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Maintaining Life - Necessary Life Functions


            As we age our body goes through a variety of different changes. Changes occur in the integumentary, muscular-skeletal, nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems of older adults. The body changes with aging because changes occur in individual cells and in whole organs. These changes result in variations of function and in appearance. Many of the following issues I am about to discuss overlap in a number of ways, so that successes in dealing with the challenges related with one issue may benefit another issue. Understanding what parts of the body are affected by the aging process and how each system is affected will allow us to better determine what care is needed and provide quality care based upon each person's individual needs. .
             Maintaining Boundaries.
             The integumentary system is the largest system of the body consisting of the body's protector and shell " the skin. The integumentary system is also made up of the body's extremities such as hair, nails, sweat and oil glands. (Sorrentino, S. A., Remmert, L., Wilk, M. J. and Newmaster, R. 2013). The skin is the body's natural defense mechanism providing a barrier that protects the underlying tissues from bacteria, chemicals and mechanical injury. (McLafferty, E., Hendry, C. and Farley, A., 2012). When dealing with the elderly having healthy skin is crucial to their overall health and medical condition. As the aging process generates the elderly become more vulnerable to drier, elastic like skin. Melanocyte production slows causing greater susceptibility to sunburn and skin cancer. The number of elastin fibers and amount of collagen is decreased resulting in increased fragility in the skin also causing the skin to heal at a slower rate. The elderly are more susceptible to small hemorrhages and pressures ulcers due to the decreased number of dermal blood vessels. (Herlihy, B. L. 2014). Noticing changes in the skin could be one of the first indicators of a developing health issue in the elderly.


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