Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 8: Growing Older
Let us make communities where the young and the old listen to and respect each other.
Today more and more people are living longer. Cleaner living conditions, vaccinations, and better nutrition help prevent many diseases, and modern medicines cure others.
But the benefit of a longer life is accompanied by new challenges. As we reach our later years, our bodies start declining. While most health problems of older people are not caused by age, the changes aging causes in the body can make health problems more serious or more difficult to treat.
Our body’s strength reduces with age. Tasks that used to feel simple begin to feel more difficult. You may start requiring assistance in day-to-day life. Many older people must care for themselves because younger family members move away from their communities to earn a living.
Older women are more likely to face these problems than older men, because women are more likely to be alone, poor, vulnerable, and lack access to health services. So in this chapter we describe how older women can take care of their health, treat common health problems of aging, and work to improve the difficult conditions under which many older women live.