Excess weight can become a particular health hazard with age, triggering cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, joint problems and other inflammatory conditions. This article looks at what can be done to help the elderly population maintain a healthy weight, while avoiding problems such as sarcopenia and bone loss. Weight tends to be carried more around the middle in the older person, which poses more of a risk for metabolic diseases than excess weight elsewhere — why this happens and how it can be avoided is discussed. This paper also looks at appropriate calorie intake and activity and explores weight loss and why it is harder and slower to lose weight with age. Preventing loss of strength and mobility is also important with aging, and, as immune function can decrease with age, how to avoid this declining significantly is also touched upon.
New drug treatments and licence extensions for existing osteoporosis treatments have emerged, although debate continues about drug treatment length and safety, particularly potential adverse effects. Alarming media reports regarding treatments and adverse effects appear regularly, heightening public anxiety. If doctor consultations are brief and there is little opportunity to explore treatment benefits and risks, and discuss uncertainty, it seems unsurprising that many patients consider abandoning their treatments altogether.
Rachel Ashcroft-Hands BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies, RGN is an Osteoporosis Nurse for the National Osteoporosis Society, Bath.
r.ashcroft-hands@nos.org.uk
Article accepted for publication: December 2012
Carol Jones discusses achieving shared goals in the use of hip protectors in residential care homes
Carol Jones SRN, SCM, HV, Health Ed Cert is Osteoporosis Prevention Officer, Dorset.
Article accepted for publication: September 2003
Carol Jones discusses what can be done to reduce the risk of hip fracture for elderly people living in a care home environment
Carol Jones, Osteoporosis Dorset, Bournemouth
Article accepted for publication: March 2011
