10 everyday habits that most harm your longevity

Living a long, healthy life is a popular goal, but it is not easy to achieve. It is common for people to develop in diseases such as dementia and chronic pain in addition to mobility and cardiovascular problems.

While some uncontrolled factors (such as genetics) play an important role in many of these issues, everyday habits can also contribute to less than the ideal aging process. Some habits you probably consider every day or every week are actually hindering healthy aging and long life.

Here are what they are, according to doctors:

1. Spend preventive care.

According to dr. Heather Whitson, despite renewing preventive care-well-known things such as mammography, colonoscopy and vaccine-is not beneficial to your long-term health.

“It’s like not using your car to the store,” Whitson said. “It will probably take so long if you keep up with normal care.”

You can talk to your primary care doctor about what preventive tests are right for you.

2. Non -non -social relations.

“We know that socialization helps your brain and your longevity,” said Dr. Lee Lindquist, Northwestern Medicine geriatrics manager in Chicago. The more time you spend with other people, the more it can be useful for your life period.

“I’m always kidding … I need to talk to happy people because we all have toxic people in life,” she said. Toxic people can cause anxiety and sadness, which will not help you get old.

“The more socialization you can do with people who bring you joy or bring you happiness, these are things that will certainly help you with good aging and improve your longevity,” Lindquist said.

During the Covidid-19 pandemic, when we were all stuck in the premises, the knowledge of many people was damaged by insulation, she noted. “So we know that social isolation is harmful to aging and harms the longevity process.”

“A couple of my favorite patients between 90 and 10 years old, they actually wake up every day and try to find something new to talk to,” she added. As you grow old, it is normal for your social circle to decrease, which means that it is very important to continue to meet new people if you want to get old, Lindquist noted.

3. Do not adjust the medication with aging.

“We see this so many times when people are taking medication that they have started between 40 and 50 years, that they may need the 70s and 80s,” Lindquist said. “And some of these drugs are not ideal for older adults.”

Some medicines can make you more sensitive to falls and cause thinking problems, she added. According to AARP, some anti -anxiety drugs may contribute to the loss of memory, and some prescriptions are known to increase your fall risk, Harvard Health Publishing reports.

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“So be sure to talk to your doctor about whether you still need these medicines,” Lindquist said.

4. Not exercise.

This is probably not surprising, but it cannot be said enough: the inability to exercise will damage your longevity.

“Exercise is amazing – the opportunity to exercise in tablets will require a lot of business health care providers from business because it is really good for mood, it is useful for weight control, it is useful for your bone, it is useful for your heart, it is useful for your brain,” Whitson said. “And this is definitely about the only thing you can recommend who has good benefits.”

“Exercise is very important, not exercise or not getting enough daily activities is something that will certainly hurt your longevity,” Lindquist said.

When asked how much she recommends to exercise, Lindquist just said, “More.”

“When you get too convenient and three times a week, you do the same activity once a week or not, it just hurts your body,” she said.

So, if you are someone who goes for a walk every day, try to include several times a week in the Zumba class. If you are a tedious Peloton fan, sign up for some personal training classes.

“Even if you ask your doctor’s physical therapy to start moving more, it’s very important,” Lindquist said.

If you want to start a benchmark, you should have at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of energetic exercise every week, the American Heart Association reports. And again, more minutes mean more health benefits.

5. Smoking.

Cigarette smoking is associated with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, stroke and more. But it is a lot of addiction, so it’s hard to just quit.

Based on the American Lung Association, it can be useful for zero for the reason you are quit, so you can use it as motivation through heavy parts of the process. You can also get the resources from your doctor to help you quit.

6. Eating an unhealthy diet.

According to Whitson, a healthy diet priority is another way to improve your life expectancy.

Whitson suggested “a Mediterranean -style diet that is heavy for fish … and heavy on healthy fruits, vegetables and grains, only for most people with only occasional processed food.”

It’s never too late to change your diet – but it can be easier for you to do it when you are younger.

“It is very difficult to change your diet when you are 70, 80 -ies, 90, so if you can start eating earlier, it will be easier for you and will eventually affect it,” Lindquist explained.

7. Insufficient sleep.

“There is much more evidence that sleep themselves have long-term consequences,” Whitson said. This includes a greater risk of dementia and heart disease, without greater daily stress level and worse moods.

It is normal to experience age -related changes that affect your sleep, so you should not be completely worried if your sleeping habits are different when aging. However, certain conditions, such as obstructive sleep apnea, pose a risk to some of these negative results when they are untreated.

“If you … notice really too much drowsiness if their partner tells them to snorch or have apnein episodes [where you stop breathing] Those awaken them at night, “Whitson noted to tell the doctor.

Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. If there are problems so much sleep, it is worth reducing things like caffeine and alcohol, and sleep and wake up every day.

8. Stress permission not to control.

“It’s really hard not to feel stress about work and family, and no matter what other things are stressful, but just remember that we as human be in a very physically stressed stress to things that are not a physical threat to us,” Whitson said.

Many animals respond to stress that begins in urgency, for example, when they are chased by a predator or looking for water. Usually, when meeting the need, the stress disappears.

“We, as humans, can emphasize things that … just don’t pose any physical threat to us – but then turning on that stress reaction and having it chronically activated, it does all kinds of things,” Whitson said. “This reduces the ability of our immune system to fight the true pathogens and things that are our true stress.”

Stress also accumulates our metabolism, sleep, blood pressure and more. It is important to do everything you can to reduce stress, whether it is talking to a mental health professional (if possible) or cutting things in life that cause you problems.

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9. Don’t plan your future health.

“We talk a lot about the end of your life-you look at what you are going to do? Do you want CPR? Do you want to plan advanced care? What is my power of attorney? Where is my will?” – said Lindquist. “But many times people don’t think about, ‘What will I do in 10-20 years before I die?”

Lindquist calls this time as “the fourth quarter of life because it’s a time when you have more health problems.” She added that people of the 70s, 80s and 90s were more prone to hospitalization and fighting the loss of memory.

In addition to deciding who gets Lake House, your golf clubs or engagement ring, you should start thinking about your plan for the last 10-20 years of life, Lindquist explained. Are you going to plan to move into the family? Will you take care of the home? Will you move to the elder community? Do you live near the hospital?

“These are conversations that people should have, especially when they are considering longevity and living longer,” she noted.

With these conversations with your loved ones, you can make sure that your voice is heard while aging and that there are no unreliable expectations. In order to help adults plan all aspects of their future, Lindquist and its team have created your life expectancy – a free site funded by National Health Institutes.

10. I do not plan my financial future.

“It’s great when people’s goal is to increase their active longevity and health duration … [but] They should be aware that they have to plan it financially, “Whitson said. – One of the saddest things I see as a Geriatric is when people are now increasingly that people miss their savings. ‘

Many of the 90s of Whitson say they never expected to live for so long, and they did not expect to have to support themselves for 30 years after retirement. “It happens and it’s real,” she said.

“I’m worried about some people I see on Middlife, who seem to be retired at the age of 65 and really disregarded that if they live in 30 healthy years, they could know where their money will come from,” Whitson said.

“I think many people have these travel imagination and live large retirement because they will be properly selected and will be very healthy, which is great,” she said. “But thinking about the flow of funds in that section of their lives is also important in the middle of the place.”

So, when you focus on your physical and mental health with aging, it is important to remember that future financial health also plays an important role.

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