When you are young, you may have the ability to heal from car accident injuries relatively fast. Being in the prime of your life comes with fringe benefits like speedy injury recovery.
However, for older and aging adults, it is not so easy to recover from injuries sustained in car accidents. According to research, nearly 4,500 older Americans (65 and up) died in vehicle accidents between 1999 and 2019. Further, almost 70% of the traffic deaths occurring in 2019 were older residents either driving a vehicle or riding with an older driver.
Aging of the cells
In older crash victims, the natural aging of their cells impacts the ability to heal and recover from accident injuries. Because of cell aging, even seemingly minor wounds (lacerations, cuts, and tears) run a high risk of becoming infected in senior citizens.
Diabetes affects healing
The older human body has trouble healing injuries when the accident victim has diabetes. One reason for this involves the elevation of blood sugars in people with diabetes, which narrows blood vessels and slows healing. Diabetic neuropathy, which causes a loss of sensation affecting the victim’s ability to notice changes (for good or bad), is another reason for difficulty recovering from injuries.
Changes in inflammatory response
The human inflammatory response is crucial to injury recovery. It works by inflaming the injury site to prevent infection and other complications before the tissue regeneration process can begin. In older car accident victims, it takes much longer for the body’s natural inflammatory response to work than in younger people.
Financial compensation can ensure that you have enough money to pay for the medical care you need as an older Kentucky crash victim. Learning more about state accident and compensation laws can help you find a satisfactory solution.