AS PEOPLE grow old, there are many changes they have to adapt to in life. Some suffer from empty nest syndrome and having worked their whole lives, suddenly find themselves bored with nothing to do.
Some retirees also face psychological issues such as loneliness and depression, watching their friends leave and having less of a social life due to lower mobility. However, the most obvious are physical and mental changes as their organs start to deteriorate.
Chronic diseases faced by retirees include hypertension, osteoporosis, depression, obesity and more, Universiti Malaya Faculty of Medicine department of primary care medicine senior con-sultant Prof Dr Khoo Ee Ming said.
Khoo was speaking on "Medical Planning: A Key Component of Retirement Planning". "The top killer is heart disease or related diseases, while hypertension is a common killer," she said.
While such diseases incur high medical costs – between RM50,000 and RM100,000 on treatment per illness – they also cause disabilities, restricted activity, job loss and premature death.
"Thus, medical planning is important. Start planning early and have a healthy lifestyle. Prevention is better than cure, so don’t just see the doctor when you are sick, see him when you are healthy," Khoo said.
For women, one of the most dangerous diseases is osteoporosis. Although it also affects men, it affects one in four women as compared to one in seven men. To top it off, if you are fair-skinned, you are at a higher risk of osteoporosis, said Holista Colltech (Australia) Ltd CEO Datuk Dr M. Rajen, who gave a presentation on "Osteoporosis: The Racist, Sexist and Bully of a Disease (And What To Do About It)".
"Fifty-five percent of all hip fractures and surgeries were on Chinese women above age 50 in Malaysia. Your bones are set at 18; then you start losing bone mass at 25, but you can’t feel it till you’re 45 and it gets worse at 60," he said.
According to him, Chinese women have a higher risk because they have smaller frames, thus less bone mass to begin with. Being fair-skinned, it is easier for them to make Vitamin D, but they are also more likely to get sun burn.
"So they mostly avoid the sun, which means they don’t get enough Vitamin D and can’t absorb enough calcium," Rajen explained.
He recommends that women get at least 20 minutes in the sun daily at 8.30am in the morning or during the last half hour before sunset to avoid sun burn.
In order to get more calcium, he recommends dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese as well as goat’s milk. As food becomes increasingly processed – high in calorie but low in nutrients – a higher intake of "caveman" type food such as nuts, fruit, vegetables and eggs is recommended.
Exercise also helps improve bone density, and weight training forces bones to make new bone.
Workouts such as swimming, climbing the stairs and carrying weights help to strengthen bones and the muscles around them, which means the bones are less likely to crack when there is a fall.
Rajen urges people, especially women, to start exercising at a young age and to have a bone density test every three to five years.
"We need about 1,000mg to 1,300mg of calcium a day. There is no such thing as too much calcium; if there is excess, your body knows how to get rid of it."
Posted on 21 October 2010 - 06:42pm
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/medianmarketing/medical-planning-and-healthy-lifestyle
