Harvard Health Content API

A diet low in sodium and rich in plant-based foods promotes a diverse, balanced population of gut microbes, which may help people maintain a healthy blood pressure. A salty diet increases the prevalence of bad microbes and reduces the number of beneficial microbes. When bad microbes accumulate in the gut, they form  breakdown products and toxins that promote inflammation. Beneficial microbes feed on fiber, which is why a diet that provides a mix of healthy fiber from plant-based foods helps. These microbes produce short-chain fatty acids, which interact with specific receptors on cells that help regulate blood pressure.

Exercise is one of the most powerful tools for preventing heart disease and extending life. Physical activity triggers favorable changes such as making cells more sensitive to insulin and reducing inflammation. It also helps keep blood vessels supple and flexible (which supports efficient blood flow), strengthens muscles (which helps burn more calories), and remodels the heart, making it more efficient at pumping blood through the body. Together, these changes all reduce a person’s chances of developing common risk factors for heart disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity.

People who are hospitalized and stay in an intensive care unit have a high risk for home falls and injuries after being discharged, according to a 2025 study. Implementing physical therapy and increasing patient awareness about medication side effects may help.

A 2025 study found that eating large amounts of saturated fat raised LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels in the body but dietary cholesterol from eggs did not.

Walking is often viewed as a casual form of exercise, but it also can be your primary form of moderate-intensity exercise if you increase the intensity, duration, and frequency of your workouts. You can adopt several types of workouts to help increase pace and endurance, such as intervals, timed walks, and pole walking. Wearing appropriate walking shoes and improving their walking mechanics also can improve walking speed and endurance.

Light therapy uses light boxes that emit a bright, white light. Exposure to this light can control a person’s circadian rhythm—the body’s internal 24-hour sleep-wake clock—and help manage and prevent seasonal affective disorder.

People have a 50% chance of developing at least one mental health disorder by age 75, according to some research. Among men, the most common are alcohol use disorder, depression, and anxiety disorders, with social anxiety disorder being the most prevalent of those. Many men miss the early warning signs of these disorders, or when they do, they often try to push through, which can worsen the symptoms. But identifying when they might have a problem is the first step toward seeking help.

Chronic pelvic pain—medically known as chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome, or CP/CPPS—is one of the more common and challenging conditions older men face. Because the underlying cause may not be identified, doctors often take a trial-and-error approach to managing the common symptoms like throbbing, aching pain, urination problems, and sexual dysfunction. Options include different types of medication, physiotherapy, shock wave therapy, and aerobic exercise.

People can adopt several strategies to keep their kidneys healthy, such as managing blood pressure, controlling blood sugar levels, watching salt intake, avoiding alcohol, staying hydrated, and exercising regularly.

Men often carry around extra belly fat and lose muscle mass as they age. An expanding waist could be sign of too much visceral fat, which is stored within the abdominal cavity and surrounds vital organs, including the pancreas, liver, and intestines. Research has shown that visceral fat can increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and total cholesterol levels, and raise the risk of fatty liver disease. Building muscle mass with resistance training and getting aerobic exercise improve muscle metabolism and help reduce visceral fat.