Medicine is only beginning to understand the hormonal changes that accompany aging. In addition to symptoms such as hot flashes, decreased bone density, and vaginal dryness, symptoms of altered mental function such as mood swings, nervousness, and fatigue are common. In men, testosterone levels decrease gradually over time, leading to decreased muscle tissue and bone density, increased abdominal fat and cholesterol, deteriorating heart function, and psychological and sexual changes that can impact mental function. Metastatic tumors are more common. Depression in older people is often overlooked because symptoms are confused with those of a medical illness.
Depression has serious consequences.
It takes the pleasure out of daily life, aggravates other medical conditions, and can lead to suicide. In fact, older adults are considered the group most at risk for suicide. Mental illnesses can also impair mental functioning. The most common type of stroke is called an ischemic stroke .This means that a blood clot has traveled to the brain, where it has lodged in a vessel so that brain cells have died from lack of oxygen. In a hemorrhagic stroke , a vessel bursts, flooding brain cells with blood.