Factors Influencing Aging and Health

This assignment delves into the multifaceted aspects influencing health in old age. It examines the roles of hormonal imbalances, genetic predispositions, dietary habits, and environmental factors in shaping the well-being of elderly individuals. The analysis draws upon research studies and diverse perspectives to shed light on the complex interplay between aging and health outcomes.

NURSING ESSAY

The current essay is based on emphasizing nursing care for older age people and
henceforth lays emphasis upon person centered approach. In the person centered approach
individual is open about depicting their experience (Reichstadt, J. and et.al., 2010). The essay is
entirely based upon person-centered approach for the purpose of knowing about the main issues
faced by old age people. It also lays focus upon the patient's individual needs as well as
requirements without the even judging them. This type is entirely based upon the personal
qualities which are there in an old-age patient. All this however assist in further developing an
empathetic & non-judgmental relationship among the two parties involved. It additionally
provides assistance in providing effective care to the client being assessed by the nurse.
Henceforth, the essay is personally emphasizing upon old age people for the purpose of
effectively assessing their individual health needs. It is a critical discussion about the experience
faced by an old-age person so that accordingly aged care gets provided to them.
The purpose of this essay is to determine the individual needs of Bob, who is at present
facing the complications of ageing process. The literature formulated is likely to be used as an
evidence to support appropriate care plan for Bob. Recently, he had been experiencing breathe
shortage along with excess cough as well. These symptoms indicate that he is likely undergoing
through the complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary-disease. And since Bob is
undergoing through the ageing process, the complications of such disease are likely to increase
with age. Also, he has been facing problems in climbing up stairs. Physically his body was
getting weaker day by day. So, I suggested him to consume a proper diet and management plan
to assess his issues. This type of program was definitely required to be implemented while
seeking the current situation of Bob. He also told me about his problem of high blood glucose
levels which clearly indicate that he is undergoing through symptoms of type 2 diabetes
(Kaufman 2014). Seeking his body fat, I got an idea about his irrelevant diet. Bob is currently 77
years old so he is definitely coming within the group of having adverse symptoms of diabetes.
Henceforth, there is definite need of providing effective aged care services to Bob. However,
coming towards the positive factors, after getting knowledge of high blood glucose levels, he
started to have controlled diet. Also, he even told about his daily exercising habits. Still, there are
a lot of improvements needed in his current management plan to assess his health based issues
(Arnoid & MTherasa 2008).
1

From the effective interview carried with Bob, I got to know that he was not having
detailed knowledge about the pulmonary disease. This was likely because of his consistent habit
of smoking. Although he had knowledge about the complications of type 2 diabetes, but still
there was lack in information about handling it and its life-threatening impacts. He took it i n a
very casual manner. There are ample of changes that occur in an individual as an outcome of
ageing process (Kenyon 2010). The oxygen levels are reduced which indirectly lead towards
shortage of breath. The muscle tissues present in the lungs tend to gradually lose their ability of
keeping the airways completely open (Potter & Pweer’s 2013). As an individual approaches
towards his old-age, the airways began to close easily. Furthermore, with ageing comes the
complication of air sac becoming loose-fitting shaped. With ageing the lifestyles of individuals
also begin to change. This changing lifestyle has been the major cause for increasing smoking
habits among individuals. It has been regarded as one of the most responsible factors in causing
the chronic obstructive pulmonary-disease (Guevara-Aguirre & et.al., 2011). The reason is that
smoking affects the entire respiratory system and makes the lung tissues even weaker. Focusing
upon case of Bob, he had a very long history of smoking which gradually place him at a risk of
having pulmonary disease. At the time of smoking process, individual inhales certain toxic
particles which deposit gradually on the tissues of lung. This deposition is a very slow process
that affects and damages the tissues at cellular level. So, these individuals are likely to undergo
through shortage of breath in their old age. The deposition of toxic particles over the lungs
further limit them to inhale in and out of air. The impact of smoking in early stages are tend to
gradually impact the individual at his old age (Potter & Pweer’s 2013). A probability of more
than 50% is there concerning the possibility of having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). Contextualising upon the 21st century, the COPD has definitely become global level
health crisis found in ample of old age people. There is a definite need of assessing these
individuals by providing them effective aged care services.
Coming towards the problem of diabetes, it has been regarded as one of the most
disabling type of diseases among the old age people (Pandey & Rizvi 2010). The reason is that it
has been in traditional association with the vascular-type complications, commodities which
coexists in multiple and physical as well as cognitive dysfunction leads towards greater risk of
coming under nursing home-admission (Arnoid & MTherasa 2008). From the ample of studies
conducted, it has been found that individuals above 65 years of age are more likely to be prone
2

towards having the complications of type 2 diabetes. This is depicted by some of the most
significant symptoms which gradually appear in an individual as they grow old. At first the
individual begins to experience problems in hearing. Then the old-age person begins to have
problems within his vision. Another possible symptom is in relation with cognitive-impairment.
Another significant indicator that is likely to be undergone by the individual is that he might be
having sort of difficulty in mobility-based activities. However, such type of issues are also likely
to be faced by those individuals as well who have been successfully controlling their blood-sugar
levels. So, age is definitely an influential factor in making the individual prone towards having
diabetes. If an individual has very high levels of blood sugar, the blood vessels at the retina are
likely to get damaged (Collins 2014). This further is going to cause blood leakage at the within
the eyes and thereby cause vision problems. The medical term used particularly for this purpose
is known as diabetic-retinopathy which is majorly responsible for causing blindness. The
existence of high blood glucose levels is likely to affect the blood-vessels & nerves within the
ear as well. This is the main reason as an outcome of which ample of diabetic old-age people
have consistently been reporting hearing problems. Contextualizing upon another significant
impact of diabetes, cognitive-impairment is yet another symptom that an individual experiences.
The high glucose levels are responsible for damaging the neurons present in brain. Also, this
brain is already weak due to age factor. This as a whole are likely to cause issues in the cognitive
development and people are more likely to face memory losses (Kaufman 2014). Concerning
about the mobility based difficulties, the extremely high levels of glucose in the body is
responsible for developing in them neuropathy which is another type of nerve-damage. As per
this, individual begins to feel pain in their toes as well as feet. This pain is also responsible for
causing burning sensations as well in the individual having diabetes (Zimmer 2016).
From taking in consideration the literature review as an evidence it could be said that
Bob is at high risk of going through the adverse effects of COPD. Because of having a history of
excessive smoking, he is adversely going to get affected by the COPD. So, the nurse will be
having an effective role to properly provide the diagnosis for COPD (Collins 2014). There is a
nursing care plans which according to me perfectly fit in assessing the problem of pulmonary-
disease faced by Bob. In order to measure the obstruction caused in lungs spirometry could be
used as the possible tool for diagnosing the COPD. The most specific spirometry tests are forcing
expiratory-volume within the first-second(FEV1) & also the forced vital-capacity. These are
3

responsible for reflecting changes within lung-volumes from the overall lung-capacity by
sustainable-expiration towards residual-volume. After this, the expired-volume's capacity
towards vital-capacity gets calculated. The normal levels for FVC should be either 70% or even
higher (Jan-Reed 2007). If lower levels are indicated then this likely to be an indicative for
COPD. The nursing interventions regarding the COPD management cover the perspective of
improving the capacity at functional-level. Also, this management also has an inclusion for
treating as well as preventing the occurring complications that too at secondary-level. Also, the
symptoms observed from the patient that is Bob are managed in systematic way thereby leading
towards improvement of the quality concerning life. Bob needs to undergo through the
intervention of smoking cessation so that the harmful impact of smoking upon lungs is reduced
to much greater extents (Habdelhafiz, Alan & Sinclair 2013). Furthermore, use of Beta2-agonists
can also be done for the purpose of smoothing muscle's airway.
From the literature review it was also found out that Bob is not at all aware about the life
threatening effects of the type-2 diabetes. Doing just regular exercises will not prove to be
effective enough in assessing the health requirements of Bob. So the role of nursing care plan is
definitely needed to effectively provide the aged care services to the old age person particularly
Bob. The possible diagnosis for treating type 2 diabetes is conduction of urine and blood test for
Bob. In this, it would be determined that whether the urine sample is containing glucose or not
(Habdelhafiz, Alan & Sinclair 2013). If this is positive then blood test will be conducted
confirming the required diagnosis for diabetes. Then the glucose-tolerance-test would be
undertaken. After this, some more tests would be conducted to find the type of diabetes. After
the confirmation, it would be required that nurse provides a proper daily exercise schedule plan
so make the person's body fit thereby making his immune system more strong (Bonta, Daina &
Muţiu 2012). Also, the patient that is Bob needs to be provided with a proper diet chart plan
which would be assessing in maintenance of glucose levels. So, adopting a healthy lifestyle by
Bob is the most suitable treatment which would assess the diabetes issues in significant manner.
Concluding all the arguments in the essay it could overall be said that Bob had been
following a very unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking habit and irrelevant diet. This overall had
caused him being more prone towards COPD and type-2 diabetes with the additional fact of his
old-age. So, the role of nursing care plan is definitely needed to assess the health requirements of
Bob. The literature review further assisted in getting an idea about the adverse complications of
4

significant issues faced by Bob. It led to the fact that Bob was still unaware about the
complications involved in both diseases which made him more prone towards worsely getting
affected. So, it is the responsibility of the nursing care authorities to adequately provide Bob
diagnosis for both his health issues (Jan-Reed 2007).
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdelhafiz, A. H. & Sinclair, A. J. 2013, Management of type 2 diabetes in older
people. Diabetes Therapy. 4(1). pp.13-26.
Arnold, M. & Mitchell, T. 2008, Nurses’ perceptions of care received by older people with
mental health issues in an acute hospital environment. Nursing older people. 20(10).
pp.28-34.
Bonta, M., Daina, L. & Muţiu, G., 2012. The process of ageing reflected by histological changes
in the skin. Romanian journal of morphology and embryology= Revue roumaine de
morphologie et embryologie. 54(3 Suppl). pp.797-804.
Collins, A. 2014, Measuring what really matters. Towards a coherent measurement system to
support personcentred care. London: The Health Foundation.
Crisp, J., Taylor, C., Douglas, C. & Rebeiro, G. 2013, Potter and Perry's Fundamentals of
nursing. Elsevier.
Guevara-Aguirre, J. & et.al., 2011. Growth hormone receptor deficiency is associated with a
major reduction in pro-aging signaling, cancer, and diabetes in humans. Science
translational medicine. 3(70). pp.70ra13-70ra13.
Kaufman, J. S. & Kent, B. 2008, Nursing management: obstructive pulmonary diseases. Lewis's
Medical Surgical Nursing, pp.665-720.
Kenyon, C. J., 2010. The genetics of ageing. Nature. 464(7288). pp.504-512.
Pandey, K.B. & Rizvi, S.I., 2010. Markers of oxidative stress in erythrocytes and plasma during
aging in humans. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity. 3(1). pp.2-12.
Potter, P. A. and Perry, A. G., 2013. Fundamentals of nursing.
Reed, J., Childs, S., Cook, G., Hall, A. & McCormack, B. 2007, Integrated care for older people:
methodological issues in conducting a systematic literature review. Worldviews on
Evidence‐Based Nursing. 4(2). pp.78-85.
Reichstadt, J. & et.al., 2010. Older adults' perspectives on successful aging: Qualitative
interviews. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 18(7). pp.567-575.
Zimmer, Z., 2016. Global ageing in the twenty-first century: Challenges, opportunities and
implications. Routledge.
6

APPENDIX 1 : DETAILED SUMMARY OF CONVERSATION
Bob suffered from weakening of muscles. He also faced difficulty in climbing stairs. Further
he found that fat in his body was increasing as he was growing old. He also noticed that he did
not have an effective control upon diet, as he was growing old.
Bob felt that one of the best things about growing old was that he was free from stress of
working. Also, another advantage according to him was that he was openly able to share his
experience with others.
According to Bob, one of the hardest things in relation to growing old was that body does
not function properly. Bob faced difficulty in travelling from one place to other. He also found
himself unable to do high stamina activities.
Bob considers that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important for him in the present as well
as future. He also found the need to quit smoking habit. Further, according to him, he would
need support in controlling the sugar levels at any cost.
Due to smoking, Bob is currently facing breathing shortage. He is also concerned about
getting fatter day by day. He requires someone to provide effective diet plan and exercise
schedule.
7

APPENDIX 2 : SUMMARY TABLE
Authors Study design Sample Intervention Findings Implications
Arnoid &
MTherasa
2008
Qualitative
methodology
14 nurses Enhance the
the way of
communicatin
g disorders
that is mental
health
Improvements
are required in
the
communicatio
n-process
concerning
disorders of
mental-health
among the
patients, their
relatives and
healthcare
professionals.
Furthermore
there is
inadequatenes
s in entire
assessment
carried
through the
pathway of
care.
Issues in
relation with
mental-health,
working
collaboratively
, providing
training &
education
Potter &
Pweer’s 2013
Descriptive Staffing of
nurses.
Workload in
nursing.
Mix of skills
The nursing
department
has crucial
impact
providing
8

within nursing
Environment
of working in
nursing.
good
experiences to
the patients
and this
gradually
saves their
outcomes in
terms of life as
well.
Collins 2014 Non
randomised
trial
Formulate an
enhanced
healthcare-
system which
is entirely
based upon the
approach of
person-centred
Developing
person-centred
care system is
necessarily
important to
make the
patients have
better health
experience.
Habdelhafiz,
Alan &
Sinclair 2013
Randomised
controlled-trial
Individuals
above or equal
to 75 years of
age
The increase
in obesity and
ageing in the
population are
majorly
responsible for
raising the
diabetes
prevalence.
The
assessment in
relation to
comprehensive
-geriatric has
to be carried
while
providing
diabetic
diagnosis at
initial level.
Jan-Reed 2007 Systematic It is a very
9

type of
literature-
review
complex
process to
produce a
literature
review for an
integrated-
system of care
since ample of
different
sectors are
included as
well, care-
setting and
also inclusive
approach is
required.
Kaufman 2014 Cohort Random
sampling,
adults
suffering from
COPD
Application of
effective
therapies
Millions of
adults in
America are
majorly
undergoing
through the
complications
of COPD so
there is
necessitry of
providing
relevant
therapies to
these patients
10

Reichstadt, J.
& et.al., 2010
Descriptive Non-
randomised
sampling of
older adults
Positive
perspectives
about ageing
While
adopting a
healthy
lifestyles, the
ageing process
could be
positive for
individuals

Kenyon 2010 Controlled
trial
The
diversified
range of
genetics
involved in
ageing and
their impact
upon an
individuals old
age
Genetics hve a
key role to
play in making
the old people
prone to
diseases like
diabetes.

Guevara-
Aguirre &
et.al., 2011
Cohort Random
sampling
Hormonal
deficiency
proves to be
an influential
factor in
making old
people more
prone towards
diabetes.
Hormonal
imbalances
issues.

Pandey &
Rizvi 2010
Randomised
controlled-
trials
Genetic
process
undergoing in
an individual
is also
responsible for
all types of
effects
acquired in old
age.
Issues in
plasmic
cellular
reactions upon
the ageing
process of
humans.

Zimmer 2016 descriptive Non-
appropriated
habits and
unhealthy diet.
With the
changing
lifestyles,
health of old
age people is
getting
adversely
affected.

Bonta, Daina
& Muţiu 2012
Non-
randomised
trials
Random
sampling
The changes
that are
occurring
within an
individuals
skin since long
are influential
in causing the
ageing
process.
Issues faced in
skin of old
people.