National Healthcare Institutes for Elderly

Government of India has planned to establish National Institute for research related to Old age medicines and health care in Delhi and Chennai.

"National Institutes of Ageing would be setup at AIIMS, Delhi and Madras Medical College, Chennai.

On the occasion of International Day of Older Persons, Mr. Gulam Nabi Azad (Minister of Health and Family Welfare) said that the "National Programme for Health Care of Elderly" (NPHCE) was introduced or setup by government  in order to look after the medical requirements of Senior Citizens.

The fundamental objective of NPHCE Programme is to establish geriatric wards, rehabilitation centers and geriatric clinics at various levels of the district health care delivery system. The designing of the Programme  is to aspire in preventing, curing and rehabilitating the geriatric field.

There will be 8 regional centers i.e. Delhi, Varanasi, Srinagar Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Chennai, Jodhpur. Rupees 30 crore will be the aid given to each regional center and modern equipments aid, trined staff will be provided, Azad said.

Due to advancement in Medical field, the life expectancy ratio has increased, thus increasing the population of senior citizens. As per the census of 2001, Senior Citizens above the age of 60 was 76.6 million which constitutes 7.5% of total population. At this rate of increament, it is projected to become 173 million by 2026.

Poor diet ups health risks for the elderly

London : Majority of the elderly in Britain have a high risk of health issues due to a variety of health conditions such as strokes, poor diets, osteoporosis and heart disease. 

In a doctors point of view- The main factor is their poor diet that is increasing their chances for many different health risks. Diet is the major factor in the development of chronic conditions. A type of factor that can easily be changed and turned positive. There are many indications for millions of people that are risking old age to be blighted by diseases and illnesses, something that can be easily prevented if you maintain a healthy and balanced diet. 

Carrie Ruxton did an independent research analysis on the contents in diets of the elderly. Ruxton judged her data based on almost 71 previously published reports. After all the research done she established the health risks of people aged 50 or over could face. 

According to her, getting old is certain, the main aim was to age healthily, without any chronic disease and less amount of cognitive and physical function percentage.

In most of the cases, people do not get enough imprtant nutrients like vitamins A, B2, B6, iron, calcium, magnesium, iodine.

She learned that over the age of 65, 97% of the elderly do not have access and get failed to have vitamins and minerals. But more then 40% of same age group and almost 47% of age group more then 75's have long term ilness that effects their ability for performing various tasks.

The people who are at high risk belongs to the age group 80's which resulted into increament of taking multi-nutrient supplement. Advices and suggestion on "Healthy Eating" shuld be followed.

"This study was published in Journal Nutrition & Food Science."

Exercise cuts risk of fractures in elderly

Washington:- A new study states that home based exercises which r followed by home training cuts down risk of hip fractures among Elderly women.

According to the researches exercise is linked with long term effects on balancing and manner of walking and also helps in protection of hip fractures in Elderly women.

“Falls are responsible for at least 90 percent of all hip fractures. Hip fractures place the greatest demands on resources and have the greatest effect on patients because they are associated with high mortality rates and increased morbidity,” the author writes as background in the article.

Dr. Raija Korpelainen, of Oulu Deaconess Institute, Oulu, Finland, and colleagues performed an extended follow-up at reducing risk factors for fractures in elderly women with osteopenia (a reduction in bone mass, or low levels of bone calcium.

160 women who participated in the randomized control trial, 84 were assigned to an exercise group, while the remaining 76 were placed in the control group.

The training session was held once a week for a 6 month period from October to March each year from 1998 to 2001, in which the women in the exercise group attended supervised balance and leg strength..

The authors found that, “ fractures were proximal in 52.2% of the control group and 17.6 % of the exercise group. Moderate lifelong physical activity decreased the overall risk of having any fractures during the total follow-up period.”

Additionally, there was no hip fractures in exercise group while there were five fractures found in control group.

The ratio of death between exercise group  and control group was 1:8 which is 0.003 per 1000 women per year in exercise group and 0.03 was the rate in control group.

According to the authors findings, “ 30 months of supervised, mainly home based exercises followed by voluntary home training had a positive long-term effect on balance and gait in high-risk elderly women”.

The study has been published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Nutrition Notes: Some symptoms chalked up to old age could be due to vitamin B12 deficiency

Muscle weakness, Incontinence, vision problem, forgetfulness, mood disturbances, unsteady gait are some common symptoms which is found in Elderly People. In actual fact, deficiency of vitamins B12 can cause the symptoms mentioned above.

Because, it is present in many food and food items like beef, milk, fortified breakfast cereal, on an average this micro-soluble vitamin is taken as 3.4 micrograms whereas is 2.4 micrograms is the Recommended Dietary Allowance for adults.

From 1.5% to 15% deficient in this nutrient are those who do not have vitamin B12 efficiently in US and that is all because of medical condition.

As this vitamin is primarily found of vegetarians, animal products and vegans turn towards fortified breakfast cereals, nutritional yeast products for vitamin B12.

Elderly people are at great risk due to deficiency of vitamin B12 because 10 to30 percent of Elderly suffer from atrophic gastritis, condition in which stomach acid is reduced.

For the absorption of B12, hydrochloric acid is needed in stomach. There are many other condition which  can effect the absorption of B12 like pernicious anemia, celiac disease, crohn’s disease and gastric surgery.

Most of Seniors may need higher dose of Vitamin B12 as they are mostly on medications. Prilosec, Prevacid, Tagamet, Pepcid and Zautac, used to treat gastroesophageal reflux of gastric acid into the stomach. Metformin may reduce the absorption of B12 in 10 to 30 % among those who take it because it is used for treatment of diabetes.

Elderly people have low income, which usually causes less intake of meat or other sources of vitamin B12. And even if they can afford meat, any physical disability or depression, improper dentition may prevent them from cooking meals and instead relying on cereals and toasts. And even educed appetite can contribute to same as well.

So, if nest time any Elderly family member is acting or behaving differently, do take them to physician for examine purpose. Many of symptoms are being accepted as a part of aging but they don’t have to be. Hitherto ask and encourage them to have a balanced diet.