Enjoying satisfying relationships with partners, family, friends and work colleagues and exercising at least once every month could boost your physical and mental health in old age, two studies suggest.
The first study found that satisfying relationships with partners, relatives, friends and colleagues are linked to a lower risk of accumulating multiple long-term conditions in old age. The study examined data from almost 8,000 women in Australia who were free from 11 common long-term conditions and aged 45 to 50 when the study began in 1996. Every three years they reported their satisfaction levels with their partners, family members, friends and work colleagues.
The results highlight “the benefits of starting or maintaining high quality and diverse social relationships throughout middle to early old age”, they explained. A second study found that regular physical activity at any age is linked to better brain function in old age, and maintaining an exercise routine throughout adulthood seems to be best for preserving mental acuity and memory and staving off conditions such as dementia.