We are lucky enough to live in a country with a long life expectancy, although that poses a problem: it is no longer a matter of having many years, but of living them well. For this reason, the terms healthy aging y active aging, widely used among health personnel and caregivers of dependent people.
healthy aging it is what we adults of any generation now aspire to. If we are healthy, leading an active life, according to our age and possible pathologies, is much more viable than when we are not in good health. But what can we do today to help achieve that active and healthy aging?
En Euroteide Insurance we want to give you a hand. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions after reading today's article.
What is aging?
In aging it is a natural biological process that appears as a result of the accumulation of molecular and cellular damage over time. This translates into a slowdown in regenerative processes and a greater propensity to suffer from certain diseases, but it also implies social changes.
In the world, the population over 60 years old increases every year and this has led several governments to create the active and healthy aging project. With some prevention and a little effort on the part of older people, health institutions and society in general, it can be achieved.
As is evident, there is no single project on a global level. Reaching a healthy old age is more possible in countries like Spain, due to a mixture of diet and favorable customs. Although since Euroteide Insurance we insist on the fact that we are living longer and we want to do so with health and happiness.
Keys to ensure healthy aging
To age healthily you need to take an active part in some essential aspects from the time you reach adulthood, or at least from the age of 40 or so. This is because many of the diseases that affect older people with greater probability and severity are gradual, so that a proper lifestyle helps to delay its appearance.
The demographic problem of aging populations makes it necessary to investigate in the fight to count physical aging and its associated diseases, so delaying a disease such as senile dementia or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) for a few years may mean that, if you get to suffer them, you have gained enough time to find better therapies than the current ones.
Next, we will explain the keys to healthy and active aging. As you will see, many things depend largely on you and your environment.
Adopt an active lifestyle today
You are not going to reach 70 doing a high-intensity sport because you have to give way to a less stressful activity for an organism that regenerates very slowly. But you shouldn't just sit on the couch watching TV and nothing else, either. for your physical and mental health.
Surely you remember the cases of many people from a generation or two earlier who died shortly after retirement. What used to be called a quiet old age implied so much sedentary lifestyle that it meant the physical and emotional decline of people who had always been active. For this reason, the implementation of healthy and active aging project since 2005.
What is an active lifestyle? That depends on your age, your physical condition and your personal tastes. You can choose to walk through the countryside or discover hidden corners of the city where you live, alone or better with the company of people with the same goals as you. It is also useful to sign up for Pilates classes or, why not, learn ballroom dancing.
And if an injury prevents you from full mobility, don't be discouraged because there are exercises for you. Any physiotherapist can guide you with a routine if there are no programs adapted to your circumstances where you live.
Follow a balanced diet rich in antioxidants
We should do this as children, although the saying goes that better late than never.
We gave you the example of AMD as a currently non-reversible disease that affects older people. It has been seen that ensuring the consumption of certain Antioxidants from the age of 40 or 45 and the eliminate tobacco the sooner they help to gain enough years and make the evolution of the disease, if it occurs, be slower.
Note that over the years you can lose your appetite or that you no longer digest as well as before. Do not stop eating or eliminate essential food groups without your doctor's permission. Instead, get in the habit of eating five meals that are low in fat and spicy. Varies the menu for meet your nutritional needs and to beat that lack of appetite of some older people.
Do not lose contact with nature
If possible, go to the countryside, the beach or the mountains, and if you can't, enjoy a park. In addition to breathing fresh air in the case of outings to natural spaces, you stimulate your brain without realizing it.
Don't ever stop reading and learning
Aging produces a decline in cognitive abilities for biological reasons and another that is usually caused by degenerative diseases. The first is avoidable by maintaining the habit of reading, doing crossword puzzles, or studying! lifelong.
Choose a topic that you are passionate about and it will not be an effort, but on the contrary, it will be an additional protection against depression caused by aging.
Ensure quality medical care without waiting
Now we must get serious because quality health care is important to everyone, but especially for children and the elderly. A waiting list can change the prognosis of diseases as feared as cancer. Children and the elderly are also more prone to dehydration in the case of gastroenteritis or may be malnourished without realizing it.
If you don't already have it, consider the possibility of acquire a Insurance health and healthcare. Not just any one, but the one that best suits your needs without shooting up the price. We can advise you.
Does this mean that public health is not capable of dealing with the older people? We don't want to imply that, but the waiting lists in some locations are terrible.
Y there are cases in which diagnostic speed is key. You'll also be glad to have a
Contracted health insurance if you need physiotherapy for a specific injury or to improve the quality of life with those words that seem to accompany us for a few years: rheumatoid diseases.
Even if you don't need a physiotherapist to improve your quality of life, there comes an age when you should do a series of adapted physical exercises and cognitive stimulation. Ensure all the sessions you will need and avoid waiting to invest in yourself.
Cultivate social and family relationships
Do not isolate yourself. Talk to your neighbors, family members and old friends, don't give up on making new friends or chatting with someone you don't know, but share something in common with you. Painting classmates or dog lovers, surely you know how to enjoy the accumulated experiences.
Now, we are talking about beneficial social and family relationships, people who make you feel happier, who ask you questions or with whom to share laughter. You are not obliged to maintain a bond with a person who hurts you, never.
Do not neglect the quality of your sleep hours
Biological aging is responsible for your sleep becoming lighter and you may need to nap. No problem, but make sure your sleep is of quality to be able to reach the REM phase.
Check if your mattress needs a change and, if you like to take a snooze on the sofa, make sure it is ergonomic. You will save contractures and worse things.
Healthy aging is not a utopia if you are proactive and take care of yourself before the ailments appear. You know that in an aging society like the Spanish one there will be more and more programs and strategies to achieve active aging that is now included in the concept of healthy aging. Take advantage of all those offered in your neighborhood or town and do not hesitate to invest in yourself if you live in an area where society does not seem to understand this stage of life that can be joyful and dynamic. If you are in Tenerife or nearby, you already know that you can count on Euroteide Insurance, We will offer you our sincere smile and we will always be by your side, on your side.