PATHS TO HEALTHY AGING
Paths to Healthy Aging is a simple workbook about creating a “lifestyle” to lead readers toward the path of a healthy aging process. It contains five chapters with information on nutrition, mental health, physical health, medications and how to go about choosing the right doctor.
The first chapter focuses on nutrition, weight, diet and over-the-counter vitamins and supplements. It discusses how over-the-counter vitamins and supplements rarely contribute to better health and can even be harmful. Vast marketing campaigns at every turn entice people to take these unneeded vitamins and supplements-currently a $68 billion global market-despite the absence of evidence for their benefits. The chapter illuminates how these unregulated substances can interact with prescription medication with serious consequences to health. The chapter also discusses the perils of fad diets and explains why for the elderly, being a little overweight is beneficial rather than harmful.
The second chapter concentrates on how to maintain and improve mental health and cognitive functions without spending money on expensive brain fitness gears and games. It shows that physical health, nutrition, and social engagement are all connected to mental health. It also discusses the positive influences of spirituality and intellectual stimulation, as well as stress and its impact on both physical and mental health.
Chapter three is dedicated to physical health, discussing the vital but poorly understood medical condition known as frailty and explaining how to stay physically fit as we age. In America $2.6 billion per year is spent on gym memberships, yet only a small percentage use them. The public is commercially influenced to exercise excessively and obsessively, and that can be both unrealistic and dangerous for aging bodies. This chapter provides details on how physical fitness can be achieved through moderate exercises, which can easily be performed outside of a gym and without purchasing expensive exercise gears.
Chapter four covers two crucial topics on medication: Polypharmacy and Drug Cascade Syndrome. Seniors are the largest consumers of prescriptions and over-the-counter medications and supplements. Over 40 percent of the elderly take at lease five medications. This is called over-medication or Polypharmacy, and it can result in dangerous drug interactions with serious and even fatal side effects. Adverse drug events account for a large number of hospitalizations and deaths among the elderly. The related concept, Drug Cascade Syndrome occurs when an undesirable side effect is misinterpreted as a medical condition and results in a new prescription. When this new medication triggers another side effect, an additional drug is prescribed to counter it. These dangerous chains of prescription-side effect-prescription are a reason why 4.5 million Americans visit the emergency rooms and physician offices each year. This chapter focuses on how to avoid both serious conditions.
The last chapter discusses how to go about choosing a geriatrician. It stresses how important it is to find a physician you can trust, easily engage with, and build a long-term relationship with.
Although the targeted audience is the elderly and their caretakers, those as young as their 40s and 50s will
also find valuable guidance in this book. It is never too early to start along one's own Path To Healthy Aging.
The information on this website and in the book Paths to Healthy Aging, true and complete to the best of our knowledge, is intended as an informative guide only. The information on this website is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors and the authors disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this information. This information is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of your own physician(s) nor is it intended to replace, conflict or countermand with the advice of your physician(s). The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his or her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. The ultimate decision concerning your care should be made between you and your physician(s). We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice.
2014 Paths To Healthy Aging. All rights reserved