Taking unnecessary medications, letting stress go unmanaged and not planning for your older age are all habits that chip away at a long and healthy life span.

Living a long, healthy life is a popular goal, but it’s not easy to achieve. It’s common for folks to develop conditions like dementia and chronic pain, in addition to mobility issues and cardiovascular problems, as they age.

While certain uncontrollable factors (like genetics) play a major role in many of these issues, everyday habits can also contribute to a less-than-ideal aging process. And some of the habits you probably follow every day or every week are actually getting in the way of healthy aging and a long life.

Here’s what they are, according to doctors:

1. Skipping preventive care.

According to Dr. Heather Whitson, director of the Duke Aging Center in North Carolina, neglecting to stay up to date on preventive care — including things like mammograms, colonoscopies and vaccines — is not good for your long-term health.

“It’s like not taking your car into the shop,” Whitson said. “It’s probably not going to last as long if you don’t keep up with the routine maintenance.”

You can chat with your primary care doctor about what preventive tests are right for you.

2. Not cultivating social relationships.

“We know that socialisation helps with your brain and with your longevity,” said Dr. Lee Lindquist, chief of geriatrics at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. The more time you spend interacting with other people, the more it can benefit your life span.

“I always joke... that you need to socialise with happy people, because we all have toxic people in our lives,” she said. Toxic people can bring anxiety and sadness, which won’t help you age well.

“The more socialisation you can do with people that bring you joy or bring you happiness, those are things that will definitely help you age healthy and age well and improve your longevity,” Lindquist said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were all stuck indoors, many people’s cognition was damaged because of the isolation, she noted. “So, we do know that social isolation harms aging and harms the longevity process.”

“A couple of my favourite patients who are in their 90s and 100s, they actually wake up every day and they try to find somebody new to talk to,” she added. As you age, it’s normal for your social circle to dwindle, which means it’s critical to keep going out to meet new people if you want to age well, Lindquist noted.

3. Not adjusting your medications as you age.

“We see it so many times where people will be on medicines that they were started on in their 40s and 50s that they may not need in their........

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