With the deepening of aging and the continuous increase in the number of elderly people, the disease spectrum of my country’s population is also undergoing major changes. Changes have begun to shift from a mode dominated by infectious diseases to a mode dominated by chronic diseases, and the coexistence of multiple diseases has become more and more serious. Recently, at the National Elderly Health Promotion Week organized by the General Office of the National Health Commission and the Office of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fang Ningyuan, Director of the General Department of Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, said: “There are often more than three elderly people. The combined underlying diseases of the elderly, diseases with high incidence such as hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc., seriously affect the ability of daily living and quality of life of the elderly. Suffering from multiple diseases at the same time not only makes The increase in the number of outpatient visits and hospitalizations for the elderly will also lead to a sharp increase in medical expenses, burden family life, and consume a lot of medical resources.”
In addition to chronic diseases, infectious diseases It is also a key disease that threatens the health of the elderly. Infectious disease is a general term for diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Common infectious diseases such as influenza, herpes zoster, and pneumococcal disease, etc., these infectious diseases have high morbidity and high mortality among the elderly, which seriously affect the quality of life of the elderly and cause a heavy economic burden. one of the major public health problems. Take shingles, for example, a common infectious skin disease in the elderly caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The virus has been latent in the spinal cord dorsal root ganglion or cranial ganglion for a long time. When people suffer from trauma, fatigue, malignant tumor, or recover from a serious illness, it may be activated and cause shingles. The varicella-zoster virus can damage and damage the sensory nerves of the human body, resulting in paroxysmal or persistent severe pain, such as burning, electric shock, knife cutting, acupuncture, tearing, up to ten degrees of pain, and may be more severe. Even more painful than childbirth, it has a serious impact on the patient’s life. Fang Ningyuan added: “Chronic disease populations are high-risk groups of infectious diseases such as herpes zoster. Because the tissues and organs, metabolic capacity, and immune function of the elderly are declining, and there are complications such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes, Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and ischemic heart disease are intertwined, and the risk of infectious diseases in the elderly is also significantly increased. If standardized interventions are given to these diseases, the harm to the body of patients with chronic diseases can be reduced. It also reduces the risk of developing infectious diseases.” Given the heavy burden of these geriatric diseases, combined with the increasing trend of population ageing, prevention is especially important. It is necessary to establish the concept of early recognition, early prevention, and early health, and be proactive and healthy.
Director Fang Ningyuan reminded: “It is very important for the elderly to take the initiative to be healthy. We must make it clear that we are the first responsible person for our own health, and establish the concept of prevention first. Regular inspection is helpful to understand the functional status of various organ systems in the body, and to detect and treat various diseases as soon as possible; keep in mind the 16-character motto in daily life, such as reasonable diet, moderate exercise, smoking cessation, limiting alcohol consumption, and mental balance; in addition, through preventive vaccination It can improve the specific immunity level of the vaccinated population and reduce the risk of infectious diseases and related complications. With these means, we really hope that the elderly live a healthy and quality life, and truly achieve healthy aging. “< p>
In 2019, the General Office of the National Health and Health Commission issued the “Core Information on Prevention of Disability in the Elderly”, suggesting that the elderly should be regularly injected with pneumococcal vaccine and herpes zoster vaccine, and influenza vaccination under the guidance of a doctor before the influenza season vaccine.
Xinmin Evening News reporter Zuo Yan