Keep Moving As You Age So That You Can Grow Older Gracefully!

“Life is about movement - everything that is alive moves.” (1)

What a great thing to realize! No matter your age, you have to move. As you get older, you have to move more (than you may want)! Life is motion. Motion is life. Researchers are really sharing some great information on this topic that will inspire us all (and our loved ones!) to move so that we can all grow old and grow old(er) gracefully. Moriarty Chiropractic and our Nashua chiropractic patients will all grow old better working together, exercising, moving, and meeting at the office for gentle Cox® treatment!

BED REST AND MOBILITY

Bed rest is not always best! It may be less frightening than moving and be even a bit soothing. Moriarty Chiropractic will give you that! When hospitalized, there is lots of bed rest, maybe even a bit too much for a patient’s liking! A study of patients in an acute care hospital ward uncovered information that inpatient mobility was negligible despite their individual capacities to move and desires to get up and move around. (1) It’s vital to keep acute patients - and those with new bouts of back pain and/or neck pain, too - moving to get them better! Beneficially, acutely hospitalized older patients improved their muscle strength and power while they were in the hospital using an individualized multicomponent exercise program that incorporated power training in as little as 3 days! (2) In a review of the benefits of exercise for frail older adults, researchers emphasized the importance of preserving functional abilities for those who want to grow old gracefully. They further put emphasis on the fact that exercise and physical activity are effective for the prevention of falls, hospital stays, improved cognition, etc. Exercises from power training (yes – power training for older folks!) to resistance training, balance exercises, aerobic training, walking, etc. (3) Mobility is part of keeping frailty at bay, and Moriarty Chiropractic encourages it!

FRAILTY AND MOBILITY

Those of us over 65 years old are said to be more at risk to frailty, amplifying our risk of lot of other adverse health issues, both cognitive and physical. The desire we all have is that frailty is reversible. Researchers have analyzed this issue by reviewing published studies on this topic of frailty reversal. Fortunately, 56.7% of the papers proposed that it is reversible (returning a person who is frail/severely frail to a state of being just pre-frail or just mildly frail). (4) Those are promising outcomes! One study said that frail and even “pre” frail older patients demonstrated better physical performance and function after a brief (6 week) facility-based exercise program that involved a walking-based high intensity interval training. 64% bettered their frailty rating. Specifically, muscle power went up by 47%, muscle strength rose 34%, and aerobic capacity by 19%. (5) And other additional benefits with physical activity in general: energy and a better emotional state! Frailty and aging are more apt to lower energy levels and raise fatigue and emotional distress. Moving and physical activity has been reported to combat those feelings in older women as well as increase life expectancy and reduce some negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. (6) Moriarty Chiropractic thinks you will agree that these are positive things!

CONTACT Moriarty Chiropractic

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Tom Menendez on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the effective gentle protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the older patient.

Schedule your Nashua chiropractic appointment now. You’re alive. What a wonderful fact, one to be thankful for by moving!