Healthy at Every Age: What Matters in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, and Beyond

When you're young and healthy, it's easy to think of going to the doctor as something you do when you're sick. But some of the most important work we do in primary care happens long before a health problem develops. 

Your health needs will change throughout your life. What matters most in your 20s won't necessarily be your biggest priority in your 50s. Still, the habits you build early can have an impact for years to come. Regular preventive care matters, too, as does having a primary care physician or advanced practice provider (APP) who knows your health history.
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Why your relationship with a primary care physician or APP matters.

One of my main roles as a primary care physician is prevention. I want to understand where your health stands today and identify potential risks so we can make sure you're getting the preventive care that's right for you.

Your primary care physician or APP can also serve as the “quarterback” of your health team. We get to know you and your health history over time. Maybe we're watching your blood pressure or noticing a change in your cholesterol from one visit to the next. Depending on your health and family history, we may need to keep an eye on other numbers, too.

That role becomes even more important if your health gets more complicated. If your care involves multiple specialists or medications, your primary care physician or APP can help bring all the pieces together by coordinating your care, keeping everyone informed, and ensuring you receive the right care at the right time. This allows us to remain focused on your overall health—not just one condition at a time. 

In your 20s: Build habits that can grow with you.

In your 20s, you may feel healthy and have plenty of energy, so chronic disease isn't necessarily on your mind. However, this is actually a great time to establish a relationship with a primary care physician or APP. Family history and genetics can affect your health even when you feel perfectly well. High cholesterol, for example, doesn't necessarily cause symptoms. Establishing care early gives us an opportunity to understand some of those risks and get a sense of your baseline health. 

Just as important, your 20s are a good time to experiment. Try different forms of exercise until you find something you actually enjoy. Explore new foods and find ways to add more whole, plant-based options to your diet. This is also a good time to invest in friendships and other positive relationships, which are an important part of long-term health.

The goal isn't to have your health figured out by 25. It's to start getting comfortable with habits you can carry with you as life changes. 
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In your 30s: Protect the foundation you've built.

Life often gets busier in your 30s. Work and family life may demand more of you. For example, maybe you're raising young children or caring for someone else. Whatever your season, finding time for your own health isn't always easy or convenient.

In your 30s, this is often a great time to keep building on the healthy habits you established earlier. Your primary care physician or APP may monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol, along with blood glucose or A1C when appropriate. Depending on your family history, some people in their 30s may also need to begin certain screenings earlier than the average recommended age. 

It's also worth thinking about how you exercise. Staying active is important, but so is preventing injury. As you continue resistance training or other activities, paying more attention to proper form and preparing your body for exercise can help.
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Make healthy choices realistic.

When life is busy, I don't want patients to think exercise only “counts” if they can get to a gym for an hour. If you hate running, don't run. If you would rather dance, then dance. Go for a walk, exercise with your kids, or find smaller opportunities to move throughout the day. Start with something you enjoy and build from there. Even if you can only get up and move for ten minutes at a time, doing that several times a day adds up.

Planning ahead can help with nutrition, too. Perhaps you can prepare a few salads over the weekend or get part of dinner ready before the workweek starts. Then, when you get home tired and hungry, there's already something waiting for you. That's one less decision you have to make. Healthy living doesn't have to fit a certain mold. It has to be something you can actually maintain.
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In your 40s: Pay closer attention to prevention.

By your 40s, preventive screenings start to become a bigger part of the conversation. Colorectal cancer screening, for example, generally begins at age 45, although some people may need to start earlier based on family history. Your doctor can also help you stay on track with other recommended screenings and decide which ones are appropriate based on your individual risks.

This is a good time to make sure you know your family health history, too. Certain cancers and other diseases can carry genetic risks, which means that if your parents had something, it could potentially mean you have a greater risk of developing that same condition. If your father developed high cholesterol at an unusually young age, for example, that's useful information for your physician to know. In some cases, what we learn from your family history may change the tests we recommend or how we approach your risk.
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Don't assume every change is “just getting older.

People also start noticing changes in their 40s and may assume they're simply part of getting older or having a busy life. Sometimes they are, but it's worth mentioning them to your doctor.

For example, if you're suddenly much thirstier than usual, and you're also urinating more frequently or feeling unusually tired, we may want to check your blood sugar. Or maybe you've started snoring and wake up exhausted, even though you thought you slept all night. Daytime sleepiness and other changes could point to sleep apnea. Blood pressure can be even harder to notice because it may be high without causing any symptoms at all. 

Pay attention when something feels different. You don't have to decide for yourself whether it's significant or not. Bring it up and let us help you figure that out.
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In your 50s and beyond: Protect your strength and independence.

Preventive care doesn't stop as you enter your 50s. You'll still need appropriate cancer screenings and other health assessments based on your individual risk. For women, this stage of life may also bring conversations about perimenopause and bone health. 

In addition, it’s common to start losing muscle as we age. This makes resistance training increasingly important as you age. That doesn't mean you have to lift heavy weights at the gym. Push-ups and squats use your own body weight. Resistance bands are another good option. The important thing is that you're keeping your muscles active and engaged.

Getting enough protein matters more as we age, too. Depending on your individual needs, your doctor may also talk with you about calcium, vitamin D, or other ways to support bone health. Ultimately, we're trying to preserve the strength and mobility that allow you to stay active and independent.
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Maintain habits that support brain health.

Many of the things we do for the rest of the body are good for the brain as well. Exercise is a great example.

Research shows that increased exercise and resistance training, in general, can help improve cognition and memory, which may help lower your risk of dementia. Both aerobic activity and resistance training have a role in a healthy lifestyle. I encourage patients to eat more whole, plant-based foods, including foods rich in fiber. This kind of eating can help support healthy cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure, which are also important to long-term brain health. 

You don't need to wait until you're older to start thinking about these things. Ideally, they're habits that have been growing with you all along.
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Healthy aging is about more than diet and exercise.

Nutrition and exercise get a lot of attention when we talk about lifestyle medicine. They're important, but they're not the whole picture. Your relationships matter, too.

Positive social connections are associated with longevity and better quality of life, so spending time with people you care about is actually part of your health. The same goes for finding healthy ways to manage stress, whether that’s through breathing exercises, meditation, or whatever works for you. 

The goal isn't simply to prevent disease. We want you to be able to participate in and enjoy your life.
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It's never too late to prioritize your health.

If you haven't seen a primary care physician or APP in a while, don't let that keep you from making an appointment now. Regular visits give us an opportunity to notice changes earlier. We don't want to wait for disease to appear before we start changing the behaviors that affect our health. 

Patients sometimes worry that their genetics have already determined what their health will look like as they age. Genetics do matter, and your family history can tell us a lot. But it's only one part of the picture. What you do day to day matters, too. 

You don't need to overhaul your life overnight. Find one place to start, whether you begin taking a walk more often or you finally schedule the appointment you've been putting off. Once that feels manageable, you can build from there.

Your primary care physician or APP can help you understand where your health stands today and what you can do to protect it for the years ahead.