Anyone I’ve ever spoken to over the age of 60 wants to live independently for as long as possible. However the concept of aging in place, remaining where you live now, will probably require some adapting to changes that take place as you get older.

I am convinced that the keys to staying independent are:

  • maintaining good cognitive and physical function, preventing disease, and managing well your current medical conditions.

Physical activity is important not only because it helps maintain or increase your muscle mass and strength, but it also protects you against cardiovascular disease and improves other conditions like high blood pressure. Another very important benefit of exercise is it helps older adults with their balance and flexibility, two important conditions that help prevent falls.

Walking and exercise, for example, increases your breathing and heart rate so that more blood flows to your brain, improving your energy level. In fact, studies show that in response to exercise, cerebral blood vessels can grow, Another study of senior citizens who walk regularly showed significant improvement in their memory skills compared to sedentary people. Walking also improved their ability to learn, concentrate and reason abstractly.

In a study of senior women who walked regularly,  it was found that they were less likely to experience age related memory loss. This research was at the University of California at San Francisco where they measured the brain function of nearly 6,000 women over an 8 year period. They found that the most active women had less cognitive decline than the other groups, just over 40 percent.

In the meantime, be realistic about where you are in your health and how age-related changes may be affecting you. Staying independent requires finding help in areas where you may need it. There are many resources available in just about every community and some of those resources may be members of your own family.

Waiting too long to get help may put you in a box that is too difficult to exit. For example, if you require a knee replacement, get one before you injure your hip because your knee is working right. If you need to use a cane to keep you in balance, use one and lower your risk of falling down. And if you need to lose weight to get your blood pressure and cholesterol count down, there is no better time than right now.

To  your success for healthy aging,

Ruthan Brodsky

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Filed under: Mind and Body

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