How to ‘age up’ and not decline as you get older

Deterioration in cognitive and physical health is not inevitable in our later years. According to research, we become happier, wiser, and less anxious. We can also prevent or slow down muscular and mental decline

Older people tend to be happier because their lives are more stable and many family and financial stressors are gone. Picture: iStock

We associate ageing with worsening health, lack of fitness, propensity for disease, and even low mood. But life doesn’t have to get worse with age, and many aspects of it improve from mid-life onwards.

Here is what we can look forward to in the autumn of our lives:

You are more focused and less prone to anxiety

Older people are less likely to be hindered by anxiety and are “less mentally restless” than younger adults, according to research by Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with Dublin City University, and published in the journal Psychology and Aging. 

The study found that older adults offset cognitive decline by increasing their motivation and using strategies to stop their minds from wandering when they needed to focus. Older people also showed lower levels of anxiety and depression and were more focused and motivated in cognitive tests than their youthful counterparts.

You can get physically stronger

Muscle mass declines with age and, unless addressed, ultimately leads to frailty. But don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot become physically stronger. For a study in Frontiers in Physiology, a team from the University of Jyväskylä, in Finland, asked a group of 65- to 75-year-olds to embark on twice-weekly, full-body resistance training to boost their muscular strength for three months and then to carry on by themselves.

Six months later, even the once-a-week weight lifters had greater strength and significant improvements in body composition (a higher muscle-to-fat ratio), cholesterol, and blood-sugar control.

Women may get fewer migraines

Migraine headaches are three times more prevalent in women than men, with high numbers of enquiries from women in the 15-49 age bracket, according to the Migraine Association of Ireland (MAI). 

Migraines can be related to certain triggers and may be exacerbated by hormone levels, the menstrual cycle, and the menopause, with the MIA noting that “perimenopause is sometimes associated with worsening migraine as a result of hormone fluctuations”.

After the menopause, however, when oestrogen and progesterone levels have fallen and stabilised, 60%-70% of women see a positive change in the intensity and frequency of migraines.

You may become better at handling stress

Psychologists at Ghent University and the University of Geneva found that during lab-based stress tests, a group of 65-84 year-olds not only reported feeling less stressed, but had lower recorded levels of the stress hormone cortisol and a lower heart-rate reaction than 18-30 year-olds.

Juggling jobs, families, and financial pressures creates a high daily stress load in our 20s, 30s, and 40s, which decreases dramatically as these stressors are reduced with age. 

Also, our ability to deal with stress might improve. Psychologists at Ghent University and the University of Geneva found that during lab-based stress tests, a group of 65-84 year-olds not only reported feeling less stressed, but had lower recorded levels of the stress hormone cortisol and a lower heart-rate reaction than 18-30 year-olds.

For a study of almost 3,000 adults conducted over 20 years and published in the Developmental Psychology journal, David Almeida, professor of human development and family studies at Penn State University, found that while 25-year-olds reported stressors on nearly 50% of days, people in their 70s experienced similar stressors on only 30% of days. 

“There’s something about growing old that leads to fewer stressors,” said Almeida.

“A 25-year-old is much grumpier on the days when they experience a stressor, but, as we age, we really figure out how to decrease those exposures.”

Sex is more enjoyable

Psychologists at the University of California discovered that women aged 55–80 reported higher orgasm satisfaction, even if levels of physical arousal had declined.

Actress Emma Thompson, 66, recently said: “You need sex, because it’s part of our health plan, if you like….It’s so good for you.” She should have added that sex can be more satisfying from the mid-50s onwards. 

A study in Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics found that both men and women reported higher satisfaction with sex as they aged.

Elsewhere, psychologists at the University of California discovered that women aged 55–80 reported higher orgasm satisfaction, even if levels of physical arousal had declined.

Your brain might become sharper

A decline in brain function is not inevitable as we age, as neuroscientists have reported in a study of 702 participants, aged 58 to 98, published in Nature Human Behaviour. They found that two key brain functions involved in decision making, navigation, and memory — orienting and executive inhibition — can improve as people get older. 

When driving a car, for example, orienting comes in to play when attention shifts to any unexpected movement, such as a pedestrian or a bike. Executive inhibition helps block out distractions to stay focused on the road.

João Veríssimo, an assistant professor at the University of Lisbon and lead author, said both brain functions are skills developed with lifelong practice and can become strong enough to outweigh any underlying cognitive decline.

Not all aspects of memory will decline

Our brains reach peak capacity in our 20s and from then on slowly get smaller, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all aspects of memory will deteriorate.

Researchers, including those reporting in Psychology of Aging, explained that while our recollection of past experiences — or our episodic memory — tends to decline with age, our semantic memory — the ability to recall facts and general knowledge without detail — remains relatively stable and can even get stronger with age. 

Examples of semantic memory include language, vocabulary, and numbers. Your procedural memory — the ability to tell the time, ride a bike, or use a keyboard — also remains stable with age, according to researchers at the University of Illinois.

You will probably be happier

Older people tend to be happier with their lot in life, according to a study of 1,000 people by Susan Charles, a professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Life in old age is often more stable, enabling us to focus more on the present and less on planning for the future, and people tend to feel more satisfied with their close friends and family members, Charles found in her research of over two decades.

“This mindset is one possible explanation for high levels of wellbeing later in life,” she said

You really do get wiser with age

The adage that with age comes wisdom is true, according to a growing body of researchers.

Last year, Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford University Centre on Longevity, told Scientific American that “the belief about old people is that they’re all kind of the same, they’re doddering, and that ageing is this steady downward slope” is a gross misunderstanding. Octogenarians “include the wisest people on the planet”, Carstensen said.

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