Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is the core daily personal care activities that are necessary in order for people to be able to live independently. Loss of mental functioning is measured by other standardized tests and referred to as cognitive impairment. Activities of Daily Livings are particularly important because along with cognitive impairment, and in some cases “medical necessity,” they are the mechanism used by the insurance industry to determine qualification for long-term care benefits and may also be used to determine qualification for admission to a nursing or assisted living home facility. (more…)

The overarching goal of physical therapy rehabilitation is to return the individual to as close to the premorbid level of function as possible or, alternatively, to maximize a person’s current potential for function and maintain it as long as possible. This goal is achieved by promoting changes in the individual, by altering his or her physical health elderly or social environments, or by implementing a combination of both strategies. (more…)

Altered cellular metabolism and intracellular and intercellular signaling with advancing age result in widespread changes in endocrine function. Several mechanisms interact in most systems to bring about the observed changes. Aging is associated with anatomic changes of the endocrine glands. In addition, with age, changes in hormone secretion occur, including alterations in circadian or seasonal biorhythms, changes in pulsatile frequency or amplitude of hormone secretion, as well as absolute changes in mean serum hormonal levels. (more…)

There is strong consensus among geriatricians and gerontologists that frailty is a clinical state of increased vulnerability and decreased ability to maintain homeostasis that is age-related problems and centrally characterized by declines in functional reserves across multiple physiologic systems. This vulnerability is age-related and also related to, but distinct from, disability and elderly disease states. (more…)

Altered cellular metabolism and intracellular and intercellular signaling with advancing age result in widespread changes in endocrine function. Several mechanisms interact in most systems to bring about the observed changes. Aging is associated with anatomic changes of the endocrine glands. In addition, with age, changes in hormone replacement secretion occur, including alterations in circadian or seasonal biorhythms, changes in pulsatile frequency or amplitude of growth hormone secretion, as well as absolute changes in mean serum hormonal levels. The three main hormone systems that show decline with age are the gonadal hormones (menopause and andropause), the adrenal steroids DHEA and DHEA-S (adrenopause), and the GH/IGF-1 axis (somatopause). (more…)

For trained physicians, aging is often defined by the age-related diseases and disorders people experience as they grow older. In fact, aging is often portrayed as a disease that is amenable to treatment, just like any other elderly chronic diseases that physicians are trained to diagnose and treat. This is not an unexpected view of aging given the Western disease-oriented model of medical education. Examples of the conditions that anti-aging practitioners endeavor to treat or postpone include cardiovascular disease, cancer, sensory impairments, muscle and bone loss, loss of skin elasticity, and decline in sexual activity in elderly function. (more…)

American aging population makes up a substantial social challenge. These social problems will increase significantly over the next 50 years. Single, divorced, or widowed women as well as members of racial minorities are particularly dangerous to draining chronic health problems, poverty, and unmet health and social needs as they are aging. (more…)

Some years ago an experiment was made on young college students to test the effects of inactivity. Each student was immobilized in a body cast for a period of several weeks, and measurements were made of various body functions before and afterwards. It was found that the enforced inactivity resulted in deteriorated function of many body parts. (more…)

There are differences on what exactly contribute to quality of life on a personal level from person to person. Although many older people in good health condition have the increase of physical problems that affect them and their businesses. Although these disorders are more common with age, including Alzheimer, dementia, arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression, kidneys problem; lung disease, cancer and men’s prostate disease. (more…)

An international consensus statement on physical activity, fitness and health (Bouchard et al 1994) identifies six areas affected by physical exercise: body shape, bone strength, muscle strength, flexibility skeleton, physical fitness and motor fitness of metabolism. Other areas benefit from physical activity is cognitive function, mental health and adaptation to society. Exercise was defined as a regular activity that follows a specific pattern, and whose purpose is to achieve desirable results in terms of fitness, as a better general health or physical functioning. (more…)