Not 10 years of wheeling around an oxygen cylinder, withering away in a nursing home or even using multiple prescription medications to keep you going, but really living – travelling or learning another language; pursuing a new hobby (one that keeps you young) or extending your career; playing with your great grandchildren, or fulfilling other dreams. If you stay disease free, it’s not just possible – it’s likely. One 2008 US study of more than 2000 men found that those who met four simple criteria – they didn’t smoke, weren’t overweight, exercised regularly and consumed alcohol in moderation, if at all – lived an average of 10 years longer than men who didn’t fi t at least one of those descriptions – and 10 years of good health at that. More than two-thirds of the men who lived to 90 rated their late-life health as either excellent or good. The men in the study didn’t do anything outrageous to protect themselves from disease, and you don’t have to either, regardless of whether you’re male or female. In fact, getting half an hour of exercise on most days could dramatically turn your health around and strengthen your resistance to disease. (The experts polled in the US said that if you do only one thing for your health, besides quitting smoking, that should be it.)

SAY GOODBYE TO DISEASE
More than half of 100 US doctors specialising in preventive medicine say that eight diseases could be virtually eliminated with the right lifestyle measures
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Type 2 diabetes • Emphysema
• Heart disease • Lung cancer
• Obesity • Stroke
• High blood pressure

READERS DIGEST NZ – OCTOBER 2011- SUCCESSFUL AGEING