Seniors and Boomers: Living Longer, Living Healthier ... - Waterpik

an older person’s decision to live independently. Assisted living,
which allows people to have more privacy and independence
yet provides some personal and nursing services as needed, is
increasingly popular as are residential care facilities. Residential
facilities have various levels of care in close proximity allowing
people to move between arrangements as needed. 3
With increasing age, living in a nursing home becomes more
likely; currently, about 18% of those over 85 years reside in one.
The majority (41.7%) of seniors living in a nursing home are
women over age 85. Male nursing home residents are generally
younger, possibly because they have higher rates of serious and/
or permanent injuries at a younger age. 3
CHRONIC CONDITIONS:
MEDICALLY COMPLEX
AND COMPROMISED
As people live longer, the prevalence of disease, especially chronic
disease including heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), diabetes, and arthritis, increases. 4 Improved
screenings leading to earlier detection, coupled with more effective
treatments, have decreased suffering, disability, and mortality. 2,5
This is evidenced by the fact that the US mortality rate continues
to decline as life expectancy (now 78.7) increases. More people are
living to age 65, and those who do have more years remaining than
people did a century ago. 3
The top four leading causes of death in older individuals are heart
disease, cancer, stroke, and COPD. 3 Heart disease and cancer
account for nearly half of all deaths. Diabetes and Alzheimer’s
disease also are responsible for a significant number of deaths in
seniors. In 2007, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes switched places,
with Alzheimer’s disease now the sixth leading cause of death and
diabetes the seventh. 7
Heart Disease and Stroke
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for more deaths in the
United States than any other cause; it claims more lives each year
than cancer, lower respiratory diseases, and accidents combined. It
is the leading cause of death in both men and women, accounting
for one in every three deaths and approximately one death every
39 seconds. Thirty-three percent of CVD deaths occur before
age 75. Men are more likely to suffer a heart attack before age
75, while women are more likely to suffer a stroke. The average
number of life years lost due to a heart attack is 16.6. If all CVD
were eliminated, life expectancy would rise by seven years. 8
Ninety percent of both male and female coronary heart disease
(CHD) patients are exposed to at least one of the following risk
factors: hypertension, high cholesterol, cigarettes, or diabetes.
With regard to stroke, hypertension and cigarette smoking are the
strongest risk factors. Prevention of these risk factors in youth is
thought to be a key to “successful aging.” 8
High blood pressure (HBP), or hypertension, affects one in three
adults, with an estimated 8% of people who have it undiagnosed.
Until age 45, more men than women have HBP; between 45 and
64, the percentages are similar. After 64, more women than men
have HBP; in adults over 65, 75% of women and 65% of men have
HBP. The prevalence of hypertension in blacks is the highest in the
world at 41.4%. Blacks tend to develop it earlier in life and have
higher readings. Consequently, their risk of a first stroke is twice
that of whites. 8
Approximately 50.2% of adults have been told they have high
cholesterol (at or above 200 mg/dL). Only about one-third of
treated patients meet their LDL cholesterol goals. For patients
with a history of CHD, only 20% are at their LDL goal. About 8%
of those with high cholesterol are undiagnosed; women are more
likely to be undiagnosed than men. 8
Smoking is a power predictor of cardiac arrest. Smoking results
in greater risk of early death—about 13.2 years earlier for men
and 14.5 years earlier for women. Smokers are also more likely to
experience a heart attack sooner than a nonsmoker—nine years
sooner for men and 13 years sooner for women. 9 Nonsmokers
exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase
their risk of heart disease by 25%–30%. Even brief exposure to
secondhand smoke can cause blood platelets to become sticky,
the lining of blood vessels to be damaged, and coronary flow
to decrease. 8 Older adults are less likely to smoke than those
younger. Approximately 9.3% of men and 8.6% of women over age
65 smoke. In this demographic, more men (54.7%) than women
(29.6%) identified themselves as former smokers.
Heart disease death rates in people with diabetes are 2–4 times
higher than in those without diabetes. About 68% of people with
diabetes die of some form of heart disease and about 16% of
stroke. 10 The presence of diabetes at age 50 has been shown to
confer the highest lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease of any
single risk factor. 11 Other data show that for people with diabetes
who are normal weight, the lifetime risk of CVD is 54.8% for women
and 78.6% for men. In comparison, the lifetime risk increases for
those who are obese by 78.8% for women and 86.9% for men. 8
Diabetes and Obesity
Diabetes affects 26.9% of people (10.9 million) ages 65 and older.
Another 50% of seniors have pre-diabetes, a condition in which
the fasting blood glucose is higher than normal, but not high
enough to be considered diabetes. Pre-diabetes increases the risk
of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Fifty-five
percent of cases of diabetes are diagnosed between the ages of
45 and 64. Another 20% are diagnosed at 65 or older. 10
The risk of death for people with diabetes is twice that of people
of a similar age without diabetes. 10 A person with diabetes who
suffers a heart attack has a significantly higher mortality rate at 30
days and one year post-event than those who have a heart attack
and do not have diabetes. 12 It has also been shown that up to 22%
of people 50–75 with type 2 diabetes may have asymptomatic
coronary artery disease. 13
In addition to heart disease, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can
lead to other serious complications. Diabetes is the leading cause
of new cases of blindness. In those over age 40, 28.5% have
retinopathy. Diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney failure,
3