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This helps, but it won't beat genetics. My mother ate healthy, exercised and took supplements her entire life, and she still looks like the Hunchback of Notre Dame now in her 80's.
I exercised my whole adult life,and weight-bearing and cardio, and I am becoming riddled with arthritis and other degenerative problems in the past few years (I'm 55 now) and it is literally the thing keeping me from exercising. I have to keep changing what I do, and the list gets smaller and smaller....can't run anymore due to my knees, walking long distances hurts since I had back surgery last year (degenerative, and most likely due to my gym rat weightlifting days plus my genetics), and now I can't even do my back exercises on my hands and knees because a few weeks ago I developed tendonitis in my right wrist (guessing partly from drying my hair with a round brush for decades and other repetitive things, plus my genetics (that's actually the most relevant factor). I can't even get something out of my purse with my right hand, and I'm right handed. Have an appointment in 2 weeks, and hoping a shot of Cortisone is all it needs.
So while exercise and eating right are vital, they only go so far. I feel now that a lot of the exercises I did actually contributed to the degeneration of my joints, and that yoga was not the best thing for my back, with a pre-disposition for osteoporosis (there is a world-renowned PT named Sarah Meeks who is adamant that flexion should be avoided at all costs with those with this genetic makeup)
But I still do exercise, I just have to keep changing to find the right thing depending on what hurts that week, lol.
I do admit it kind of makes me mad that I tried to do everything right and didn't get to skip deteriorating, makes me feel like maybe I should have had the Bloomin' Onion once in a while
Have you tried water aerobics? I just started these up a couple of months ago and I LOVE it. Now I'm getting five hours a week of movement and exercise that's easy on my joints.
I ended up "settling" for water aerobics after I injured both Achilles tendons and now can no longer do the power walking that I did for years. I also can't get on a treadmill because my feet just can't take the pounding of that sort of walking. So I was ticked off - that's what I LIKED to do for exercise and I thought it was so good for me (which it is) - so good for my cardiovascular health as well. I was so mad!
But it took me a good three years to finally try water aerobics because I had a lot of misconceptions about it - mainly that it was only for "old women." I'm 55. I don't feel old. But I am post menopausal and when I had a bone density scan it did show a bit of bone density loss (not osteoporosis but a deficit and I know it will only get worse). Then I read up about calcium supplement risks. I decided that I needed to be sure my DIET contained enough calcium and that I got some sort of exercise regularly.
Water aerobics is good for overall bone healthy, cardiovascular health, balance, etc but it's not as effective for bone density as exercise outside of the water - but it's still pretty effective and it's so good for your overall health and balance that experts consider it to be good for bone health in general. Tests have shown that people who do water aerobics have healthier bones (and joints and muscles and overall fitness) than those who don't do water aerobics.
Really good articles and studies on the positive effects of water aerobics for people experiencing bone and balance loss:
Have you tried water aerobics? I just started these up a couple of months ago and I LOVE it. Now I'm getting five hours a week of movement and exercise that's easy on my joints.
I ended up "settling" for water aerobics after I injured both Achilles tendons and now can no longer do the power walking that I did for years. I also can't get on a treadmill because my feet just can't take the pounding of that sort of walking. So I was ticked off - that's what I LIKED to do for exercise and I thought it was so good for me (which it is) - so good for my cardiovascular health as well. I was so mad!
But it took me a good three years to finally try water aerobics because I had a lot of misconceptions about it - mainly that it was only for "old women." I'm 55. I don't feel old. But I am post menopausal and when I had a bone density scan it did show a bit of bone density loss (not osteoporosis but a deficit and I know it will only get worse). Then I read up about calcium supplement risks. I decided that I needed to be sure my DIET contained enough calcium and that I got some sort of exercise regularly.
Water aerobics is good for overall bone healthy, cardiovascular health, balance, etc but it's not as effective for bone density as exercise outside of the water - but it's still pretty effective and it's so good for your overall health and balance that experts consider it to be good for bone health in general. Tests have shown that people who do water aerobics have healthier bones (and joints and muscles and overall fitness) than those who don't do water aerobics.
Really good articles and studies on the positive effects of water aerobics for people experiencing bone and balance loss:
I have thought about that ( and yes I too think "but it's so old ladyish!" Lol. My main issue is time. Not for the exercise but having to shower and most of all do my hair after. That turns a 45 minute workout into an hour and a half, and most days I am time crunched and I know I'd bail on it too much.
Older people become afraid once they fall, it affects them mentally. My mom broke her arm and never left rehab until she died. She was more afraid to even walk for fear she would fall and could not help herself. I asked her Doctor why she couldn't walk , he said many elderly after falling become so afraid of being hurt again can't walk. They need rehab to help them balance their bodies again. It would work for a few days then my mom would become bed ridden. Then she got sick and never got beteer.
My Mother fell backwards on about the third step of some stairs. She hit her head, recovered but was never the same. Started a 2-3 year decline until she passed away. Very sad to see it all unfold that way.
I have thought about that ( and yes I too think "but it's so old ladyish!" Lol. My main issue is time. Not for the exercise but having to shower and most of all do my hair after. That turns a 45 minute workout into an hour and a half, and most days I am time crunched and I know I'd bail on it too much.
Well, it's true - it is an hour and a half for me from start to finish with a shower afterward.
I have thought about that ( and yes I too think "but it's so old ladyish!" Lol. My main issue is time. Not for the exercise but having to shower and most of all do my hair after. That turns a 45 minute workout into an hour and a half, and most days I am time crunched and I know I'd bail on it too much.
I don't do water aerobics, but I find that any exercise more strenuous than taking a leisurely stroll on a cool day requires a shower afterwards. What exercise are you able to do that is effective but doesn't leave you sweaty and disheveled? Maybe you just need to time your workouts, whatever they are, so you don't need to fix up your hair and go out afterwards.
Back on topic, someone left me a reputation comment stating that it was not strange that my grandmother died after breaking her hip because after all, she was 97. Kind of a "what do you expect?" comment. But before her fall, my grandmother was walking around (with a walker, to be sure), eating normally, and doing other everyday activities. She didn't have heart disease or any other known conditions. After the fall, she went downhill and died in a matter of weeks--again, of no known condition; she just stopped eating. If she hadn't fallen, I think she would have kept going for quite a while longer. No matter what someone's age, it is still strange to think that a broken bone can precipitate death that fast.
I don't do water aerobics, but I find that any exercise more strenuous than taking a leisurely stroll on a cool day requires a shower afterwards. What exercise are you able to do that is effective but doesn't leave you sweaty and disheveled? Maybe you just need to time your workouts, whatever they are, so you don't need to fix up your hair and go out afterwards.
Back on topic, someone left me a reputation comment stating that it was not strange that my grandmother died after breaking her hip because after all, she was 97. Kind of a "what do you expect?" comment. But before her fall, my grandmother was walking around (with a walker, to be sure), eating normally, and doing other everyday activities. She didn't have heart disease or any other known conditions. After the fall, she went downhill and died in a matter of weeks--again, of no known condition; she just stopped eating. If she hadn't fallen, I think she would have kept going for quite a while longer. No matter what someone's age, it is still strange to think that a broken bone can precipitate death that fast.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...ult-falls.html From that CDC link: "Every second of every day in the United States an older adult falls, making falls the number one cause of injuries and deaths from injury among older Americans."
On that note; I have known two avid (more like compulsive) bike riders. Both were exercise freaks and both were in great condition in their twenties and thirties. However, by the time they reached their sixties; they looked and walked as if they were twenty or thirty years older. They had many falls in their cycling careers. It was not only that; but the sun aged them. Moderation is the key to longer, painless, lives. Of course there is still the problem with genetics and some were just not meant to live those long lives.
I did not make that comment; which sounds cold. But I do think that our elderly, that have lived long productive lives; suffer from more than just a fall or major medical problems. If somebody always took care of themselves; the idea that they have to depend on others, to supply their needs, has to emotionally hurt. You go from a position of confidence and self assurance; to dependent and that could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I am 85 and my wife is 87. Both in good health, and we are active. We have both had our bones tested to find their condition, and passed with them telling us both our bones are strong and thick and have not deteriorated. We have both fallen, and no problems from them, due to the strength of our bones.
But we take precautions to keep ourselves safe. We live in a 3,700 sq. ft. 4 level home (no basement). To be able to live here, we have 3 chair lifts, so we don't have to worry about falling on the stairs. We have grab bars, in all bathrooms, etc. We have made sure things are safe for us to do our everyday activities. We installed running boards on our Explorer SUV, to make it easier to enter and exit it. We know we cannot be on our feet for long periods of time, as we tire after a while. We have handicap carts that look like small rail cars, that old up to go in a small bag for air travel. Fold out and we can go about anywhere. Weight 35 pounds, due to made of aluminum tubing. Every young kid that sees us on one, wants his/her own.
That's a big house for 2 of you and a lot of older folks scale down in size as they age. But everyone does their thing. Maybe you have a lot of house guests.
I don't understand why falling pretty much guarantees that an elderly person will never be the same. When my grandmother fell, she broke her hip and never fully recovered. And everyone was panicked when my other grandmother fell in her own home as well. Is it simply that the elderly don't recover as fast or what? Neither grandmother died from their falls but did decline in other areas after the falls.
Just curious.
They probably had falls before the one that resulted in broken bones. Having a prior mobility-related condition is predictive of failure to recover.
It probably also depends a lot on the nature of the injury. A pelvic fracture seems to be much more difficult to recover from than the normal broken hip. It was very difficult to help with the rehab because the progress was so uneven with multiple bone breaks. You couldn't count on one day being better than the previous day.
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