Thank you dear subscribers, we are overwhelmed with your response.
As the United States of America gives way to its New President after having bid goodbye to the old, we must take into consideration the qualities that a head of state must possess in order to conduct his administration well.
Grey matter, often the moniker for the cognitive ability of the brain is a term used for the terminal ends of the neurons, is located in the outermost layer of the brain. It is responsible for processing information and releasing new information via signals through axons found in the white matter. The white matter refers to axons, the tail like projections from the neurons that conduct the nerve impulses from one neuron to another.
The size of the brain has been found to decrease with age, particularly beyond the age of 70 where there is reduction of the sizes of certain structures present in the brain. These are the pre-frontal cortex, the cerebellar hemispheres and the hippocampus.
The Pre-frontal cortex is responsible for decision-making, reasoning, personality expression and maintaining social appropriateness. The cerebellar hemispheres help in motor planning, the timing of the onset of movements, and their coordination. The hippocampus is responsible for episodic memory and semantic memory.
The above factors may help us understand why the elderly sometimes make mistakes in calculation or are awkward in social settings. This would also explain why they have inco-ordination while walking and are prone to falls. The above systems explain thinking and behaviour. However, memory can be elucidated upon further.
Episodic memory a type of long-term memory that involves conscious recollection of previous experiences along with their context in terms of time, place and associated emotions. For example, your first day at college, or the moment you arrived at a new city.
Semantic memory on the other hand involves the recollection of ideas, concepts, and facts commonly regarded as general knowledge. For example, Washington DC is the capital of the United States or rats and elephants are both mammals.
Apart from the likelihood of stroke that might occur if associated conditions are not well managed and the benefits of exercise which can help the brain wearing an adult protective helmet can help safeguard complications if they fall on their head.
Ways and means to combat the acceleration of the aging brain can involve primarily to eat a healthy balanced diet and involve oneself in frequent exercise as well as take up tasks that can prevent cognitive decline. Involving older adults in training in reasoning and speed of processing has shown results of lesser cognitive decline amongst them as compared to control groups.
Staying connected with family, friends, and neighbours through social activities and community programs helps in warding off isolation and loneliness. Co-incidentally, they have also been found to help slow the progression of cognitive decline.
When it comes to imbalance and in-coordination, a set of exercises called Balance Exercises can help build strength and improve posture, stability and coordination. These aid in reducing one’s chances of falling or bumping into things and causing an injury. They involve core exercises, weight shifts, posture exercises and strength exercises.
Breathing also becomes difficult as one ages. Respiratory muscle strength decreases with age and can prevent one from effectively coughing. How it matters to us Anaesthesiologists, is that the elderly patient will not be able to cough out the secretions, thereby causing increasing difficulty in breathing and the onset of respiratory infections. The chest wall loses its elasticity and the lungs find it difficult to expand with every breath. Apart from aerobic exercises such as walking and yoga, we can support respiratory function by asking the elderly to do breathing exercises on the incentive spirometer. This involves breathing in air through a device with resistance and 3 plastic balls. Every time one breathes in the air, each ball flies up successively depending on the amount of respiratory effort expended. This will increase oxygen delivery to the lungs and brain. Frequently doing this will help the elderly stay alert and motivated to take on the stressors of old age.
Thin fine hair lines the respiratory passages and are known as cilia. The beating of the cilia helps in clearing out microbes and organisms that lead to pneumonias. With age, the frequency of the beating of cilia reduces, and microbes tend to stay and are not pushed out of the lungs, leading to increased respiratory infections in the elderly.
Apart from advising the elderly to wear masks in polluted regions, Flu vaccines such as pneumococcal vaccines are now made available for the elderly above 65 years of age. This would help safeguard themselves from acquiring influenza.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.