Are you aging well? 7 signs doctors look for in older adults

Health

By Marc Lallanilla

There’s getting older — and there’s aging well.

Healthy aging goes far beyond simply eating right and exercising, according to Dr. Parul Goyal, a geriatrician at Vanderbilt Health in Nashville.

“Aging well, in my opinion, consists of three different components,” Goyal told HuffPost. Those components are physical well-being, emotional connection and mental support.

When all those elements are in place, a healthy, happy, rewarding life is the result. And the following seven factors are an indication that you’re taking all the right steps.

Keep learning new things

Because older people are usually far removed from school and work, there may be fewer opportunities to learn new things, so it’s important to seek out opportunities to stay engaged and keep learning.

With her patients, Goyal spends time “making sure that they are staying mentally strong, they are using their mind, they are engaging in exercises to stimulate their mind, which means they are learning a new skill,” she said.

She encourages her patients to practice new skills, whether it’s a board game, a sport or other physical activity, a new language or a musical instrument. “That will help form new pathways in the brain so that they can continue to stay cognitively strong,” Goyal said.

And there’s data to back that up: A recent study published in JAMA Network Open looked at a range of activities that stimulate the brain. The research revealed that people who regularly participate in activities like using a computer, taking classes or journaling were up to 11% less likely to develop dementia.

Speak up about your needs

Nobody wants to be a burden, but suffering in silence is counterproductive and can lead to physical and mental health issues, so experts advise people to speak up.

“So often, people don’t age well because they’re not upfront about what their needs are,” said Robyn Golden of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “How do we make it OK for people to say, ‘This is what I need, I’m feeling lonely, I need someone to go out with on a Tuesday night?’”

And if someone is struggling with depression or anxiety, they need to let their doctor know. There may be an assumption that anxiety or depression in old age is normal, but Golden said that’s not true.

“Depression can be treated at any age, and not just with medication, with counseling, with group interventions, you name it. So, I think that’s part of how you age well, being open to being able to say, ‘This is who I am, this is what I need’,” Golden said.

Engage with a community

In May 2023, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a serious health problem, saying, “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an underappreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health.”

The problem has become even worse since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools, churches and businesses: “With the COVID pandemic, this has become really important. There was a lot of social isolation among our geriatric patients because they were confined to their homes,” Goyal said.

Socializing helps your cognitive health, too, said Dr. Lee Lindquist, the chief of geriatrics at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. “We think of the brain as a muscle, so if you sit in a room with four walls all day and not talk to anybody … your brain is going to go to sludge because it’s not getting any stimulation,” Lindquist said.

And a recent study published in the journal Nature Aging found that greater social participation in midlife and late life is associated with 30 to 50% lower risk of dementia.

Socializing with people in person or on the phone, joining a book club, team sports and volunteering are good ways to exercise your brain and make it stronger.

Stay physically healthy

The fundamentals still apply, even in old age, so exercise and a healthy diet are as important as ever.

“I want people to keep moving, exercising. If you haven’t moved in a long time, or you’ve been sitting down for a long time, it’s sometimes useful to ask your doctors for a physical therapy order to help you with your gait and balance,” said Lindquist.

And eating a healthy diet that’s rich in fruits and vegetables, and one that aligns with a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets, is a great way to fuel the older body, according to Goyal.

Do what you enjoy

Your senior years, even if you have an illness or an injury, don’t mean you can’t do what you love to do, whether that’s traveling, learning new recipes, hiking or playing games with your friends.

“I love people who are doing activities and enjoying life, and doing it in a way that brings them enjoyment,” Lindquist said.

“From my end, people get chronic illnesses throughout their life, but it’s all about managing their care and doing the best they can,” she added.

Review your medications

“Many times, we end up taking too many medicines for what we actually need,” Lindquist said, noting that a drug you were prescribed in your 50s might not be the best choice for you today. “Your body is always changing, it may not need [certain] meds.”

There can also be problems related to “polypharmacy,” or taking multiple prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and supplements. These can often interact with one another, causing additional problems.

A 2022 report from the University of California, San Francisco, found that about 58% of seniors with probable or possible dementia had otherwise good to excellent health, yet more than half took six or more medications — a habit that may result in adverse drug interactions and poor outcomes.

“So, it’s imperative that you talk to your physician [or] a geriatrician … specifically looking at what drugs are unnecessary or can be dangerous as you get older,” Lindquist noted.

Have a plan

It’s always a good idea to talk to your family and friends about what you want to happen if you are hospitalized, incapacitated or suffer memory loss. This helps your loved ones will be prepared if any unplanned, stressful situations occur.

“It’s not planning for end of life, which is like hospice, or [planning] you’re going to die in six months ― this is planning for the 20 years before you need help,” Lindquist explained. It’s a way to ensure your voice is heard as you get older, and that those around you don’t have to make important decisions for you.

And if you need planning advice on how to talk to people about these potentially stressful conversations, Lindquist and her colleagues created Plan Your Lifespan, a free resource for older adults that’s backed by research, studies and funding from the National Institutes of Health.