Dementia before Adventure??
Aging well and living well into our 60s, 70s and 80s.
During our working life most of us rush headlong through the years dealing with the a busy working life, children, relationship ups and downs and other family and work matters. Older age offers the chance to slow down and smell the roses. There is time to explore those creative or leisure pursuits such as painting, woodwork, gardening and reading. To take that dream trip overseas or closer to home exploring our beautiful country. What stands between many people and a wonderful time in our older years is poor health.
We not be able to prevent aging but we can slow it down and mitigate the effects of aging with targeted lifestyle and nutritional advice. Up to 80% of chronic disease can be attributable to poor diet and lifestyle choices. As the saying goes many of us dig our early graves with our teeth.
Aging well and living a happy and healthy life into our older years has many aspects. This includes, the often forgotten, importance of dental health. There is a whole area of research now dedicated to the good and bad bacteria that lives in our mouth and its effect on our gums, teeth and even its role in chronic illness.
Let’s also not forget heart disease affects both women and men equally in the later decades of life. Women are more likely to delay treatment and get less medical care than men when it comes to heart disease. It is important for women to understand the signs of heart disease and get help promptly.
Inflammation is so strongly associated with aging there is a new word is used to describe it: ‘Inflamm-aging’. It probably wouldn’t be allowed in scrabble but it is an apt description! Consequences of ‘inflamm-aging’ include dementia, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and arthritis.
Looking after our health into our older years does take time and energy, but the rewards are worth it.
To quote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
Age is opportunity no less,
than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled by the stars invisible by the day.
Don’t let poor health stop you enjoying those stars.
