Does Getting Older Mean Being Sick Longer?

[Big Daddy's House]

How many of you have or have had a cold, either in the chest, head or both at once? Does it now take or seem longer to get rid of it than it did about 15 to 20 years ago?

It IS true that as we grow older, our immune system doesn't seem as defient and tough as it once did during our younger years. I've found myself having colds, aches & pains much longer than they used to be.

On average, a cold comes and hangs around for at least about two weeks, whereas it used to last only a few days! I just had a chest cold that lasted over two weeks.

When I was in my 20's, 30's and 40's, a cold only was around for at least 2 days.

[Roberta]

I think it depends on the strain of bug or virrus that you get for the most part. A few years ago I had a flu that about knocked me out for 3-4 weeks. But everyone who got that flu had the same symptoms: extreme fatigue that lasted a month or longer.

I do not usually get too sick. And when I do I tend to bounce back quickly, even at the still young age of 63. Luckily this year I did not get a cold. But I suffer seasonally with sinus.

Big issue for me right now is high blood pressure. But I am starting to keep it under control. I want to try and do that without having to go on drugs if at all possible. Sometimes I think the cure is worse than the disease in manyy cases.

[Chowhound]

Just the opposite here. Now when I feel a cold coming on, which isn't nearly as often as I used to get them, some vitamins and it seems like the cold barely touches down before it's gone. I think I've had three colds in the last seven years that maybe lasted a total of ten days between all of them. And not nearly the symptoms I used to get.
Now, aches and pains... especially rolling out of bed in the morning... that's a nuther story, lol.

[Big Daddy's House]

I don't get one that often either, but when I do, it hangs on me like a parasite for what seems like eons!

You're right Roberta!

Just before I became stricken with heart failure, I had a chest cold that lasted for over a month!! I could not shake it at all. And just when it went away, I began to have breathing problems.

About two weeks of this before I went to my hospital's emergency room. My heart was in palpitations. They kept me for almost a week. Three weeks later, the same thing! Only the 2nd time, I had to dial 911 for an ambulance.

Now, if a cold starts, it seems to take pure eons to go away! Vitamin C seems to work, but not all the time.

[Kimchee]

Since i started using a nasal rinse, and quit smoking, I haven't had a cold at all..
More than 5 years.

You might have heard of "neti pots"... a nasal rinse bottle is similar but superior.
Simply put, you are using a saline solution to flush out your nasal passages a couple times a day. Great for allergies too.
Check out www.neilmed.com... you can make your own salt mixture by using a 4 parts
kosher salt to 2 parts baking powder. I use 1/2 teaspoon of this per 16 oz of water.

I'm 49, by the way.

[Big Daddy's House]

I get that annoying hayfever during later summer and early fall.

[Sher]

I have been a nutritionist and advocate for healthy eating and cooking for over 30 years. I was making my own "fat free" recipes before they were ever heard of. I know from teaching this way of cooking and eating - my friends and family are hardly ever ill and since I introduced healthy cooking to patients that have had heart problems at the Community Health Center where I currently work and they have recovered quicker and have had less future problems. I am a huge advocate of healthy eating and do believe and have seen the difference it makes.

[Big Daddy's House]

Now my left shoulder is giving me trouble.

It hurts at the joint and when I try to move it, there is excrutiating pain there!!

[Big Daddy's House]

And speaking of a cold, I just caught another one - this one from a frirend who has been coming over for a while.

[CreekCorner]

Just eat chicken noodle soup

[CreekCorner]

And don't forget the orange juice

[Big Daddy's House]

Yes, I have some.

[Villagecatering]

I don't think so that getting older mean sick longer it depends upon your immune system or sometimes it also depends on the season also.
Get well soon.

[Big Daddy's House]

Thank you.

But as we get older, don't our immune systems decrease a little, making us be sick longer, meaning that our resistance to colds are slower to respond and help us feel better sooner?

When we were younger, colds only lasted probably a few days. Now they seem to take forever to go away!!

[ruthmoore]

How many of you have or have had a cold, either in the chest, head or both at once? Does it now take or seem longer to get rid of it than it did about 15 to 20 years ago?

It IS true that as we grow older, our immune system doesn't seem as defient and tough as it once did during our younger years. I've found myself having colds, aches & pains much longer than they used to be.

On average, a cold comes and hangs around for at least about two weeks, whereas it used to last only a few days! I just had a chest cold that lasted over two weeks.

When I was in my 20's, 30's and 40's, a cold only was around for at least 2 days.

Aside from lifestyle, I heard that age is also one factor that affects the condition of our body so as we get older, the more prone we are to getting sick, thus it is necessary for older guys to be more careful with what they eat and do.

[Big Daddy's House]

Small children and the elderly are usually the ones who are most vulnerable to getting sick.

For small children, their immune systems have not yet become fully functional to make their defense mechanisms strong and resistant to illnesses. For the elderly, that is when their defense mechanisms start to break down a little, leaving them vulnerable to airborne spores, germs and pollin.

As we grow oler, our bodies change, so we must take additional steps to make sure that we live long healthy lives.

[LuvsToCook]

I guess as we increase in age, our immune system decrease in effectiveness. Eating healthy food, regular exercise and regular visits to the doctor should be good.

[Big Daddy's House]

Vitamins C, oj and multivitamins are all supposed to help make the immune system more defiant and help it fight off germs, bacteria and pollin.

[Semigourmet]

you also need some sunshine without sunshine the body doesn't absorb certain vitamins as it should. you don't need to go tan or spend all day at the beach. but a few minutes a day 10 to 15 minutes when ever you can should do it.

[Big Daddy's House]

Walking in the sun is enough for me, especially since we're in the middle of a monster heat wave along the Eastern Seaboard that's been around since Sunday!!

[LuvsToCook]

Vitamins C, oj and multivitamins are all supposed to help make the immune system more defiant and help it fight off germs, bacteria and pollin.

AGREE! plus a little sunshine (just like what Semigourmet said), exercise and rest! that should do the trick! :)

[Liketobake]

Older people and children and babies are most vulnerable to colds and other viruses. Older people tend to have colds longer.. Just my experience working with many sick people in the hospital.

[Big Daddy's House]

Yeah, I THOUGHT that was true!

[Big Daddy's House]

That's good.

Please remove that false sig from your posts.

[Barb]

I've noticed that as i get older I get sick more often, but still my sicknesses last for very short periods of time (it was always like that). So, I guess you are either more vulnerable or a little more resiliant as a constitution.

[Big Daddy's House]

Last week, I had a severe hayfever attack the lated 2 days. It made me feel like I had a fully-blown cold with all that blasted sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose!!

Missed a day at the training program which would have given me an award for perfect attendance!!!

[LuvsToCook]

I think that, younger and older people are prone because of their immunity system is still weak for younger people and for adult persons is decreasing because of their age. :)

[Big Daddy's House]

That's what I thought.

[LuvsToCook]

Same too me bigdad. :)
As I also observe myself.