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Introduction of Healthy Aging

Healthy aging is defined by WHO as “Healthy aging is a continuous process of optimizing opportunities to maintain and improve physical and mental health, independence, and quality of life throughout the life course”. Population all over the world is aging faster than before and that is why it is expected to double by 2050. The following image shows some statistics for the older population.
healthy-aging-statics
Independent and healthy older generations contribute to the well-being and prosperity of upcoming generations as well as to entire communities. However, healthcare systems lack specific measures to promote healthy aging and mostly focus on reactive healthcare. Therefore, it is important to provide basic health facilities and resources for healthy aging. It will not only be beneficial for society but also prevent healthcare system crises by ignoring an entire vulnerable age group of the population that is rapidly increasing. Keeping this issue in view, United Nations General Assembly declared “Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030” in December 2020 to encourage initiatives and efforts globally to promote healthy aging.

Importance of health at all ages

Healthy aging is a concept that needs to be understood by everyone alike. Youth, adults, and old people, male or female, need to understand the importance of taking care of the body and aging healthily. The human body needs to be taken care of at all times to ensure healthy aging. Any illness or disease should not be taken lightly as it can deteriorate over time and present with devastating irreversible effects.
Consider, for example, a 40-year-old male who started experiencing headaches. Initially, the headache started in the evening, so he thought it was due to stress and a heavy workload in the office which can be treated with over-the-counter analgesics. These medicines gave him symptomatic relief and so he never bothered much. But in a few years, these headaches increased in frequency and severity. Moreover, he started to have blurry vision and nosebleeds occasionally. When he visited the doctor, he completed his thorough check-up and ended up being diagnosed with hypertension. He was asked to take an antihypertensive and check his blood pressure regularly. He followed the doctor’s advice initially but over time, he stopped taking it. Of his own free will, he took medication when he would feel headaches and blurry vision, otherwise not. When he reached the age of 63, one day he fell down as he was in his home and he could not move the right side of his body. He was taken to the hospital, and on complete examination and tests, it was diagnosed as a stroke. As you all know, hypertension is the biggest risk factor for stroke. Stroke can lead to paralysis which may or may not fully recover and may take years for physiotherapy to improve the condition. Had he taken the doctor’s advice and followed it throughout those years, he could have avoided this devastation.
Another similar scenario of deterioration of health conditions due to lack of proper attention and timely management is worsening mental health and depression. These are among the few taboo topics in society. Instant pleasures and overnight success has become the trend. Apart from the lack of these, physical and mental trauma can lead to sadness and eventually depression. If not treated timely, it can lead to self-harm and suicide. Around 0.7 million people die from suicide annually. Due to the stigma around depression, most people do not talk about it or ask for help, they dwell in misery and may end up taking their own lives eventually. Changing the perspective around mental health is needed, however, for the time being, a platform is required where help is easily available without the fear of judgment.
The most important thing that can be extracted from these scenarios is that timely management of diseases can save people from big troubles but at a heavy cost. However, managing the root cause leading to these illnesses, and nipping them in the bud can be even better. Preventing the occurrence of these diseases by taking care of your body as well as mind can create a positive impact in one’s life. We, as a society, should focus on improving our health to such an extent that healthy aging can become possible for everyone. It will immensely improve the quality of life, in addition to longevity.

Health issues related to Aging

Aging is itself an important risk factor in several diseases. It is an inevitable process, and hence becoming prone to these diseases is bound to happen. Increasing age is an unmodifiable risk factor, therefore focusing on modifiable risk factors is important. This can help in preventing certain diseases. Among such diseases, hypertension, diabetes type 2, and cardiovascular diseases, obesity, are the most commonly occurring diseases. Other diseases include stroke, heart attack, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease, etc. Some of these diseases have unexplained and multifactorial factors in their pathophysiology. Certain diseases are bound to occur due to multiple factors such as family history. However, a man must take steps to prevent all those things that can increase the likelihood of getting diseases.

Dangers of morbidity and cure

Diseases are like hurdles in a man’s journey to have a happy and healthy life. Coping with a disease can strain a man in various ways including social, emotional, physical as well as financial. Therefore, morbidity carries baggage beyond our expectations. Even if a disease is being managed effectively, the treatment process comes with its own limitations. For example, certain medications are not well
suited to everyone such as penicillins. Repeated exposure to medicines can lead to resistance, disturbance of the gut biome etc. Kidney transplants can get rejected. Even after spending hefty amounts on expensive treatments, it is not mandatory that every treatment will be successful. Moreover, there are incurable diseases as well whose treatment solely depends on symptomatic relief. These include cancer, asthma, AIDS, diabetes, polio, etc. All such diseases need to be controlled using medication and there is no final cure. Once these happen, they cannot be erased from the body. However, with proper preventive steps and proactive healthcare, the occurrence of these diseases may be avoidable. So that is why it is important to play our part in avoiding these diseases at all costs.

Ways to achieve healthy aging

A healthy body and mind requires full attention to its everyday needs and requirements. It is essential to practice healthy habits to keep your body well. These include
  • Healthy eating habits, including fruits and vegetables, drinking sufficient water, avoiding bakery, fast food, and beverages. Eating a balanced meal with a good proportion of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats is the key to having a healthy body.
  • Avoid smoking and alcohol intake. These two can be the culprit in various diseases including lung diseases and gastrointestinal disorders like GERD. It is important to keep the body away from harmful chemicals.
  • Exercising daily is a good way to keep the body fit and energetic. There are multiple proven health benefits on all the systems of the body especially cardiovascular and respiratory.
  • Regular medical check-ups and vaccinations. It is important to keep a check on the body every now and then to ensure that the body is aging healthily. There are certain disease processes that stay dormant in our body long before the appearance of any symptoms. Repeating all baseline laboratory tests including complete blood count, renal function tests, liver function test, ESR, blood glucose levels, fasting lipid profile, and coagulation profile should be done annually.
Healthy aging requires healthy habits which must be ensured by oneself. Furthermore, one’s family can play an important role in maintenance and regular check-ups. Young adults can help their family older people to get regular check-ups, remind them to take medicines, and in general build a healthy lifestyle.

Challenges in achieving healthy aging

Healthy lifestyles require constant effort and perseverance which can be disturbed by certain factors. These include
  • Careless attitude: Some people are usually careless about the ways to create healthy practices, disease knowledge, and preventive measures. Eating raw meat, unhygienic street food, using unboiled milk and water, eating excessive amounts of fast food or fried food, etc are some of the few examples of careless and negligent attitudes of people. They believe that these practices can not hurt them and tend to continue for long. These may lead to acute illnesses like gastrointestinal issues or some chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
  • Lack of medical knowledge: Some people don’t have enough medical knowledge and live in their own bubble. For example, getting a tetanus shot after an injury or open wound is necessary to avoid this rare yet seriously life-threatening condition.
  • Busy schedules: Today’s life revolves around success, fame, and money. Many people try to achieve all this and avoid healthcare practices. They do not make time for healthy habits and continue to live unhealthily and slide into risk that rises from Low to Medium to High Risk ultimately leading to an Emergency event requiring hospitalisation.  Their lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits, spending a lot of screen time predisposes them to become extremely vulnerable to diseases. Obesity, weak eyesight, and atherosclerosis are among the few challenges that they ultimately face. Moreover, they rarely make time to go to a doctor for a check-up due to busy schedules.
  • Expensive healthcare: Healthcare in some countries is so expensive, that most people avoid going to the doctor. Long waiting periods and expensive treatments can affect their health.

Strategies to overcome the challenges for healthy aging

It has become important to address all the issues faced by the population so that they can have healthy aging. Promoting awareness programs, medical education and social engagement on health for all age groups, encouraging healthy lifestyles at all places, regular and routine check-ups and vaccinations are some of the important practices. These must be implemented at all levels. People with similar issues should be able to connect with other people facing the same problems. Digital healthcare platforms like Active Wellness bring health & Wellness solutions for preventive care and reactive sick care. It manages monitors tracks your problems with delivering solutions to all your problems. The healthcare tools like alerts, reminders, and communicator to communicating with your care teams. Get curated information on disease, treatments and emergency situations. The ActiveCONSULT, allowing consults both E-Consults, Clinic Visits, The ActiveLABS enables ordering tests, ActiveMED helps manage Medications, The ActiveLOUNGE connects people to people facing health concerns like the consumer social lounge.

Importance of digital healthcare in healthy aging

Digital care is the up-and-coming trend in healthcare providing solutions to a majority of the problems. While serious life-threatening emergencies need hospital visits and physician attention, the majority of health issues can be dealt with via digital healthcare. Our digital healthcare platform Active Wellness enables you to take care of all your healthcare needs. It can prove to be one of the most effective and efficient ways of taking care of your and your loved one’s health. For healthy aging, you can use digital healthcare for all purposes including nutritional advice, reminders for medicines and vaccination, physical activity, and much more. Such platforms allow you to meet virtual doctors for any minor or major ailment. You can consult verified doctors, get their opinion, book lab tests and get them evaluated also. Digital healthcare can make your dream of healthy aging possible with its variety of features minimum budget and various benefits.

Future of Healthcare in healthy aging

The future of healthcare lies in the digital corner. Around 83% of the digital healthcare app users have given positive reviews and benefits of using digital healthcare platforms. The majority of these users were recommended to use these digital healthcare apps by general physicians and pharmacists. It is generally believed that the digital healthcare market will expand over the coming years with more and more people using it for healthy aging.

Role of Active Wellness for achieving healthy aging

Active Wellness provides its consumers with a wide variety of options to avail of benefits. These include:

Our Home Care team has special focus for healthy aging of our consumers. It enables them to access comprehensive care at minimal costs, enhancing their healthcare experience. Our Elderly Care plan enables the family members to take care of their elders efficiently with customized care plans. You can avail 24*7 care plans for those who require meticulous treatment and care or preventive care plan for those who are vulnerable and require monthly visits, lab tests and pharmacy, all at reasonable charges.

Conclusion

Healthy aging is not a luxury, in fact, it is a necessity. Everyone should have the ability to care for themselves and their family members, providing them with the resources and methods to age healthily. Active Wellness and other digital platforms allow you to engage yourself in regular and effective ways of healthcare. Using health advice and achieving healthy habits for the comfort of your future self is a great way to start a beautiful journey of care and love. Make healthy choices for yourself and your loved ones to make healthy aging easier. Our team at Active Wellness will help you in making this journey easier and healthy for you.

References

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  2. The Decade of Healthy Aging in the Americas (2021-2030) – PAHO/WHO | Pan American Health Organization [Internet]. www.paho.org. Available from: https://www.paho.org/en/decade-healthy-aging-americas-2021-2030
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Last Update: April 9, 2024