Luciana Baroni
In industrialized countries the average age of the population is increasing, and the number of elderly people is gradually on the rise. Our children have a greater chance than us parents live long. But living like?
A healthy old age, which can last more than twenty years, is a phase of life of each individual that is worth living, because only in its pleasant aspects (wisdom gained, the possibility of Use Leisure, overcoming many of Compulsory and responsibilities), and those unpleasant (loneliness, physical limitations, depression). Old age is not synonymous with disease, but the balance of these two aspects is governed by the state of health, and with advancing age increases the risk of disease.
Only a small proportion of older people can lead to healthy aging, maintaining self-sufficiency to the end and remain in their own homes, often because they are women who have always been able to get along fine on their own.
The vast majority of older arrives in this age having to deal with a number of health problems, usually chronic. When a disease is "chronic" means that does not heal, and can only get worse more slowly or not to worsen if untreated. The onset of new chronic diseases in the same individual brings to score a "carnet" of disease, and for medicines to be taken, which often exceeds the capacities necessary to remember them.
Oversimplified, a person will be "much more "sick," many more "or" more severe "are the diseases it is suffering. The more sick is a senior, the worse will be its quality of life.
At one point takes the condition of non-self-sufficiency, terrible situation for human dignity and devastating-when experienced consciously by the subject-the psychological point of view: the individual is no longer able to care for himself, of perform normal daily activities (personal care, food, travel) and are dependent on determining another person, the caregiver (the person providing the assistance).
The non-self-sufficiency is established because of physical limitations that undermine the movement for mental problems that limit the ability to manage themselves or, as often happens, for the coexistence of both.
The most frequent diseases are arthritis, arteriosclerosis and hypertension and related complications (stroke with hemiplegia, myocardial infarction, peripheral arterial disease), diabetes, osteoporosis, Parkinson's and dementia.
Other frequent diseases, cancer, affect the flow of life in different phases: the individual can not afford to grow old, or do old victim of enormous suffering.
All of these diseases varies, but in no small measure are preventable with the food. Their incidence is significantly higher than in countries where the diet is rich in animal products and low in simple food. In countries where the diet is based mainly on plant foods are much less common these diseases or even unknown.
Because the elderly are the population share "non-productive", the economic burden-assitenziale is entrusted to the general population, it is clear that it is also vital for the Company that the greatest number of individuals to become an elder- healthy. Overcoming
in good health 65 years, however, is something that is not unexpected and does not depend too much by fate, although a little 'luck does not hurt anyway. It 's something that we must prepare "before", respecting the rules of healthy living.
In this regard, proper vegetarian food, the more indirect and low in animal foods such as early embraced, is certainly an important variable in the state of health. Only for cancer, it is estimated that approximately 30-50% of cases attributable to dietary factors.
Here is how the Vegetarian Nutrition is of to all intents and purposes a role of primary prevention, like other measures to control other risk factors for disease (eg smoking), allowing the maintenance Health status of individuals over time, consistent with the physiological changes due to aging of the organism.
But the vegetarian diet has much potential as secondary prevention measures precisely those diseases so frequent in the elderly: it is that is able to slow or reverse the course, once you are put in place: this is possible for ' atherosclerosis (as demonstrated by studies of dr. Ornish on regression of coronary atherosclerosis), diabetes, hypertension, many cancers, osteoarthritis. A vegetarian diet is also helpful in Parkinson's disease, slowing the path to physical disability.
The ability to be able to improve the course of these diseases can affect the use of drugs often cause side effects, and real illnesses (referred to as just "jatrogene", that is secondary, in the broadest sense, intervention doctor), as well as being one of the causes of financial distress of the welfare state-or-if there is the individual, who often must give up eating or heating up to pay for medicines.
At all ages, and until the end, the life event has to be a "decent" a few choices of life, including the type of power can not possible to cross the last stage of our short stay on earth with the joy of "being there".
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