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Your Aging Parents: An Insightful Look into Aging

July 8, 2009

Frank Giampetro gave an interesting and insightful seminar on aging during Premier’s June Brown Bag Lunch Series. He offers a comprehensive 2-3 hour course to EMS squads that covers the following information and much more.

“The laws that you live by, the freedom you enjoy,
the institutions that you take for granted, are all the work of
others who went before you. They are not a birthright,
they are something that others struggled for,
strived for, often suffered and sometimes died for,
for you, the next generation.”
—David McCollough

Your parents or grandparents have been through four wars and grew up in the Great Depression; these events have colored their lives. And life was very different then, compared to now. We hear the news talk about “doing without” in the current economy, but “doing without” during the Great Depression meant doing without food, shoes, and basic necessities. Now, “doing without” means foregoing Xboxes, iPods, or cell phones.

Your parents and grandparents likely remember war from their childhoods, and many of their lives were built around World War II. Everything they did, everything they thought, every activity of every day had some bearing on the war. These folks remember the atomic bomb. And after the war, we rebuilt Europe and Japan with the Marshall Plan, turning our enemies into our competitors. And this has given us the highest standard of living of any nation in the history of the world.

Then the Korean War broke out, and then Vietnam, and now Iraq. War has been a big part of your parents’ lives. We were the only nation who defeated another nation and didn’t enslave them. Instead, we rebuilt them and made them our competitors. Their actions gave us a high standard of living. Your parents and grandparents, these people are our national treasures.

The 18-20-year-old kids who fought in WWII and ensured our freedom are now in their 80s. For the first time in their lives, they have to depend on someone else, and losing their independence frightens them.

Common challenges as we age:

Medications: Your metabolism changes—a loss of body fluids increases medicine concentration, and your kidneys and liver decrease in function, allowing less medication to be absorbed. When you retire and don’t engage in activities, you lose track of what day it is, which leads to dosing errors, both overdosing and missing doses. As your age advances, you can become more sensitive to drugs, and some people feel frustrated with having to take so many medications and refuse to take them as directed. Also, interactions with vitamins, herbs, and OTC medications commonly occur.

Skin: You find that your skin doesn’t fit anymore: dermis loses 20% of its thickness, and it loses its elasticity. Also, your skin tears and bruises easily, heals slower, and loses the ability to protect. Decubitus ulcers can easily develop, and Pruritus (itching) is common.

Brain: Eventually, your brain shrinks about 10%, allowing tumors, bleeding, or swelling to progress unnoticed. Your reaction time and thought processes gradually slow, and you find that dizzy spells and falls become common. Thermoregulation becomes problematic due to dermal thinning.

Dementia/Alzheimer’s: Many elderly face the devastating effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The novel Still Alice by Lisa Genova offers powerful insight into the terrifying spiral into Alzheimer’s. As many as 5.3 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s, and it’s the 7th leading cause of death. Premier’s Frank Giampetro regularly drills EMS squads in Urbana, OH for search and rescue missions, aimed at finding lost Alzheimer’s sufferers. Some cities and counties employ GPS bracelets to help track Alzheimer’s patients with a history of wandering, and new technologies, such as shoes embedded with a GPS chip, are making their way to the consumer market.

Project Lifesaver: Protecting Alzheimers sufferers who might wander—“Sundowners.” Local Departments that currently participate: Butler County, Clark County, Miami County, Washington Twp. Fire Department

Heart: After beating at least 86,400 times and pumping over 6,500 gallons of blood each day, your heart begins to wear out. AFib occurs in at least 25% of those > 40. Other irregular heart rhythms sometimes create weakness, SOB, dizziness.

Eyes: Your eyes lose depth perception, peripheral vision, and color recognition. Older folks begin making three right turns to avoid making one left turn. Your eyes become more sensitive to sunlight, and your night vision deteriorates. Cataracts will and glaucoma may occur. You might also face macular (retinal) degeneration.

Teeth, Ears: Your gums recede, exposing the dentin below the gum line, which makes your teeth brittle and break off easily. And your hearing begins to fail, and hearing aids can cost over $1,000 per ear.

Musculoskeletal System: You find yourself getting shorter, but your feet get bigger. Because you lose muscle mass with age, the skeletal system is left with less protection in a fall.

Digestive System: Your taste buds deteriorate, and food loses its appeal. Older folks consume a smaller volume of food due to it staying in their stomachs longer and moving through their systems slower. You also need less calories but more protein. And constipation can become a significant problem since straining can cause the heart to slow down. In addition, vomiting, diarrhea can swiftly dehydrate an older person.

Filtration System: Your kidneys don’t eliminate impurities as efficiently, and a weakened heart decreases blood flow. Diuretics can cause significant sodium and/or potassium loss and hearing loss. In men, the prostate swells, making urinating more difficult. Bladder control often becomes difficult for both sexes, making Depends an important part of their wardrobe.

Geriatric Trauma: Geriatric folks are less likely to be injured but more likely to have fatal outcomes. They represent 25% of all fatal injuries. The leading causes of injury are falls, motor vehicle crashes, and burns. Under age 75, motor vehicle crashes cause the most injuries, and over age 75, falls are the culprit.

How to help your aging relatives:

Make at least three copies of medications and medical history: one copy for your parents, one for you, and post one on the refrigerator for EMS.
(see www.EmergencyCareForYou.org)
Be sure to take insurance forms and cards with you to the hospital or doctor’s office.
Don’t let your parent downplay his or her condition. Be sure to tell the doctor of any recent changes you’ve noticed.
In the Emergency Department, anticipate admission to the hospital: bring a change of clothes for them. And be patient! Bring a book to read while you wait.

For those of you who are or will be parent caregivers try the Sandwich Generation Resource Group. This website offers links to helpful information and suggestions.

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Dayton, OH 45459
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