Loss Of Flexibility In Older Adults

Individual factors were found to be a predictor of functional limitation and frailty in older adults. Several studies showed that personal characteristics, such as ethnicity, female gender and age (Espinoza & Hazuda, 2015), gene (Interleukin-18 gene) (Mekli, Marshall, Nazroo, Vanhoutte, & Pendleton, 2015), education and health status, demonstrated an association with frailty (Chang et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2014; Fried et al., 2001; Mitnitski et al., 2015; Tocchi, 2015). Furthermore, it is clear that comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus (DM), stroke, hip fracture, history of coronary heart disease (CHD) and arthritis significantly increase the risk of frailty (Ambrose, Cruz, & Paul, 2015; Zaslavsky et al., 2013).

As people get older they lose independence, they become less mobile and aren’t able to do everything for themselves any more. It is important to ensure that they keep as active as they can to ensure they keep their independence for longer.

Exercises and physical activity have been associated with numerous health benefits including reducing incidences of falls and injuries among the elderly and the geriatric population. Appropriately exercise programs and cardiovascular fitness in older people improve strength and balance. The interventions included strengthening, endurance, balance, flexibility exercises, Tai Chi, stand up/step down procedure and walking exercises. In the first research, the findings were that program targeting balance, leg strength, and freezing gait were only effective in people with milder illnesses, as opposed to more serious disorders like Parkinson’s disease. The study was done for a period of 2 years. In the second research, the findings showed that a multi-component enhanced physical performance of the community indwelling adults but did not translate to psychological outcomes or reduced rates of falling.

This article addresses an important issue on how to develop frailty assessment tools in older adults with musculoskeletal disorders. Why is this topic more essential? Frailty has found in various fields of chronic diseases not only in musculoskeletal disorders. I am interested in frailty; however, it is tricky to determine who present frail in older adults having physical function limitation. Therefore, the different among physical function limitation, immobility, and frailty are still hard to justification. For example, older adults having secondary or third osteoarthritis always presents with severe pain at the knee joint. This pain also interferes his/her physical function. The more joints movement, the greater pain emerge. Reducing severe

Will you let yourself struggle with several diseases when you get older? Nowadays, the world has changed. The number of population in the earth keep rising, and elderly people are large percent of world’s citizens that increase in every year. The following problems are the illness that usually occur with older age people, but there are many ways to solve this problem such as doing exercise. Doing exercise is very important especially in older adults, It can help to improve both physical and mental health also It can decrease pain when doing appropriate exercise program in later of life.

The document Seniors and Aging – Osteoarthritis as part of the It’s Your Health newsletter was prepared by Health Canada in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada. The target audience of this document are the at-risk population of seniors in Canada, who are at an increased risk for developing osteoarthritis. The document emphases certain risk factors that increase the likelihood of getting osteoarthritis and highlights potential steps to decrease one’s likelihood of developing the condition. The majority of Canadians with osteoarthritis are above the age of seventy. Therefore, the purpose of the document is to decrease the prevalence of osteoarthritis by educating the population about risk factors for developing the condition.

With the process of aging, movement, gait, flexibility and reflexes are altered. Reduced stability and gait is an increasing risk factor in older adults that are at risk for falls. Research studies compare the mobility of older adults that have fallen and compared to non-fallers and have determined that once an older adult falls, there is an increase in hesitance when it comes to mobility. Since the older adult then reduces their mobility as a result of fear of falls, they will ultimately decreased their functional capacity and result in gait unsteadiness. This will consequently increase the risk of falls in the older adult since they are more apprehensive to walking independently and performing activities of daily living on their own (Sapir,

As I get older I will need to focus more on flexibility to protect my bones and joints. I will also need to focus on less strenuous activities to preserve my health. However, I will still need constant physical activity so that I do not get illnesses attributed to a sedentary lifestyle.

Many of the injuries suffered by older adults are serious and can lead to a significant impact on quality of life (CDC, 2012). For example, 45% of the fatal falls in 2000 involved a traumatic brain injury. Falling is also the primary cause of hip fractures (95%) and in 2009 afflicted 271,000 Americans. Three fourths of these hip fractures were suffered by women. Of those who do fall, including those who sustain no serious injuries, their vitality can suffer due to self-imposed physical restrictions. Muscles can atrophy and mental health can suffer due to a lack of social activities.

Physical development continues to decline as one ages, typically experiencing weakened immune systems and a lessened ability to hear, see, smell and balance as well as before (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Because of such challenges, older adults are more prone to failing and hurting themselves, which can compound physical challenges and require adjustments to go about accomplishing once was normal daily life tasks.

According to Muir, Ye, Bhandari, Adachi, & Thabane (2013, p. 1) osteoporosis is a significant impediment to postmenopausal women and older men; it is a lifelong progressive, multi-faceted condition and the most prevalent metabolic disease in the United States. It can result in spinal deformities mainly thoracic kyphosis or flexed posture of the spine, as a consequence of weakening of the spinal vertebrae and back muscles. Once this type of flexed posture persists, an older individual is predisposed to numerous physiological and functional mobility problems, in other words, shortness of breath due to compression of the rib cage, leading to diminishing cardiopulmonary function. Similarly, flexed posture can affect a

The article, Exercise Program for Older Adults Improves Health and Catches on Around the Country, goes into depth about a program managed by senior services in Seattle, Washington, pertaining to a study on the elderly and the benefits of physical activity. Aging studies have found that people grow old at different rates, but it is inevitable that at some point there will be a decline in endurance, flexibility, balance and strength that occurs from natural aging. This natural occurrence has the possibility of leading to several negative impacts such as diminished independence and vitality which can lead to depression as well as increasing the likelihood of a disabling injury. After years of researching the positive benefits of physical activity, The University of Washington’s Health Promotion Research Center, a CDC Prevention Research Center (PRC), decided that they wanted to offer an exercise program in the setting of a community center. They thought it was wise to offer this program in a community based location like a senior center to promote dissemination and

The qualities that contribute to successful aging of my interviewee H.J. include her regular daily exercise ritual. This assists H.J. from a sedentary lifestyle, atrophy of muscles and reduction in muscle strength and mass (Eliopoulos, 2014). The research found as older adults participate in a regular physical activity, they are less likely to show physical declines (Kerz, Teufel, & Dinman, 2013). Interacting with her family members and socializing while she is on vacation assists with

For some time, demographers have expressed concern that the first part of the 21st century would face a number of potential challenges due to an aging population. A number of methods to reduce the effects of time are thought to be new and innovative, when often; it is many tried and true methods that are the most efficacious. This is as important for medical specialists, geriatric caregivers, and even family caregivers those in the trenches who are faced with the daunting and daily tasks of helping to care for our aged ("Family Caregivers, 2010). They know that using physical activity to bolster biological reactions is one of these methods that work and now science has proven that certain chemicals are released when one is active, amused or happy that indeed, aid in learning, comprehension, and anti-aging (Harlin 2008). In the very core of human neurobiology, in fact, moving muscles from the arms, hands, and legs, even to the mouth (smiles) and diaphragm produces proteins that interact with neurochemicals to form some fantastic ways to enhance biological processes (Ratey 2008, 5).

As individuals age changes occur physiologically that are part of normal aging. These changes occur in all organ systems and can impact an individual’s quality of life. The changes related to aging can be attributed to an individual’s genetic make up, lifestyle, physical activity, and dietary lifestyle. Being able to differentiate between normal changes in aging against disease process is important because it can help clinicians develop a plan of care (Boltz, Capezuti, Fulmer, & Zwicker, 2012). Creating an accurate plan of care for older adults will greatly impact their quality of life.