Understanding Aging after 60 – Which supplements to take

Some of these changes can be subtle and occur gradually, while others may seem to happen overnight. Regardless of when they happen, knowing that they are normal is important.

Change 1: Cardiovascular System

As you get older, your heart and blood vessels become more rigid, and the heart fills with blood more slowly than it used to. Older adults tend to develop high blood pressure because the more rigid their arteries are, the less they can expand when blood is pumped through them.

A normal older heart works well, but it just can’t speed up as quickly or pump the volume of blood that a younger heart can. This is why older athletes typically cannot perform as well as younger athletes.

With all the medical advances that have been made in the last two decades, the death rate from heart-related diseases has declined. Your heart and arteries stiffen as you get older, so it’s important to do what you can to keep your cardiovascular system as healthy as possible. Being physically active with some type of aerobic activity and a healthy diet are great ways to do this.

Change 2: Lungs

The diaphragm and muscles around your rib cage become weaker as you age. The lungs also become less elastic, causing smaller amounts of oxygen to be taken in as you breathe. This can make breathing difficult during exercise, for smokers, or for anyone with a lung disease.

As your lungs become weaker, they can’t fight off diseases like they used to. They can’t pass along microorganisms without a good stiff cough, so these germs can hang around and cause problems.

Two of the best things you can do to improve your lung health are:

• Don’t smoke
• Participate in some type of aerobic activity regularly.

Your lungs aren’t what they used to be, so exercising will give them the best chance to provide oxygen for your body so you can continue to be active.

Change 3: Immune System – Vitamin C, Zinc, and Probiotic

As you get older, your immune system does not work as well.

Your risk of getting sick increases because your immune system tends to respond to stimuli more slowly.

Vaccines such as flu and pneumonia shots may not work as well or last as long as they used to.

Your body heals more slowly because you have fewer immune cells as you age.

You have an increased risk of developing cancer because your body’s ability to detect and correct defects in cells declines with age.

You can develop an autoimmune disease where your immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue.

To help your immune system stay as healthy as possible, it’s important to take good care of yourself.

Get the vaccines your doctor recommends, such as the flu vaccine (starting at age 65, you can receive a high-dose flu vaccine), pneumonia, shingles, and pneumococcal disease. Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, refraining from smoking, and limiting your alcohol intake will also help keep you on the right track to a strong immune system.

Change 4: Urinary Tract

Overall, the urinary tract system continues to work normally barring any illnesses or diseases that affect it. The one thing you have probably noticed if you’re over 60, is that you have to get up at least once through the night to use the restroom. This is normal for this stage of life, because the amount of urine your bladder can hold decreases with age.

The bladder muscles may also become weaker, making it difficult to empty your bladder and harder to close off the urinary sphincter, possibly causing leaking to occur.

Urinary incontinence can be a result of these problems.

There are medications available that can help with these problems, as well as bladder training and pelvic floor (Kegel) exercises.

Change 5: Bones and Joints – Vitamin D, D3, and Calcium

After 60, your bones and joints begin to show signs of aging.

As you age, you absorb less calcium from the food you eat. Your bones need calcium to stay strong, and without it, they become weak and brittle. Vitamin D, which decreases with age, helps your body utilize calcium. The result of the decrease in calcium and vitamin D can be osteopenia (moderate loss of bone density) or osteoporosis (severe loss of bone density). By the time osteoporosis sets in, you’re at a severe risk of fractures and breaks.

Maintaining a normal weight and engaging in weight-bearing activities can help increase your bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

After years of use, the cartilage around your joints can become thin, causing pain when you move them. As this cartilage becomes thin, it also becomes more challenging to move, which can result in injury. Eventually, this can develop into osteoarthritis, a very common disorder of aging.

Unfortunately, joint pain is caused by wear and tear from years of use, and there isn’t much that can be done at this point to reverse it except for surgery. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe supplements to help with the pain. This might be something you want to discuss at your next appointment.

Change 6: Muscle Tone and Body Fat

Your body starts losing muscle tone and gaining fat around the age of 30. By the time you are 60, the loss of muscle mass can be quite severe.

Loss of muscle mass due to aging is only about 10 to 15% The rest is due to a lack of activity and poor diet. The good news is that keeping or building muscle tone is possible, even though you are over 60.

Regular exercise is key to maintaining and rebuilding muscle tone. Along with regular exercise comes healthy eating. These two things together can not only increase muscle tone but also decrease body fat.

Body fat tends to increase with age. A sedentary lifestyle can easily become a habit in this stage of life. You tire more quickly than you used to, so it’s easy to get in the habit of doing basically nothing – especially nothing physical – day in and day out.

Increased body fat elevates your risk of diseases such as diabetes.

Change 7: Eyesight

By the time you’re 60, you will more than likely notice a change in your vision. You may experience a loss of near vision, requiring you to use a brighter light to read and see details, and possibly changes in your colour perception. These are due primarily to the stiffening and yellowing of the lenses in your eyes.

There may be some physical changes to your eyes as you age:

• The whites of your eyes may begin to yellow
• Small spots of colour may show up in the whites of your eyes
• You may develop a Gray-white ring around the surface of the eye
• Your lower lid may begin to sag due to muscle loss
• Your eyes may appear sunken due to fat loss around your eyes

As you age, you will probably notice that your eyes tend to be dry most of the time. Using lubricating eye drops can help ease this problem.

These changes in your eyes and eyesight are normal as you age. If they are accompanied by pain or you notice a severe change, it would be best to visit your optician.

Change 8: Hearing

Some hearing loss is due to environmental exposure over time and is not age-related. However, there are some age-related hearing losses such as losing the ability to hear high-pitched sounds.

The ability to hear high-pitched sounds diminishes greatly with age. This type of age-related hearing loss is known as presbycusis. The primary challenge associated with presbycusis is the difficulty in understanding what people are saying. This can be due to a combination of high-pitched voices, typically those of women and children, and the difficulty in hearing consonants, which are often spoken in a higher tone than vowels. Unfortunately, hearing lower-pitched tones eventually becomes difficult as well.

Background noise and an accumulation of earwax can also make it hard to hear.

Keeping your ears clean and being fitted with hearing aids can help you hear better.

Change 9: Teeth

Cavities become a big issue as you approach 60, mainly due to dry mouth. Having a dry mouth can increase the risk of cavities; therefore, it is essential to inform your dentist about the medications you’re taking so they can recommend either an over the counter or a prescription medication to help combat the issue.

Gum disease is also an issue that can develop at any stage of life but can be particularly prevalent as you age. It is painless, but when left untreated, it can cause numerous problems, ultimately leading to tooth loss.

Mouth cancer is also a concern after the age of 60. Early stages of oral cancer are usually painless, and early detection can save lives.

Regular check-ups with your dentist can play a big role in the health of your teeth, gums, and mouth. Early detection not only saves lives, but it also saves money.

Change 10: Skin

As you age, your skin changes. It becomes thinner, drier, less elastic, and more wrinkled.

Many things in the skin begin to decrease, such as collagen, elastin, the layer of fat under the skin, sweat glands, blood vessels, nerve endings, and pigment-producing cells. The lack of these things causes your skin to bruise and tear easily, sag and bag, crack and peel, and develop age spots and wrinkles.

Additionally, the possibility of suffering a heat stroke increases because of a decrease in your sensitivity to pain.

After 60, your skin cannot form enough vitamin D from sunlight exposure, which can put you at risk for vitamin D deficiency.

Accepting Physical Changes After 60

Aging is a privilege. Many people have said, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body.”

There is probably a lot of truth to that statement for many people. While you can’t do anything about what you did or didn’t do years ago, you can go forward and do the best you can to take care of yourself now.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet are key to almost every aspect of an aging body.

Vitamin B12 and Folate

• Essential for normal red blood cell production, tissue, and cell repair
• As you age, your body becomes more susceptible to a deficiency of Vitamin B12 and folate.
• Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency is high among the elderly and associated with neurocognitive, psychotic, and mood symptoms
• Because safe treatments are available, early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent irreversible structural brain damage.