Young yesterday, old today!

I like to call myself middle-aged but I know it isn’t true. I know which band the Statistics Department would put me into.  Then there are the various body parts that don’t work like they used to. Obviously all these had not happened overnight, although it seems that way, young yesterday, old today! It’s not that I am worrying about the fact that I am getting older, but I do worry when a day should come when I would need help getting around.  I was comforted when I read an article which said that “getting older doesn’t have to mean disability, it doesn’t have to mean disease." Experts say that older adults can take action, even well into their 60s and 70s, to reduce the risk of developing chronic disease and avoid injury

Geriatricians said that one step to take is to exercise. “I have known patients who have started exercising in their 70s and reaped great benefits from it," said Carmel B. Dyer, a geriatrician and director of the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.   She said exercise helps control the weight, lower blood pressure, and strengthen muscles, which in turn make one less likely to fall. And more muscle mass helps the elderly to metabolize drugs more like a young person, which means the drugs will be cleared from the body more effectively.  Physical activity has also been linked to a decreased risk of dementia.