SENIOR CENTER

Old age is a special period of human existence, which witnesses the decline of the person’s capacity to tolerate and adapt to changes that are triggered in homeostasy. This incapacity has a very relevant impact on the cardiovascular system. It has been statistically shown that it is important to pay attention to the frequency of cardiovascular diseases, since the morbidity of this origin is greater than that of cancer. Research has shown, based on medical history and ECG findings, that 20% of men over 65 and 12% of women have heart disease, the most common being ischemic heart disease, followed by cor pulmonale chronicumin (men, approx. 20 % and about 15% in women), and high blood pressure, the frequency of which is 8-13% in men and 12-16% in women.

It is well known that psychological factors have a very important impact on somatic aspects and viceversa.  Any problem or pain triggered by the somatic will be perceived by the human being as a proper disease, as it generates an image of his or her personal sufferings construed with reference to their emotional reactions; this also means that each individual will perceive his or her diseases and its symptoms in a personal, subjective way. Hence, the disease itself is not the sum of biological and physical modifications always based on objective realities; it can sometimes be determined and maintained by the patient’s subjective, emotional means and attitudes, too. The current module will present the major physical and nervous disorders typical of the aging process.

This module aims at presenting the structure of the digestive system as well as the typical diseases and disorders that affect the hman body during the aging process. The basic conclusion is that advancing in age does not necessarily affect the essentil parts of th digestive tract. Most of the disorders and disfunctions at gastrointestine tract level may be caused by the effects of chronic diseases or could be the outcomes of the organism’s having been exposed to other factors, such as medication, alcohol and smoking. The module will enlist the most frequent aspects of digestion pathology.

Diabetes is a chronic disease of the human metabolism and it is primordially generated by chronic hyperglycemia caused by insufficient amount of insuline in the organism, tissue resistance to the insuline, or maybe by both situations. At old age the occurance of diabetes in its incipient stages is very stealthy and tricky, as it does not really have well perceivable symptoms, and it has a slow evolution, as well. The clinical picture comprises the three elements at the same time: polyuria, polyphagia and polydipsia. 

An individual’s nutritional status can be evaluated due to a series of factors, like body weight, muscular development and the adiposis of body tissues, all compared to the sex, age and height of the healthy adult. This module aims at presenting the most important alterations in the shape and health that are triggered by the process of aging referring to body weight. And that is a valid statement even if appreciating ideal body weight is an exceptionally subjective atempt, because it depends on individual image, social media image, fashion, society, as well as the weight that we, as individuals, have been used to since adolescence. Nevertheless, obesity is the most frequent and most common nutrition disorder during the whole aging process, and it is basically generated by excessive nutrition intake compared to the amount of physical exercise that we are doing at elderly age.

The overall degradation of the human organism during the process of aging has haematological consequences, as well. The aim of the current module is to present the blood related pathologies of the elderly patient, the specific forms generated by the disorders caused by the decrease in marrow and blood formation accompanied by decrease in hemoglobine, haematocryte and erithrocyte under the normal average required by sex and age. This process leads to serious diseases like anemia, hematopoietic disorders for example, leukemia, hemophilia and blood clot formation within the vessel wall.

The aspect that human skin can have has always depended on diagnosis and the evolution of certain diseases, as the colour and nature of th skin tissues must be analysed and interpreted in accordance with the overall range of symptons related to other diseases.
The current module aims at presenting the most important and frequent changes that the process of aging generates in the aspect and structure of the skin, which happens to be the biggest organ of the human body, making up 16% of the whole body mass and having multiple roles in the whole economy of the organism, like preotection barrier against chemical, bacterial and virus intrusion, thermoregulation, screening, sensorial function, main vitamin D sourse by being exposed to sun rays and an efficient thermo insulation together with the adipose tissues.

Old age has an impact on rhenal activity and functions as well, though it is still not completely known in details. Nevertheless research has revealed some decline of these functions, especially if there is some rhenal impact medical history, such as in case of high blood pressure disorders and diseases. Risk factors among the elderly are definitely the rhenal factors, represented by the nefhrotoxic medication, urinary infections, hyperprotein diets, obstruction of urinary arteries, as well as cardiovascular, among which arteriosclerosis, hypertension and smoking are to be mentioned.

The current module aims at presenting how the process of aging affects people’s locomotive abilities, what the common reasons and causes are, what life style aspects trigger most of the disorders and problems apart from chronic diseases. There are 6 main groups of musculoskeletal disorders, like diseases triggered by inflammations, wear and tear symptoms, soft tissues, muscle and bone diseases, as well as ones having different other signs. Treatment is based on medicinal and non-medicinal strategies, but living a healthy life, with having a healthy diet and a lot of exercise all help in aleviating the negative impact that the aging process has on the locomotive system of the human organism.
Age-locomotive pathology lists common problems and affects approximately 15-20% of the population of any age group, but mainly older people, active athletes and overweight people, so we can conclude that locomotor diseases are a group of diseases that affect muscles, bones and joints.

A set of typical nursing interview questions, with feedback tips.