- The antioxidants with the sources are :
Vitamin A ( dairy products, eggs) , Vitamin c ( oranges , berries , bell peppers) , vitamin E ( nuts and seeds , sunflower and other vegetable oils, green leafy vegetables), beta-carotene ( carrots, peas, spinach, mangoes), lycopene( tomatoes and water melon), selenium ( rice, corn, wheat and other whole grains, nuts, eggs, cheese , legumes), lutein( green leafy vegetables, corn, papaya and oranges), other good sources are eggplants, black beans/kidney beans, green and black teas, pomegranates, blueberries, apples, lentils.
Eating sprouts daily in breakfast or as side salads also helps in balancing the weight because it is rich in protein content. Balancing the protein, carbohydrate and fat content in the food helps in fighting against obesity.
“Hence Weight reduction is the most important factor for changing the quality of life.”
Stop smoking/drinking: smoking and alcohol as we all know is harmful to our body but still who are addicted to them finds difficult in avoiding them, moreover the withdrawal symptoms don’t let them to stop. So need to seek the medical help ASAP. Medicines can help to fight with the cravings. Our lungs have a magically healing property of the damaged tissue caused due to smoking.
- Within in 1 month of quitting, the healing occurs and the symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath begins to relieve. Addiction of alcohol damages our liver causing cirrhosis, alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis etc., and lead to many heart and psychological diseases. De-addiction with the help of medical services like medicines or rehabilitation centers are highly recommended.
- Promote socialization: socialization plays an important role in our life, no matter of what age we are in. For our elders it provides emotional and psychological support. This support could be from family and friends.
- A daily walk with friends or family members would benefit them from good physical health and also gives them a fresh mind and also helps with good sleep. Being alone and the feeling of not wanting might devastate them mentally which would directly affect their mental health and make them more frustrated and depressed and vulnerable. So a limited time of family time or friend’s time is recommended for their wellbeing of physical and mental health
- Secondary Prevention: the one which prevents the further advancement/complications of the disease. It includes “Early diagnosis and prompt treatment.”
Regular body checkups are advised from the age of 40’s especially. They could be half-yearly/annually as per need. By this the risk factor for some major disease or the diseases itself could be diagnosed early and could be managed well, preventing any further complications by taking the precautions.
The most common diseases are like diabetes and hypertension, thyroid diseases, which on ignoring might lead to many heart problems and also might damage other organs like kidneys, liver etc., and other diseases like arthritis, cataract, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s, age related dementia etc.,
For diabetic patients, fasting and postprandial (2 hrs. after breakfast) blood sugar levels need to checked every month. Hb1ac test gives the average sugar levels of past 2-3 months. Other tests to be checked regularly in diabetic profile are lipid profile that talks about the cholesterol levels, kidney function test for kidney function and liver function tests for liver function, funduscopic for eye function, ankle brachial index, blood pressure, ECG, thyroid function tests.
For hypertension patients, regular blood pressure checkup , kidney function tests, liver function tests, ECG, are recommended half-yearly/annually.
Females specially need to get the gynecological checkup and mammography test done annually to rule out the risk of ovarian, uterine and breast cancers. Females at 40’s or above deal with menopausal issues so gynecological checkups are highly recommended because these hormonal changes in a female body lead to many health issues as decreasing in body calcium and phosphorus levels making them prone to osteoporosis and arthritis.
People at this age also have vitamin-D and vitamin- B12 deficiency and also have low calcium levels. So calcium tablets and multivitamin tablets might be recommended by the physician as per requirement.
