Health Issues Affecting the Elderly

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Title: Health Issues Affecting the Elderly

According to Thakur, Banerjee and Nikumb (2014), among the great social changes
brought about by the current improvements in living standards is the aging population, with
the elderly though to outnumber the 14 year old children come the year 2050. In the
developed nations, there is a vast population of the elderly, though good health in the old age
is correlated with a person’s age during their later ages. Intrauterine growth issues are linked
with risks of diabetes and circulatory system complications in the old ages. Obesity among
children increases risks of contracting chronic infections such as cancer, CVDs, respiratory
disorder and other diseases in the old age. Most developing nations have issues with
malnutrition and obesity among the young generation. The effect of these phenomenon would
manifest itself in the children’s old age in a series of non-communicable infections (WHO,
2017).
Different researches in the recent years have indicated different health issues among
the older generation. Tomstand et al. (2014) showed that almost 36 percent of the older
people are faced with higher risks of under nutrition. Foottit and Anderson (2014) carried out
a study in Australia and discovered that the elderly health was influenced by chronic diseases,
single status, gambling, hearing, memory and exercise. Ecological approach so as to
understand the specific needs by the old generation was suggested by Harris and Grootjans
(2015), calling upon more studies on the health and social problems among this generation be
carried out on specific nations. According to the WHO (2017), over 20 percent of the elderly
(aged 60 and above) are suffering from neurological or mental disorders and around 6.6
percent have disability. Depression and dementia are the most common mental disorders
affecting the old with a 7 and 5 percent population respectively.
At the age of above 60 a person cannot work well as this age is termed as an age of
peace and resting. Therefore, this age contributes very little when it comes to employment but
are important in community work. Getting old comes together with deterioration of physical

and mental abilities which are crucial in modern living. The old are faced with behavioural,
physical and psychological changes, with their intellectual and physical capabilities declining
more as they advance in the old age. According to Friebe et al. (2014), the old are more or
less concerned with learning experiences and also unwilling to get in involved in educational
processes. The old cannot actively design their environment, making them powerless victims
of their fate. One’s evaluation is the first step to make the educational decision but it is
perceived that among the old, aging images are more relevant to them as compared to their
abilities to learn. Some people aged 60 years and above could be strong enough to carry
themselves around while others could be faced with difficulties hence the need for a
caregiver. For most of the older people living alone, they have issues with their housing
conditions. The following data indicates some of the new health issues affecting the old
people in 3 of the most developed continents.
Heart Disease Hypertension Diabetes Cancer Lung Disease Mobility
Imparement
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
A chart of some of the health issues affecting the old
United States England Europe
Courtesy of Jaul and Barron (2017)
Aging cannot be avoided in life and it comes with some inconveniences such as risk
of diseases and physiological decline. It is an asymptomatic chronic infection and calls for