Health Risks for Ageing Parents: Expert Tells How to Care for Them

Updated Aug 11, 2024 | 11:28 AM IST

SummaryDo you have elderly parents at your home? Are you struggling to understand them? Do your grandparents deny when you offer them help or assistance? Is this something that happens in your house regularly? If yes, then this can help you navigate helping the elderly at your home. Read on to know more.
Health Risks for Ageing Parents Expert Tells How to Care for Them

Credits: Pexels

As you grow old, your health starts to deteriorate. Everything, whether it is your mental health or your physical health, starts to slow down. However, with age, your mental health gets overshadowed by your physical health.

Signs You Should Note
Neha Sinha, a dementia specialist and CEO and Co-founder of Epoch Elder Care, with the experience of 15 years notes that with age accessing social spaces becomes a hassle. “You are not able to go out because it is not accessible anymore or is not safe. This leads to loneliness. You start to withdraw from all social gatherings, and this leads to a deterioration in your mental health,” she points out.

If you note these signs in your ageing parents or grandparents, take note of it. Try to get involved with them. It is also important to ensure that they have a separate social circle apart from the family. This way, they can have friends who they can also relate to.

With age, suggests Sinha, you are more prone to be depressed, and anxious. “Mental health conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorders are not something that happens when you grow older. You may have been living with these for the last 40 years, but the management differs, she suggests.

As you grow old, your symptoms start to overlap with other mental health conditions. For the proper treatment professionals use differential diagnosis, suggests Sinha. “The lines become blurred and to differentiate the symptoms from one mental health condition to another becomes difficult,” she says.

Preventive Measures
While there are ways like performing brain quizzes and optical illusions to keep your brain functioning, Sinha says that not many studies have been done on it. Thus, it cannot be guaranteed that it will help. However, it surely helps keep your brain active.

There are also food habits like eating leafy vegetables, nuts, fish, virgin coconut and beans that help with brain functions.

Sinha suggests that keeping a social circle and continuing your hobbies can help your mind stay healthy. “Men especially face this issue, after they retire, they feel like they are at the loss of authority, and they start to lose control. It is thus important to keep doing things and learning a new skill to keep your brain active. While for women, since they continue taking care of the house, their brain stays active,” she says.

Cognitive stimulation is the key, especially to managing dementia, she notes.

“Just with weight training, you push your body and after a while, it becomes your muscle memory. Same with the brain. However, one should not get into solving too many puzzles, or trivia after being diagnosed with dementia. Because that would mean you are making your already injured brain exercise which might lead to agitation,” she recommends.

How to support?
It is important to know the ways you can support your ageing parents after they have been diagnosed.

“The most important part is for the caregiver to understand what is happening and come to terms with the conditions. Because the elderly with cognitive conditions are not able to understand, they cannot be told or instructed to do anything. Thus, the responsibility is solely on the caregiver,” points out Sinha.

So, what can be done?

Awareness
Sinha suggests that the caregiver must understand that most cognitive conditions in ageing parents is progressive. “Even if you give your 200%, the condition will progress, you must not blame yourself for it. But you can delay the progression by creating a healthy environment.”

Reach out to therapists and counsellors to know the ways to create such a healthy environment.

Be Patient
With progressive neurological conditions, the capability to communicate also deteriorates. “If you have a million words in your vocabulary, your parents might have a handful. So, it is important to pay attention to their needs,” she says.

She suggests adopting the same approach that you do with kids and with your pets. This is when you focus on gestures, body language and mood over language. Due to cognitive disorders, parents experience a loss of language and the only way to communicate and to understand what they are communicating is through these means.

Be Empathetic
The earliest sign of dementia is short-term memory loss. “This means that your parents may not remember what they had or breakfast or if they had breakfast at all. But they will remember their childhood stories. You may be confused if there is at all a memory loss since they remember old stories, and you might think they are doing this on purpose. But this is not the case,” she says.

Create a healthy environment by agreeing with them and listening to their stories. The responsibility of creating a safe environment is totally with you.

There might be times when your parents may do socially unacceptable or non-compliance behaviour. But it is important to understand the triggers and ensure that the triggers do not occur anymore.

Help Them Stay Fit
It is important that they physically stay well, and do not get any infections or don’t suffer a fall. For that, you can use the help of technology like motion sensors. GPS tracker is another way you can keep a check on them. “There is a tendency of wandering off and being unable to find your way back. In these cases, a GPS tracker can help,” she says.

End of Article

Healthy Outside, Struggling Inside: The Rise of ‘Invisible Fertility Issues’

Updated Apr 23, 2026 | 11:00 PM IST

SummaryUnderstanding that fertility is influenced by both visible and invisible factors is the first step towards addressing the issue effectively.
Invisible infertility

Seemingly healthy people can also face fertility problems due to underlying health problems. (Photo credit: iStock)

In today’s fast-paced, wellness-driven world, looking fit does not always translate to being reproductively healthy. Currently, even fit and active individuals are facing fertility challenges due to hidden hormonal and metabolic imbalances. Hence, it is necessary to focus on reproductive health. Dr. Meenu Handa, Director of Fertility & Head Academic of Reproductive Medicine, Motherhood Hospitals, Gurgaon, decoded the link and listed some of the common fertility issues that most people overlook.

Now, a large number of people are opting for various activities such as yoga, Zumba, Pilates, the gym, and kickboxing to stay fit. Those who are health-conscious are also maintaining an optimum weight with a proper diet. These habits, in turn, can help to ensure good fertility. Shockingly, many people who are perfectly fit and fine on the outside may also struggle with fertility problems. Yes, that is right! This is also a common occurrence nowadays. Couples are panicking as they seem to adhere to a well-balanced lifestyle but still fail to conceive. So, this can be referred to as “invisible fertility issues," where underlying hormonal or metabolic imbalances silently affect reproductive health.

Decoding invisible fertility issues

Dr Handa said that many men and women who exercise regularly may suffer from issues such as hormone imbalance, fluctuating insulin levels, poor thyroid function, and compromised reproductive organ health. Conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid disorders, insulin resistance, and even chronic stress can exist without obvious physical signs and can take a toll on fertility. The expert also shared some of the common hidden infertility issues.

Even couples who are physically fit today often deal with high mental stress due to demanding jobs and poor work-life balance. This ongoing stress can quietly disturb hormonal balance in the body. Increased cortisol levels may affect ovulation in women and sperm production in men and, over time, can impact egg and sperm quality—making natural conception more difficult. That is why managing stress is just as important as staying physically fit when planning a pregnancy.

Women may have issues like poor ovulation, compromised egg quality, or hormonal imbalance, even if their menses tend to be regular. In some cases, even subtle symptoms like fatigue, acne, hair fall, or mood swings may be overlooked but can signal deeper hormonal concerns. Men can struggle with low sperm count, which can affect their fertility. Even insufficient sleep, excessive exercise, or extreme dieting can increase the chances of hormonal imbalance and fertility issues. It is necessary to consult an expert and seek timely help. Pollution and lifestyle stress also contribute to the trend.

Couples should not just plan a pregnancy because they are fit and exercise daily. Pregnancy should not rely only on outward fitness as a sign of reproductive health. Regular health check-ups, including hormone tests and fertility assessments, can help identify hidden issues early.

Follow these tips

  1. Couples should eat a well-balanced diet, exercise daily, stay stress-free by practicing yoga and meditation, and get enough rest.
  2. It is also imperative to maintain blood pressure and blood sugar levels within the recommended range, include healthy fats and proteins in the diet, avoid overtraining, and manage stress through relaxation techniques like yoga or meditation, which can support hormonal balance.
  3. If a couple is unable to conceive even after 6–12 months of trying (depending on age), a detailed fertility evaluation is recommended.
  4. Seeking timely medical advice is equally important if conception is delayed.
  5. Couples who find it challenging to conceive may be advised to use ARTs, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

So, awareness, balanced lifestyle choices, and timely medical support can make a huge difference in improving fertility outcomes.

End of Article

Can Heatwave Make You More Prone To Stroke?

Updated Apr 23, 2026 | 07:00 PM IST

SummaryAccording to doctors, people dealing with comorbidities like heart disease and diabetes must avoid stepping out amid a heatwave.
Stroke

Stroke is a medical emergency which can lead to death if not addressed immediately. (Photo credit: iStock)

A heatwave is getting worse with each passing day, and with it come dehydration, stomach flu, and sometimes even mood swings. But little do people realise that the risks associated with a heatwave could be much worse - it turns out that exposure to extreme heat could also give you a stroke. Dr Deep Das, Consultant - Neurology, CK Birla Hospitals, CMRI, in an interview with Health and Me, decoded the link between heatwaves and the risk of stroke.

How does a heatwave affect stroke risk?

Dr Das said that in very high temperatures, the body does not always cope in predictable ways. The brain is particularly sensitive to these shifts. One of the concerns is stroke. In the heat, people tend to lose fluids without realising how much. Blood volume drops, and circulation is affected. In some cases, the blood becomes more prone to clotting. At the same time, blood pressure can fluctuate. This combination increases the chances of a disruption in blood flow to the brain.

Can extreme heat give you a seizure?

Seizures are another risk, especially in those who already have epilepsy. Even when the condition has been stable, heat can unsettle things. Dehydration and changes in electrolyte balance make the brain more reactive than usual. A person who has been well-controlled for months may still have an episode during a prolonged heatwave. What makes this difficult is that these changes are not always gradual. Symptoms can appear suddenly.

What are the symptoms of a stroke?

A stroke refers to a potentially fatal medical emergency. It can be sudden or gradual, and it is characterised by a blockage in blood circulation to the brain. It can result in rapidly dying brain cells and requires immediate medical attention. The symptoms of stroke can be identified as FAST:

  1. Face: Face drooping on either side
  2. Arms: Weakness in the arms or inability to move the arms
  3. Speech: Slurred speech
  4. Time: Time is an important factor; immediate action can be life-saving for stroke patients

Apart from this, other symptoms of a stroke are:

  1. Severe, unusual headaches
  2. Confusion
  3. Loss of consciousness
  4. Dizziness
  5. Loss of balance
  6. Inability to see clearly from one or both eyes

How to dodge a heatwave-related stroke?

In this weather, small precautions matter more than they seem. Some of the best ways to dodge a stroke amid a heatwave are:

  1. Drinking water regularly helps, even before you feel thirsty
  2. Staying indoors during peak afternoon hours reduces strain on the body
  3. Living spaces need some form of airflow, even if it is basic ventilation

It also helps to keep an eye on people who may not notice these changes early—older adults, those living alone, or anyone with an existing medical condition.

Should you be worried?

Some people are more prone to stroke risk than others. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the risk factors, especially during a heatwave. If you are dealing with any of the following comorbidities, think twice before stepping out amid a worsening heatwave:

  1. Hypertension
  2. Diabetes
  3. Irregular heartbeat
  4. Sleep apnoea
  5. High cholesterol

Furthermore, people who are 65 years and above must avoid stepping out from 12 noon to 4pm. Even people who have a family history of stroke must not step out during these hours.

End of Article

Annual vs Biennial Mammograms For Breast Cancer: What Experts Say

Updated Apr 22, 2026 | 10:00 PM IST

SummaryA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray that captures detailed images of breast tissue, capable of identifying cancers before any physical symptoms appear.
Annual vs Biennial Mammograms For Breast Cancer: What Experts Say

Credit: iStock

Breast cancer remains one of the most common and fatal cancers among women worldwide, and early detection is proven to play a crucial role in improving outcomes. While mammography remains the most effective screening tool, knowing when to start and how often to get screened can be confusing.

The changing medical guidelines, as with the new screening guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP), can also leave women confused about when to start mammograms and how often to repeat them. HealthandMe spoke to experts to understand the correct timing.

So, What Do The ACP Guidelines Say?

The new guidance statement developed by ACP's Clinical Guidelines Committee urged mammography screening once every two years in asymptomatic, average-risk adult females, instead of the annual recommendation.

The ACP guidelines further state that all average-risk females ages 50 to 74 must undergo biennial mammography. It added that women aged 75 years or older with asymptomatic and average-risk can also discuss stopping routine screening with their doctor.

In sharp contrast, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) urges starting annual screening at age 40 to save lives.

What You Should Follow

“Some cancer societies like the American Cancer Society say biennial, while NCCN says annually. We prefer annually starting at age 40 till the woman is in good health, as biennial screening may delay early diagnosis in some cases,” Dr. Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Vice Chairman - Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre and Onco Robotic Surgeries, Manipal Hospitals, Gurugram, told HealthandMe.

NCCN, or the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, is an alliance of 34 cancer centers in the US.

Dr. Sharma added that a practical and balanced approach would be to do biennial mammography from 40 to 50 years of age and annual mammography after 50 years of age for maximum benefit.

What Are Mammograms?

A mammogram is a low-dose X-ray that captures detailed images of breast tissue, capable of identifying cancers before any physical symptoms appear.

In women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation who are referred to as "high risk" or with a history of radiation to the chest between ages 10 and 30, screening may start as early as age 30 and include annual breast MRIs alongside mammograms.

Mammograms: What Do India’s Guidelines Say?

Breast cancer in India is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage due to poor health awareness. But of late, there has been an increase in awareness, and more and more women are reporting in their earlier stages with a breast lump.

“Sometimes even this is too late. Breast cancer screening would help us diagnose this disease at an even earlier stage to help increase the chances of a cure from this deadly but treatable disease with the help of simple tests,” Dr Abhijit Kotabagi, Senior Consultant, Department of Surgical Oncology, Yatharth Hospital, Noida, told HealthandMe.

“I would endorse screening and women’s health awareness in our Indian population for women above 40 years after discussion of the pros and cons of screening with a clinician,” he added.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other health organizations recommend the following guidelines:

1. Women Aged 30-40 Years

  • Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) every 1-3 years by a doctor.
  • Self-Breast Examination (SBE) every month to check for lumps or changes.

2. Women Aged 40-50 Years

  • Annual Clinical Breast Examination (CBE).
  • Mammogram (X-ray of the breast) every 2 years if advised by a doctor.

3. Women Above 50 Years

  • Mammogram every 2 years (or as recommended by a doctor).
  • Continue monthly self-exams and yearly clinical exams.

End of Article