What do you think helps people to age well?

I think by the time you reach your 70s and 80s, it's late to change lifestyle factors, i.e. a bit late to stop smoking, take regular exercise, avoid heavy drinking, avoid drugs, and maintain healthy eating/weight. The damage will mostly have been done.

But, if otherwise fit and well going into old age, things like daily/regular walking, keeping the mind active (even if simple things like crosswords, jigsaws, etc), keeping up with current affairs, i.e. reading a decent newspaper and/or watching the news, going to physical shops/library regularly, just for social interaction, joining clubs/societies, generally keeping an interest in "real life".

Basically anything to stop the "stagnation" that can so easily happen when someone has little to do, and where one day of "snoozing" and doing very little, quickly turns into 2,3,4 days, then a week, then two weeks, etc.

A lot of it is luck, my DM swam daily, did yoga, sudoku, read, had lots of friends, was slim and always ate really well , travelled a lot and often went on adventures on her own and then got vascular dementia at 65 or more likely before then.

Depends on the type of dancing. I’ve known ballet dancers with broken bodies in their 40s!

The one thing that unites the 2 oldest lived people in my family (mid 90s in one case, mid 90s and still counting in another) is a positive mental attitude.

My dad died last year at 95. He was happily cycling into the countryside to photograph wildlife until he was about 86. He only became very frail for the last 2 years.
I think it was:

Naturally moderate habits. He quit smoking at about 35 and never over-ate or over-drank.

Very regular low-impact exercise. He cycled 8 miles to and from work for decades. After retirement he frequently cycled and walked.

Mental acuity. He was still reading weighty tomes on WW2 history well into his 90s.

Luck.

I agree, my in laws are in their 80s and have had a stair lift fitted, they don't move as much just sit and watch tv, maybe wander to the kitchen now and then but that's not really what I call moving a great deal. The GP has told my in laws they need to keep using their leg muscles because they're starting to waste away (muscle atrophy) but they've not listened to him one bit...

But that applies to health generally. My DH was fit and healthy, never smoked nor drank, healthy weight, plenty of exercise and was struck down with cancer in his early 50s. What people can do is increase their probability of not being struck down with anything, but there are never any guarantees.

Stairs!
DM moved house when she was 78. A friend of hers, retired GP told her, whatever she did, not to buy a bungalow. She said three quarters of her patients over 70 presented with symptoms they wouldn’t have if they just used stairs a few times a day. DM has 3 flights of stairs and doing well.

OK until you become immobile due to an accident etc and suddenly find you can't get upstairs to the bedroom or bathroom.

I think being on the shorter side helps. Taller people tend to die younger. Physical activity and social interaction are also important.

Genes

Is that a thing?

Find the right balance between doing as much as you can for as long as you can, and accepting it when you actually can't. Denying that you can't cope with the giant old decaying house (or whatever) any more will not do you any good, it will just make old age more hard and stressful. Downsize or get help when you need to.

My mother is 78 and out and about with friends and hobbies ever day. I'm glad she has a gardener (big garden, arthritic hands). I got a couple of bags and cases down from the loft and persuaded her to keep them downstairs (I don't want her up the loft hatch when there's nobody else in the house). She does all her own cleaning and walks the dog etc. I think this is the way to do it. Keep doing what you can but don't become one of those "don't interfere, we can manage" people when actually the wheels are coming off. And FFS, if you have money, stop bloody hoarding it (for what? The thing that comes after old age??) and spend it on stuff to make life easier.

my late gf was 98, he had a huge garden which he maintained all alone. He had only been in hospital twice in his entire.My uncle now has the place, and is almost 90..I had a cousin on dm side die 2 years ago. Both were none smokers and drinkers.. She was sociable..Widowed 25 years,had a gentleman friend. Had her hair done weekly. went to Bridge, crossword clubs.
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Keeping active and mixing with people with a positive attitude.

DH’s granny is 104. She has always been a glass half full person and always had a proper busy schedule. Trying to visit her when she was in sheltered housing (in her 90s) was murder as she had dancing, French classes, bingo and all sorts on her schedule 😂

She has only recently reluctantly given up walking to the shop on a Tuesday and Thursday, but still insists on going in a wheelchair (much to the care home manager’s irritation). She says as soon as you stop going outside properly and having something different to talk about you’ll soon be in your box.

I also think a decent GP who doesn’t just put everything down to old age is a major help.

The difference between her and her eldest daughter (who is 83) is really stark. Her daughter has had no social life since her husband died when she was 67 (she refused to go without him). She lives on daytime tv and only socialises with a neighbour who also doesn’t do anything or go anywhere.

Not many people can say they have an 83 year old DC.

I think that’s only if you are very tall. The Netherlands has a slightly longer life expectancy than us & they are also taller than us.

Yes and no. My cardiologist always asks if her patients live in a house with stairs.

But a neurologist of our acquaintance spends a lot of time operating on young motorcyclists or elderly people who have fallen downstairs.

So stairs are good and bad. Walking up a small hill daily might have the same effect but be a bit safer if your balance is shot? In good weather anyway, not when it’s icy underfoot… .

Very true!

The funniest thing with her is when she talks about her eldest son, as he was named after her husband… So he’s “wee Frank” and in turn his son is “young Frankie”. They are 80 and late 50s 😂

@Crestofapage6421 my granny had to go into a nursing home because she kept going up and down her stairs and falling

😀😀😀

Japan has longer life expectancy and that are a bit shorter.

Air pollution is linked to dementia so you need to try and limit that.

I also think stress is overlooked in terms of how it can damage the body, some people just seem better able to cope with it.

My great aunt died at 99 and 11 months. We all said she'd see 100 and she said she'd go before then just to annoy everyone, and did!

She always put her longevity down to 'A positive attitude and lots of brandy!'

She'd had far from an easy life, too. A great marriage but her husband committed suicide in his early 60s when one of their sons died.

Up until her mid-nineties she'd go to the local club two nights a week for drinks. She still went on weekend breaks too. Very sharp mind right up until the end.

@HappyViewer I don’t think Japans longer life expectancy is linked to height though is it? They have a completely different approach to ageing. If it was simply height the shortest countries in the world would live the longest but they don’t.