Staying Fit
In your 60s you are likely to have a long, healthy life ahead of you. Men turning 65 this year can expect to live, on average, to age 84.3; women, until age 86.6.
Peter Arkle
The good news in your 60s: Making healthy changes will have a greater impact today than at any other time in your life.
The reality check in your 60s: Better get to know your blood pressure and blood sugar numbers now.
- You have a long, healthy life ahead. Indeed, men turning 65 this year can expect to live, on average, to age 84.3; women, until age 86.6. And 1 in 10 of us will thrive past 95. That’s two or three more decades of adventure that you don’t want to miss out on.
- Allergies, once the bane of springtime, may now be a thing of the past. This is the result of a changing immune system. As we age, some of our immune responses become less aggressive.
- But you may need to update your vaccines. After 65 you’re eligible for the higher-dose flu vaccine. Get it. And talk to your doctor about being vaccinated against shingles and pneumococcal disease.
- Be sure to get a hep C test. Eighty percent of undiagnosed hepatitis C cases lurk in people born between 1945 and 1955, but just 14 percent of us have been checked for the disease.
- Your fitness is more pliable than ever. Older adults benefit from healthy lifestyle changes to a greater degree than any other population group, according to the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program study. Over the course of 10 years, subjects 60 and older saw a 49 percent decrease in diabetes incidence after making healthy lifestyle changes; for adults under 60, the same changes resulted in, at most, a 34 percent reduction. And making changes is easier than ever. This year, Medicare will start picking up the tab for subscribers with prediabetes who enroll in a diabetes prevention program (DPP). Join classes at YMCAs, hospitals, health centers, churches, work sites and other locations.
- But it’s time to take action. Your fasting blood sugar level may rise between six and 14 points in your 60s. If you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes, your risk of developing the full-blown disease in the next year is 1 in 10. Consult with your doctor about diet and lifestyle changes that are right for you (or take that free DPP class).
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