Healthy Living Newsletter

Healthy Aging...Can you find it?

Mike had a stroke at age 63 and has walked with a slight shuffle since that time. Observers might think of him as older than his years, but Mike doesn’t agree. “If I didn’t know–if I had to guess how old I am–I would say 44,” he said.

Beginning at about age 50, life begins throwing us a number of changes:

• wrinkled skin, sags and age spots;
• declining vision and hearing;
• stiff, painful joints;
• high blood pressure and cholesterol;
• heart attacks, strokes; and
• diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, cancer, depression and dementia.

Some persons have a heart attack or need a hip replacement in their 60s while others are doing just fine at age 90. There are many reasons for such variations, but what is important about successful aging is the way you feel about yourself and the way you deal with the challenges life hands you.

A survey of three large groups of seniors found little correlation between physical illness or disability and a perception of successful aging. The majority in fact felt that they were doing quite well.

The changes ordinarily attributed to aging occur at varying rates in different individuals, and the rate is determined undoubtedly by genetics as well as diet, exercise, personal habits and disease states. In most cases, there are choices a person can make to minimize the effect of these changes.

MORE THAN SKIN DEEP: Wrinkles, sags and age spots are ultimately not very serious in terms of good health, but they rank high in the way younger adults perceive aging. And there are steps they can take to avoid or delay them.

Two of the biggest enemies of healthy skin are smoking and excessive sun exposure.

Exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun contributes not only to wrinkles but to the mottled appearance and various growths that start appearing on the skin after age 50. Some of these growths are pre-cancerous so there’s good reason to protect your skin with sun screen and protective clothing.

With sun exposure, however, there is some redeeming value. Sunlight is one of the best sources of vitamin D, which helps maintain strong bones and may protect against prostate, breast and other cancers.

If you live in a northern clime or don’t get outside much, try to give your skin about 15 minutes a day of unprotected exposure to sunlight.

KEEPING YOUR SENSES: It’s normal for hearing, vision and other senses to decline with age. If poor hearing is keeping you out of the social mainstream, you might consider a hearing aid.

Eyeglasses are no stigma: even adolescents wear them. And regular eye examinations are important after age 50 to detect problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

BONE UP: There is nothing that can make you look and feel older than sagging shoulders, loss of height and bones that break easily. Hip fractures are a major reason for loss of independence, and they are usually correlated with loss of bone density or osteoporosis.

You can protect your bone density by getting plenty of weight-bearing exercise throughout life and by eating dairy products and other calcium-rich foods.

MUSCLE UP: At least as important as dense bones are strong muscles, and muscle mass starts to decline as early as age 30 unless you exercise. Studies have demonstrated that even frail men and women in their 80s and 90s can build muscle mass and gain health benefits from resistance training.

Regardless of its effect on appearance (and it will firm up sagging body parts), resistance training can increase your walking speed, help you get up and down from a chair and provide protection from falls and disabling fractures.

EXERCISE YOUR HEART: If there is a fountain of youth, it is regular exercise. According to one study, aerobic exercise can be expected to tack an additional 10 to 12 years on to your life. But even more important, it will make whatever years you have left more productive and enjoyable.

Aerobic workouts such as brisk walking, running, cycling or swimming will keep your heart and cardiovascular system as strong as your bones and muscles. A person who goes from being sedentary to being fit, according to studies, reduces his or her risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke by 75 to 80 percent.

Jack LaLanne, who opened the first U.S. health club in 1936, is now 94 but works out for two hours every day–an hour and a half in the weight room and half an hour walking or swimming. For his 95thbirthday, he is considering swimming the 20 miles from the California coast to Santa Catalina Island.

EXERCISE YOUR BRAIN: The brain’s nerve network declines and blood flow to the brain decreases with aging. But while brief lapses of memory are normal aging, dementia is not. Dementia causes severe impairment of social relationships and makes independent living difficult. It’s often associated with depression–whether as a cause, an effect or a co-existent condition.

Steps you can take to prevent or delay dementia include not smoking, getting regular exercise, maintaining a strong social network and giving yourself continuing mental challenges through reading, writing, attending classes and learning new things.

IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND: Even if you can’t swim like Jack LaLanne; even if you walk with a shuffle or a cane; even if you’re recovering from cancer or heart surgery, it’s possible to remain healthy in mind and body.

A survey of older adults found that 90 percent had given serious thought to successful aging. Among the items they mentioned as important to achieving it were:

• remaining in good health until close to death;
• being able to handle daily tasks and stay independent;
• remaining free of chronic disease; and
• having support from family and friends.

For each of those items, there are choices you can make that will keep you in the swim of life.

To find out more, talk to your doctor today. If you’re in need of a physician, visit the Find a Physician section of this website; or call the toll-free Mercy Hospital physician referral hot line at 1 (888) MERCYME.