Linyichao Wang
Ms. Teddy
12/04/2012
Seminar 126G
Third Essay
Elderly Issue
Elderly face more and more issues in their life, such as healthy issue, living situation issue, and cost issue. However, these issues main come from healthy problems.
For instance, gradually, healthy problems become more and more serious. While healthy issue including two parts, one is the physiological issue, another one is physical part, and however, physical problems will be a biggest problem for elderly, it can be produce some physiological issues. For example, memory problem, depression problem, and cancer problem are quit severe problems.
Memory problem is a pretty serious problem for elderly. Christopher M. Clark mentioned in his essayDiagnostic Evaluation of Elderly Patients with Mild Memory
Problem , “A 70-year-old man and his son present for an initial visit. The patient says his son made the appointment and insisted he come. The patient’s son says that his father has trouble with his memory. At a family reunion 2 months ago, his father could not recall the names of some cousins. The patient laughs and remarks, “It is no worse than for anyone else my age; besides, he has not seen them in year.” His son points out that these are his father’s favorite cousins whom he sees at least twice per year.”(Karlawish, Clark, 411) It means that elderly memory problem become more and more severe, such as they cannot remember their children, sometimes, they can remember their children’s name, but they

do not clear who are their children, this phenomenon should be more and more general with their age growing. There are a lot of reasons to cause lower memory problem for elderly, the biggest reason comes from they cannot recognize people according to people’s specific part, in their mind, people are the same. For example, most of elderly get a trouble to find the right word may actually reflect a language shortage or never focus on related to depression. If elderly get a serious cognitive problem, they can get an illness-Dementia. Christopher M. Clark said in his easyDiagnostic Evaluation of Elderly
Patients with Mild Memory Problem , “Longitudinal studies suggest that persons with mild cognitive impairment are at increase risk for progressing to Alzheimer disease (12% per year compared with 1% to 2% for matched controls with normal memory).
(Karlawish, Clark, 411) Dementia should be the last stage about elders’ memory, when they get dementia, elders should not know anyone. In their memory, there are still exist many things, but they just cannot clear which one is which one, it means that they do not have normal memory, their memory have more mistake. Cognitive impairment problem cause memory loss, and recently, it become to a serious problem for elderly. For elderly, family is essential part in their left life; family should try their best to take care of elderly, whatever they are healthy or illness. Even their body function degenerative, they can get more helpful for their family, memory loss problem is not a avoid problem, it means that most of elderly should memory problem in their life, because it belong to natural elderly problem, at that time, most of elderly people just need more helpful and careful, because most of them do not want to faced to this problem lonely.

Depression problem is also become more and more serious problem for elderly.
Depression and anxiety are the most general physical diseases among the elderly. They are both affect older people’s quality of life, and can lead to suicidal tendencies. Because of most of family do not care elderly and sometimes, society also ignore elderly life, because government think most elderly cannot do anything to contribute to society. P.
Monteso mentioned in his essayDepression in the elderly ,
“
Most cases of anxiety were found in the participants aged 45 to 65. At the present time, 46.7% of the population has depression, but if we take into account people who have experienced some sort of depressive episode in the past, this figure increases to 57.7%. It increases even further, to
60.9%, if we also take into account people who suffer from anxiety.”( Monteso, 426)
Depression definitely become a serious problem for elderly, depression will be have an increase in elderly life. Sometimes, family is the elderly only expectation for their life, if family give up elderly, they must feel their life is dark, and most of them have not enough ability to do things what they want to do, thus, they must give up.
P. Monteso mentioned in his articleDepression in the elderly
, “It must be become one of the reasons to cause elderly suicide. Untreated depression poses serious risks for older adults, including illness, alcohol and prescription drug abuse, a higher mortality rate, and even suicide. Our results indicate a higher suicide rate in elderly people with depression. His finding is consistent with previous epidemiological studies that showed that, in men, the suicide rate increase progressively with age, reaching level two to five times greater in men over age 70 than in 15 years old boys.”(P. Monteso, 426) There are

more and more elderly heart their body, family do not care them and government also ignore them, while most of them do not have enough ability to something, such as achieve their dream, it is possible, but the rate of achieving is pretty lower, thus, they just choose suicide to finish their life. Their hopeless life should be finished at that time.
Family and society should be focus on elderly group, because more and more problem happened with them, as the big group, when these elderly issues become more and more serious, it is affect the developing of society, it can be stop the developing of the society.
Cancer problem become a healthy problem for more and more people, in elderly group, it should be the biggest element to effect elderly healthy. Robert J. McKenna said in his articleClinical Aspects of Cancer in the Elderly , “Persons 65 years of age and older bear the greatest burden of cancer; 55% of all malignancies occur in the elderly.
Age is the greatest single risk factor for cancer. In 1988, 67% of all cancer deaths occurred in patients aged 65 and older.”(McKenna, 2107) It means that elderly really faced on a huge challenge for their physical healthy. Older patients are more compliant with therapeutic regimens than are younger patients, because older people think their left life just have a little, while they get cancer, they just wait for dead, and they can do nothing for themselves. Thus, nurses and doctors should be care elderly patients. What is more, the family should be the biggest power for elderly. Even doctors and nurses are not caring them; at least, they family should be giving them the biggest support to them. At that situation, it should be their last life; they want to get more respect, more caring from family to prove that they have a warm family; their whole life would be happiness, at the

end of their life, they are not alone.
Elderly issues should not be ignored by societies young people, because elderly should be the big group in the world, if the elderly problem become more and more serious, it must be effect elderly, and children, adults, elderly exist a kind of natural cycle.
Elderly should have a stable influence; actually, each age group should keep balance. It means that if elderly people become more and more less because of these difficult issues, the society should be a younger society. In younger society, the thinking should be out, and the experience should be less and less, social violence more and more, it must be affect the developing of the economy, and the stable of society should be break. Hence, for elderly issue, young people and government should focus elderly issue. Healthy problem should be one of the biggest elderly issues for elderly. Whatever depression problem, cancer problem, even memory problem, people should be take care of elderly more. In the future, elderly people can have a better healthy, and keep good motivation to communicate with others, elderly issues should be less and less.

Works Cited
Karlawish, Jason H.T, and Christopher M. Clark. "Diagnostic Evaluation of Elderly
Patients with Mild Memory Problems." N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.
Monteso, P. "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information . U.S.
National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22070581>.
Sr, RobertJ McKenna, M.D. "Timisoara Medical Journal - Life Style and Nutritional
Aspects in the Development of Colorectal Cancer in Elderly Patients." Timisoara
Medical Journal - Life Style and Nutritional Aspects in the Development of
Colorectal Cancer in Elderly Patients . N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.tmj.ro/article.php?art=1144724576124461>.
Steuer, Joanne L., and Constance L. Hammen. "Advances in Psychiatric
Treatment."
Cognitiveâ  behavioural Therapy with Older People . N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Dec. 2012. <http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/13/2/111.full>.