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Ageism
As
more people live to an older age, there are more opportunities for
us to be aware of the process of ageing. It is commonly understood
that a person's physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions
undergo changes with ageing. Most organ systems in the body show
a loss of the component cells as well as a reduction in functional
capacity. However changes due to ageing alone usually do not result
in any significant disability.
Ageing
does result in a lower reserve capacity so that when the organ is
subjected to damage by a disease, its ability to perform is significantly
diminished. For example, the brain's nerve cells gradually reduce
in number with increasing age. However this does not cause older
people to suffer from memory loss or personality changes. It has
been shown that an older person's ability to learn new things is
comparable to that of a younger person. Hence there is no such thing
as senile dementia.
Dementia
(a syndrome of memory loss and intellectual deterioration) does
not occur due to senility (ageing). However, if the ageing brain
encounters insults from stroke or degenerative diseases, the additional
damage caused by the disease may compromise brain function, resulting
in dementia. Thus it is important to differentiate disease processes
from ageing changes because disease may be treated or prevented.
Besides
dementia, there is a long list of problems which older people face
as a result of disease and not ageing. These include incontinence,
falls, difficulty with walking, joint pains, poor vision and hearing.
Attributing
these problems to old age is simply sweeping the problems under
the carpet. The suffering still does not go away. The sad thing
is that little or nothing is done because the person is "so
old already!" This attitude is known as ageism.
Ageism
is not just prevalent among older people and their families, but
among health professionals too. The following anecdote illustrates
this: A 102-year-old man went to see his doctor for pain in his
left knee. His doctor remarked, "What do you expect? You are
already 102!"The man replied, "Well, my right knee is
102 years old too, and it doesn't hurt."
Older
people should not be denied treatment on the basis of age alone.
Their ability to recover from illness should not be underestimated.
After all they are survivors. It is indeed remarkable how many physical,
emotional and social crises they must have survived to reach their
present age. In these more enlightened times, there is no reason
why they should not survive their remaining years with less pain
and discomfort.
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