SIDEBAR
»
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
«
Welcome
The Twin Fears of the Elderly
Cancer & Alzheimer's
Although there are a large number of devastating and deadly diseases that plaque the elderly, there are two that are feared the most. The ever present threat of cancer may often worry even the most upbeat senior. As life expectancy increases, the chance of getting the horrible disease Alzheimer's seems to be increasing also. The elderly face a large number of potentially serious conditions but just the fear of cancer and Alzheimer's can lead them to depression.
Is this amount of fear justified? Let's look at some facts about cancer. The chance that a male will develop cancer is about 44%, females about 38%.  The chance of actually dying from cancer is about 23% for men and 20% for women ( a part of the reason why women tend to live several years longer than men). Brest cancer develops in about 12% of women while about 16% of men get prostate cancer. We seem to have a lot of "pink" events for barest cancer awareness. Where are all the "blue" events" to make us aware of prostate cancer.
Alzheimer's and other dementias are a different kind of threat to the elderly. This fear is not of death but of living with little or no short term memory and the other severe effects of this disease. Old age itself naturally impairs our memory especially our short term memory. Dementia diseases like Alzheimer's destroy or damage parts of the brain leading to confusion, inaccurate or loss memories and inability to function normally. Although the drug industry continues to develop dementia drugs, their efforts so far have only been able to slow the progression of the disease in some patients. Stopping or hopefully reversing the damage is currently only a hope for the future.
Most people who are 70 or older are retired and have time on their hands. This, of course, can lead to worrying about their lives especially their health. With aches and pains from arthritis, diabetes and other degenerative conditions, it is natural to worry about the possibility of being diagnosed with cancer or Alzheimer's.
Obviously having activities that take your mind off these types of thoughts is a good way to avoid dwelling on them. However, vision problems, mobility, finances, etc. can severely limit the options of the elderly. You constantly hear that older people should "just stay active". The younger people saying this should consider how "active" they might be if immobilized by a broken leg or restricted by a severe vision problem. This might help them to be a little more understanding of the problems facing our senior population. 

cure


Comments are closed

SIDEBAR
»
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
«
»  Substance:WordPress   »  Style:Ahren Ahimsa