Most of my older patients ask me "I've gotten this far, how to I stay healthy?"
This is a question about longevity, a question that strikes at the heart of Geriatrics as a specialty. Interestingly my centenarians have varied pasts from health...View More
Most of my older patients ask me "I've gotten this far, how to I stay healthy?"
This is a question about longevity, a question that strikes at the heart of Geriatrics as a specialty. Interestingly my centenarians have varied pasts from health-nuts to just plain lucky, but there is proof that certain patterns make for a better tomorrow. Indeed, there are many studied ways to live well and increase longevity.
Foremost appositive attitude has been proven to help. It is important to be sure to find happiness and find optimism in life. Just as important is to indulge n something that lets you enjoy the everyday, experiencing joy from hobbies or art or nature or music or TV. Similarly religious devotions seems to help.
A Social interface is crucial in staying healthy. This means you have to be active in conversation and visits with family, friends, community or professional organizations. You must be part of a social network. Studies prove you must do something interactive twice a day!
I advise my patients to stay productive. In fact some of my patient s have never retired. Of course the majority have retired, but the healthiest patient have found something to do, most of which is either a strict family obligation like the role of grandmother, or volunteer work. Other invest a great deal of time into hobbies or pets.
Similarly another key to aging is to maintain your memory and stress your intellectual strength. I recommend life-long learning and even enrolment in audit classes at the local college. I also recommend cross word puzzles or soduko. If you really want to try something new plan a foreign trip.
Lastly is the old advice that any doctor tells their patients to exercise and diet. It seems every decade a new key science breakthrough has become important, for instance the recent interest about vitamin D being good for everything. But whatever the health fad is, stick to a sensible diet and regular exercise. If you really want to get fir, try Tia Chi which has been proven to be quite effective in preventing falls in the elderly.
In conclusion I want to again stress the importance of Geriatrics as a specialty, and know that as you age, be sure your doctors understand the changes that come with longevity. In fact we are getting older every minute; In America every 16 seconds someone turns 65. So if you do the math by 2025 there will be more American Seniors than all other Americans. It is clear that people are living longer and better than ever before.
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