensation of movement when there is none can be part of this disorientation of losing one’s hearing. There is no doubt that changes in their heart rate and blood pressure, fear, anxiety of accompany other problems such as nausea, diarrhea, fainting, and even vomiting can be present.

As to how the loss of these functions would affect an aging adult’s activities and daily living, the first one mentioned (osteoporosis), if an aging adult sprains a wrist or cracks a rib via coughing, they would be unable to help themselves as is their usual practice. The aging adult would certainly have a difficult time dressing themselves or even going to the bathroom, driving themselves to the store or doctor’s office, etc.

Regarding an elderly person’s eyesight, if they develop cataracts or glaucoma, they could have their eyesight gravely impaired and as previously discussed, with glaucoma could come blindness. It would become an act of tediousness trying to read a newspaper or favorite journal and watching television would become boring after a time.

Pertaining to hearing, all of a sudden the senior adult hears themselves saying things such as, “Speak up. I cannot hear you.” Or, “Quit muttering. What did you say?” The aging adult may be part of the 20-30% of the population experiencing dizziness, light-headedness, a feeling of unsteadiness and losing one’s balance. There is no compensating for this type of dysfunctionality, as the symptoms prohibit the senior adult from the merest of activities, even walking around their home, or going outside to pick up the mail, or walking down the block to a neighbour’s home.

Therefore, some of these malfunctions are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. There may also be changes found in one’s heart rate and blood pressure, along with anxiety, fear, or even panic. Along with such changes might be found an inability to concentrate, or a feeling of depression, at the very least a lack of energy and a sensation of tiredness. It would be wise for the senior or aging adult to make an appointment with their doctor and reiterate some of these sensations (or lack thereof) and place themselves in the medical professional’s care.

References

http://www.asha.org/public/-Vertigo/

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/aging/aging-process/aging6.htm

Cassell, E.J., (1991). The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine. New York: Oxford

University Press.

Clark, M.C., Foos, P.W. (2008). Human Aging, 2nd Edition. Pearson Education, New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Li, W., Fries, D. (2005). Negatively Charged Sol-Gel Column with Stable Electroosmotic Flow for Online Preconcentration of Zwitterionic Biomolecules in Capillary Electromigration Separations, J. Sep. Sci., 2005, 28 (16), 2153-2164.

Rubenstein, L.V., et al (1992). Improving Patient Function: A Randomized Trial of Functional Disability Screening. Annals of Internal Medicine 111 (10): 836-42.