Picture Source:  MaxiAids.com

Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage in the arms, hands, legs, and feet and can be a complication of HIV and diabetes.  Symptoms can include:  Numbness or tingling in the hands.  These symptoms can make simple daily activities, such as cooking more challenging.  All of us need to be careful that we don’t burn ourselves when cooking, in particular, those who may suffer from numbness in their fingers.  You can purchase heat resistant, non slip pot handle grips that can be easily slipped on over your pot handles.  They can be purchased through websites such as MaxiAids.com and Hearmore.com for about $7.

2010!! Wow, it seems like just the other day, we were talking about Y2K.  I’ve decided that 2010 is not just going to be another year for me, it’s going to be a destination.  It will be like finally getting to go on that long awaited trip.  While on this trip, I intend to have fun, live right, and be healthy.  So, as we start our new year and arrive at our new destination, let’s do so with a healthy heart and mind.  Let’s make being healthier part of our life and daily routine this year.  Being healthier and enjoying our lives can help all of us to age in place.

Ok, so we hear about being healthier all the time, what’s new about that?  For one, it’s a new year and the opportunity to start fresh.  A great way to start or continue on your road to health is by using the Healthy People 2010 resource.  Healthy People 2010, is a health promotion program led by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.  It consists of 28 focus areas and 457 public health objectives.  These objectives help to measure gains in the health status of the US population over a ten year period (from 2000-2010).  Healthy People 2010 can be used by individuals, communities, states, and professional organizations to help improve health.

Healthy People 2010 has 2 important goals. These are:

• To help people of all ages increase their life expectancy and quality of life
• To eliminate health disparities among different populations

Healthy People 2010 has 28 Focus Areas, with each focus area having several objectives.  Some objectives focus on interventions that decrease or eliminate disability and premature death in individuals and communities.  Other objectives focus on wider issues including improving access to health care.  Each objective has a target for improvements that are to be accomplished by the year 2010.

Some that may be especially meaningful to the aging population include:

• Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and Chronic Back Conditions
• Cancer
• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Diabetes
• Disability and Secondary conditions
• Heart Disease and stroke
• HIV
• Medical Product Safety
• Nutrition and Overweight
• Physical Activity and Fitness
• Vision and Hearing

To see a list of all the objectives, click here.

So, how can you use Healthy People?  Healthy People 2010 is a great resource.  Knowledge is powerful and can change our lives.  As part of your effort to age in place, I challenge you to use Healthy People 2010 to increase your knowledge base.  Find out about important health issues that affect you or your loved ones.  Learn about each of the 28 focus areas and their objectives.  Also, visit The Us Department of Health & Human Services to find out about proposed objectives for Healthy People 2020.

Last week, we talked about the global statistics of HIV/AIDS and learned that 15% of all newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases are in those 50 and older.  We also learned that the virus that causes HIV can cause dementia and the virus and/or drugs used to treat it can cause osteoporosis and osteonecrosis as well as peripheral neuropathy.  These conditions can all impact someone’s ability to age within their home.   This week however, we’ll be talking more about why the numbers for those 50 and older are being diagnosed with HIV.   I think there’s a belief/feeling out there that older people can’t get HIV/AIDS, but clearly, the numbers show differently.  So, why are people aged 50 and older accounting for 15% of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases?

1.  Not practicing safe sex

•  With the use of medications for erectile dysfunction, more older men may be engaging in unsafe sexual activity

•  Older women don’t risk getting pregnant and so are not asking their partners to use condoms

•  Also, with age, women experience vaginal thinning and dryness, which can cause vaginal tears

2.  Injecting drugs or smoking crack

•  HIV through injection drug use accounts for more than 16% of AIDS cases in adults 50 and older

3.  Lack of knowledge about the disease:

•  A lot of older adults may falsely believe this is a disease of youth and not a disease that can impact them

•  Don’t use condoms

•  Don’t get tested

4.  Healthcare workers may underestimate the risk for their patient’s disease and not discuss HIV/AIDS with their older clients

5.  Symptoms may be misdiagnosed

•  Physicians may miss a diagnosis of AIDS including symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, and mental confusion because they think it is part of the normal aging process,

So, what to do next?

If you think you may be at risk for HIV/AIDS, get tested.  While the stigma for HIV/AIDS may be greater for older adults, knowing your status is crucial.  The CDC recommends routine testing for people up to age 64.  They also suggest HIV testing for those 64 and older if they have risk factors for HIV/Infection.  Additionally, the CDC recommends prevention strategies such as education for older adults.

A goal of The Aging Suite is to help educate people about health issues and topics that impact the aging population.  One such topic is HIV/AIDS.  Thanks to improved medications, today people with HIV/AIDS have longer life expectancies.  However, as they age, the virus can impact various systems in the body, affecting their functioning at home and thus their ability to remain living in their home, aka aging in place.

HIV’s impact on the body of an older person:

•  There’s a higher incidence of osteoporosis and osteonecrosis in people with HIV which may be caused by the virus or the   medications used to treat it

•  The Virus can cause peripheral neuropathy which can be due to drugs used to treat the virus or the virus infecting nerve cells

•  Dementia due to HIV

December 1st was World AIDS day.  It’s estimated that more than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.  HIV/AIDS clearly has a huge global impact.  The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), published worldwide statistics on HIV and AIDS in November of 2009.

HIV/AIDS in the older population

According to a 2008 report released by the CDC, the number of people aged 50 years and older living with HIV/AIDS has been increasing.  In

2005 people 50 and older accounted for

• 15% of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases
• 24% of people living with HIV/AIDS
• 35% of all deaths of people with AIDS
• The incidence of HIV/AIDS among people 50 and older is 12 greater among blacks and 5 times greater among his Hispanics

Join us next week as we talk more about HIV/AIDS in the older population.

Source:

aidsinfonet.org and the CDC

Picture Source:  MaxiAids.com

Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage in the arms, hands, legs, and feet and can be a complication of HIV and diabetes.  Symptoms can include:  Numbness or tingling in the hands.  These symptoms can make simple daily activities, such as cooking more challenging.  All of us need to be careful that we don’t burn ourselves when cooking, in particular, those who may suffer from numbness in their fingers.  You can purchase heat resistant, non slip pot handle grips that can be easily slipped on over your pot handles.  They can be purchased through websites such as MaxiAids.com and Hearmore.com for about $7.