Healthy Aging

More than 2,000 years ago, the Roman playwright Terence wrote a comedy called Phormio. In one scene, an older man named Chremes returns from a long stay on the island of Lemnos. When his brother asks why he stayed so long, Chremes says illness kept him. Asked what illness, he answers, “Senectus ipsa est morbus.” Old age itself is a disease…

Incontinence is an initial warning sign that the strength of your pelvic floor is compromised in some way and no longer has the ability to hold the contents of the pelvis. The initial symptom is leaking urine but if left untreated…

There is something deeply comforting about the Blue Zones. We picture an older woman in Sardinia walking home from the market, people in Okinawa sharing a meal, or an elderly man in Ikaria tending his garden, surrounded by people who know him. For years, we have been told that these places hold…

Towards the end of my corporate career, I used to spend quite a lot of time dreaming about my retirement. I had a very clear picture in my mind. There I was, sitting in a beautiful garden, reading a good book, with a large glass of chilled white wine beside me. No meetings. No deadlines. No demanding colleagues…

As the days shorten, the sunny hours become more precious. Taking a sunny afternoon walk, I reflect on everything that happened in the last six months of light, travel and a long hiking season. Did the spring and summer seasons transform me?

As far back as I can remember, conventional wisdom has been that the higher our HDL cholesterol levels, the less we and our healthcare providers had to be concerned about our ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol levels…

Most of us think of aging as something that simply happens with the passing of time. Another birthday arrives, another candle goes on the cake, and we are one year older. But there’s an important distinction: our chronological age and our biological age are not necessarily the same thing…

We are constantly getting health advice from doctors, pharmacists, friends, family, television ads, podcasts, social media influencers and people we have only met online. In fact, I write articles giving you advice about how to think, what to eat and how to live. Perhaps just last week a friend at lunch told you the magnesium she uses fixed her sleep, a television ad…

Not long ago, a friend’s husband told me I was a very beautiful woman. He wasn’t hitting on me. It was simply a lovely compliment, sincerely given. I thanked him, but inside my head, I was thinking: You have no idea how much maintenance this takes now. I may be a little vain. I’m okay admitting that…

Are you someone who enjoys a glass or two of wine every evening? Perhaps you rarely drink during the week but look forward to a few glasses of wine at the weekend. Or maybe alcohol appears only at dinners, celebrations and social occasions. Most of us have no problem justifying our drinking habit. The daily […]