Lecture content on health knowledge for the elderly

When it comes to health care for the elderly, don’t chase after sky-high-priced health products or imitate Internet celebrity health prescriptions. If you do the five basic things right: eating, exercising, sleeping, regular physical examinations, and emotional stability, you can avoid more than 90% of common health risks in the elderly.

In the past, old people always asked me whether it was true that the Internet said that old people need to be vegetarians to reduce their three high blood pressure. Others said that they need to eat a pound of beef every day to supplement protein so as not to fall. In fact, both of these statements are supported by their own research, but they are both too extreme. Vegetarian studies have indeed proven that a high-oil, high-salt diet will increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, the clinical nutrition department has tracked the nutrition data of the elderly for three years, showing that the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly people over 70 years old who have been vegetarians for a long time is 3.2 times that of those who eat a normal diet. I treated a 72-year-old Uncle Li last year. He believed in the all-inclusive health regimen and lost 12 pounds in half a year. He stepped on a banana peel and fell and fractured his femoral neck. He had to lie down for three months to recover. There is really no need to go to extremes. Make sure you have a boiled egg and a cup of warm milk every day, eat steamed fish two or three times a week, eat more dark green vegetables, and eat less pickles and cured meats. This is better than anything else. If you only eat plain porridge with pickles every day, you will be prone to malnutrition and your blood pressure will not be stable.

Speaking of this, someone must ask, if I pay attention to what I eat, do I have to walk 10,000 steps a day to meet the standard? This matter is even more controversial. Some people say that walking ten thousand steps a day can live to ninety-nine, while others say that injuring your knees from walking too much is tantamount to chronic suicide. I just took in a 68-year-old Aunt Wang last week. I competed with my older sisters on the number of steps I could take. She managed 15,000 steps a day. After half a month of walking, her knees were swollen with fluid and became like a steamed bun, and she couldn't walk. In fact, the current consensus in orthopedics is very practical: for people over 65 years old, walking 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day is completely enough. Their knees are not good to begin with. Swimming, lifting your legs on a chair, or doing Tai Chi are all fine. The core of exercise is that you are not in pain or tired after doing it, and you are willing to do it the next day. It is not about competing with others to walk more. If you insist on walking, it will hurt your body.

Taking care of eating and moving, many people missed the most inconspicuous sleep. Many elderly people think that "it's normal to sleep less as you get older." Some even say that sleeping too much will cause dementia. This is really a misunderstanding. Elderly cognitive tracking data released by the Department of Neurology last year showed that elderly people who can sleep for 5-7 hours a day have cognitive decline that is 40% slower than those who sleep less than 4 hours a day. Grandpa Liu in our community used to wake up at 3 a.m. every day and watch videos on his mobile phone. He felt groggy during the day, and his blood pressure fluctuated up and down. Later, he listened to my suggestion and put his mobile phone in the living room half an hour before going to bed. He soaked his feet in hot water for 10 minutes. Now he can sleep until 6 a.m. this week. I took my blood pressure here this week and it has been stable at around 130/80 for three consecutive weeks. He said he feels more energetic.

By the way, there is another thing that everyone is most likely to be lazy about and the most likely to waste money, which is physical examination. Nowadays, there are two extreme views. One is that "if you don't have any disease, physical examination is just money in vain. If you find something wrong, it will only make you upset." In fact, there is really no need. For us ordinary elderly people, it is enough to check these basic items every year: blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, blood routine, liver and kidney function, low-dose chest CT, abdominal B-ultrasound, plus a breast ultrasound and gynecological examination for women, and a prostate ultrasound for men, which are enough to screen out most common serious diseases. Those who often spend tens of thousands of dollars in PET-CT, genetic testing, etc., and have no family history of cancer, long-term smoking and drinking, and other high-risk factors, really can't do it every year. Not only is it a waste of money, but they also have to consume unnecessary radiation. I met a 70-year-old Uncle Zhang before. He was always afraid that he would get cancer. He had three PET-CTs in two years and there were no problems. Do you think it would be a bad idea to keep the money for traveling?

There is another point that people seldom mention, but which has a great impact on health, and that is emotion. At least 30% of the elderly people in my outpatient clinic said that they had chest tightness, stomach pain, and general discomfort. After a round of tests, they found no organic problems. When asked carefully, they either had a fight with their wives, were depressed because their children were not at home, or were tired from taking care of their grandchildren. Current psychosomatic medicine research has also confirmed that almost 30% of the physical discomforts of the elderly are related to emotional anxiety and depression. Don’t just think that you have a terminal illness when you feel a little uncomfortable. If you have nothing to do, go out more often to chat with old friends, dance, play chess, or even go to the park to bask in the sun. When you feel better, many minor problems will disappear on their own.

After talking about this in our community last time, Aunt Zhang, who had stocked half a cupboard of health care products, directly returned more than 20,000 unopened health care mattresses and oral liquids. Now she boils an egg and drinks a cup of soy milk every morning, and dances in the square dance with her old sisters for half an hour in the evening. After a follow-up check this week, her blood sugar has dropped by 1.2 units compared to before, and her overall complexion has improved a lot. In fact, our health care for the elderly is really not that many bells and whistles. If we do the most basic things solidly, it will be more effective than any folk remedies. If you really feel uncomfortable, see a doctor from a regular hospital as soon as possible. Don't believe those who sell health care products. It's better than anything else.