Support as you get older

Cancer

Cancer is when some of the body's cells start to grow and reproduce in an uncontrollable way.

These cells can go on to invade and destroy healthy tissue and organs. Cancer sometimes begins in one part of the body before spreading to other parts. There are many different types of cancer.

Unexplained changes to your body can be a sign of cancer and different types of cancer can have different signs and symptoms. Many of the symptoms can be common of other illnesses and are usually nothing to worry about, but it's important your GP checks them out to rule out cancer.

If you experience any unexplained changes to your body that you think need to be checked out, you should make an appointment with your GP.

If you have cancer, you may be able to receive some of your treatment at home via our district nursing teams.

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Cataracts

Cataracts are cloudy patches in the lens that can make your vision blurred or misty.

They can develop in one or both eyes and it's common for one eye to become more affected than the other. Cataracts most commonly affects older people and can be referred to as age-related cataracts.

In the early stages of a cataract, your vision may be improved with stronger glasses, or by using a brighter light when you read. If cataracts become more severe, your GP or optometrist is likely to refer you for surgery. Cataract surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an artificial, clear plastic lens. This is usually carried out under local anaesthetic and does not require an overnight hospital stay.

If you think you may have cataracts, you should make an appointment with your GP or optometrist.

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NHS Choices: Cataracts

Dementia

Dementia is a syndrome that is associated with an on-going decline of the brain and its abilities.

This can include memory, thinking, language, understanding and judgement. People with dementia may also have problems controlling their emotions or behaving inappropriately in social situations. Aspects of their personality may change or they may see or hear things that other people do not, or have false beliefs.

Dementia usually occurs in people who are aged 65 and over. There are different types of dementia, one of which is Alzheimer's disease.

Most cases of dementia are caused by damage to the structure of the brain. People with dementia usually need help from friends or relatives, including help in making decisions.

While there is no cure for dementia and symptoms get worse over time, there are a number of treatments to help people cope better with the symptoms and improve their quality of life.

If you are concerned a relative might have dementia, you should contact your relative's GP. If your relative has dementia, they may be able to receive support from our continuing care nursing home service.

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Depression

Depression is when you feel persistently sad for weeks or months.

It can affect people in many ways and cause a variety of symptoms, such as lasting feelings of hopelessness to losing interest in things you used to enjoy and feeling very tearful or anxious. There can be physical symptoms too, such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite and complaining of various aches and pains.

Depression can affect people of any age, but in older people it can be triggered by losing a partner or close friend, the loss of your job and daily routine when you retire, reducing quality of health, loss of independence or loss of a home if you down-size.

Treatment for depression can involve talking treatments, medication, or both.

If you think you may be suffering from depression, you should make an appointment with your GP. Our psychological therapies team may also be able to support you.

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Diabetes

Diabetes is caused by too much glucose in the blood. It's a long-term condition and is also known as diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces too little or no insulin in order to break glucose down into energy. Insulin controls the amount of glucose in the blood and moves glucose from your blood into your cells after you eat. If you are diabetic, this doesn't happen.

Type 2 diabetes - where the body doesn't produce enough insulin to function properly - is more common in older people.

Some of the main common symptoms of diabetes include feeling very thirsty, going to the toilet a lot, extreme tiredness and weight loss.

While diabetes cannot be cured, we can help you keep your blood glucose level as normal as possible and prevent health problems developing. Treatment can include taking insulin or insulin medication, diabetes education programmes and screening for complications associated with diabetes.

If you have or think you may have diabetes, you should contact your GP or local diabetes team.

If you have diabetes, you may be able to have some of your treatment at home via our district nursing teams.

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Flu

Flu, short for influenza, is a highly infectious and very common viral illness that is spread by coughs and sneezes.

While anyone of any age can catch flu, the symptoms can be more severe if you are aged 65 or over.

A flu vaccine is available free on the NHS if you fall within this age group or suffer from other medical conditions that put you at higher risk. The flu vaccine is available from October every year.

If you think you need a flu vaccine, contact your GP or GP's practice nurse.

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Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a term that describes a range of eye conditions that affect vision.

Glaucoma often affects both eyes, usually in varying degrees. One eye may develop glaucoma quicker than the other.

If left untreated, glaucoma can cause blindness. But if it is diagnosed and treated early enough, further damage to vision can be prevented.

There are different types of glaucoma that have slightly different symptoms, ranging from seeing halos or rings around lights, redness of the eye or intense pain to misty vision, sensitivity to light or having watery eyes.

Glaucoma can be treated with eye drops, laser treatment or surgery. Early diagnosis is important as damage to the eyes cannot be reversed.

If you think you may have glaucoma you should make an appointment with your GP or optometrist.

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Hearing

Hearing impairments or deafness can develop as you get older.

The level of hearing loss can range from being mild or moderate to severe or profound. There are various treatments available to reduce the impact of hearing loss, depending on the level and type of hearing loss you are experiencing. These include digital hearing aids, or inserting middle ear or cochlear implants.

If you are experiencing hearing loss, contact your GP.

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Heart disease

Coronary heart disease describes what happens when your heart's blood supply is blocked or interrupted by a build-up of fatty substances in the coronary arteries.

The walls of your arteries can become furred up with fatty deposits over time. This can make your coronary arteries narrow, restricting the blood supply to your heart. This can cause chest pains, known as angina.

If a coronary artery becomes completely blocked by fatty deposits, it can cause a heart attack.

Identifying heart disease early can help prevent heart attacks and death associated with heart disease. Treatment can include helping to tackle factors that increase the risk of heart disease, such as stop smoking, nutrition and physical exercise advice and programmes and helping heart disease patients tackle the progression of the disease and avoiding complications.

You may be prescribed anticoagulation medicines to help thin your blood if you suffer from heart disease. Our anticoagulation teams administer anticoagulation medicines in the community. If you have heart disease, you may also receive support from our heart nursing team. Our nutrition and dietetics and stop smoking teams may be able to support you adopt a healthier lifestyle.

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High blood pressure

Blood pressure measures how strongly blood presses against the walls of your arteries as it's pumped around your body by the heart.

If this pressure is too high, it puts a strain on your arteries and heart, putting you at risk of a heart attack, a stroke or kidney disease. People over the age of 65 are more likely to have a high blood pressure.

All adults should have their blood pressure checked regularly.

There are a number of steps you can take to prevent high blood pressure. This includes losing weight if you need to, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, cutting back if you drink a lot of alcohol, stopping smoking and cutting down on salt and caffeine.

If you are concerned about your blood pressure or haven't had your blood pressure checked recently, you should make an appointment with your GP. Our nutrition and dietetics and stop smoking teams may be able to help you adopt a healthier lifestyle.

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Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine. It's a very common problem and can happen as you get older.

There are a number of forms of effective treatment, including lifestyle changes such as losing weight if you need to, pelvic floor muscle training and bladder training so you can wait longer between needing to urinate and passing urine.

If you are experiencing a problem with incontinence, you should make an appointment with your GP. You may also be able to get some help and advice in the community from our adult continence promotion team.

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Lung diseases

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the name for a number of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease.

People with COPD have trouble breathing in and out, known as airflow obstruction.

Breathing difficulties are caused by long-term damage to the lungs, usually because of smoking. The likelihood of developing COPD increases the more you smoke and the longer you've been smoking.

While there is currently no cure for COPD, the sooner the condition is diagnosed and appropriate treatment begins, the less chance there is of severe lung damage. Treatment can include stop smoking advice and support, prescribed medicines to help relieve the symptoms of COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation classes to help keep you active, despite your condition.

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Macular degeneration

Macular degeneration is a painless eye condition that leads to a gradual loss of central vision - the ability to see what is directly in front of you.

Examples of when central vision is used include while reading, writing and driving.

Macular degeneration does not affect your peripheral vision, so will not cause total blindness. Macular degeneration most commonly affects people who are aged over 50 and can be referred to as age-related macular degeneration.

The most common form of macular degeneration is known as dry macular degeneration, which affects the eyes gradually. The much less common and more serious form of macular degeneration is known as wet macular degeneration, which can develop very quickly.

There is currently no cure for dry macular degeneration, but there are things you can do to make it easier to carry out close, detail work, such as using magnifying lenses, reading large print books and using bright reading lights. There are a number of treatments that can stop the progression of wet macular degeneration, such as a laser treatment called photodynamic therapy, and taking some medication.

If you think you may have macular degeneration you should make an appointment with your GP or optometrist.

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Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a condition that affects the joints and it's the most common type of arthritis in the UK.

It mostly occurs in the knees, hips, small joints of the hands and base of the big toe, but any joint can be affected.

Osteoarthritis usually develops in people over 50 years of age and is more common in women than in men.

The symptoms of osteoarthritis vary greatly from person to person, and between different affected joints. There is no cure for osteoarthritis, but the symptoms can be eased with a number of different treatments. You may be able to manage your symptoms by making changes to your lifestyle, such as exercising to improve your fitness and strengthen your muscles and losing weight if you are overweight. You GP may also prescribe you painkillers to help manage the pain.

If you think you may be suffering from osteoarthritis, you should make an appointment with your GP.

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NHS Choices: Osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition that affects the bones, causing them to become weak and fragile and more likely to break.

It is often associated with post-menopausal women, but can affect anyone.

Osteoporosis develops slowly over several years. It is likely that there will be no warning symptoms before a minor fall or sudden impact causes a bone fracture. A fractured bone in an older person can be serious, depending on where it occurs.

One visible sign of osteoporosis is the characteristic stooping (bent forward) position that occurs in older people. It happens when the bones in the spine are fractured, making it difficult to support the weight of the body.

If you're concerned about osteoporosis, you should contact your GP.

Falls are a risk as you get older, but are not inevitable and there is plenty you can do to prevent them. Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust runs a falls prevention service that you may be able to attend.

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Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease is a long-term (chronic) neurological condition that affects the way the brain co-ordinates body movements, including walking, talking and writing.

Parkinson's disease affects men and women, although more men develop the disease than women. The risk of getting Parkinson's disease increases with age. Symptoms usually appear in people who are over the age of 50.

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease usually begin slowly and develop gradually, in no particular order. Symptoms include slowness of movement, shaking and stiffness of muscles.

At the moment, there is no cure for Parkinson's disease. However, numerous treatments are available to help control your symptoms and maintain your quality of life. These may be supportive therapies, including community rehabilitation and physiotherapy, which help you cope with everyday life, or medication to control your symptoms. You may also be able to receive support from a continuing care nursing home.

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Stroke

A stroke is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.

Strokes are a medical emergency and prompt treatment is essential because the sooner a person receives treatment for a stroke, the less damage is likely to happen.

People who are over 65 years of age are most at risk from having strokes. Eating a healthy diet, taking regular exercise, drinking alcohol in moderation and not smoking will dramatically reduce your risk of having a stroke. Lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels with medication also lowers the risk of stroke substantially.

You may be prescribed anticoagulation medicines to help thin your blood if you are over 65, to help reduce your risk of having a stroke. Our anticoagulation teams administer anticoagulation medicines in the community.

If you have had a stroke, there is a range of rehabilitation treatment available that can be continued in the community after you have left hospital. This includes physiotherapy, community rehabilitation and speech and language therapy. You may also receive support from our continuing care nursing home service.

Our nutrition and dietetics and stop smoking teams may be able to support you adopt a healthier lifestyle to help you lower the risk of having a stroke.

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