Improving nutrition in the elderly heart disease Causes and Prevention

In elderly persons, heart disease is a common illness and the leading major cause of death. The main reasons for doctor visits and hospital stays are heart failure, coronary heart disease, and atrial fibrillation.

As you become older, the heart’s blood vessels stiffen, which could lead to these problems later in life. High cholesterol is the most frequent heart disease in elder people over 75, followed by coronary artery disease and cardiac failure.

Plaque builds up in the bloodstream and blood vessels which leads to the heart, resulting in heart disease. This prevents your heart from getting vital nutrients and oxygen. During such time an Elderly care service plays an effective role. The Causes and prevention required to improve the nutrition in the elderly heart disease patients are detailed below.

Causes of heart disease

The most common cause of heart disease is the accumulation of fatty hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis is caused by unhealthy lifestyle habits that include a poor diet, lack of physical activity, being overweight, and smoking. Although genetic factors play a part in the development of heart disease, poor lifestyle choices also play a role.

The following are some bad lifestyle choices that might lead to heart disease:

Not getting enough physical activity and leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Consuming a diet heavy in saturated fats, trans fats, sugary foods, and salts.
Being in a high-stress situation without learning how to manage stress.
Not being able to control your diabetes.
Smoking.
Consuming alcohol.

Preventive steps towards heart disease

You can prevent future heart disease by incorporating four important steps into your daily routine:

Smoking is not permitted.
Keep a healthy weight.
Be active and exercise.
Maintain a balanced diet.

Smoking

Avoiding cigarettes in any form is among the best things you could do for your health. Tobacco usage is a difficult habit to kick out that can make you slower, sicker, and damage your health. It does this in several ways, one of which is by causing heart disease. According to the study, quitting smoking can reduce substantially the increased risk associated with smoking.
Nicotine, which is delivered via tobacco products, is among the most addicting chemicals known to man. As a result, tobacco use is one of the most difficult unhealthy habits to stop. But don’t give up; many smokers succeed in quitting!

Keep a healthy weight

Weight gain and a high waist circumference are both linked to heart disease among many other health issues.
Body mass index (BMI) was found to be a substantial risk factor for heart disease in a study of over one million women. The risk of heart attack and stroke rises in step with one’s BMI.

Be active and exercise

Physical activity and exercise are good strategies to avoid heart disease and a variety of other diseases and ailments, but as we age, many of us become less active.
Physical activity and exercise are beneficial to the body, but inactivity is harmful to the body, increasing the risk of becoming overweight and suffering a variety of chronic diseases.

Maintain a balanced diet.

Although you may be aware that some foods raise your risk of heart disease, altering your dietary habits might be difficult. whether you’ve been eating badly for years or just want to fine-tune your diet. You’ll be on your way to a heart-healthy diet as you understand which foodstuffs to eat more and which ones to limit.

The best diet for preventing heart disease is one that is high in fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts, fish, poultry, and vegetable oils; alcohol is consumed in moderation, if at all; and red and processed meats, refined carbohydrates, carbonated beverages with added sugar, sodium, and trans fat are avoided.

Many types of heart disease can indeed be avoided or cured by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Let’s do our part, by treating our hearts right!

How a nurse at home can be helpful for a patient with respiratory diseases?

When living with respiratory diseases, breathing is a very difficult task. Respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder (CPOD), interstitial lung disease, lung cancer, and so on requires a lot more care than just the oral medicines provided. Proper care and attention are to be required by experts to help you treat such disease with good effect and get fast recovery. For the solution to such problems Home nursing services are available, where the nurses keep the patients in complete observation and provide the patients with respiratory care at home.

However, nowadays doctors are also suggestions for home care so that the patients can recover fast in the family surroundings with ward boy services delivered and arranged just like the hospital. The nursing caretakers aides to create a management plan and deliver hospital treatment in the comfort of their own homes.

When the blood does not have much oxygen and contains too much carbon dioxide, it becomes difficult for a person to breathe resulting in respiratory diseases. The nurse at home can give you assistance with personal care and hygiene which includes Bathing, Toileting, Dressing, Grooming, and more. They even provide oxygen therapies that relieve pain and restore functionality. Apart from that, they look after the daily tasks of monitoring your blood pressure and giving the required medicines and injections on time. Some of the exercises they provide include:

Exercising your breath:

Helps to breathe smoothly and receive maximum oxygen.

Exercising aerobically:

Helps to physically move the body resulting in improving blood circulation.

Exercising your position:

Helps in improving the volume of the lungs so that the breathing efforts are decreased.

To take care of patients, the caretaker needs to be alert and have patience at the same time. But to provide the best care possible is the bigger task. To deal with such a situation you can hire professional nursing caretakers who are the best at the job. The Patient care services in Nashik and Pune are the best services providing a range of Care services like:

Elderly Care
Physiotherapy Care
Newborn Care
Post-surgery Care
Respiratory Care and so on.

Create better quality patient care by connecting to the best services for your loved one!

How meditation can help the elderly?

Meditation has been practiced for generations to assist people in feeling more at ease. Meditation has grown in popularity in recent years as a result of its scientifically proven advantages.
Meditation is a form of directing your mind to concentrate, relax, and refocus your thoughts. Mindfulness training can improve self-care patterns and relationships while also increasing awareness and self-reflection.
Meditation relaxes the mind and keeps it engaged. Meditation offers huge health benefits to elderly people who are trying to maintain their health.

Some of the benefits meditation can help elderly people are provided below:

Controls pain

Elderly people and pain are many relatable factors. The chronic pain occurring in the body increases with age and is the highest as you grow older. At these times mindful meditation is the best cure, as our body reacts according to our mind. When the mind is all calmed and relaxed it can automatically lower the pain.

Boosts Immunity

Meditation plays a vital role in boosting our immune system. While a person meditates the cortisol levels of the body are boosted, suppressing damaged processes going on within the body. Various inflammatory diseases like irritable bowel syndrome are also treated with meditation.

Improves the Strength and Balance

Meditation with smooth yoga poses helps the elderly to balance their body which can avoid them to fall off easily, as at this age just a fall results in a huge injury.

Better Sleep quality

Sleep problems are a big issue in elderly people. Meditating just before your sleep time brings peace to the mind, releasing tension from your body. Hence providing a night of better sleep.

Reduces Anxiety and Stress

Meditation is a well-known stress buster from all the tensions and anxiety. Meditation eliminates the emotional trauma going on within the body due to stress. As elderly people go through a lot of stress from going to the nursing home to dealing with their daily life, meditation plays a huge role in calming them.

Controls Blood pressure

Blood pressure in the body is controlled by meditation as it gives peace to the body, releasing stress. Studies have also proved that meditation along with some light exercises, benefits mild hypertension and heart patients.

Memory Enhancement

As you grow older, you tend to lose your memory power. But, meditation can help you slow down the process. Meditating for at least 30 minutes per day mindfully increases the gray matter in the brain, which plays a vital role in learning and maintaining memory power.

Giving yourself time to meditate is the best way to stay healthy for elder people. At least meditation for 20-30 minutes per day does its part in keeping you healthy. It just needs a little push to start up the schedule. Sit away from all the distractions in a calm place and start inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. This will clear the mind releasing stress.

Meditation lightens you up. So just quiet your mind and let the soul speak!

How to care for a bedridden patient?

If you are a busy person who must run house and office errands then having a nurse at home who is available 24/7 to take care of your elderly, from looking after their personal hygiene to ensuring that they feel comfortable is a positive advantage to your pacing lifestyle.

Being a working guardian and juggling to balance your work and personal life becomes difficult and tedious at times. Taking care of your bedridden elderly is a huge responsibility and should be done with utmost care and patience. Having a nurse at home to take care of your elderly is the best way to help yourself and your bedridden elderly. It’s extremely painful and disheartening to see your elderly parents bedridden. But ensuring that they are stable and comfortable is solely our responsibility.

Looking after their grooming and hygiene is extremely important to avoid any fungal infections, allergies, or diseases. A trained nursing caretaker will look into their daily bathing, dental care, making them wear their fresh clothes, keeping a check on their trimming of fingernails and toenails, haircut, and grooming. Bedsores (also known as pressure ulcer) are extremely common in bedridden patients, but the good news is that it is preventable. If the elderly spends majority of his/her time on the bed, ensure that you reposition them every few hours. If they can move on their own, then encourage them to move and readjust themselves quite often. Also make sure you stay alert on the common parts where bedsores are likely to occur e.g., ankles, heels the hip area and the tailbone.

Ensure that their bed linens are regularly changed and laundered. The trained nursing caretaker will take care of the proper nutritional care. They will monitor and record the meals to ensure they are getting in proper nutritional value and having balanced meals. Make their environment lively, comfortable, and fresh. So, they feel good in that environment around them. It is also extremely important to deal with the bedridden with utmost patience and care. Having a male ward boy nurse at home will help your elderly feel comfortable while taking them to use the washroom if they can make movements. A man’s physical strength is undoubtedly strong which will make them comfortable while relying on their strength for movements.

Let your children often visit your parents, talk to them, which will lighten the mood and make in a happy atmosphere for the bedridden elderly. A happy and positive and cheerful atmosphere is extremely important for them. Take some time out of your daily schedule and talk to them bout your day. If possible, try having a meal next to them or with them. Even you can read out the newspaper to them or play on their favourite songs. Never zone them out completely, don’t let them feel lonely. Make sure the place is reasonably well lit as per the need, the necessities are right at their bedside, and the place is well ventilated at all times. Reduce noise levels as far as possible. Take extra precautions during this pandemic. Always ensure their and your safety.

Apart from the above-mentioned points, one should also take expert advice, medical opinion, or help from professional home nursing services in case any other challenges are faced in caring for the elderly parents or other family members at home.

Why Choose Nurse At Home Instead Of Old Age Home?

Family is that one bond that lasts forever. No matter how old you become, no matter what your achievements are, no matter how far you are from them, your parents will always love you for who you are. When you cannot always be available for your old parents that is the time when you trust someone. And that someone will take your place when you are not available for your parents. That’s where caregivers/ caretakers come into the picture.
A sudden need of any urgency and you are relieved, your caregiver is there at that moment to ensure their needs are being met which will be lacking at an old age home. Because your caregiver is available 24/7, making you and them at ease. Also, it is very natural for you to worry about your parents, as they grow older, you think about how they will get along from day to day.

There are numerous advantages of having a trained, trusted, and responsible caregiver at home. They can make the elderly recover from an ailment, injury, post-surgery hassle-free and easy. This caregiver will also help the elderly with physiotherapy sessions at home. An elderly who is bedridden or unable to move freely will find it difficult to use the washroom or maintain personal hygiene which is taken care of by a trained nursing caretaker. Having a trained caregiver will ensure any mishappenings like falls, injury and ensure their safety in that feeble age of theirs. In addition, the elderly who stay at home tend to be physically and mentally healthier compared to old age homes.

For the elderly who are suffering from dementia, it is challenging to take care of them which requires knowledge, patience and understanding. Families, generally, lack the experience and skills to understand the age-related conditions and fail to care for their beloved ones properly. Also, it is quite painful to view your beloved parents deteriorate mentally. A Qualified nurse at home can provide a lot of support, as they understand the condition and have all skills and experience to deal with dementia patients rightly.

A medical survey has revealed that people who have a home nursing services facility at home live a longer life. Receiving emotional, physical, medical, and specialized care in their comfort zones helps senior citizens live healthier and longer life. Because no comfort zone can replace one’s own home. Especially your parents may be attached to a particular couch, a favourite chair, a favourite routine, or a favourite view from a specific corner in the house. Besides, relocating can be very stressful. Also, they are left with all the memories of us in that place, when remembered would make them feel nostalgic and happy which will lack at an old age home.
Because ‘IT FEELS LIKE HOME’, with a responsible and trusted nurse at home. You will definitely want to give your parents the best just like they did when you were young! So, consider these points before making a decision.

Basic Duties And Responsibilities Of Home Nurse

When we think of a home nurse, the first thought that probably comes to mind is elderly care or caring for senior citizens. While this is the most common requirement, a home nurse can be helpful in many other cases too. Think about a high-risk pregnancy where the mother is completely bed-bound for several months. Maybe a young person has suffered a severe injury or accident and needs care and rehabilitation. Post-surgery care is quite common too, whether young or old. A home nurse can be helpful wherever there is a medical condition that needs special care, right from newborns to senior citizens.

So what does a home nurse really do? Think about all the things a patient needs in the hospital. Administration of injections and medication, charting of various parameters, reporting to the attending doctor, assistance with toileting and so much more.

A home nurse is qualified to do all that and more in the comfort of one’s home, but let’s take a closer look.

Care plan

With healthcare at home, your home nurse can create an individualized plan of care based on his or her evaluation of the patient’s health, advice from the attending physician and the patient’s lifestyle. This care plan will be tailor-made to suit the patient and help them live up to their best potential.

Medication

Having a nurse at home means you will have assistance with monitoring and giving out medications, administration of injections or IVs, assistance with pain management and changing or draining of catheter or urine bag where necessary.

Wound management

With healthcare at home, the patient’s wounds (where applicable) can be cleaned and dressed at home itself.

Symptom watch

With certain conditions, family members may not be aware of certain symptoms, but a certified nurse at home will be alert and monitor all existing and new symptoms and vital signs. They will maintain a chart to see the patient’s progress.

Monitoring

Patient health will be closely monitored and the care plan will be updated accordingly.

Guidance

Your home nurse will be able to instruct both the patient and the family on proper home care guidelines. This will help you be aware of dos, don’ts and not to worry’s!

Safety

Due to their extensive training, they may be able to provide suggestions to improve safety at home as well as facilities to enhance their mobility such as handlebars and anti-skid mats in the bathrooms, organization of furniture to accommodate a walker or wheelchair and so on.

Coordination

A nurse at home will constantly be in communication with the patient’s physicians, dietician or other health advisors.

Support

Lastly, your nurse will be able to extend encouragement and support to the patient themselves as they grapple with their condition. This is important for the overall mental wellness of the patient.

The great thing about one on one care is that a patient is able to benefit from the same quality of qualification and experience as institutionalised care, but with a personal touch and individual attention. It’s no wonder home healthcare is growing today.

Reasons Why We Need Caretakers for Elderly at Home

As our parents get older, we may notice that their age begins to catch up with them. Suddenly, the videos they watch seem louder, they take longer to process what you’re saying to them and moving around doesn’t seem as breezy as it once did. At first, things may begin subtly, but over time, you may see that things are becoming quite challenging for them.

Parents and grandparents are important to us, and we know that we need to care for them, but sometimes, it may not be so easy. They are physically, mentally and emotionally dependent which can often take a toll on the family who undertakes to look after them. In such cases, home healthcare may be a wonderful option for you and here’s why:

Caretakers for elderly can monitor their health.

As non-medical professionals, we may not always be alert and attentive to certain symptoms. Confusion for example, in some cases, maybe a medical symptom, but to us, we may not know when to sound the alarm. However, by having a nurse at home, they will be well aware of your parent’s conditions and monitor them closely.

Bathroom & hygiene.

For a patient who struggles with mobility, assistance with going to the washroom and maintaining basic hygiene can be a relief. When a person struggles with their motor skills, oftentimes, hygiene is not fully maintained as they may not be able to clean themselves well. Caregivers for elderly help in changing adult diapers, if required. This is a big support to the family members as they might not be able to drop everything to attend to them each time and as a result, the patient may end up waiting too long to go to the washroom or having a delayed diaper change.

Personalised homecare.

By remaining at home, they have their attendant all to themselves along with all the elements of their comfort like their blanket, their clothes, shower, washroom and all that’s familiar. They are able to set their own routine and they remain in charge of how they live their life, giving them a sense of independence and individuality.

Peace of mind for the family.

For the family, knowing that their parents are in their own home, with their own devices and accessible at all times. There is less to worry about in terms of safety, comfort and knowing that they are always in good hands.

Ability to customise the environment.

An important factor is that when the senior citizen is at home, you can customise the environment to fit their needs. Whether it is installing handlebars in the shower, moving around furniture to accommodate a walker, lower shelves and cabinets or carpeting the floor to prevent slipping. Whatever your parent needs, you can arrange for in their home environment giving them the ability to be independent even if they do have home healthcare.

It may be more affordable.

In cases where the patient needs round the clock care, it can be more economical to have a nurse at home administering the care they need rather than institutionalised care.

Most importantly, you get to keep your loved one near and dear. These memories of their final years are memories that you and your family can really cherish, especially when you have the necessary help to make things easy.

SENIOR CITIZEN CARE TAKER SERVICES IN MUMBAI

Senior citizens are a growing demographic in the city of Mumbai. This raises the question of ‘how can we ensure that they receive the utmost care.’ At Shree Swami Samarth Patients Seva, we have the perfect solution – deploying a well-trained, highly qualified old age care taker.

As the population ages in this fast-paced world, ensuring that senior citizens are well taken care of is becoming increasingly important. Senior citizens can be thought about as precious jewels – beautiful, timeless and full of incredible beauty. They have life experiences, stories, special recipes and the kind of patience that few younger people have. They are known to bring joy to their families, laughter to their grandchildren and wisdom nuggets to anyone that’ll listen. So, it’s no secret that they need the most delicate and intricate care that is suited specifically to them.

That’s where senior citizen care taker services by Shree Swami Samarth Patients Seva comes in. Through these services, you can be rest assured that only the best old age care taker will be sent to your home, but with thorough training, screening and background checks so your heart can be at ease no matter what. You’ll know that only trained professionals are at your aid ensuring nothing stands in the way of the patient’s well-being.

Studies show senior citizens that have received professional care in the later stages of their lives have a 42% higher chance of an elongated lifespan in comparison to those that receive care from untrained professionals. The study also indicates the professional care for senior citizens is linked to better mental well-being. Let’s breakdown make – 4 key things a senior citizen caretaker can offer:

Mobility – In circumstances where the patient requires a walker or wheelchair, having a dedicated person to help them move around can be very liberating.

Attention – A dedicated caregiver means that the elderly patient has their full attention. Wherever the patient goes, the caretaker follows. This way the professional is able to be alert and attentive to their needs at all times without distraction or lack of focus.

Knowledge – A trained professional has the knowledge of how to care for patients with complex conditions like dementia, Alzheimer’s, paralysis, Parkinson’s and other ailments. Patients with such conditions benefit greatly from expert care.

Experience – Watching a family member struggle with poor health can be worrisome and often disheartening. To us, their struggles may seem new and maybe even scary, but with an experienced caretaker, they’ll know just when to sound the alarm and when the patient’s behaviour is normal for their condition.

These 4 areas play a vital role in the patient’s overall well-being. When done right, you may notice that your loved one is actually thriving, cheerful and upbeat. This makes the already difficult circumstance far more comforting. It not only benefits the patient, but their loved ones that surround them too!