Healthiness In Old Age Requires Advance Planning

Surprisingly sage advice.

"If you plan to 'thrive' when you are 65, you need to invest in your health decades earlier. A new study in the October issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences (Volume 63A, Number 10) finds that fewer than 10 percent of people aged 65-85 maintain exceptional emotional and physical health throughout their golden years. These so-called 'thrivers' share specific behavioral and lifestyle characteristics that may hold the key to healthy aging, according to the study's authors.

'Important predictors of thriving were the absence of chronic illness, income over $30,000, having never smoked, and drinking alcohol in moderation,' said lead author Mark Kaplan, DrPH, of Portland State University."

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