Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

Lifestyle Changes Could Add 10-15 Years to Your Life

Image of A female Navy physical therapist works with a senior citizen lying on a table holding a ball. U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Lyda Kuoch, with the U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, works on upper body strength and mobility with a senior patient during a routine physical therapy session on Sept. 28. Small steps, such as changes in nutrition, avoiding risky behaviors, and exercising can prolong life and help you age healthily.

You can age healthily even with the clock ticking away. It just takes a little work. Even small steps to improving your health can mean a longer and better quality of life.

And defense health officials are working to dispel the negative concept of aging. "There is a common misperception that it is normal in the aging process to have poor health, heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and other chronic diseases. This couldn't be further from the truth," said U.S. Air Force Col. (Dr.) Mary Anne Kiel, who chairs the Defense Health Agency Primary Care Clinical Community. "When lifestyle changes are adopted by our patients using an evidence-based approach, chronic disease can be prevented or delayed by 10-15 years compared to the average. This leads to extra health and years that our patients can enjoy," Kiel said.

Lifestyle Adjustments can Prolong Your Life

Kiel also serves as chair of Air Force Lifestyle & Performance Medicine and emphasizes how lifestyle choices impact health well into advanced years.

"Patients can make a personal choice at any age to optimize their health and extend their longevity by changing their nutrition to a predominantly plant-based diet, minimizing processed foods, doing physical activity daily, pursuing restorative sleep, avoiding risky substances, managing stress, and cultivating positive social connections," Kiel advised. In addition to avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and too much alcohol, lowering your stress levels and good sleep hygiene are crucial to staying healthy as you age.

"Improved sleep can produce almost instantaneous results for improved mental health, pain levels, and risk for infectious disease," in addition to reducing the risk of dementia and overall rates of death," Kiel said.

Similarly, "a revolutionized diet and physical activity regimen can produce rapid changes to the body's risk for cardiovascular events, cancer, and diabetes," she noted.

If you want to lower your risk of diseases and take fewer medications, you may be able to do that through changes to your lifestyle. "Studies show that individuals who make intensive lifestyle changes can actually reverse hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, often with the ability to reduce or eliminate any medications they may have needed previously," Kiel said.

To live longer, we need to change how our DNA is affected. Chromosomes carry long pieces of DNA, which is the material that holds our genes. Telomeres, which are the ends of our chromosomes, typically get shorter as we age. "Changing what we eat, and other lifestyle factors can reduce the speed at which the telomeres shorten, effectively extending the number of years that we live," Kiel explained.

Health and Holistic Fitness Program

The U.S. Army's broad-ranging holistic approach, the Health and Holistic Fitness program, encourages service members and their families to engage in healthy behaviors and a lifestyle that promotes healthy aging, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Holly Roberts, who holds a doctorate in geriatrics and is a neurologic-certified specialist and physical therapist.

Keep Moving and Keep Your Bones Strong

"Movement on a continuous basis is very important to keeping healthy as we age and to maintain our mobility," said U.S. Navy Lt. Alexa Werner, a physical therapist at the U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The largest impairments that we see are a lack of strength, balance, or endurance as well as limited mobility," she said.

"One of the constant sayings I heard while going through physical therapy training school was 'Motion is lotion,'" Werner said.

"Basically, the more you move, the more you can move. This is true in resolving pain in younger patients, as well as helping to ensure healthy aging and independence in aging populations," she added.

One of the biggest changes Werner said she has seen in treating the senior population is "the emphasis on strengthening and functional activities."

"Once the thought was that elderly patients are fragile, but we have seen in recent research that elderly individuals respond well to weight training and can increase their bone density resulting in decreased risk of fracture," Werner said.

Fall prevention is also important for older adults. "Falls are the leading cause of fatal accidents in older adults and the leading cause of trauma-related hospitalizations in older adults" Roberts said.

One of the best ways to improve balance is to start a walking program, she suggested, or work your balance through such evidence-based community-based exercise programs. This could include: 

  • Tai Chi, a series of gentle physical exercises and stretches that each flow into the next, ensuring constant motion.
  • Otago, a series of 17 strength and balance exercises delivered by a physical therapist in the home that reduces falls between 35% and 40%.
  • Stay Active, a series for endurance, strength, balance, and stretching.
  • Independent for Life, a series that includes warm-up, aerobics, balance, strength training, and stretching exercises that can be done in a seated or standing position. Fitness checks track general mobility, arm strength and leg strength.

"Studies have shown that no matter what our age, making nutrition and other lifestyle changes can have dramatic impacts by extending our lifespans and improving our quality of life," Kiel said, adding: "You're never too old to make a change."

You also may be interested in...

The difference between Celiac Disease & Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity

Article
3/26/2021
Close up picture of slices of bread

Celiac disease is not a food allergy; it's an autoimmune disease diagnosed through a blood test.

When we “Break Bread," we build social bonds

Article
3/25/2021
Picture of military personnel sitting at a table eating food together

Eating socially has been shown to influence happiness and life satisfaction; specifically participating in evening meals with more people.

METC trains dietician techs to build, support a Medically Ready Force

Article
3/18/2021
Military health personnel preparing food trays while wearing a face mask

Nutrition plays an important role in military readiness.

Women’s health emerging priorities series highlights mental health

Article
3/4/2021
A woman holding her hands near her face

Women’s mental health can be more affected by transitioning than men’s, speakers’ series attendees hear.

Proper nutrition impacts overall health & readiness

Article
3/4/2021
Man wearing a face mask restocking fruit at a store

Nutritional fitness implications for Total Force Fitness are far reaching.

10 ways to support holistic heart health

Article
2/26/2021
picture of a heart running on the treadmill with the words "healthy heart for body and soul. ten ways to support holistic heart health"

Tips for a Total Force Fitness approach to keeping your heart healthy

Eating disorders hinder optimal health and TFF nutrition concept

Article
2/25/2021
a picture of the produce section at a grocery store

Disordered eating lessens Total Force Fitness.

Good oral care requires lifetime commitment

Article
2/25/2021
Military health personnel, sitting in front of a group of children, showing them how to brush their teeth using a stuffed animal

Children’s Dental Health Month focuses on the importance of developing good oral hygiene habits at an early age.

Proper diet, sleep, exercise, and joy key to heart health

Article
2/24/2021
Military personnel working out at the gym

Heart health is crucial to service members’ readiness throughout their high-stress careers. Working to achieve that takes self-discipline and moderation, but also joy, integrity, and social interaction

How do you mend a broken heart? It usually fixes itself

Article
2/23/2021
Military personnel wearing a face mask, gets his heart checked out by military heath personnel

'Broken Heart Syndrome’ and ‘Holiday Heart Syndrome’ are very real phenomena. Spiritual and social fitness can help mitigate both.

March 2021 Toolkit

Publication
2/22/2021

March is nationally recognized as Brain Injury Awareness Month, with the goal of increasing traumatic brain injury (TBI) awareness and improve health care providers’ ability to identify, care for, and treat all those who are affected by TBI. A TBI is a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. According to the Defense Health Agency Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, 430,720 service members have been diagnosed with a first-time TBI since 2000. The toolkit also contains information on patient Safety Awareness Week, National Nutrition Month and many other graphics and messages you can use for holidays and observances during March.

Training for a healthy heart can improve overall health

Article
2/22/2021
Military personnel wearing a mask exercising in the gym

Service members must be heart healthy to perform optimally throughout their military careers.

Navy Lt. stresses importance of being proactive during winter training

Article
2/10/2021
Marines march during a cold weather leadership course

MCMWTC is the "real deal."

Sleep and TBI

Video
2/8/2021
Sleep and TBI

Sleep disturbances are common for service members and veterans following a mild TBI, also known as concussion.

A ‘holistic framework’ for Total Force Fitness through 2021

Article
2/8/2021
Three military personnel, dress in gym gear, exercising with medicine balls.

Total Force Fitness is being re-introduced in 2021 by all branches of the military, to include an emphasis on holistic training that goes far beyond physical fitness.

Page 6 of 8 , showing items 76 - 90
First < ... 6 7 8 > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: November 09, 2022
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery