The Healthy Ageing Companion
  • Your Future
    • What the hell is happening as we live longer >
      • the Oxford Paradigm
      • Bad language about older people
    • How to reduce your risk of needing social care >
      • How society needs to reduce the need for social care
    • Your monthly briefing
    • The environment is tough >
      • The physical environment is the cause of many problems blamed on ageing
      • Retirement has benefits and risks
      • Some people got a better start than others
      • the impact of isolation is now recognised
      • Poverty affects too many older people
    • the Living Longer Better Programme >
      • what would a good life in your late 80s be likel
      • What do you fear most and want to avoid
      • Start to write your Living Longer Better Plan
      • Think positive
    • How to reduce your risk of a bad death
    • My diary & daily routine
    • My health record
    • My housing
    • Othercare - Supporting someone else
  • Learning
    • Start Planning to Live Longer Better
    • Understanding Ageing
    • Regaining and increasing fitness
    • Reducing the impact of disease
    • your social environment has a huge impact
    • Make Retirement your Renaissance
    • A Woman's Perspective
    • Stamina can be improved by brisk walking
    • Suppleness can always be improved and stiffness always reduced
    • Skill and co-ordination can be improved at any age
    • Strength and Power can always be increased
    • Increase Your Mental Fitness
    • Reduce your risk of disease
    • Eat Better
    • Feel Better
    • Reduce your risk of dementia
    • If disease does develop - take charge
    • Feel even better by helping other people even more
  • Get fitter & bodycare better
    • Activity Therapy is of vital importance
    • the Daily Dozen + 30 for 4S fitness
    • Increase strength, stamina, suppleness and skill >
      • Stamina
      • Suppleness
      • Skill
      • Strength
      • Work hard
      • Restart cycling >
        • Virtual Cycling
      • Brisk walking >
        • Virtual Walking
      • Restart Sport >
        • Restart swimming
        • Restart tennis
        • Restart football
      • If you have difficulty walking briskly
      • Join a Gym or Wellness Hub >
        • Meet others for fitness >
          • Silver sneakers
          • Age UK Generation games
          • Join a Gym, Fitness Centre or Wellness Hub
          • Find a personal trainer
      • Find a Trainer
    • Look after your body >
      • Happy and Positive Birthday >
        • Sod 60!
        • Sod70!
        • Sod It! Eat Well
        • Sod Sittin, Get Moving!
      • Skin maintenance
      • Teeth and gum maintenance
      • Feet maintenance
      • Bone, joint and muscle maintenance
      • Bowel maintenance
      • Brain maintenance
      • Mind maintenance
      • Heart maintenance
      • Lung maintenance
      • Waterworks maintenance for men
      • Waterworks maintenance for women
      • See as clearly as possible
      • Keep your Hearing as acute as possible
      • Reduce your risk of disease >
        • Eat Well
        • Stop smoking
        • Increase activity - physical, cognitive and emotional
        • Watch the alcohol
        • Accept the offers from the NHS screening programmes
        • We need a revolution
      • FIGHT DISEASE >
        • If disease occurs - Optimise Your Healthcare >
          • Making a big decision >
            • Should i have a hip replacement ?
          • Consequences of common conditions >
            • Loss of status
            • Disability and handicap
            • Isolation
            • Depression
            • Frailty
          • Look out for social as well as drug prescribing >
            • Enjoy Activity Therapy
          • What you can do to help the NHS even more
        • Arthritis
        • Cancer
        • COPD _ Bronchitis
        • Diabetes
        • Dementia
        • Heart disease
        • High Blood Pressure
        • Hypercholesterolaemia
        • Pain
        • Parkinson's Disease
        • Stroke
  • Think better
    • Train your brain ; we now know the brain can get fitter at any age
    • Understanding Dementia & Alzheimer's Disease
    • Reduce your risk of dementia >
      • Stimulate your brain more every year >
        • Learning new skills and build on your assets
        • Get even more engaged
      • Protect your brain >
        • Sleep better
        • Get more active
        • Avoid over medication
        • Control stress levels
        • Air pollution and dementia
      • Keep the oxygen flowing
  • Feel better
    • Combat depression
    • Combat anxiety
    • Stay engaged and don't lose your sense of purpose
    • Meet others like you
    • Feel Better by Volunteering
    • Optimise the Internet >
      • My Virtual Reality
    • Join others for a Daily Service
    • Feel better by visiting Great Places >
      • Visit the great Museums
      • Visit the great libraries
      • Visit a National Trust treasure
    • Feel better through music >
      • Join a concert party
      • Your virtual choir
      • Music for Moving
    • Creative Health Improvement
    • Feel better by reading, listening and watching with other people >
      • Kindling Book Club >
        • Crime
        • Classics
        • Health
      • Audible Book Club
      • Your BBC
      • Your Film Club
    • Feel better by learning new skills and ideas
    • Feel better by joining a club to play games and meet others >
      • Chess Club
      • Bingo club
      • Bridge Club
    • Feel better by supporting nature >
      • Visit the great gardens
    • Feeling Better by Going Down Memory Lane >
      • Sporting memories are powerful
  • Our Mission
    • About Us
    • Muir Gray's Bookshelf >
      • Midlife
      • Sod60!
      • Sod70!
      • Get Moving
      • Eatwell!
      • Dr Gray's Walking Cure
    • About the OxAP >
      • Here is the news
    • References

Healthy Ageing is possible;
it's not just living longer that people want, it is living better for longer, and reducing the risk you will need 'social care'. The mission of the Healthy Ageing Companion is to help you get there.

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Learning
TIME TO THINK AND PLAN AHEAD BASED ON BEST CURENT KNOWLEDGE 

 So, you've made it so far and how would you rate your health today, satisfactory, could be better or could be worse?

Don't worry about the age your parents or grandparents died or what diseases they developed. Your present state of health is mainly influenced by the social and physical environment in which you have lived and how you have adapted to the pressures of that environment.  A few diseases run in families but more important is the fact that the genes we have all inherited are genes that have favoured survival for hundreds of generations who have had to be active all the time, chasing food or fleeing sabre toothed tigers and hostile neighbours trying to steal the little food you have managed to store for the winter.  In addition the genes that led to more efficient deposition of fat were also an advantage in helping people survive the winter. Two generations ago this all changed. We are now inactive as never before, thanks to the car, the computer, the desk job, the sofa and the TV, and we are surrounded by tempting calories, not berries on bushes but shiny packets at every check out.


​Our mission is to collect best current knowledge about what you can do to prevent, delay, slow down or sometimes even reverse many of the problems which have hitherto been assumed to be caused by the normal ageing process, including the conditions we fear most - stroke, dementia and being so disabled you have to depend on others for the tasks of everyday life and need 'social care' which will quickly consume the wealth you have so carefully built up to pass on to your loved ones!  

We offer the opportunity to learn in more depth about what is happening as you live longer and what you can do about it and to learn how others are adapting to the challenge.


KNOWLEDGE IS THE ELIXIR OF LIFE 
 
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in laboratories to find the Elixir of Life,  a drug to slow down or reverse the ageing process – so far without success. It is certainly important to  understand that the normal ageing process can reduce maximum level of ability, the pulse rate for example, and resilience, for example  the ability to respond to a stumble or to a period of inactivity, but our review of the science is that ageing by itself is not a cause of significant problems till the later 90s. What is actually happening to you, and the scientific evidence about what you can is on  the linked page and the diagram on this page shows what is needed to live well as long as possible, that is to enjoy Healthy Ageing which is now actually the title of a report from the House of Commons!

The scientific foundation of this work is described in the linked page on the Oxford Longevity Paradigm 

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