Stay Healthy

What prolongs active life?

The choices you make can change your future.

To live long and stay strong you need:

  • A heart-healthy diet
  • Both strength and cardiovascular exercise
  • Checks with your doctor
  • Dietary supplements with real benefits

The evidence evolves and the latest is …

Examples of recent changes in advice about supplements, exercise and hypertension are given below.

If we look at the question of supplements, for example then the evidence suggests that both men and women should take supplementary Vitamin D.

But there has been a change in the evidence relating to glucosamine or chondroitin as a solution to stiff or painful joints. The latest controlled trial evidence concludes that there is no benefit to arthritic or painful joints from either of these [expensive] products.

What sort of exercise is best? Well the starting point is recognising that a plan of regular targeted exercise is essential for every Aging Male. Beyond that the evidence favours an important shift of emphasis. First it is not sufficient to focus purely on cardiovascular fitness. Functional whole body agility is also important and maybe swimming, dancing or a racquet sport should be in your mix.

As we age it is also critical for both sexes to maintain strength, neuromuscular coordination and muscle mass in order to prevent falls, protect joints and maintain full function in the activities of daily living. These functional capabilities are key to retaining independence and an energetic lifestyle. What is a manageable combination that covers all the bases – what is an ideal exercise plan?

Hypertension is a potential killer with usually no symptoms to warn of its presence. So it has become standard practice to check blood pressure in medicals and pretty routinely in anyone over the age of 50. But we risk over diagnosis and overtreatment: a single blood pressure measurement is often falsely elevated by anxiety or the presence of the doctor. This is known as ‘white coat hypertension’. This is not a disease and has no worse outcome than a normal blood pressure so it must not be treated. The current NICE guidelines therefore recommend that no one should be treated for slightly elevated blood pressure without a 24-hour tape of blood pressure measurements [Nice.org]