Adding the years gracefully is as much an art as it is about following a strict health & fitness regime. SANGEETA YADAV shows our elderly & not so elderly readers the way

JOG THE MIND

Do you face difficulty in remembering things that you did a few days or few hours backIJ Do you have trouble remembering a phone numberIJ Do you have a habit of forgetting simple things like why you called someoneIJ A lot of middle aged  people are experiencing the issue due increased dependency on technology which has reduced the cognitive abilities. The mental well-being  is the most important factor in ageing.

“Any activity which has three main components — input, brain processing and output, is extremely important to keep the memory going and improves on remembering things. For instance, when someone is talking to you or asking you something, there is an input which the brain processes and gives an output as an answer. While watching TV, you get the input which gets little processed but there is hardly any output. These activities lead to decrease in mental functioning and its well-being,” Dr Anoop Amarnath, chairman, geriatric medicine, Manipal Hospitals, tells you.

As you age, you tend to feel lonely and depressed. Thus, old-age people are advised to  have social well-being and support. Old age and dementia go hand-in-hand. To detect dementia on an early stage and memory loss, it is advisable to go through Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which screens the cognitive functioning of the person.

Things to do

To stay mentally active and develop strong remembering power, here are a few things that one should do:

• learn a new language and communicate in it
• learn a new skill like riding bicycle or doing the mathematics, playing card games
• Solve puzzles like Su-doku, crossword,
• Play cognitive games in your smart phones like   lumosity, Brain Café, Elevate, Rituals, Brain Trainer Special, Happify, Positive Activity Jackpot, Power Vocab, Eidedic, DHD Adult Trainer, Brain Age Test, Reversi etc.

BE FIT AS FIDDlE

We all want to be physically fit and look beautiful all the time but as we reach the middle age our hectic lifestyle leads to wear and tear of our muscle and joints. To evaluate physical ability to do daily activity, people can go through a test — Activities of Daily living and bone mineral density (BMD) test for mobility and joint pain.

“There is a different between chronological ageing and biological ageing. Even though  some people are in their 50s and 60s, biologically they are much older because of the degenerative disease and disease problem. Apart from having full body check-up on an annual basis, people should go through Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment that check geriatric functioning of the organ. They should also go through the screening for diabetic, high blood pressure, kidney and cardiac function,  and sensory organs like eye sight, hearing ability, etc,” Amarnath tells you.

What to do

• Sitting is the new nicotine. The more you sit, the more you become addictive. It is advisable to have walk breaks every five to 10 minutes every hour.
• Have sun exposure early morning to get Vitamin D.
• People active in a particular game like badminton, tennis, should make it a habit as games not only give you physical well-being but it also work as mental exercise. But don’t go for activities without a trainer or supervisor be it yoga, gyming, swimming sports activity etc. Have an individualised training programme as per the schedule and needs and requirements.
• Yoga is good especially Pranayam but one should be carefully about doing specific asanas.
• Don’t do any exercise or activity which entail you to carry heavy objects.
• Climbing stairs up and down is not advisable to old-age people. Instead use escalators or lift.

GO FOR HEAlTH PlATTERS

Ageing doesn’t start at middle age or old age. It starts from your childhood as most of the degenerated diseases start occurring at three. “It is important to have a healthy childhood and adolescent stage to have a healthy middle age and old age,” opines Dr Rekha Sharma, president, Indian Dietetic Association, and director, Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Diabetes Foundation of India.

Through nutrition assessment and bone mineral density test, which is a must for people from all age groups, one can evaluate  if they are having any deficiency and how to overcome it. If you eat healthy, there is no need to take supplements till the age of 60. “If you are unable to achieve the minimum diet requirement through natural food then you should take supplements. But once you start taking the supplements, there is no going back. Seventy per cent of Indians are anemic so taking iron supplements is fine. But if the hemoglobin is fine, there is no need to take them. When you reach menopause, calcium is a must,” Sharma says.

What to eat:

• Have four to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
• Have foods like low fat yogurt, milk, fish, chicken, omega 3, etc.
• Have a lot of foods that are rich in anti-oxidant.
• Turmeric is good for healthy ageing.
• Have a glass of red wine.

INSURE THE MONEY

With the rise in the nuclear families, the elderly need to secure themselves financially so that they deal with the medical emergency without any hurdles and afford regular health check-ups. If they have not planned well and in advance, it can lead to a lot of stress for the old.

“In India, 70 per cent of the healthcare expenses are out of our reach. As you age, you need to be financially secure to make sure that you are able to afford healthcare which has become very expensive. It is very important that they plan post retirement healthcare much in advance. A single insurance company will give you an individual insurance which will not even cover one-fourth of the health insurance when you near 50 or 60. You need to look for the best insurance firm that can cover the entire family healthcare and give you the best benefits,” Dr Amarnath says.

People in the armed forces have Ex-Servicemen  Contributory Health Scheme that subsidies the healthcare expenses. There is Central Government Health Scheme which is applicable to people and their family members working in the Government and public sectors,”