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The number of older people who hardly go out due to the long-term self-control of the crown is increasing. Hideki Wada, a psychiatrist, said: “Some people have become unable to walk due to weak legs. Many older people become fragile (pre-need for long-term care) due to weakened muscle strength and cognitive ability. Five years later. The number of people requiring long-term care is increasing rapidly and the cost of long-term care may well exceed the estimate. “
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Decreased muscle strength and cognitive ability of the elderly due to self-control of the crown → Disuse syndrome and rapid increase in the number of people requiring long-term care
The number of outpatients in hospitals is decreasing due to the spread of corona infection. The elderly are notable. As a psychiatrist specializing in the elderly, I am examining patients with dementia and senile depression, but recently, there is a noticeable pattern in which a family member, not the person himself, visits the hospital and only picks up the medicine. At that time, I ask my family about the patient.
“Are your legs weak?”
“Are your cognitive symptoms worse than before?”
Most families say, “I hardly ever go out” or “I’m pretty weak from it.” Some people said they could not walk.
This functional impairment is called “disuse syndrome.” In the elderly, unused body organs are severely weakened. Young people can walk as soon as their bones are connected, even if they break their bones on skis and sleep for a month. However, in the case of older people, if they have a cold and fall asleep, they will not be able to walk for a month or two and will often have to rehab.
If you don’t lie down, you will rarely be able to walk, even if you don’t go out for a month or two, but if you continue for almost a year, you will often have difficulty walking.
If the crown self-control continues, the amount of walking will be significantly reduced, and there is a high probability of muscle weakness in the elderly. Also, as I am hungry, my nutritional status deteriorates. I believe that the decline in motor and cognitive function in the elderly is progressing steadily. On February 2 it was announced that the state of emergency would last for a month in 10 prefectures, but this may increase the number of elderly people causing functional impairment.
Long-term, frail, and pre-frail recipients appear in large numbers within a few years
In recent years the concept of “frail (weak elderly)” has been debated to prevent older people from needing long-term care. It is a word proposed by the Japan Geriatrics Society in 2015 as a translation of “frailty” used in geriatrics abroad.
Simply put, in a state such as the pre-need stage of nursing care, if 3 or more of the 5 elements of weight loss are applied, easy tiredness, decreased walking speed, decreased grip strength and decreased physical activity, frailty syndrome, If a single element is applied, it is considered pre-frail (pre-frail stage).
Frailty is said to increase the death rate, reduce physical capacity, are susceptible to disease, and are vulnerable to stressful conditions. Asymptomatic older people become infected with corona, while others become more severe. Not all older people are vulnerable to corona, and frail older people can be vulnerable.
If you take the right measures in frailty, you can revert to the original active elderly, but if you do not, you will fall into the elderly who require long-term care.
The “Health and Longevity Network” operated by the Foundation for the Promotion of Longevity Science, which was established by the former Ministry of Health and Welfare to promote the health of the elderly, includes “chronic disease control”, ” exercise and nutrition “and” prevention of infectious diseases “as elements to prevent this frailty syndrome.” Three are listed. Older people lose their energy and physical strength immediately when their chronic illness worsens. Also, if they catch the flu or a cold , it will decrease dramatically.
The most important thing to pay attention to in daily life is “exercise and nutrition.” The Tokyo Medical Association website also warns that preventing frailty is more important than measures against metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly people, and that if nothing is done, the muscles will weaken.
As described above, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Japanese Geriatrics Society have taken action against frailty syndrome and sarcovenia (muscle weakness, which is a component of frailty syndrome) to halt the increase in the number of older people needing long-term care for almost 10 years Crown self-monitoring, which has continued for almost a year, can lead to water bubbles.
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