Healthspan and Longevity: What Do I have to do?

If you are going to take an active approach to Healthspan and Longevity you need to have resources, time and motivation. Choosing to manage health for the long term in your 40’s or 50’s has a cost, in terms of time and finance and seeing the big picture. Planning for the future is a particular cognitive skill that not everybody possesses. We can liken this to quitting smoking, every smoker knows the dangers of smoking, but some are not able to reconcile the pain of quitting today with the huge advantages they will get later on. In other words, you have made a choice to spend time, perhaps experience some discomfort and spend money today when a significant part of the benefit will not be felt for decades.

A key is sustainability. I always advise patients to choose an anti-aging program they enjoy, it is far more likely to be sustained. Somebody who goes on a radical diet and exercise regimen and stops after a while is probably worse off, they have failed and are less likely to try again. It helps to make your plan enjoyable, this often means making it social, which has benefits all of its own, or trying for an achievable goal.

It is important that this should not be seen as a choice between modern medicine and a lifestyle approach. Most of us will need some sort of medical treatment as we age, be it blood pressure, cholesterol, or other therapy. This does not preclude a lifestyle approach, far from it.