Good health is among the greatest boons a person can have in old age. But among the main problems besetting the old, physical decline or ill health closely follows financial security. Usually aging is associated with fragility, dysfunction, and illness.

Generally we find that the probability of diseases increases with age. It is less likely that an individual will be free from a disease with the increase in age. A disease free person beyond the age of 80 is very unusual.

The nature of disease in a person changes with age. Most common diseases among younger people are of acute type, while elderly people suffer from chronic diseases.

As a matter of fact, we are in a large part responsible for our own old age. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. See your physician and have a regular check up.

Good health is the key to “active aging” and is dependent upon the right life style. Sometimes if one changes his\her life style in relation to exercise, stress management, nutrition or social support systems it may be possible to prevent or postpone certain diseases.

Exercise

One of the life’s richest, most attainable miracles occurs when you realize the degree to which you can control your health and body through regular exercise.

Many older people think they are too old, or too frail to exercise. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Physical activity of any kind is good for you. Walking upstairs making the bed, cleaning, gardening, shopping, vacuuming, or minor household chores, all are good exercises, and increase your overall health.

The best way to keep your muscles active and to build and maintain the strength of the bones, is to do regular exercise like jogging, aerobics, weight lifting, walking, bike riding, stair climbing, swimming, and water aerobics. Long leisurely strolls are also good for health, your heart, your mind, and your soul. Walking alone offers solitude, but walking in company deepens relationships.


Immune System & Stress

One factor which is very essential to ward off infections and diseases in our body is our immune system. This system is the first line of defense against diseases. Unfortunately, the immune system is impaired by stress and anxiety, both of which are the greatest enemies and biggest killers.

Stress has been found to come in two forms and each has its own biochemistry. The first is “Acute Stress” which is a response to imminent danger and it turbocharges the system with powerful hormones which can damage the cardiovascular system.
The second is “Chronic Stress” which is caused by emotional pressure and which any individual victim can control. This stress produces hormones which weaken the immune system and damage bones.

Your body responds to your thoughts, emotions and actions. You change your attitude from negative to positive, you can relieve your stress irrespective of change in circumstances. Instead of being merely a critic, see good in others and appreciate your fellow beings. Develop an attitude of gratitude and when your heart is brimming with thanks, it is difficult to be stressful.

Stress & Social Interaction

A sure path to reduce stress in old age is to build a strong support system of cheerful friends and family members and stay connected with people who have been part of your life.

Emotional support of family and friends helps our mental health by reducing stress and acts as a balm to restore our body. Positive social interactions and satisfying relationships involving family and friends lower the level of stress hormones in the blood and help prevent depression.

Stress & Volunteering

To volunteer is to help others and helping others helps you help yourself. You feel happy and contented when you do something for someone else and it is a great stress reliever. People who volunteer feel that their daily life and work has some meaning and they are able to cope with stress more easily.

Stress & Meditation

Meditation is a method of calming the mind and body. It is a use of the mind in which you contemplate deeply and continuously and use your thoughts correctly. Psychologists and neurologists now agree that mind and body are not different. Not only is the mind like the rest of the body, but the well being of one is intimately twined with the other.
In ancient Indian scriptures it is stated that if the mind is irritated, the body will also get so and become diseased.

In Western society meditation is now emerging as one of the means to treat stress related conditions and as an alternative medicine.

Meditation has been shown to reduce chronic pain, lower blood pressure, lower levels of cortisone and increase cognitive functions.

It has also been seen to notably lower secretion of stress hormones and to increase immune factors including blood leucocytes production and calm brain activity.

Dr. Mehmat Oz of the Columbia Presbyterian Heart Institute in New York has also pointed out some of the above benefits.

Stress & Breathwork (Pranaayaam)

Breath work is the control of the speed and sequence of inhalation and exhalation (i.e. breathing deeply, slowly and quietly). It gives a tremendous power of concentration, patience and perseverance.

People doing breathing sessions are able to become free of confusing, static attachment to the past and are able to let go of negative feeling, thus releasing their tension and anxiety.

Stress & Spirituality

If you believe in a higher power, be in touch with your deepest beliefs. Prayer, faith and spiritual beliefs can play an important role in staying healthy and recovering from illness.

During the period of prayer all the cares of the world are set aside. Prayer fixes the wandering mind and the person is able to control his thoughts. It helps the person to become detached enough to view pain and pleasure equanimously.

Power of prayer is inexpressible. During this personal connection with God, you draw energy and power from Him.

In some medical centers in The US like the Psychosocial Treatment Laboratory at Stanford and the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, programs of yoga and prayer have helped patients in managing pain and reducing anxiety. It has also been found that sometimes it is not the prayer by the self that helps, but patients who are prayed for by community volunteers also have speedy recovery. This has been reported from Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.


Next issue: Importance of nutrition in good health.