3 Tips for Healthy Muscles for Healthy Elderly

Elderly is someone who has reached the age of 60 (sixty) years and over. Healthy elderly means physically, mentally, spiritually and socially healthy so they can be productive in everyday life.

During the aging process, various changes in body functions occur so that the elderly often experience various complaints. One of the complaints that often occurs is muscle weakness and decreased endurance that affects daily activities. This is naturally experienced by the elderly because of a condition known as sarcopenia.

What is Sarcopenia?

Sarcopenia is a generalized muscle disorder associated with the aging process, characterized by loss of muscle mass, muscle strength and reduced physical performance.

Sarcopenia is closely related to disability and decreased quality of life. With reduced muscle strength, the ability to perform activities of daily living will decrease and the degree of dependency will increase.

Effects of Sarcopenia

The impact caused by sarcopenia, of course, can disrupt a person's various daily activities. Generally, people with sarcopenia will feel that their body is getting weaker along with reduced muscle mass, fatigue, impaired mobility, easy to fall, easy to get sick, depressed and easily senile.

Symptoms of Sarcopenia

The main symptom of sarcopenia is a decrease in muscle strength. In addition, there are several other symptoms that are commonly experienced by people with sarcopenia, including:

Difficulty doing daily routines.
Difficulty climbing or descending stairs.
Poor balance and easy to fall.
Difficulty carrying loads above 5 kg
Trouble goes a long way
Difficulty getting up from a chair or getting out of bed
Have a calf circumference that is less than normal, namely < 31 LB (Calf Circumference)

Who Is at Risk of Sarcopenia?

Old age especially over the age of 65 years
Elderly with nutritional disorders
Elderly with chronic disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, stroke, osteoporosis)
Elderly who are starting to show signs of senility/dementia
The elderly are at risk of falling and impaired mobility

 

How to Prevent Sarcopenia

Nutrition
Meet the needs of the body with balanced nutrition. For the elderly, meet the protein nutritional needs which are far more than young people.

Protein intake of 1-1.2 grams per kg body weight per day is the optimal protein intake level for an elderly person.
Adequate calories according to age and body weight
consumption of myoprotective foods such as meat, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, whole foods such as cereals and fish/fish oil
Foods rich in Vitamin D, omega 3 fatty acids, and anti-oxidants
Enough liquid at least 2 liters
Avoid fast food / fast food
Supplement if necessary

physical activity
Practicing muscle strength from a young age is highly recommended to maintain muscle mass until old age.

Progressive resistance training sports (loading sports) with targets that can be increased gradually. Do 2x per week with reps (eg 1-3 sets of 6-12 reps), there is rest time between each set and between exercise time (approximately 48 hours)
Balance and endurance training
Plus physical activity / active lifestyle
Aerobic exercise of moderate intensity for 2-5 hours per week
Focus on daily physical activities that strengthen muscles (more than twice per week) and multimodal activities (more than 3 times per week)

Controlling Chronic Diseases
Conduct regular medical check-ups for the elderly (once every 6-12 months) Routine control if you already have diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes

Consult the health of the elderly, and treat sarcopenia with proper treatment with Hermina Bekasi Hospital. You can do a consultation with a Geriatric Consultant Internal Medicine Specialist Doctor at Hermina Bekasi Hospital to get the right treatment.

Download the Halo Hermina App to make an appointment with specialist doctors at Hermina Bekasi Hospital.