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A guide to living longer, living well – health conditions

Taking control of your mental health

Mental wellbeing means the positive ability to enjoy life and cope with its difficulties and challenges.

Ageing does not have to mean a decline in mental health. There are many ways in which you can maintain good mental health, even if physical and health issues are making life more of a challenge. Just as we care for our bodies, we need to look after and exercise our minds.

Being a bit forgetful can often come with age, and does not mean you have dementia.

You will feel a little sad or down from time to time but feeling down is not the same as being depressed or having depression. Take steps to help prevent depression. Depression can affect older people.

Many older people experience psychological or emotional distress associated with factors linked to old age, including:

  • loss of independence
  • loneliness
  • bereavements

Coping with depression

Recognising symptoms of depression and getting help early is important. Depression can just happen, but more often it is ‘triggered’ by things that happen like losing a partner or illness.

Symptoms may include loss of appetite, being unable to sleep, weight loss and having little energy. Talk to your doctor if you are affected by a combination of symptoms for a period of time.

Dementia

Dementia is a general term used to describe a range of illnesses with different symptoms that affect the brain. There are many kinds of dementia but the most common are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

What all types of dementia have in common is that they damage brain cells so that the brain cannot work as well as it should.

However, a healthy lifestyle may reduce your risk of developing dementia, so keep your body healthy by:

  • eating well
  • being active
  • keeping a healthy weight
  • watching your blood pressure and cholesterol

Also don’t forget stress and anxiety, depression, lack of sleep and the side effects of some medicines can affect your memory.

You should seek advice if you have symptoms such as:

  • finding it hard to follow conversations or programmes on TV
  • mood changes, depression and emotional upsets
  • difficulty planning and completing simple tasks, for example making a meal.
  • difficulty concentrating and becoming easily distracted
  • feeling confused even in familiar surroundings

Doctor says

Confusion or forgetfulness does not mean you have dementia. Other conditions such as infections can cause similar problems, so visit your doctor as soon as you can. If your doctor thinks the reasons for the symptoms are not clear or would benefit from further investigation, they may refer you on to a specialist service.

Timely diagnosis is so important and some treatments may be available which help some people with the symptoms of some forms of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Get the help and support you need. There is practical and emotional advice available providing options, including equipment, that can support you and your family with everyday living.

Cancer

You can reduce your risk of cancer by leading a healthy lifestyle. It is never too late to make healthy lifestyle changes. There are no proven ways to prevent cancer but you can reduce your risk of getting it.

It is important to know your body and recognise any changes, such as lumps or unexplained bleeding and to get advice about whether they might be serious. Check yourself regularly. The most important thing is not to ignore something you notice. Take advantage of the free screening available.

Screening aims to pick up cancer at an early stage when treatment is likely to be more effective. Many cancers can be controlled and cured if caught early on. Some of the most common forms of cancer are:

  • breast cancer
  • lung cancer
  • prostate cancer
  • bowel cancer
  • skin cancer

Screening

If you are aged 60 to 69 you will automatically be invited for screening for a range of cancers every two years. People aged 70 and over can request screening if they have not been automatically invited.

Over 70s can request a bowel cancer screening kit by calling the free helpline on 0800 7076060. All women aged 50 to 70 are invited to attend mammograms every three years at a hospital or mobile screening unit. After the age of 70, women can make their own appointments for screening every three years.

It’s never too late

Even if you give up after the age of 60, your risk of dying of a smoking-related illness is reduced by about 39 per cent compared to a person who carries on smoking. By quitting you’ll be improving your health by dramatically reducing your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and a variety of cancers.

You’ll feel better and have more money. Even if you already have a smoking-related disease, stopping smoking can prevent your condition from getting worse.

Long-term conditions

Long-term conditions include:

  • heart disease
  • arthritis
  • diabetes
  • respiratory disease which cannot be cured but can be controlled by medication and other therapies

Living with a long-term condition or having a partner who is affected can be a daily challenge. Keeping on top of the condition, understanding it and managing it helps. Visit your doctor to review your condition and medication regularly and ensure you attend check-ups when asked. Knowing about and understanding your long-term condition can really help and there is plenty of information available.

Whether your diagnosis is recent or you have had your condition for some time there is lots of support available. There are many ways to help manage your condition including:

  • training
  • support and counselling
  • aids and adaptions for your home

Make sure you discuss your medicines with your doctor and pharmacist. Sometimes, combining drugs can result in forgetfulness, dizziness or feeling unwell.

Almost one in three of the population, have a long-term condition. Half of people aged over 60 in England have a long term condition which can often result in having more than one long-term condition.

Your doctor or practice nurse will support you by helping you develop your own personalised care plan. By talking about or reviewing your Care Plan regularly, you decide together what care and support you need and how it will be provided.

Incontinence

Bladder and bowel problems are surprisingly common but embarrassment stops many people from talking to their doctor. Whilst it is more likely, it is not inevitable, that you may lose some bladder control as you get older. In general, urinary incontinence affects twice as many women as men and becomes more common with increasing age.

It is normal to go to the toilet four to seven times a day and pass up to a pint of urine at a time. People with urinary incontinence get the urge to go far more often and pass a lot less urine each time. Make sure you do not stop drinking, as this can lead to:

  • dehydration
  • bladder infection
  • dizziness

Bowel incontinence can be a bowel accident, when you don’t reach the toilet in time, or leaking from the bowel that you are unaware of.

Some people are not incontinent but still have a problem with their bladder or bowel. The symptoms can be improved, and often cured, with simple methods. Your doctor can also check the symptoms for other complications.

There are specialist nurse-led continence clinics throughout Warwickshire, with home visits for those unable to travel.

There are several forms of effective treatment, including:

  • lifestyle changes, such as losing weight
  • pelvic floor muscle training (exercising your pelvic floor muscles by squeezing them)
  • bladder training, so you can wait longer

Your doctor or the continence advisory service can assess what type of bladder or bowel problem you have. They can give general advice on controlling symptoms, give information on pelvic floor exercises and bladder training and give treatment with prescribed medicines.

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