Frequent Diseases Which Affect People Over the Age of 50

The human body falls prey to a variety of diseases as it grows older. The strength and agility of both the body and the mind start depleting at a rapid rate. This is the time when an aged person gets most susceptible and vulnerable.



Following are the frequent diseases which are most common in people over 50 years of age:

 • Urinary In-consistence: This is a very common disease among disease associate with aging which causes a heavy impact on the quality of life. The urinary bladder loses its capability to control. As a result, this leads to less or severe involuntary leakage of urine. Mostly common in women, this can also happen to men.

 • Heart Disease: As a person starts growing old, all the organs in the body start losing their efficiencies. The one organ which remains most at risk is the heart. It is mainly caused due to irregular function of the heart and the arteries. The common agents behind heart disease are excessive stress, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption.

 • Eyesight Problems: Our eyes lose its strength as we grow old. Although myopia (shortsightedness), hypermetropia (farsightedness) and astigmatism are common problems with eyesight at all ages, the ones which are a real danger to the aged people are glaucoma, cataracts, presbyopia, and macular degeneration. Eye floaters and flashes are also being frequently reported by old people.

 • Alzheimer’s disease: This disease is the most familiar form of dementia. Sadly, there is no such cure for this illness. It grows with the progress of time and eventually kills the patient. The most common symptoms are irritability, confusion and long-term memory loss. Although it is generally reported in people over 65, it is also being frequently found in people over 50.

 • Osteoporosis: It is the disease which makes the bones of the aged people brittle which an increased chance of fracture. This mainly happens due to the loss of tissue caused by the deficit of Vitamin D and calcium. It has no such symptom. This disease increases the risk of breaking a bone whenever an elderly falls down.

 • Hair Loss: The most common cause of hair loss in aged people is balding. The growth rate of hair decreases as a person grows old. The follicles that surround the root of the hair also do not often respond properly. Moreover, it is seen that hair loss in aged people is caused due to diabetes, hypothyroidism and deficiency of iron in the body.

Although these are the most common diseases in aged people over 50 years of age, there are numerous minor and fatal diseases which affect the human body. In order to stay fit, healthy and away from these diseases as much as possible, extensive care for the elderly must be taken. The elderly people should be taken to frequent checkups, so that it is not too late to diagnose a disease. They should indulge daily in simple physical exercises like morning walks. When they are ill, home health care services must be contacted. These service providers are trained professionals who are expert in taking care of the elderly people during a disease and help them get back to normal lifestyle as soon as possible.

Author Adam Wilson talks about the most common diseases that affect people who are over the age of 50, with special reference to home health care service providers.