What are the characteristics and treatment methods of common diseases and infectious diseases in middle-aged and elderly people?

Disease overview When people get old, their specific and non-specific immune functions decline, and their ability to resist various pathogenic microorganisms is greatly weakened. However, the incidence of some infectious diseases in the elderly has increased, which is also a worrying fact! Such as SARS, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, bacillary dysentery, influenza, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis and Japanese encephalitis.

In addition, many elderly people suffer from chronic diseases, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and emphysema. Once infected with infectious diseases again, the illness is often heavier and the mortality rate is higher. In addition, it is worth noting that the clinical symptoms and signs of infectious diseases in the elderly are atypical. Taking body temperature as an example, fever is almost one of the main symptoms of people suffering from infectious diseases. Old people often have low body temperature, which makes it difficult to diagnose early and delay treatment.

Symptom characteristics and confirmed viral hepatitis has the characteristics of strong infectivity, complicated transmission route, wide epidemic area and high incidence rate, and it is an infectious disease that seriously threatens people's health at present. In recent years, the incidence of hepatitis in the elderly has increased, and the mortality rate of acute and chronic hepatitis in the elderly is also very high. The clinical manifestations of senile hepatitis are: the onset is hidden, many elderly people don't know when it will occur, how deep and multiple jaundice will appear, and it will last for a long time. There are more severe hepatitis, which is easy to be complicated with complications such as diabetes and biliary tract infection, and the illness is serious, so the mortality rate is high. The elderly are easily misdiagnosed as jaundice hepatitis and malignant tumor.

When influenza is prevalent, it is a great threat to the elderly. Once the elderly get sick, they are prone to viral pneumonia.

At first, the disease was still a symptom of "flu", with fever, headache and aches all over the body, but after two or three years, the condition could deteriorate rapidly, with high fever, severe cough, dyspnea, cyanosis of lips and nails, and even coughing bloody sputum. Radiography can show typical shadows of both lungs, which may be life-threatening.

After the elderly suffer from Japanese encephalitis, the treating doctors often have a stubborn attitude towards this disease. This disease is mainly susceptible to children and adolescents, and is often misdiagnosed as cerebrovascular disease due to symptoms such as unconsciousness, coma and convulsion.

The incidence of tuberculosis in the elderly is the highest over 50 years old, and most of them recur in early years. Because the elderly suffer from chronic bronchitis, emphysema and other diseases, the inherent symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis are often covered up, and the tuberculin skin test that is valuable for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is often negative, which brings great difficulties to the diagnosis.

Principles of treatment The medication for elderly patients also has its particularity. The absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs in the elderly vary with age and organ function decline, but the curative effect of drugs is weakened. The drug safety of the elderly is reduced. For example, commonly used antibacterial drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases, such as penicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol and compound sulfamethoxazole. The general adult therapeutic dose may have adverse reactions to the elderly. The elderly should use less but more refined drugs, and strive to achieve the best curative effect with the smallest dose. Antibacterials should not be abused in the treatment of infectious diseases.

For the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in the elderly, in view of the increasing incidence of some infectious diseases in the elderly, the elderly should also be considered in the implementation of immunization programs in the future, such as Japanese encephalitis vaccine and typhoid vaccine. The elderly should pay attention to hygiene, exercise regularly, eat properly, live a regular life, strengthen their physique and improve their ability to prevent diseases.