Consultation on geriatric disease prevention knowledge

Regarding the prevention of geriatric diseases, the most frequently asked question is “Is there any universal health secret recipe? ”, the answer is clear: There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Individualized layered intervention and regular early screening are prioritized much higher than following the trend of taking health supplements and copying the exercise recipes of Internet celebrities.。

Last week I met 62-year-old Aunt Zhang at a community free clinic. She dances square dance for an hour every day. She never stops using imported fish oil and ammonia sugar. Last month’s physical examination showed that 70% of the carotid artery plaque has been blocked. She dragged me with a report and asked, “I’m doing all the right health care steps, why am I still having problems?” ”. I checked her previous physical examination records and found that she has a family history of hypertension and her blood lipids have been at the critical value for three consecutive years. However, she has never done a targeted carotid artery ultrasound. She just followed the general standard of "walking 10,000 steps a day and eating enough three health products", which was a trap.

Our center conducts free physical examinations for the elderly every year. Almost 30% of the elderly appear to be full of energy and have hidden problems upon examination. The current mainstream recommendation of Western medicine is that in addition to annual routine physical examinations for those over 60 years old, it is best to add carotid artery ultrasound, bone density, gastrointestinal endoscopy, and high-incidence tumor markers. However, academic circles have always had different opinions: For example, for low-risk elderly people with no family history of digestive tract diseases and a regular diet, gastrointestinal endoscopy can actually be done once every 3-5 years. There is no need to suffer every year, but it may increase the risk of excessive medical treatment. At this time, don’t just accept the “standard procedure”. It’s better to ask your family doctor to evaluate the risk level before deciding on it.

When it comes to daily care, we really don’t just have to shout the slogan “less salt, less oil, more exercise”. I have seen many elderly couples with high blood pressure. The old man has been eating soybean curd all his life. If you insist on not letting him eat it, he will be angry with you for three days. It is better to scrape off the layer of salty soup on the surface every time you dig it, eat only half a piece at a time, and slowly increase the daily salt amount to 5 grams. It is much easier to persist than quitting it all at once. There is also the former Uncle Li who followed the short video to learn "Walking to Maintain Health", and he suddenly recovered from the meniscus wear in his knees. Later, he changed to walking slowly for 20 minutes in the morning and afternoon every day, and sitting at home and pedaling for 10 minutes with empty feet. His knees no longer hurt, and his fasting blood sugar has been stable for more than half a year. Nowadays, the kinesiology community advocates that the elderly should do appropriate resistance training to delay muscle loss, such as using mineral water bottles to practice arm strength. However, orthopedic surgeons also remind: For elderly people with severe osteoporosis whose bone density T value is lower than -2.5, do not engage in weight-bearing training at the beginning. Start with bodyweight exercises such as squatting against the wall, otherwise it will easily induce fractures. Both opinions are reasonable, and the core still needs to match your own physical condition.

By the way, there are still many people asking whether health products are subject to IQ tax. This is really controversial. I don’t take any side, but I’ll just talk about the cases I’ve seen: Old people who can drink 300 ml of milk a day and go out in the sun three times a week do not need to take extra calcium tablets and vitamin D. Taking too much may increase the risk of kidney stones. ； However, if the elderly who are vegetarians all year round and rarely go out in winter can indeed reduce the probability of osteoporosis by eating in appropriate amounts under the guidance of a doctor. The most fearful thing is that the 71-year-old Uncle Wang took fish oil as an antihypertensive drug and secretly stopped the prescribed medicine. In the end, his blood pressure soared to 180 and he almost had a stroke. This is not a problem with health products, but over exaggerating its effects.

There is another point that is rarely mentioned: emotions have a greater impact on geriatric diseases than you think. There was an Aunt Chen in the district I was in charge of. She used to take care of her grandson every day, and she had to get up in the middle of the night to tuck her child in. She was so anxious that she couldn't sleep all night long, and her blood pressure kept going up and down even after taking two antihypertensive drugs. Later, her daughter hired a part-time worker to help. She took one day a week to sing Yue opera and go to the park with her old sisters, and her blood pressure was stable for more than half a year without changing her medicine. What kind of miracle cure do you think this is? To put it bluntly, geriatric diseases are never just physical diseases. Feeling better is more effective than taking any number of supplements.

After all, there really is no universal formula for geriatric disease prevention. Look at Uncle Wang downstairs who smokes cigarettes and drinks a little wine every day and lives to be over 90. If you copy his living habits, you may have problems. People have tolerance in their genes and others cannot learn from it. If you are really unsure, don’t blindly search Baidu and ask netizens. Go to the community and talk to your family doctor for ten minutes. They have several years of physical examination data on you and can give you more reliable advice than any famous Internet blogger.