Welcome back to Age Wise, exploring the science of improving physical health and mental wellness at every stage of life. Don’t miss the intriguing news below about how daily routines boost health, happiness and longevity (plus: how long can humans live?). But first, an announcement:
My book has a title, pub date and early cover mock-up. “Make Sleep Your Superpower” will be available as a Kindle ebook Nov. 1. Super excited, a bit stressed but sleeping well, working like crazy to polish it. As a subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll get notified when it’s available. Details about the book are on my website now.
Arthritis Cases Soar, Remedies Ignored
Global cases of osteoarthritis, the most common form, have more than doubled in the past three decades, owing in large part to the rise in obesity, decrease in physical activity, and increased consumption of highly processed foods. So what do we do about it?
A new survey finds more than 70% of U.S. adults over age 50 have joint pain, and the majority of them say exercise helps reduce symptoms. But a third don’t exercise, and many instead turn to unhelpful approaches. From the new national survey of 2,277 U.S. adults, conducted by the University of Michigan:
“There are sizable risks associated with many of these treatment options, especially when taken long-term or in combination with other drugs,” said one of the co-authors of the survey report, Beth Wallace, MD, a clinical rheumatologist and assistant professor in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. “Yet 60% of those taking two or more substances for their joint pain said their health care provider hadn’t talked with them about risks, or they couldn’t recall if they had. And 26% of those taking oral steroids hadn’t talked with a provider about the special risks these drugs bring.”
Even ibuprofen has potentially nasty side effects. That’s why, as I wrote on Medium:
The American College of Rheumatology recommends exercise and other physical activity above all other remedies for osteoarthritis. Weight loss is also atop the list of go-to measures for preventing and managing arthritis. Other options, which physicians can help recommend, include joint braces, acupuncture and yes, medications used properly under the guidance of a medical professional.
The message from experts is simple: Look to physical activity, healthy eating and other lifestyle remedies before turning to drugs, and have a serious conversation with your healthcare provider before leaning into any medications.
If you have arthritis, or if you plan to get older some day, consider reading the full story.
Daily Routines Boost Health, Happiness and Longevity
Healthy routines have been shown to reduce stress, lift moods, fuel happiness and improve physical health. New research reveals the benefits of daily routines combined with being active as much as possible during the day—not exercise necessarily, but just doing things.
Older people who consistently rise early and are also active throughout the day do better on tests measuring cognitive skills, and they have fewer symptoms of depression, suggesting they are happier.
“There’s something about getting going early, staying active all day and following the same routine each day that seems to be protecting older adults,” said the study’s lead author, Stephen Smagula, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. “What’s exciting about these findings is that activity patterns are under voluntary control, which means that making intentional changes to one’s daily routine could improve health and wellness.”
You can find all the study details, along with related evidence from other research, in my story.
Related: Queen Elizabeth II, who died at 96 last week, was a stickler for routines. Sure, her position of privilege and access to good healthcare likely contributed to living long, but she was known for staying active, working 40-hour weeks into her 90s. Even so, she didn’t live as long as a lot of people do these days, so I wrote a bit about how long humans might live. The consensus among experts: Maybe 135, possibly the occasional outlier at 150—down the road, anyway, with future medical advances. But we shouldn’t bank on much more than that.
I hope you found this newsletter useful, and I look forward to sharing new insights with you next time. Consider forwarding this to a friend, and I won’t complain if you buy me a cup of coffee.
—Rob