Arthritis is a catch-all word for any inflammatory condition that affects the joints. Inflammation causes the body to release chemicals that cause swelling, making moving around uncomfortable. Although hereditary factors may play a role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis, the most prevalent type of the disease, certain lifestyle choices might also increase one’s risk of developing the condition. If your elderly loved one needs help making lifestyle changes, you may need to consider hiring home care providers to ensure they’re aging in place safely. Often seniors want to have healthy lifestyles but need more help, and that’s where home care can come in handy.
Here are some tips for you and their home care aides can do to help a senior live at home and avoid arthritis.
Too Much Alcohol Can Lead to Arthritis
Home Care Clark NJ – Things You Didn’t Know Could Lead to Arthritis
A loved one who drinks excessively may experience an altered response to arthritis treatment due to the effect of alcohol on liver enzymes. One drink per day for women and two drinks per day for males is commonly used as a rough guideline to define “moderation.” If a senior can cut out drinking entirely, that is their best option to continue aging in place. This can be harder said than done, though. Luckily, tons of non-alcoholic drinks can give off the sense of drinking alcohol, but you need to shop around for them.
Being Overweight Can Impact Arthritis
Eating tons of fried foods, salt, sugar, and processed meals can impact a senior’s weight and are not good for anyone to eat at any age. An increased risk of having RA is seen in those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. More weight causes discomfort by putting extra strain on one’s joints. A senior may go for the easiest foods to prepare and may not be the healthiest for their body. This is when senior home care can come in very handy because they may be able to help prep fresh foods.
Too Little Sleep Can Impact the Human Body
When you don’t get enough restorative REM sleep, you’re more likely to make poor food choices later in the day, which can exacerbate joint inflammation. A senior loved one should be on a regular sleeping schedule. This means that even when their mind is not tired, their bodies will know that it is time to go to bed at a certain time, and that means they may fall asleep and stay asleep for a decent amount of time. They should get between 7-8 hours of sleep.
Stress Can Negatively Impact the Body and Smoking Too Much Can Be a Negative Lifestyle Habit
Arthritis inflammation can be made worse by the chemicals produced by the body in response to any sort of stress. Although stress is inevitable in everyday life, it may be mitigated by meditative practices like yoga or a moderate workout. Home care can help limit seniors’ stress by being a good companion that helps them live daily.
One-third of all instances of RA can be attributed to smoking. Smoking can also affect the efficacy of several arthritis drugs, thereby contributing to greater joint pain. Some kinds of arthritis are more common in people with a specific gene variant (HLA-DRB1). If a senior needs help to quit this bad habit, they should talk to their doctor for the best tips.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Home Care Services in Clark NJ, call the caring staff at Helping Hands Home Care today at 908-418-4299.
After graduating from Seton Hall University with a BS in finance Helping Hands Homecare’s Owner / President, Robert D’Arienzo, went to work on Wall St. for six years. However, after Robert’s grandmother became ill with stomach cancer Robert and his family needed to find assistance in the home for her. After many trials and tribulations Robert could see that there was a great need for quality home care services here in NJ and loved the idea of being able to assist other families who were going through what his family went through with his beloved grandmother.
Thus, Robert had found his passion. After almost a year of preparation Robert opened Helping Hands Homecare in 2003. Robert wanted Helping Hands Homecare to focus on providing the highest quality of caregivers, exceptional customer service, and providing a service that familys could depend on in their time of need. Since then Helping Hands has assisted hundreds of individuals with the simplest of needs to more complex cases while preserving those standards set out many years ago.
Robert is a Google Verified Author
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