“Healthy aging is not the absence of disease because in reality you will be hard pressed to find an old patient who does not have a single medical condition.”
With Filipinos living longer, we decided to have a conversation with one of the country’s top geriatric doctors, Dr. Lourdes Carolina Dumlao, former president of the Philippine Society Geriatrics and Gerontology, on how one can live healthy and age gracefully.
Here are excerpts from the interview by VC Galvez, issue editor of the Good Life, with Dr. Lourdes Carolina Dumlao
How does one prepare for old age?
Number one is the acceptance that you will grow old. Di ba, that’s what I tell patients. The only reason you will not grow old is kung namatay ka ng maaga. Growing old is part of life. We cannot deny that, so that is the most important, to accept na tatanda ka din.
Number two, is actually to prepare the foundation. Ano ang importante sa iyo pagtanda mo. Ang gusto mo ba marami kang pera? Ang gusto mo ba meron kang titirhan, meron kang support system, kasi no matter what i say iba-iba pa rin yung priorities.
But if we are talking about health, again, we emphasize hindi siya absence of disease.
Dapat kahit may sakit, kontrolado yung sakit. Kung may high blood ka, kontrolado naman ng gamot, we don’t consider that a problem. It should not hinder you from aging gracefully.
The other thing is to keep busy, kasi you want both physical and mental health. Yung physical health means, malakas yung puso mo, yung muscles mo kaya kang bitbitin, makakatayo ka, makakalakad ka.
So you need to keep active because that’s important for both your heart and your muscles and you need your mental health and that’s not just yung mental health na usong pag-usapan ngayon na hindi sila depressed. We also mean yung cognitive abilities, so it’s also important to keep your mind active.
Retirement is good. Everybody looks forward to retirement but retirement does not mean sitting on the couch, watching TV, and eating chicharon.
When exactly does one age?
Hindi pare-pareho ang pagtanda ng bawat indibidwal. Iba-iba. Kaya minsan you’ll see a fifty year old na mukhang 30-35 but you’ll also see a 50-year old na mukhang 70. So maraming factors yun, of course, first factor is life, socio-economic, environmental, and all that, so nagbabago talaga siya.
But there are really changes in aging, kahit sa katawan. So mararamdaman natin pag nagkaka-edad, mas mabagal, mas matagal din maka-alala, matuto ng mga bagong bagay. Mas maraming sumasakit. So there are some similar changes in aging but the rate and time these changes come out differ from one individual to individual.
Common issues brought by patients?
In reality, kapag dumadating ang mga senior citizens patients sa akin, they have medical conditions already. Usually they are already hypertensive, or they are diabetic, or both. And they have other medical issues. And so what I tell patients is healthy aging is not the absence of disease because in reality you will be hard pressed to find an old patient who does not have a single medical condition.
Even yung visual impairment is considered a medical condition. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthy aging as ‘in spite of disease, patients are functionally independent, able to contribute to society.”
Ibig sabihin, hindi requirement sa pagtanda ang walang sakit. Kahit may sakit, sila ay nakakagalaw sa komunidad nila, nagagawa nila ang kanilang kailagang gawin and gusto nilang gawin.
So it’s different, sometimes I get a lot of patients na nag-uulyanin who come to us to ask whether their forgetfulness is already dementia, what they can do about that.
Some patients come in because they feel that they are very physically frail and they cannot do what they usually able to do and they need more help.
So actually very wide ang spectrum ng common issues among older patients and unfortunately wala rin isang gamot. Iba-iba talaga siya per patient, that’s why usually when you consult with a geriatric doctor, mas matagal siya than the usual doctor.
What can the government do to help people retire gracefully? As you know the pension of an ordinary worker or a salary man,, kokonti lang po….
I believe that we should not expect government to give us everything. Kailangan partnership siya…. But the government should have some sort of structure. Number 1 is universal health insurance, na meron naman tayo, which is Philhealth.
Maybe where the government is lacking is really access. Access to health facilities, naka-concentrate yan sa urban areas. Access to skilled health workers kasi naka-concentrate din yan sa urban areas.
There is little remuneration sa probinsiya…So kung hindi sila kikita sa malayong probinsiya, hindi enough yun. Lilipat at lilipat sila sa siyudad.
The government should provide better remuneration to our health workers, especially the nurses. Hindi lang naman doctor ang nagpoprovide ng health services, nurses, even barangay health workers are trained to provide care.
Second is health education. Kasi what I see is patients come to me when they are sick. Pag may sakit na, mas mahirap gamutin. In developed countries, health care is focused on preventive medicine. Dapat makita ng doctor bago magkasakit, kasi ang goal natin huwag kayo magkasakit.
What should I do to be able to function well, be healthy, be independent financially during retirement?
Definitely when you start working, meron ka ng goals.
Yung physical health kasi laging napapabayaan, kasi we forget that we age. Everyone is just focused on, let’s say, getting married, building a house, having kids, sending your kids to school. So nagsi-shift talage yung priorities
But you should always carve time for yourself. So for me, the minimum is you should get an annual checkup and it should involve getting your weight, your height. Basic blood tests. Check your complete blood count, anemic ka ba. Check your kidney function. Check your liver function. Check sugar. Check cholesterol kasi dyan naman nagsisimula yung mga pinaka-common na medical problems.
An annual checkup, I think, is important at all ages. And ang nakakatawa doon, we do that sa mga bata. Kahit mga mahihirap. Nagpapabakuna sila ng mga anak, dinadala sa mga health center.
Pero pag nagka-edad na, hindi na. Nakakalimutan na. Regular, annual checkups are important. Knowledge of yourself is very important. Kasi, who knows your body better than you.
We should have better health education and teach our citizens na habang wala pa kayong sakit, dapat nagpapatingin na, para maagapan. Same also to access to food, access to medications kasi mahaba na po ang buhay ngayon. Because precisely we have better medical care, better medicines, better technology.
We also need to educate our children on how to take care of older patients because we cannot rely on government only. The families should also know how to take care of them. Especially when they are still well, hindi hihintayin na magkasakit.
Of GenZs and Millenials
So with the GENZ and the Millennials, the good thing about them is work-life balance sila compared to other generations. It’s a good thing because when you have work-life balance early and when you grow old, you have a lot more diverse interests.
Yung older generation kasi what we noticed was they were focused on work. By the time they had time to relax, they did not know how to relax anymore.
But the GenZ and Millenials are preparing for that in a better way and they are more focused on their health.
