Summary of lectures on prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases

There is no universal "standard answer" for prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases. Early screening and early intervention have a much higher priority than post-disease treatment. Combining one's own physical constitution with a Chinese and Western medicine program is currently the most cost-effective prevention and treatment path that has been clinically proven.

This lecture was organized by our community in conjunction with the Department of Geriatrics of the First Hospital of the City and the Provincial Chronic Disease Management Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The two lecturers were both veteran doctors who have been in clinical practice for almost 20 years. They did not talk about empty principles, but all practical experience. As soon as the first day started, Aunt Zhang who was sitting in the audience raised her hand. She found a "universal antihypertensive prescription" through short videos last year, saying that taking it could remove the root of the problem, so she secretly reduced the antihypertensive medicine she had been taking for eight years by half. As a result, she felt dizzy and was sent to the emergency room last month. Her high pressure soared to 180, scaring her children half to death. This time, the doctors from the two departments adjusted the plan for her on the spot: the western medicine kept the original amlodipine, and the dosage was adjusted back to the regular amount, plus auricular acupoint pressure beans twice a week. She usually touched less pickles and ate more celery and black fungus. It had only been half a month, and her blood pressure had stabilized at around 130/80. When she came today, she brought her own blood pressure record to show the doctor.

Speaking of diet, the most heated discussion at the scene was the controversial point of "whether or not we should completely avoid food when suffering from geriatric diseases." Dr. Li from the Municipal First Hospital is a Western medicine practitioner, and his view is very practical: as long as the indicators are controlled within a reasonable range, there is no need to live like an ascetic. For example, for diabetic patients, as long as they calculate their glycemic load in advance and reduce the amount of staple food for the day, it is perfectly fine to eat about one or two small cakes once a week. Many elderly people are malnourished due to strict food taboos, and their immunity declines quickly, making them more prone to problems. Dr. Wang of the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor added from the perspective of physical constitution: Food taboos are not blind. For example, the elderly who suffer from dampness and heat and often suffer from bitter taste and bad breath should really avoid fried and sweet things. Otherwise, eating fried chicken legs while drinking dampness-removing tea will be useless no matter how good the conditioning plan is. Both statements are supported by clinical data. The old people in the audience nodded after hearing this, saying that they had always heard people say that this should not be eaten and that should not be eaten, but now they finally know how to choose.

Dr. Li has seen too many clinical "negative cases". He specifically mentioned the pitfalls of health care products at the scene, saying that what he fears most is that the elderly will follow the trend and buy health care products. Last month, a 72-year-old man was admitted to hospital. After listening to the health product sales promotion that "Nattokinase can dissolve plaques," he secretly stopped aspirin and statins and took Nattokinase for three months. Last month, he suffered an acute cerebral infarction and was sent to the hospital. Fortunately, it was delivered in time without causing too many sequelae, otherwise it would be too late for the family to regret it. He specifically knocked on the blackboard: Any product that claims to be able to "radically cure" chronic diseases of the elderly such as hypertension and diabetes is a lie. Currently, there are no drugs in the world that can cure these two diseases. Don't joke with your own life.

This lecture also corrected many cognitive errors that have been passed down for a long time: for example, many elderly people think that dizziness and poor memory as they get older are normal. In fact, nearly 70% of frequent dizziness is due to insufficient blood supply to the brain caused by carotid artery plaque. An early carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound can detect this, and early intervention can avoid 80% of the risk of stroke; there are also many people who only focus on calcium tablets for calcium supplementation, but in fact, they take calcium tablets every day 15 minutes of sunshine, supplemented with vitamin D, can help calcium absorption, which is more effective than taking 3 ordinary calcium tablets alone. There are also many elderly people who are afraid of hurting their knees. They sit and lie down at home every day, but they lose muscle faster and lose bone density twice as fast as elderly people who exercise regularly. Walk slowly for 20 minutes three times a week, or do Tai Chi, which puts less pressure on the joints and can train muscles, which is much better than lying down at home.

I was responsible for coordinating the entire lecture this time. To be honest, I was worried that everyone would be bored and unable to sit still at first. As a result, the two-day lecture was full, and many elderly people came from the neighborhood next door. I found that it’s not that many elderly people don’t want to prevent diseases scientifically, but that the information on the Internet is too complicated. Sometimes they say this is good, sometimes they say that is not good, and their children are too busy to help them distinguish, so it is easy to be fooled by unreliable propaganda. This time, two professional doctors from different systems were brought together to answer questions on the spot, which was more useful than the 10 brochures we distributed. At the end of the show, more than a dozen elderly people joined the community's chronic disease follow-up group, saying that if they have questions in the future, they can directly ask the doctors in the group, and no longer need to blindly ask the old sisters in the community.

At the end of the show, I met Uncle Wang who lived in Building 3. He was clutching his physical examination report. He had been chasing the doctor for nearly 20 minutes. When he left, he was cheerful. He said that before, he was always worried that his diabetes would require amputation sooner or later. Now he knows that as long as he controls his sugar well and has regular check-ups, he can go around when he is 90. In fact, after all, there are not so many mysterious things in the prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases. It is just about not following the trend, not changing medicines on your own initiative, and having regular physical examinations, which are more effective than any expensive health care products.