Normal signs of ageing for 80 yo male?

[marysomethingabout]

Hi all, anyone else with an 80 year old dad?
I just want to check his sudden noticeable ageing is normal.
He was great up to about 78, spent loads of time outside and keeping busy fixing things around the house and helping others out etc. Now he has got shorter and slower quite quickly and has had a few falls in the last few months.

How are your's holding up?

Pretty much the same tbh - he doesn’t fall but he seems to be visibly shrinking and becoming ‘older’ before my eyes

my dad was never much of a do-er, but my mum was and she has definitely slowed down a lot as she got to 80. She trips a lot and finds gardening very exhausting

it’s tough :(

Can you suggest a doctor visit and blood tests? Might be a simple deficiency.

Also, once they've had a couple of falls, it seems to knock their confidence so they become more cautious, which makes them slower and more likely to fall - it's a vicious circle.

My dad suddenly went downhill when he was 80. No reason, no illness or anything just suddenly seemed to slow down.

My dad is only 77 but has definitely aged a lot, falling very often, repeated conversations and reoccurring urine infections and generally very irritable.
His eye sight has declined rapidly and he's lost a lot of weight.
He is very slow now so uses a mobility scooter if he goes out but he can't socialise for long anymore it tires him out so he takes himself off to his room for a rest.
The worst part is that if he falls my mum can't get him up again so either has to call round the neighbours or call an ambulance he spent 5 hours lying on the garage floor not long ago because nobody could get him up and the ambulance just couldn't get to him sooner.

My eighty year old neighbour says the difference between being 79 and being 80 is that if you stumble when you are 79 it’s called a ‘trip’. However, if you trip when you are 80 it’s now classed as a ‘fall’.

I think 80 is when old age really starts kicking in. People can be fine in their seventies, but they all seem to go downhill in their 80s. By 90, almost everyone is very frail.

FIL is over 80 and has had a tough old year. He's physically in reasonable shape, if a little shaky, and still potters around doing little odd jobs and gardening. But intellectually there seems to have been a decline. Nothing worrying, but definitely slower on the uptake and less likely to grasp anything complex. He's only up to driving short, local distances these days, but that's probably just as well. He's always been a bit of a nervous driver.
We're definitely in old man territory. I know other men that age for whom this isn't the case at all.

This is the million dollar question, what is 'normal' for their age when some is older.

My dad is 85, nearly 86, and at the moment I am not sure what to think about some confusions he is having. Is it natural cognitive decline given his age, or potential dementia? He is very sharp in many ways, but also having random moments of confusion.

his mobility is very bad too, to the point of barely bwing able to walk. Yet I look at my aunt who is 89 and she is as sharp as a tack and walking around with only a stick to aid her some of the time. In contrast, I also know someone 10 years younger than my dad not doing so well. It is so difficult to work out what is 'normal' for someone's age as everyone seems to be so different with abilities.

The ‘frailty’ age is 75 onwards.

My mum will be 92 and is still ok. Slow but in her own home and drives a little car during daylight hours. She became very tired lately and blood tests showed she needed ,B12 shots. They've given her a new lease of life so hopefully it could be something like that which can be easily managed. 🤔

My mum is 78. Over the past couple of years she has changed enormously. She has always been very slim, fit and active and mentally extremely sharp. Over the last couple of years she has had several falls, physically shrunk by several inches and became very hunches and frail. On New Year's Day she had a massive stroke and is now paralyzed down one side and struggling to eat yoghurt. It is heartbreaking.
My father, on the other hand, is the same age and still walks about 12 miles a day and looks about 20 years younger.

Thanks everyone for saying your experiences. I think DF is just old now and it's just a shame it seems to have happened so quickly. His hearing is also worse than ever, but I try to be glad that I still have him :-)

Which is really scary when you look at proposed pension ages!

You’ve had lots of replies but just adding mine - my DF is 82 and is frail now. Gradual decline then sudden worsening in his case.

Might go visit him now actually, now you mention it. Glad to still have him around.

My mother is nearly 90. Still lives in her own home, does shopping. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year after behavioural issues, but medication really working well together with organising evening carer visits and some social activities

She drives at 92?? Damn

Surely licence to drive should be governed by ability to drive, not purely by age?

I'd get him to a GP. What the doctors thought was normal aging with my DF turned out to be non-hodgkinson lymphoma, which they'd missed until it was too late.

Yes ...she is still driving. She will be 92 in March. She is as sharp as a pin. Only in day light and only local roads she is familiar with. She's a better driver than me 😁