Healthy Centenarian or in Need of Social Care?

As Britain is trying to tackle its crisis with social care, I am sure many of us start thinking about what we can do now to delay the time when we might need social care ourselves. According to United Nations the number of people over the age of 60 doubles every 20 years and will reach over 2 billion in 2050. How can we make sure we go into our more mature years with more confidence that we will be healthy enough to enjoy it to the full? For that we need to have strong immune system that can deal with all the stressors of old age.

Inflamm-aging is a low-grade inflammation that happens in our bodies as we get older, and our immune system weakens. It accelerates aging process and diseases associated with it, like osteoporosis, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and others.

Inflammation is a natural reaction of our bodies to self-regulate a state of equilibrium. It appears as a reaction to internal and external factors like infections and injuries like cuts, breaks, burns, etc. Inflammation fights the cause of this intervention to eliminate dead cells and repair the damage. As soon as its job is done, it disappears. That inflammation is generally good for us.

However, there is another type of inflammation that is less aggressive or low-grade. This inflammation stays in the body long-term and becomes chronic. It can damage body tissues and set off chronic diseases. This inflammation is associated with aging and is called infamm-aging.

This process is characterized by increased production of pro-inflammatory proteins called cytokines which is caused by accumulation in the body of damaged cells and toxins as the ability of the aging body to destroy or recycle those declines.

So, what are the factors causing inflamm-aging?

Amongst those identified by the scientist so far are overnutrition (overeating), altered gut flora (bacteria that lives in human digestive tracts) and chronic stress.

How do we tackle inflamm-aging and it’s causes?

Apart from prescribing anti-inflammatories that target specific inflammation areas, scientists also pointing out to us once again the importance of exercise and balanced diet.

How many more times do we need to hear this before we finally take responsibility for our actions and do something about it?

The Health Survey for England 2019 estimated that 28% (more than 1 in every 4 of us) are obese and a further 36% are overweight. That is more than half of us with a problem and that was before the lockdown!

We can all sit there and moan about the government raising taxes but isn’t it the time to look at ourselves in the mirror and realise that things will not get better unless we change and start looking after ourselves properly! If we don’t make that change now, we will soon be on the receiving end of the social care that the country is struggling to provide. The choice is yours.

Book yourself in now for the complimentary Fitness Assessment and Health Screening with Get-Go PT and start your healthy lifestyle journey today!

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