1. What are the most important things a person should do to aid healthy aging? The healthy lifestyle changes that seem the most obvious really are the most important. The most important step of all is to stop smoking. The second step is to exercise. It’s worthwhile to note that factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking all increase a person’s risk of heart disease by 2.1 to 2.5 times that of a person who does not have these risk factors. Lack of regular exercise increases the risk of heart disease 1.9 times – almost the same amount as high cholesterol and the other factors. Increasing physical activity is the easiest, least expensive way to reduce your risk. Other very important healthy lifestyle factors include maintaining a healthy weight, eating right and moderating your use of alcohol. We all know intuitively what changes we should make to take better care of ourselves. Ask yourself honestly, ‘What could I be doing to take better care of myself?’ And follow your own advice.
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