Today, I thought I’d talk about how we age, because people live much longer than in the past. Yet, many of us don’t really understand the changes to our bodies as we get older.
I’m going to talk about things I read in an article by Judith Graham on what Dr. Rosanne Leipzig says in her book Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life.
Dr. Leipzig wrote this book on what to expect in later life to help us understand how our bodies change and that we can adapt so we can still do things to enjoy a meaningful life. Ya man!
As we can see by looking around, not everyone in their 60’s and 70’s are able to do the same things. And their health can be very different too. Usually, more predictable changes start to happen between the ages of 75 and 85.
Some normal signs of aging
When older people get sick, they may react differently than younger people. Youngsters may have chest pain when having a heart attack, but a senior may become confused or be short of breath.
Or, with pneumonia, we could lose our appetite and be short of breath rather than be coughing with a fever.
Seniors may react differently to medications than younger people too, even if we’ve taken them for years. We may have more side effects. become disoriented or need lower doses if we get sick. As well, you probably noticed the same thing with alcohol.
Older people usually have less energy than when we were younger and may have to rest more as we do things. That’s because our hearts and lungs become less efficient, our muscles usually get smaller, and we’re not as strong as we used to be. Not cool.
Many people don’t feel as hungry or as thirsty as before, because body changes mean food doesn’t taste and smell as good. As a result, we may not eat enough food or drink enough water, tea or coffee.
Our thinking process slows down, so it can take longer to understand things we see and hear, to learn new things, and to react to things. It’s normal to have a problem with thinking of the right word, especially nouns.
Most of us get stiff joints and we can become 1 to 3 inches shorter as our spines get harder and more compressed. As well our balance can be crappy because of changes in the inner ear and to the brain.
We can fall more often because of our stiffness, loss of balance, and our leg, hip and buttock muscles become weaker. Be careful, as our bones also become more brittle and easier to break.
Seniors’ eyesight and hearing also change. More light is needed to read and our eyes need longer to adjust to sunlight or darkness. Don’t forget needing reading glasses because things up close are blurry. Very crappy.
It’s harder for us to hear things, especially at high frequencies. And forget about listening to someone speaking very quickly or if it’s too noisy.
Sleep is often not as good as before, as it’s usually harder to fall asleep, we may sleep more lightly, go to the bathroom several times, or wake up early and can’t go back to sleep. Sound familiar?
Ways we can adapt
Dr. Leipzig says we need to change how we do things as our bodies change. For instance, she says to go see a doctor if we are suddenly functioning differently, like if your legs suddenly get weak - unless you’re single and you see a good-looking person walk by, haha.
I try to be physically active, as we lose muscle quickly when we get older. Try to use weights, because it also makes your bones denser or thicker. This helps to prevent getting broken bones if we fall.
I like to have someone show me the proper way to use weights because I no longer think I have to lift huge weights like Hulk Hogan. Like most people, I stop exercising at times; and when I restart, I begin with very light weights and use more as I get stronger.
To help with the loss of balance, do balance exercises like standing on one foot for 20 seconds at a time. And, eat lots of protein. That’s what our muscles need. Protein is in meat, chicken, eggs, fish and dairy. And I drink lots of liquids even when I’m not thirsty.
To help us sleep properly, it is wise not to exercise, eat a heavy meal, or drink alcohol within two to three hours of bedtime. In fact, I try to stop drinking all liquids about five or six hours before going to bed, so I don’t keep getting up to go to the bathroom all night.
Stop trying to multitask as if you were twenty years old. It’s best to work at our own pace, which is slower. And, it’s very important to have our eyes checked every year, which can prevent eye disease, as our eyes change so much.
And finally, if it’s hard to hear what people are talking about, we should get our ears checked. Once you get them, it’s important to put your hearing aids in your ears; I found out that they don’t help me hear better when they’re sitting on the counter. Eschia, take it easy eh.
So there you have it. Our bodies change as we grow older. And there are many things we can do to adjust so we can remain active and continue to enjoy life.