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Myths:
Dementia is a normal part of aging.

Depression is a normal part of aging because it is depressing.

The older a person gets, the less sleep he or she needs.

Heart disease is a man’s disease and osteoporosis is a woman’s disease.

Facts:
Dementia is not a normal part of aging, elderly tend to forget things earlier but dementia is a disease and it is not a part of aging.

There are cases of depression in elderly, but there are cases of depression in every age group.

An elderly person is like a young child, they do need a lot of sleep.

Heart diseases can occur in both sexes, it is not more common in one sex. Osteoporosis is more common in women but there are about 5% of the patients with it that are men.

These are just a few example of some myths and facts about aging, there are tons of them. It is important for health care personnel to know the difference between facts and myths because they need to stay around the facts. They need to know if it is a medical issue and in that case find a solution, but if it is a myth they need to be able to provide the right facts for their patients.