How To Live To 100

My Weekly’s favourite GP from TV and radio writes for you.

- Dr. Sarah Jarvis

We’ve all been touched by the news that the Duke of Edinburgh is to step down from his royal duties at the age of 95, after 70 years of public service. A man who’s still active at a ripe old age. How can you follow in his footsteps?

Life expectancy continues to rise in the UK – a boy born today could expect to live to over 79, and a girl to nearly 83. Of course, these are average figures – if half of men died at 89 and the other half at 69, the average would be 79. By 2015, there were 14,500 people over 100 years old in the UK – 65% more than there were in 2005.

As for the youngsters, there are over half a million over 90s living in the UK today. So how can you skew the odds in your favour?

You can’t choose your family – sometimes living longer is about inheriting the right genes. Being a woman helps. On average, women live 4 years longer than men. But the gap is closing, largely as death rates from heart disease, which has always killed more men than women,have dropped so much in the last 20 years.