As you grow older and enter your retirement years it is imperative to remain active and healthy, not only for your physical wellbeing but also your mental wellbeing. Of course, there’s no need to postpone doing this until retirement and starting early and sticking to a healthy exercise and eating regime will make your golden years a lot easier.

If you come across this article chances are that you are either exercising or considering such activity. For the over 50s, regular exercise is important for a number of reasons:

•      Studies have shown that increased activity of the heart and blood vessels can bring a heart rate down. High heart rate on the other hand, especially when the body is not engaged in physical activity can speedup damage to the heart.

Osteoporosis is often referred to as the ‘silent disease’ because despite the fact that almost 3 million people in the UK are estimated to have osteoporosis, worryingly few people know they have it until they break a bone. There are more than 230,000 fractures every year due to osteoporosis.

One in three (34%) carers aged 60 and over have cancelled medical treatment or an operation in order to tend to the person they are looking after, a study has revealed.

Research carried out by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers also discovered that almost 70% of carers aged 60 and over said that looking after someone else had damaged their health.