HEALTH: Some considerations on AGING

Many diseases are not diseases, but normal aging. The director of a Beijing hospital gave these pieces of advice to the elderly :

You are not sick, you are getting old. Many conditions that you think are diseases are not diseases, but signals that the body is aging.

1. Poor memory is not Alzheimer’s disease, but a self-protection mechanism of the elderly brain. This is the brain getting old, not a disease. If you just forget where you put your keys, but you can find them yourself, it is NOT dementia.
2. Walking slowly and having unsteady legs and feet’ is not paralysis, but muscle degeneration. The solution is NOT to take medicine, but to move.
3. Insomnia is not a disease but the brain is adjusting its rhythm. It is a change in sleep structure. Don’t take sleeping pills indiscriminately. Long-term dependence on sleeping pills and other drugs to fall asleep will increase the risk of falls, cognitive impairment, etc.The best sleeping pill for the elderly is to get more sun during the day and maintain a regular schedule.
4. Body aches are not rheumatism, but a normal reaction to nerve aging.
5. Many elderly people say: My arms and legs hurt everywhere. Is it rheumatism or bone hyperplasia? Bones do become loose and thin, but 99% of ‘body pain’ is not a disease, but a slow nerve conduction, which amplifies the pain. This is called central sensitization, a common physiological change in the elderly. Exercise is the cure rather than taking medicine.
6. cholesterol. The elderly have slightly higher cholesterol levels because they have lived longer. Cholesterol is the raw material for synthesizing hormones and cell membranes. Too low a level can easily reduce immunity. The Guidelines for the blood pressure reduction target of the elderly is <150/90 mmHg, not the standard of young people <140/90. Don’t treat aging as illness.
7. Aging is not a disease, it is a necessary path.

A few words should be said to the elderly and their children:

First, remember, NOT all discomfort is a disease.

Second, many elderly are afraid of being ‘scared’. Don’t be scared by the physical examination report or fooled by advertisements.

Third, the most important thing for children is not to take their parents only to the hospital but to accompany them for walks, sunbathing, eating, and talking and bonding.

Aging is not the enemy. It’s another word for living .. but stagnation is the enemy !

Stay healthy

A Brazilian oncologist said,

1. Middle age begins at 50 and should end at 70.
2. The Golden years begin at 70 and end at 80.
3. Old age begins at 80 and ends at 90.
4. Longevity begins at 90 and ends after death.
5. The main problem of an elderly person is loneliness. Usually spouses don’t die together, someone goes first. A widow or widower becomes a burden to their family. That’s why it’s so important not to lose touch with friends, to get together and communicate frequently, so as not to be a burden to your children and grandchildren, who will probably never say so.

My personal recommendation is to not lose control of your life. This means deciding when and with whom to go out, what to eat, how to dress, who to call, what time to sleep, what to read, what to have fun with, what to buy, where to live, etc. Because if you can’t do all these things freely and on your own, you’ll become an unbearable person who will be a burden on others.

William Shakespeare said, “I am always happy!” Do you know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone. Waiting is always agonizing. Problems aren’t eternal; they always have a solution. We believe we are to blame for our problems. The only one for which there is no cure is death.

Pause before doing anything

• Before reacting… breathe deeply;
• Before speaking… listen;
• Before criticizing… look at yourself;
• Before writing… think carefully;
• Before attacking… surrender;
• Before dying… live the most beautiful life you can!

The best relationship isn’t with the perfect person, but with someone who has learned and is learning to live as interestingly and beautifully as possible. Notice other people’s shortcomings… but also admire and praise their virtues.

If you want to be happy, you have to make someone else happy.

If you want something, you must first give something of yourself.

You need to surround yourself with good, friendly, and interesting people and be one of them.

Remember, in difficult times, even with tears in your eyes, stand up and say with a smile: “Everything is okay, because we are the fruits of an evolutionary process.”

Forward this message to anyone. Otherwise, you be an unhappy, lonely person who has no friends. Copy and send this message to the people you value and you will never regret it.