A consultant geriatrician with 30 years of experience working with older people has revealed 11 habits that are making people age earlier than they should be.
People in their teens and twenties are often told to ‘make the most of your youth’ and ‘enjoy being young’, but as someone on the wrong side of 25, I know all too well how easy it is to start acting older.
I’m probably not alone – I bet at least a few of you have also noticed yourself groaning when you get up off the sofa, or complaining about mysterious aches and pains.
But according to Dr Lucy Pollock, an NHS Consultant Geriatrician, there are things we can do to stop ourselves acting old, and she’s detailed them in her new book ,The Golden Rule.
Take a look at 11 habits we can avoid below:
Making excuses not to do things
Admit it, we’re ALL guilty of this. Sometimes a night on the sofa sounds much more appealing than a night out, but Pollock has noted that this is a common habit of older people.
“Even simple things like going to a play or to a concert. People say, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. It will be very crowded and I won’t be able to park’.
“They find excuses for not doing something, rather than just deciding to do something,” the doctor said.
However, with studies linking socializing to a healthy lifespan, we can help expand our world by accepting plans, rather than making excuses.
“You might need to look up where you are going to park, but you will be able to park,” she said.
Not befriending the young
You might find it hard to understand some of the new slang younger generations are coming out with these days, but Pollock believes that refusing to even try could make us age more quickly.
“It’s something I see playing out day to day in my clinic and on my wards,” she said. “People who are able to tell me what their grandchildren are doing or who have them come visit, you see them light up and become much more engaged.”
A ‘really special skill’ in old age is to be ‘interested in the young and benevolent towards them’, Pollock added.
Embracing younger generations is key to holding on to youth (Getty Stock Photo)
Sitting on your money
If you’re still recovering from your last excessive online order, you might find this one harder to relate to.
However, being charitable with your money – if you can afford to be – can offer a sense of purpose and fulfilment which can have a positive impact on mental health.
Taking too many pills
Though it’s easy to turn to painkillers for a quick fix when you have a headache, there are some groups of medicine, such as antihistamines, which can have a negative impact on your brain and increase the risk of dementia if you use them long-term, according to studies cited by The Telegraph.
That being said, if you are already taking medicine frequently, Pollock advised speaking to a doctor before making any changes.
She used the acronym ‘BRAN’ – Benefits, Risks, Alternatives and Nothing – to advise people thinking about whether to take pills, saying: “Always read the small print. A is for Alternatives, and finally, the N stands for Nothing. What happens if you do nothing?”
Dr Pollock encourages people to consider what happens if you don’t take a pill (Getty Stock Photo)
Obsessing over your ailments
This brings us right back to those mysterious aches and pains, and Pollock noted that distraction can be ‘useful when dealing with minor complaints’.
Pointing out that pain, low mood, and anxiety can feel heightened when there isn’t anything else going on, Pollock added: “We know that at any age. So actually maintaining your interests and having interests beyond your own health is actually very important.”
Moving to a bungalow
This one might surprise you, but it turns out that having stairs in your home can actually be beneficial to how you age.
Following a 2018 study of more than 6,000 people aged 65 or over, results published in the journal BMC Geriatrics found that having stairs in the home helped prevent age-related physical decline.
Climbing the stairs can help strengthen your leg muscles and keep your leg arteries flexible, which helps contribute to a healthier heart and body.
Pollock said: “If you do move into a bungalow while you’re still able to do stairs, try and find some other way to maintain that muscle strength.
“You see lots of people now pop into a lift to go two or three flights of stairs. You think, ‘For goodness sake, don’t do that!’”
Stairs can help maintain muscle strength (Getty Stock Photo)
Failing to embrace tech
This is probably one of the easier habits to adjust, as Pollock explained that failure to get involved in new tech can exclude you from society.
She said: “Embrace tech, and learn to use Facetime so you can talk to your grandchildren when they go travelling. I don’t think there’s anything to be gained from being a Luddite.”
Refusing to get a hearing aid
For people who currently don’t have any issues with hearing, this isn’t likely to be a problem until you do start to age – but Pollock explained that poor hearing is associated with cognitive decline.
So, accepting that you might need a hearing aid can help avoid that decline.
“And it is one of the things that we can do that will help improve your chances of not getting dementia,” Pollock added.
Resting too much
Again, there’s always the draw of the comfy sofa, but Pollock explained ‘being able to stand from a chair is absolutely the key to maintaining your independent life.’
“You need to stand up every 20 minutes,” she said. “If you’re watching TV, then that’s every time there’s an ad break. Do not mindlessly sit there and click ‘next episode’.”
Even if you end up out of breath, Pollock encouraged people to keep moving.
“I’ve had people saying to me. ‘I don’t like walking fast or running because I get out of breath’. But that’s the point, you’re kind of meant to!”, she said.
“Actually doing exercise that is enough to make you a little bit breathless, that’s actually a very good thing to do for the vast majority of people.”
Everyone likes to relax, but Pollock urged people to stand up regularly (Getty Stock Photo)
Assuming you don’t need to do the work
While seeing a physiotherapist later in life is something many of us will get familiar with, Pollock explained that you don’t need to rely on the help every time.
“What the physio does is tell you what you need to do and you then get on with it. You don’t need to have a session with them every time,” she said.
“It comes back to people wanting there to be a magic pill that’s going to make you stronger and your balance better. That, I’m afraid, is in your own hands. Do your physio and exercises, and improve your strength. Get yourself a walking pole and start moving again. It is really important to do that.”
Believing that being older means being more frail
It’s normal to lose muscle mass as we grow older, but that’s not to say older people can’t improve their muscle strength.
By walking, sitting on a chair and lifting one leg after another, and even using homemade weights like a carton of milk, people can take steps to keep up muscle mass before their muscles become frail.
Pollock herself integrates this kind of exercise by doing 20 squats while she brushes her teeth.
“My daughter calls them ‘meanwhile exercises’. Things you can do while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil,” she said.
The doctor also recommended standing on one leg, closing your eyes. “With practice you can improve your balance. Not just maintain, but actually make it better.”
As well as trying to avoid all of the above habits, Pollock stressed the importance of a good mindset.
“If you feel that you’re washed up and washed out you tend to behave as if you are,” she said.
