Care for Your Health

Older Americans are healthier than ever before. Studies have found that as many as 89 percent of Americans ages 65 to 74 report having no serious disabilities. And nearly 40 percent of people over age 65 and 31 percent of those over age 85 rate their health as very good or excellent.

Certainly, medical breakthroughs have played a role in this encouraging trend. But the real driving force behind all of this is simple: Seniors are taking better care of themselves, says Harrison Bloom, M.D., vice chairman of clinical affairs in the department of geriatrics and adult development at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Older Americans smoke less, get more exercise, eat less fat, and are more apt to seek preventive care than seniors did 40 years ago.

As a result, the prevalence of emphysema, arthritis, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke, and high blood pressure has dipped, and the average number of diseases afflicting a typical older person has plunged.

But even if you’ve smoked, drunk, and eaten too much and exercised far too little in the past few decades, there is still time to help yourself achieve healthy living in later life, Dr. Bloom points out. “It’s nonsense to think that you’re too old to begin living in more healthy ways,” he declares. “It just makes sense to do everything you can to prevent as many ailments as possible as you get older.”

In fact, preventive care, including getting regular screening tests and knowing how to manage your medications, is essential if you want to remain independent and self-reliant as you age, according to Dr. Bloom. Here are some basic preventive strategies that should help you achieve and maintain a healthy senior lifestyle.

Check Your Checkups

Certainly, what you can do for yourself at home is the core of good preventive care. But there also is much that you and your doctor can do in partnership to ensure that you will stay healthy for many years to come.

Get regular health examinations. In most instances, the annual head-to-toe physical is as arcane as the Studebaker, Dr. Bloom says. It’s better to get regular health exams that are tailored to your age, lifestyle, and physical condition.

Cholesterol screening, for instance, isn’t as accurate a gauge of heart attack risk in seniors as it is among younger people. So your doctor may forgo cholesterol screening after you are in your seventies unless you have a family history of heart disease. Other important optional tests for seniors, depending on health and medical history, include pap smears for women and digital rectal exams and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood screenings for men.

Get immunized. Everyone over 65 should have a flu shot each fall, Dr. Bloom says. At age 65, you should have a one-time immunization to prevent pneumonia. Every 10 years—at 55, 65, and 75, for instance—you should get a tetanus-diphtheria shot.

Get your blood pressure checked. Your blood pressure should be checked by a doctor or nurse at least once a year. High blood pressure (readings consistently above 140/90) is an important risk factor for stroke and heart disease.

Get screened for colon cancer. Each year, nearly 18,000 deaths from colon and rectal cancer could be prevented if all men and women over age 50 were screened for these diseases. Typically, this means having an annual stool test, an examination of the rectum and lower colon every 5 years, and a thorough examination of the entire colon every 10 years. If you have a family history of colo rectal cancer, your doctor will likely want to screen you more often, Dr. Bloom suggests.

Get a complete skin inspection. Examine your skin at least once a month for suspicious-looking moles or sores that might be signs of skin cancer. Ask your doctor to do a thorough examination of your skin at least once a year.

Get out of the habit. About 23 percent of people over age 65 still smoke. If you’re one of them, ask your doctor about new drug treatments that can help you quit. In addition, there are self-help smoking cessation programs that are tailored specifically for people over age 50.

Women, get regular breast exams. Women over 50 should have mammograms every one or two years to detect breast cancer, Dr. Bloom says.

Manage Your Medications

Americans over age 65 purchase 30 percent of all prescrip tion drugs and 40 percent of all over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But arthritis, poor eyesight, and memory lapses can make it difficult for some seniors to take their medications properly, Dr. Bloom says. In fact, some studies suggest that between 40 and 75 percent of older adults don’t take their medications at the right times or in the right amounts. Here are a few ways you can sidestep these problems.

Explore the alternatives. Ask your doctor if, instead of taking a medicine, you first can try a nondrug treatment such as diet, stress management, and exercise, Dr. Bloom suggests.

Learn all you can about the drug. Before you leave your doctor’s office or pharmacy with a new prescription, make sure you fully understand how to take the drug properly, Dr. Bloom says. Ask the following questions.

• What is the name of the drug and what will it do?

• How often should I take it?

• How long should I take it?

• When should I take it? As needed? Before, with, after, or between meals? At bedtime?

• If I forget to take it, what should I do?

• What side effects might I expect? Should I report them?

• Will I need periodic blood or urine tests to monitor adverse effects?

• Is there any information about this drug that I can take home with me?

Follow directions. Always take the medicine in the exact amount and on the same schedule prescribed by your doctor. Make sure you’re taking the right drug, says Dr. Bloom. To prevent mistakes, read the label every time you take the medication.

Tweak your memory. Set an alarm clock, carry a pillbox, or mark a calendar. Do whatever is necessary to remind yourself to take your medication.

Ask your pharmacist for a hand. Request an oversized, easy-to-open bottle, says W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., R.Ph., professor of nonprescription drug products at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. If the label is hard to read, ask the pharmacist to use large type.

Pitch the ancient wonders. Check expiration dates on your medicine bottles. Throw out any drugs that have expired.

Keep it to yourself. Never take drugs prescribed for another person or give your medication to someone else, Dr. Pray says.

Keep a daily record of all of the drugs you take. Include prescription and OTC drugs. Jot down the name of each drug, the doctor who prescribed it, the amount you take, and the times of day you take it, Dr. Pray suggests. Keep a copy in your medicine cabinet and one in your wallet or pocketbook so it can easily be found in an emergency.

Finish what you start. Even if you are feeling better, never stop taking a prescription medication without a doctor’s consent, Dr. Bloom says. If you think the medication is causing a problem, consult your physician.

Recognize Side Effects

Drugs can do wondrous things. They can relieve pain, eliminate the need for surgery, and even keep you alive. But as you get older, your metabolism slows, so drugs stay in your system longer and are more apt to cause side effects, according to Dr. Bloom. In addition, taking two or more medications—as two-thirds of older Americans do each day—puts you at even greater risk of an adverse reaction.

Here’s how Dr. Bloom and Dr. Pray say you can minimize the risks.

• Always tell your doctor about past problems that you’ve had with drugs, including rashes, drowsiness, insomnia, allergies, dehydration, faintness, diarrhea, or indigestion.

• Take a list of all your medicines—including OTC drugs—with you each time you visit your doctor. Ask your doctor if you can reduce any dosages or if you can safely stop taking any medication. If you have several physicians, make sure they all know what the others are prescribing, and ask your primary-care physician to coordinate your use of these medications.

• Keep alcohol out of the mix. Don’t use alcohol when you are taking any medication unless your doctor says it’s okay. Some drugs simply don’t work as well or may make you ill or drowsy if taken with alcohol.