In a publication of Web MD (Nov/Dec 2017), a review of facts indicate healthy choices  made during our regular daily routine help us to remain more vigorous and tend to assist us in aging more gracefully.

Your odds of living longer are increased by 50% if you have a strong social network.  Volunteering  decreases your blood pressure by 40%.  Students who spend more than 5 hours a day using their smartphones have symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.  Swapping saturated fats for healthy fat will lower your risk for heart disease.  People who experience chronic back pain find relief by performing regular yoga exercises.  Cooking your food at home helps you eat fewer “empty” calories and helps to save at least $100 a month. 1-7 young people ages 12 to 20 binge on alcohol.  That’s four drinks in 2 hours for females and 5 for males.  DRONES can deliver an AED to a person in need faster than an ambulance.  People who eat fried potatoes (chips, hash browns, tater tots, fries) 2 – 3 times a week are 11% more likely to die than those who eat them one once a month or less.  

Men now account for 40% of the 40 million Americans who are caregivers. Men tend to be reluctant to seek out support for themselves in the caregiving process.  If you get a good night’s sleep you feel better.   Frequent exercise can slow the aging process by 9 years.  It does this by lengthening the telomeres – the protein caps on the ends of our chromosomes.  Healthy eating lowers the risk for obesity.

These are all choices we can make along the way.