685Exercise Is the Solution to a Longer Healthy Life for the Body as for the Mental
posted on January 15th, 2010
If we had to define depression in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, the term depressed refers to sadness and other related emotions and behaviors. A review of studies has concluded that elderly depressed patients have higher rates of medical comorbidity than younger depressed patients and than elderly patients who are not depressed; that comorbidity has an adverse effect on the response to antidepressant medication. The recognition of comorbidities may involve consultants in different disciplines with different priorities who are prescribing a range of possibly incompatible medicines. Depression is a complex matter. In recent years, with burgeoning research progress, we are finding out that depression is much more common than many of us thought. At least 15% (and likely more) of women take an antidepressant during their lifetime. In our ageing society, where longer life is not necessarily the same as longer healthy life, the problem of elderly depression can reach farther than the undoubted emotional suffering of elderly individuals.
Osteoporosis is also a common condition in care homes nowadays. In most of care homes in Staffordshire, people with osteoporosis do not have any symptoms and do not know they have the problem until they have a bone density test or have a fracture. Currently, the most effective medications for osteoporosis that are approved by the FDA are anti-resorptive agents, which prevent bone breakdown. Antiresorptive medications inhibit bone removal. Patients may not be aware of their osteoporosis until they suffer a painful fracture. The symptom associated with osteoporotic fractures usually is pain. It happens more commonly in old age when the body becomes less able to replace worn-out bone. Special cells within the bones, called living bone cells, are no longer able to break down old bone and renew it. With the aging of America, the number of people with osteoporosis-related fractures will increase substantially. The pain, suffering, and economic costs will be enormous. Osteoporosis can strike at any age, but it is most common in older women. Eighty percent of the people in the United States with osteoporosis are women. One out of every two women and one in four men over age 50 will break a bone in their lifetime due to osteoporosis. Normally, bone density accumulates during childhood and reaches a peak by around 25 years of age. Bone density is then maintained for about 10 years. After age 35, both men and women will normally lose 0.3%-0.5% of their bone density per year as part of the aging process.
