Common Elderly Disease
Aging is inevitable but aging does not always mean that you should get diseases. However, common elderly diseases have become more frequent in seniors and elderly, which could due to many reasons. But many of the common elderly disease are either chronic or progressive in nature and this makes these people dependent on their family and the local health services. |
Here are some common elderly diseases:
- Cancer is quite common among elderly people. Nearly two thirds of all elderly people are afflicted with cancer at some point in their lives. Although there are different types of cancers, some are more common in elderly than others. For instance, lung cancer and breast cancer.
- Diabetes is another common elderly disease. For most people, diabetes is due to bad lifestyle as they consume too much sugar and fat. However, in the elderly is because the body does not secrete sufficient amounts of insulin to keep the blood sugar levels down. Diabetes in elderly is incurable and can only be controlled through medication or diet.
- Dementia is quite common among elderly. It occurs due to degradation of the nerves endings that send impulses to the brain. There are around 100 types of dementia but the most common is Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies, where the nerve cells in the brain get destroyed. Till today researchers are trying to find out what causes dementia as it will allow them to treat it. But as of today, there is little that can be done to treat the disease.
- Parkinson's disease affects the nerve cells that go to the brain and why it occurs is still a mystery. Parkinson's is a disease that afflicts the elderly and it is characterized by uncontrollable tremors and shaking. In the later stages, it affects the brain.
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Elderly With Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative disc disease occurs when the inter-vertebral discs breakdown. Elderly with degenerative disc disease experience a lot of back pain as this disease tends to put pressure on the spinal cord and the nerves of the spine. Degenerative disc disease is age related and as a person ages, the discs in the spine start drying out and shrinking. More..
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