There are many causes why we can feel tired in old age. Below I am discussing the most common ones.
With aging the blood vessels get more atheromatous deposits
This slows down the circulation to the key organs like the brain, the heart, the muscles, the kidneys and the liver. All of this in combination can make people feel tired in old age, because there is a lack of oxygen in these organs and nutrients are not delivered as efficiently as in younger age.
Hormones get out of balance
Human growth hormone (HGH) is one of the hormones that drops to almost zero levels in old age. Yet this is one of the hormones that provides energy. In addition, other hormones that are often low in older age are thyroid hormones. The doctor should order a T4, T3 and TSH level from time to time. This will detect hypothyroidism. When this is diagnosed, replacement thyroid hormones would be necessary. Not only will a lack of testosterone in males rob you of energy, but also in females a lack of estrogen and/or progesterone. Replacement with bioidentical hormones will restore your energy.
A lack of exercise
When people get older they tend to exercise less. This often causes a lack of energy and is the reason why we can feel tired in older age. If you exercise regularly this elevates your HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), which dissolves some of the plaque inside the arteries. This will improve circulation of the key organs and supply them with nutrients. Basically, this can reverse some of the atheromatous blood vessel changes described above.
Mental illness
Older people often loose good friends, a fact which cab cause negative thought patterns and depression. It is important to spot depression in older people and treat it. Depression can be a source of a lack of energy. But with counselling +/- medication this cause of tiredness is treatable.
Why we can feel tired in older age
Conclusion
We cannot stop the aging process. But we can look for causes of why people feel tired in old age. Changes in nutrition can reduce cholesterol levels and reduce or reverse hardening of the arteries. Replacing missing hormones such as thyroid hormones and sex hormones will often bring back energies that people thought would have disappeared forever. Regular exercise will re-energize a person as well. Also, effective treatment of depression will counteract tiredness in old age. Treating the causes of tiredness in old age will go a long way towards rejuvenating an aging person and restore wellness.
This was published before here.
