What is the significance of geriatric disease prevention?

The core meaning is actually just one sentence - to change "live a long time" into "live a happy life", extend the healthy survival period as much as possible, and shorten the time when the patient becomes disabled and bedridden in the later stage. This not only allows the elderly to suffer less, but also reduces the care burden of the entire family.

Nowadays, there is a lot of debate about the prevention of geriatric diseases. Many elderly people and even young family members feel that "all diseases occur as a result of the natural law, and all efforts to prevent them are in vain." However, the clinicians and friends in the public health field that I have contacted in the past few years all agree that more than 80% of common chronic diseases in the elderly, such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, can be delayed through early intervention, or even completely avoided.

I have been working in the elderly health field in the community for almost 6 years, and I have seen too many elderly people of the same age and with similar basic physical conditions. Just because of their different attitudes towards prevention, their lives in their later years are very different. For example, two uncles I followed up in the same community in the past two years were both diagnosed with prehypertension and high uric acid during free physical examinations in our community when they were 63 years old. They lived in buildings less than 100 meters apart. An uncle surnamed Liu waved his hand and left, saying that there was nothing wrong with him. He would have to take antihypertensive medicine sooner or later, drink as much wine as he should, and have barbecue braised food twice a week. As a result, he had a sudden illness when he got up early to buy groceries in the winter just after he turned 68. I suffered from a cerebral infarction. After being rescued, the left side of my body became paralyzed. Now I have to be fed by my wife when I eat. I can’t even hold the pieces of my favorite chess piece. The last time I saw him in the community rehabilitation room, he pulled me into tears and said that I wish I had listened to our advice. Another uncle named Wang took me and asked me what to pay attention to for almost half an hour. After that, I walked around the community for 40 minutes every day after dinner. I replaced the high-alcohol wine I drank for decades with an occasional small glass of red wine with my old friend. I rarely touch high-purine seafood and braised food. Now I'm 71 now. Except for the occasional fluctuation in my blood pressure after staying up late to watch football, I can still go hiking in the countryside with my old friend. Last month, I took my wife to Sanya for more than half a month. I posted photos on my friends circle of picking up shells at the beach. I'm in better spirits than many people in their 50s.

What do you think is the difference between these two people? In fact, it only takes a few years of early prevention. Don't think this is an exception. I looked at statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a while ago. If you intervene early in geriatric diseases, the average healthy life expectancy can be increased by 3 to 5 years, and the time of disability can be shortened by more than 2 years on average. If you do the math, these extra years are a good time to go to the park, take care of your grandchildren, and do whatever you want. Instead of lying in a hospital bed with a tube inserted, the value is not comparable to the savings in physical examination fees and medical expenses.

In fact, an old man's body is no different from an old house he has lived in for decades. If you check it regularly, repair leaks in water pipes early, and replace old circuits early, you can live comfortably for a long time. If you ignore everything and wait until the wall peels off, the water pipe bursts, and the foundation is crooked before trying to repair it, not only will you spend several times the money, but there will be hidden dangers everywhere after the repair, and you will not be able to live in a safe place.

Nowadays, when many people mention the prevention of geriatric diseases, they think that they need to buy a bunch of expensive health care products for the elderly, which cost thousands of dollars, or do complicated health care programs. In fact, this is not the case. They just take the elderly for a targeted physical examination every year. They usually remind them to smoke less, eat less oily and salty foods, and move for half an hour every day. If you have a headache or brain fever, don’t force yourself to go see it early. It is more effective than anything else. To put it bluntly, what prevents geriatric diseases is not the disease at all, but the quality of life of the elderly in their later years, and a stable life for the whole family without being overwhelmed by the pressure of care.