Senior Health

Year after year during recent decades, the health and longevity of seniors has improved. This is in part due to greater knowledge about senior health issues as well as, in some cases, better treatment for diseases associated with age. There is growing concensus, however, that early healthy living is far more important to senior health than drug treatments for preventable illness and disability. Senior health is definitely related to good living habits, diet, exercise and a positive attitude.

When you consider that the terms senior and senior health can apply to persons still in their mid-fifties, senior health includes the health of relatively young persons. It is sad that even among this group, senior health is threatened by such factors as obesity, diabetes and heart problems, most of which are related to poor health habits. Senior health begins in childhood.
Senior health begins with good diet. Senior health begins with regular exercise. Senior health begins with knowledge of the body and its needs. And senior health is built through years of maintaining all of these elements.

Senior health most certainly includes mental health. Here again, mental health in part results from a healthy body which receives both physical and emotional nourishment over years. An unhappy person can be an unhealthy person. It is a person's responsibility to nourish good relationships and good positive thinking in order to maintain the mental aspects of senior health. Sometimes the circumstances of life can affect this aspect of senior health, in which case the senior can take advantage of resources available to assist with mental and emotional difficulties.Senior health involves body, mind and spirit.

It is also important to senior health for seniors to remain mentally active. This involves activities which may be in groups (games, reading groups, political activities) or simply on an individual basis. Senior mental health can be assisted by challenging reading, such
pursuits as crossword puzzles, mathematical exercises and other things which force the mind to keep working. Researchers have concluded that mental activity throughout life is a preventive force against Altzheimer's disease...one of the threats to overall senior health.

While drugs can be important to senior health when there are advanced health problems, drugs are often not the best solution. Even if prevention in the form of the aforementioned activities and habits has not been practiced, often the diseases common to senior health issues can be corrected through natural means. It is the responsibility of adults to take steps to maintain good health, and also to take measures when necessary to correct senior health problems in the most advantageous way.

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