From summer to autumn, as the temperature gradually drops, people’s clothes begin to mess up: some people are still walking around in short skirts and shorts, while others have already put on thin sweaters, which is the so-called “disorderly dressing in February and August”. However, careful observation shows that the elderly people around them often wear more clothes than the young people.
There is a joke on the Internet: there is a kind of cold called [your mother thinks you are cold]. But if you think about it carefully, this sentence is still very reasonable-because parents are really more afraid of cold than young people.
As one grows older, The functions of the various systems and organs of the body began to decline gradually. The body’s metabolic level is gradually declining. The body cannot produce enough calories to resist the low temperature, so parents are naturally more afraid of the cold than young people. For the elderly, cold is not simply a matter of [shivering], [cold hands and feet] or [reluctance to go out].
Too low a temperature poses countless threats to the elderly.
Small colds can be fatal
First of all, it is also the most common, the elderly are especially prone to [colds] in winter.
For young people, a cold may only be fatigue, nasal obstruction and sneezing, and they will recover in a week. If it is more serious, you may have a fever, but if you take some medicine and rest for a few days, you will recover.
For the elderly, because their body’s ability to resist foreign germs is lower than that of the young, a common bacterial or viral infection may progress to pneumonia.
Cough and expectoration are mild, fever and hypoxemia are severe.
For some elderly people who suffer from basic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cardiac insufficiency, this infection will become more serious, and may even require tracheal intubation, ventilator-assisted breathing, and very high-level antibiotics to survive a lung infection.
Even more serious, the elderly may have died of other systemic complications caused by infection before these measures take effect.
Therefore, for the elderly in the family, winter is a relatively vulnerable period. They must pay attention to keeping warm and wear masks when going out to avoid contacting other patients with colds and coughs.
High incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
In addition, it is also a point that has not attracted the attention of most people. Winter is the season of high incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Due to the cold temperature in winter, the human body will spontaneously carry out a series of adjustments to increase heat production and reduce heat dissipation in order to maintain body temperature. Chill, which is common in winter, is a way to increase heat production through skeletal muscle exercise.
The reduction of heat dissipation is accomplished by contracting small blood vessels and reducing the heat dissipation when blood flows through the skin. This regulation of constricted blood vessels, although helpful to maintain body temperature, may cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, that is, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, etc.
1. Peripheral vasoconstriction and elevated blood pressure
Due to the contraction of peripheral blood vessels, the volume of blood vessels in the whole body is relatively reduced, while the blood volume in the body remains unchanged, which is just like putting 1 liter of purified water into a slightly elastic 0.9 liter bottle. Young people have better blood vessel elasticity and can easily accept the volume load slightly larger than the daily condition. However, due to atherosclerosis, weakened vascular regulatory response and other reasons in the elderly, the vascular wall cannot bear the pressure exceeding the daily situation. The most intuitive manifestation of this situation is the increase of blood pressure.
2. It is easy to form thrombus, causing myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction.
Higher than normal blood pressure is very dangerous for the elderly with common atherosclerosis problems: excessive blood pressure and increased shear force on blood vessel wall may lead to some unstable atherosclerotic plaques being broken through by blood flow, substances in the plaques flowing out and forming thrombosis.
If these thrombosis are formed in the coronary artery on the heart, they will cause acute myocardial infarction, ranging from chest pain and sweating to cardiogenic shock and even death. However, if thrombosis is formed in cerebral vessels, it will cause cerebral infarction. In addition to common manifestations such as dizziness and headache, it is more likely to cause adverse limb movement, hemiplegia, aphasia and even coma.
3. It may also cause cerebral hemorrhage,
In addition to the problems caused by these thrombosis, if the blood pressure is high enough and there are some weak parts such as calcification and ulcer on the blood vessels, the blood may directly break through the blood vessels and cause hemorrhage, which is very common in winter and often occurs in cerebral vessels and may cause cerebral hemorrhage. The clinical manifestations are severe headache, coma and even death.
Therefore, it is better for the elderly to protect themselves in winter and keep warm indoors as much as possible. When going out, they should also wear hats, scarves, gloves and winter clothes that can keep warm and wind resistant, so as to keep their body temperature as much as possible, weaken the body’s adjustment response to prevent heat dissipation on the body surface, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents.
Other common winter diseases
In addition to the above-mentioned diseases, which are high in the elderly in winter, cold winter may also cause conditions such as chilblain, bone and joint pain, and even hypothermia syndrome.
Therefore, in the coming days of autumn and winter, As young people, Although you can selectively ignore [your mother thinks you are cold], But pay more attention to [your parents are really cold]. Remember to buy your parents a set of suitable winter clothes, warm hats, masks, gloves, socks, and of course a warm big scarf before the weather really gets cold. Usually parents always take care of you, now it’s your turn to send your parents a thoughtful winter [little cotton-padded jacket]!
Responsible Editor: Fei Fei
Copyright Clove Garden All Rights Reserved, No Reprinting Without Permission