Your longevity score

Enter your stats and get a longevity score. Then tick screenings, treatments and habits to see what each one is worth. Every number links to the study behind it, and your answers never leave your browser.

Free guide: move well, stay steady23 exercises with pictures, plus 3 weekly plansOpen the guide

Know your numbers

Optional. If you have results from a blood test, a tape measure or a fitness tracker, add them for a sharper score. Skip any you don't know. Numbers that overlap with an answer above count at half strength, so nothing is counted twice. Print the screening checklist to see which tests come from your doctor, a trainer, or a tape measure at home.

From the research

Three findings from the 241 studies behind this page, including ones that did not hold up.

How to read the evidence. Every figure on this page is labelled one of two ways.

TrialPeople were assigned at random to do something or not. A difference between the groups shows cause.

ObservedResearchers followed people and compared them. People who drink coffee, play tennis or own a dog may also be wealthier, fitter or healthier to begin with, so a link does not prove the habit is the cause. Read observed figures as the most a habit could be worth.

Screenings and care that could raise your score

Tick any you would do. The years shown are what each one adds on its own. Screenings add few years on average, because most people never get that disease, but they sharply lower the risk from it.

Losing weight: what works

This is a long game. A pound or two a month, kept off for years, does more for you than a fast diet that ends. Slow progress is good progress.

Start with food, not with more exercise. In trials, changing what you eat takes off far more weight than exercise alone, which typically shifts only a few pounds. Doing both works best over a year. Johns 2014, J Acad Nutr Diet, Swift 2014, Prog Cardiovasc Dis To recheck
Keep exercising anyway. It protects muscle and mobility while you lose weight, and it helps keep the weight off. In adults over 65 with obesity, diet plus exercise improved physical performance 21%, and diet alone cost muscle. Villareal 2011, N Engl J Med
Pick an eating plan you can stay on. Across 121 trials, low-carb and low-fat diets took off about the same weight at 6 months (roughly 10 pounds), and most of the difference between named diets had faded by 12 months. The plan you keep beats the plan that looks best on paper. Ge 2020, BMJ, Gardner 2018, JAMA
A structured programme helps. In the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program, a 7% weight-loss goal with 150 minutes of activity a week cut new diabetes by 58%. Knowler 2002, N Engl J Med. WW members lost at least 2.6% more weight over a year than people given advice alone. Gudzune 2015, Ann Intern Med
Ask your doctor about medicine if you need more help. Prescription weight-loss medicines are an option for some people. Prices are in the cost table below.

Free meal plans and tools

MyPlate Plan: a daily food plan for your age, size and activity (USDA).
DASH eating plan: sample menus for a week (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute).
Body Weight Planner: how many calories reach your goal by a date you choose (National Institutes of Health).
National Diabetes Prevention Program: find a year-long class near you or online; $0 with Medicare if you qualify (CDC).

Mobility and core strength guide: 23 exercises you can do at home, with a week-by-week plan.

Free guide: move well for life

23 exercises you can do at home with a chair and a counter, three week-by-week plans, and five self-tests to track your progress.

Built from programmes proven in trials to cut falls and keep people walking.

Open the free guide

Build your personal reportYour score, your charts and your top three changesBuild it

Everyday habits that could raise your score

These figures come from studies that follow people over time, so they show a link, not proof. Similar habits overlap, so only the strongest in each group counts. Exercise and alcohol are already in your stats.

Diet type

Medicines with published results

What trials found, and who the result applies to. Most benefits were shown only in people with a specific condition. Tick a medicine to add it to your report as a question for your doctor. This table does not change your score, and no drug maker pays to appear in it.

Medicine	What was found	Who it applies to	Evidence	Risks	Source
Statins (cholesterol-lowering pills)	In 27 trials, each 39 mg/dL drop in LDL cholesterol cut major heart and stroke events by 21%. In people with no earlier vascular disease, deaths from any cause fell 9%.	People at raised heart risk or with vascular disease	deaths	Muscle symptoms, a small rise in new diabetes, rare severe muscle damage	CTT 2012, Lancet
Ezetimibe (cholesterol pill added to a statin)	After a heart attack or unstable angina, 32.7% had a further heart or stroke event over 7 years with ezetimibe plus a statin, against 34.7% with the statin alone.	People who recently had a heart attack or unstable angina	events	No extra muscle, gallbladder, liver or cancer problems seen in the trial	Cannon 2015, NEJM (IMPROVE-IT)
PCSK9 inhibitors (cholesterol-lowering injections)	In people with heart disease already on a statin, 9.8% had a major heart or stroke event with evolocumab against 11.3% with placebo. LDL cholesterol fell 59%.	People with heart disease or very high risk, on a statin	events	Injection-site reactions (2.1% vs 1.6%)	Sabatine 2017, NEJM (FOURIER)
Bempedoic acid (cholesterol pill for people who cannot take statins)	Over about 40 months, 11.7% had a major heart or stroke event with bempedoic acid against 13.3% with placebo. Deaths were not reduced.	People who cannot take statins and have or are at high risk of heart disease	events	More gout (3.1% vs 2.1%) and gallstones (2.2% vs 1.2%)	Nissen 2023, NEJM (CLEAR Outcomes)
Inclisiran (twice-yearly cholesterol injection)	Two trials showed LDL cholesterol about 50% lower (52.3% and 49.9%) with an injection twice a year. No published result yet shows fewer heart attacks, strokes or deaths.	People with high LDL cholesterol on other treatment	none	More injection-site reactions	Ray 2020, NEJM (ORION-10 and ORION-11)
Blood pressure pills	Across 123 trials, each 10-point drop in the top blood pressure number cut deaths from any cause by 13%, strokes by 27% and heart failure by 28%.	People with high blood pressure or high heart risk	deaths	Intensive treatment brought more low blood pressure, fainting, salt imbalance and sudden kidney injury	Ettehad 2016, Lancet
Beta blockers after a heart attack	In heart attack survivors whose heart still pumped normally, death or a new heart attack occurred in 7.9% on a beta blocker and 8.3% without one, no real difference.	People after a heart attack with normal heart pumping	none		Yndigegn 2024, NEJM (REDUCE-AMI)
Daily low-dose aspirin started in healthy older adults	In healthy adults mostly aged 70 and over, deaths were 14% higher on daily aspirin than on placebo (12.7 vs 11.1 per 1,000 people a year), mainly from cancer.	Healthy adults aged about 70 and over	harm	More deaths and more cancer deaths (3.1% vs 2.3%); bleeding	McNeil 2018, NEJM (ASPREE)
Daily low-dose aspirin in middle-aged adults with no heart disease	In adults at moderate heart risk, 4.29% on aspirin and 4.48% on placebo had a heart or stroke event over about 5 years, no real difference. Stomach bleeding doubled.	Adults at moderate heart risk with no heart disease	none	Stomach and gut bleeding (0.97% vs 0.46%)	Gaziano 2018, Lancet (ARRIVE)
Daily low-dose aspirin after a heart attack or stroke	In 16 trials of people who already had a heart attack or stroke, serious heart and stroke events fell from 8.2% to 6.7% a year with aspirin.	People who have already had a heart attack or stroke	events	Bleeding	ATT Collaboration 2009, Lancet
Blood thinners for an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)	Warfarin cut strokes by 64% in atrial fibrillation. Newer blood thinners, compared with warfarin, cut strokes a further 19% and deaths from any cause by 10%.	People with atrial fibrillation	deaths	Bleeding; stomach and gut bleeding was 25% more common with the newer drugs than with warfarin	Ruff 2014, Lancet; Hart 2007, Ann Intern Med
Low-dose colchicine for heart disease	Over about 29 months, 6.8% had a heart or stroke event with colchicine against 9.6% with placebo. Deaths from non-heart causes were slightly higher (0.7 vs 0.5 per 100 a year).	People with long-standing coronary heart disease	events	A possible rise in deaths from non-heart causes, not statistically confirmed	Nidorf 2020, NEJM (LoDoCo2)
Icosapent ethyl (purified prescription fish oil)	Over about 5 years, 17.2% had a heart or stroke event with icosapent ethyl against 22.0% with a mineral-oil placebo. The size of the benefit is disputed.	People on a statin with high triglycerides, mostly with heart disease	events	More hospital stays for irregular heartbeat (3.1% vs 2.1%); serious bleeding 2.7% vs 2.1%	Bhatt 2019, NEJM (REDUCE-IT)
Mixed prescription fish oil (EPA plus DHA)	A trial of 13,078 high-risk people was stopped early for no effect: 12.0% had a heart or stroke event on fish oil and 12.2% on corn oil.	People at high heart risk on a statin	none	More stomach and gut side effects (24.7% vs 14.7%)	Nicholls 2020, JAMA (STRENGTH)
Polypill (a statin and blood pressure drugs in one pill)	In three trials of people without heart disease, 3.0% on a polypill and 4.9% on comparison treatment had a heart attack, stroke or heart-related death over about 5 years.	Adults around age 63 at raised heart risk	events		Joseph 2021, Lancet
Allopurinol taken for heart protection	In people aged 60 and over with heart disease and no gout, allopurinol did not change heart or stroke events or deaths over about 5 years.	People aged 60 and over with heart disease and no gout	none		Mackenzie 2022, Lancet (ALL-HEART)
Metformin for type 2 diabetes	In one 1998 trial of overweight people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, metformin cut deaths from any cause by 36% and diabetes-related deaths by 42%.	Overweight people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes	deaths	In the same trial, adding metformin to a sulfonylurea was linked to more diabetes-related deaths	UKPDS 34, Lancet 1998
Metformin taken for longevity by people without diabetes	A 2014 UK study suggested diabetics on metformin outlived non-diabetics. A 2022 Danish study that included twins found the opposite: 52% higher death rates in the metformin group.	People without diabetes	observed		Bannister 2014, Diabetes Obes Metab; Keys 2022, Int J Epidemiol
GLP-1 medicines for type 2 diabetes	Across 8 trials in 60,080 people with type 2 diabetes, these drugs cut deaths from any cause by 12% and major heart and stroke events by 14%.	People with type 2 diabetes	deaths	Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; gallbladder disease; pancreatitis warnings; muscle loss with weight loss	Sattar 2021, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
Semaglutide for weight loss in people with heart disease	In people with overweight or obesity and existing heart disease but no diabetes, 6.5% had a heart attack, stroke or heart-related death against 8.0% on placebo over about 40 months.	People with overweight or obesity who already have heart disease	events	16.6% stopped the drug because of side effects, against 8.2% on placebo	Lincoff 2023, NEJM (SELECT)
Tirzepatide (weight-loss and diabetes injection)	People lost 15% to 20.9% of body weight in 72 weeks against 3.1% on placebo. For heart events it matched an older diabetes drug (12.2% vs 13.1%) but was not proven better.	People with obesity or type 2 diabetes	none	Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; gallbladder disease; muscle loss with weight loss	Jastreboff 2022, NEJM; Nicholls 2025, NEJM
SGLT2 inhibitors (diabetes, heart and kidney pills)	In people with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, deaths were 5.7% on empagliflozin against 8.3% on placebo. In chronic kidney disease, deaths were 4.7% against 6.8%.	People with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, heart failure or chronic kidney disease	deaths	Genital yeast infections; rarely a dangerous acid build-up in the blood; dehydration	Zinman 2015, NEJM; Heerspink 2020, NEJM
Finerenone (kidney and heart pill for diabetes)	Over 3 years, 12.7% had a heart-related event on finerenone against 14.4% on placebo, and 5.5% against 7.1% had kidney failure or major kidney decline.	People with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease	events	High potassium (1.7% stopped the drug for this, against 0.6%)	Agarwal 2022, Eur Heart J (FIDELITY)
Sulfonylureas (older diabetes pills)	No proof of longer life. Compared with glyburide, death rates were 17% lower with glimepiride and about the same with glipizide in a pooled analysis of 18 studies.	People with type 2 diabetes	none		Simpson 2015, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
Weight-loss surgery (shown for comparison)	In matched comparison studies of 174,772 people, those who had weight-loss surgery had about half the death rate and lived a median 6.1 years longer. These were not randomised trials.	Adults with severe obesity, with or without diabetes	observed		Syn 2021, Lancet
Breast cancer prevention pills (tamoxifen and raloxifene)	In high-risk women followed for 16 years, 7.0% of those who took tamoxifen for 5 years developed breast cancer against 9.8% on placebo. Deaths were not shown to fall.	Women aged 35 and over at increased breast cancer risk	events	Womb cancer and blood clots	Cuzick 2015, Lancet Oncol (IBIS-I)
Aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer prevention	In high-risk women past menopause, 85 on anastrozole and 165 on placebo developed breast cancer over about 11 years. Deaths were the same in both groups (69 vs 70).	Women past menopause at high breast cancer risk	events	No extra fractures or heart disease seen in the trial	Cuzick 2020, Lancet (IBIS-II)
Finasteride (prostate and hair-loss pill)	Prostate cancer was found in 10.5% of men on finasteride against 14.9% on placebo, but 15-year survival was the same (78.0% vs 78.2%).	Men in a large prevention trial	events	Slightly more high-grade prostate cancers found (3.5% vs 3.0%)	Thompson 2013, NEJM (PCPT)
Aspirin for bowel cancer prevention	Twenty-year follow-up of 4 trials found 24% fewer colon cancers and 35% fewer colon cancer deaths with aspirin. A newer trial in older adults found more cancer deaths.	Adults in older trials treated for about 6 years	events	Bleeding; in healthy adults aged 70 and over, cancer deaths were higher on aspirin	Rothwell 2010, Lancet
HPV vaccine	In Swedish records, cervical cancer was 63% less common in vaccinated girls and women, and 88% less common in those vaccinated before age 17.	Girls and women vaccinated between ages 10 and 30	observed		Lei 2020, NEJM
Hepatitis B vaccine	After Taiwan began vaccinating all newborns in 1984, liver cancer in children aged 6 to 14 fell from 0.70 to 0.36 per 100,000.	Children vaccinated at birth in a national programme	observed		Chang 1997, NEJM
Combined birth control pill	Women who ever used the pill had 33% fewer ovarian, 34% fewer womb and 19% fewer bowel cancers. Protection lasted at least 30 years; overall cancer balance was neutral.	Women who have ever used the combined pill	observed	Raised breast and cervical cancer risk while taking it, gone within about 5 years of stopping	Iversen 2017, Am J Obstet Gynecol
Zoledronate (yearly bone-strengthening infusion)	Given after a hip fracture, it cut deaths from 13.3% to 9.6% and new fractures from 13.9% to 8.6% in one trial. Pooled trials of this drug did not confirm fewer deaths.	Older adults who have just had a hip fracture	deaths		Lyles 2007, NEJM (HORIZON)
Bisphosphonate bone pills	These drugs are recommended to prevent fractures. Across 21 trials they did not change death rates (5% lower, not statistically significant).	People with osteoporosis	events		Cummings 2019, JAMA Intern Med
Denosumab (twice-yearly bone injection)	Over 3 years in women aged 60 to 90 with osteoporosis, new spine fractures occurred in 2.3% against 7.2% on placebo, and hip fractures in 0.7% against 1.2%.	Women aged 60 to 90 with osteoporosis	events	Spine fractures can rebound after stopping	Cummings 2009, NEJM (FREEDOM)
Menopause hormone therapy (HRT)	In the largest trials, 27.1% of women given hormones and 27.6% given placebo had died after 18 years, no difference. It is prescribed for symptom relief, not longer life.	Women after menopause, average age 63 in the trials	none	Breast cancer with combined therapy; a Danish study linked use to more dementia	Manson 2017, JAMA (WHI)
Combined menopause hormones and breast cancer	Five years of combined oestrogen and daily progestagen from age 50 adds about 1 breast cancer per 50 users; oestrogen alone adds about 1 per 200.	Women taking combined hormone therapy	harm	Breast cancer; vaginal oestrogen showed no extra risk	Collaborative Group 2019, Lancet
Testosterone therapy	In men aged 45 to 80 with low testosterone and heart risk, heart and stroke events were the same on testosterone and placebo (7.0% vs 7.3%). No drop in deaths was shown.	Men aged 45 to 80 with low testosterone	none	More irregular heartbeat, sudden kidney injury and blood clots in the lung	Lincoff 2023, NEJM (TRAVERSE)
Lecanemab (Alzheimer's infusion)	Over 18 months, decline on an 18-point memory and function scale was 1.21 points on the drug and 1.66 on placebo. No evidence it prevents dementia or extends life.	People with early Alzheimer's disease	events	Brain swelling in 12.6%; infusion reactions in 26.4%	van Dyck 2023, NEJM (Clarity AD)
Donanemab (Alzheimer's infusion)	Over 76 weeks, decline on an 18-point memory and function scale was 0.7 points smaller on the drug than on placebo. No evidence it prevents dementia or extends life.	People with early Alzheimer's disease	events	Brain swelling in 24.0% against 2.1%; 3 treatment-related deaths against 1	Sims 2023, JAMA (TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2)
Memory pills for dementia (cholinesterase inhibitors)	In people who already have dementia, taking these drugs was linked to a 23% lower death rate in a review of 24 studies. The evidence is mostly observational.	People who already have dementia	observed		Truong 2022, Neurology
Semaglutide taken to slow Alzheimer's disease	Two trials in 3,808 adults aged 55 to 85 found that oral semaglutide did not slow early Alzheimer's disease over 2 years.	People with early Alzheimer's disease	none		EVOKE and EVOKE+ trials, reported by Alzheimer Europe 2025
Antipsychotics given to people with dementia	In 15 short trials in people with dementia, 3.5% died on these drugs against 2.3% on placebo.	People with dementia	harm	Higher death rate; the reason for an FDA boxed warning	Schneider 2005, JAMA
Flu shot	Given soon after a heart attack, a flu shot cut deaths within a year from 4.9% to 2.9% in a randomised trial. For other adults the evidence on deaths is observational.	People who recently had a heart attack	deaths		Frobert 2021, Circulation (IAMI)
Shingles vaccine	In Wales, getting the older shingles vaccine cut new dementia diagnoses by about 20% over 7 years. This came from a natural experiment, not a randomised trial.	Older adults offered shingles vaccination	observed		Eyting 2025, Nature
Pneumonia (pneumococcal) vaccine	In adults aged 65 and over, the vaccine prevented 45.6% of pneumonia from the strains it covers. It did not clearly reduce pneumonia overall, and deaths were similar.	Adults aged 65 and over	events		Bonten 2015, NEJM (CAPiTA)
RSV vaccine	In adults aged 60 and over, the vaccine prevented 82.6% of RSV chest infections over about 7 months (7 cases against 40). No result on deaths.	Adults aged 60 and over	events		Papi 2023, NEJM (AReSVi-006)
COVID-19 vaccine	A modelling study estimated 14.4 million deaths prevented worldwide in the first year of vaccination. A later US study found the benefit against death had become small by late 2022.	Adults in general	observed		Watson 2022, Lancet Infect Dis
HIV prevention pills and injections (PrEP)	In a trial of 2,499 men and transgender women who have sex with men, daily pills cut new HIV infections by 44% (36 against 64). Protection depended on taking the pills.	People at high risk of HIV	events		Grant 2010, NEJM (iPrEx)
Hepatitis C cure pills	In a French study of 9,895 patients, those treated had about half the death rate (52% lower) and 34% less liver cancer. This was not a randomised comparison.	People with chronic hepatitis C	observed		Carrat 2019, Lancet
Stop-smoking medicines	Varenicline raised the odds of quitting about 3.6 times and bupropion or a nicotine patch about 2 times. Quitting before 40 avoids about 90% of the extra death risk from smoking.	Adults who smoke	events	No significant rise in serious mood or behaviour side effects in a trial of 8,144 smokers	Anthenelli 2016, Lancet (EAGLES); Jha 2013, NEJM
Quit-smoking programme with nicotine gum	Smokers offered a quit programme with nicotine gum had fewer deaths over 14.5 years: 8.83 against 10.38 per 1,000 people a year. 21.7% quit against 5.4%.	Smokers with mild airway obstruction	deaths		Anthonisen 2005, Ann Intern Med (Lung Health Study)
Medicines for alcohol dependence	Across 118 trials, 1 in 11 people on acamprosate and 1 in 18 on naltrexone pills avoided a return to drinking who otherwise would not have. No trial measured deaths.	Adults with alcohol use disorder	events	Nausea and vomiting with naltrexone; diarrhoea with acamprosate	McPheeters 2023, JAMA
Treatment for opioid dependence	Death rates were 11.3 per 1,000 people a year while on methadone against 36.1 when off it, and 4.3 against 9.5 for buprenorphine. These were cohort studies, not trials.	People with opioid dependence	observed	Risk of death is highest in the first 4 weeks of methadone and just after stopping treatment	Sordo 2017, BMJ
Rapamycin	A 48-week trial of weekly rapamycin in healthy adults found no change in belly fat and few effects. No human study shows longer life or less disease.	Healthy adults	none	Side effects were similar to placebo in the one small trial	Moel 2025, Aging (PEARL)
NAD boosters	A 6-week trial in healthy middle-aged and older adults showed the supplement raised NAD levels and was well tolerated. No disease or death outcomes have been measured.	Healthy middle-aged and older adults	none		Martens 2018, Nat Commun
Taurine	Taurine extended life in mice in a 2023 study. Studies in 2025 found blood taurine does not fall with age in people and had no link with physical function in 137 men.	Healthy adults	none		Singh 2023, Science; Fernandez 2025, Science
Vitamin D supplements	In a trial of 25,871 US adults over about 5 years, vitamin D did not change deaths, cancer or heart events. A pooled analysis of 52 trials also found no effect on deaths.	Adults in general	none		Manson 2019, NEJM (VITAL)
Melatonin	No study shows melatonin extends life. One unpublished conference report linked a year or more of use to more heart failure and deaths; this is unconfirmed.	Adults with insomnia	none	A possible heart failure signal from an unpublished report, not confirmed	Savvidis 2026, World J Exp Med
Low-dose naltrexone	The only review found covers symptom relief in chronic pain conditions. No study measured deaths or disease prevention.	People with chronic pain conditions	none		Kim and Fishman 2020, Curr Pain Headache Rep
Erectile dysfunction pills	In Swedish men with stable heart disease, users had a 12% lower death rate than men on another treatment. One analysis linked sildenafil to less Alzheimer's; a Medicare study found no link.	Men with stable coronary heart disease	observed		Andersson 2021, J Am Coll Cardiol
Anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs)	In randomised trials, diclofenac and celecoxib-type drugs raised major heart and stroke events by about 40%, or 3 extra per 1,000 people a year. All NSAIDs roughly doubled heart failure.	People taking regular, mostly high doses	harm	Heart attack, heart failure and stomach bleeding; naproxen did not raise heart and stroke events	CNT Collaboration 2013, Lancet
Long-acting opioid painkillers	People starting long-acting opioids for long-term pain had a 64% higher death rate than those starting other pain medicines, or 68.5 extra deaths per 10,000 people a year.	Adults starting treatment for long-term non-cancer pain	harm	Overdose, heart-related deaths; risk highest in the first 30 days	Ray 2016, JAMA
Strong anticholinergic medicines	In 284,343 UK adults aged 55 and over, the heaviest long-term users had 49% higher odds of dementia; bladder drugs 65% higher. This was an observational study.	Adults aged 55 and over with long-term heavy use	harm	Higher dementia risk with heavy long-term use	Coupland 2019, JAMA Intern Med
Benzodiazepines (anxiety and sleep pills)	A Quebec study linked use to 51% higher odds of Alzheimer's disease. A US study found no higher risk at the highest doses and concluded the link is probably not causal.	Older adults	harm	A dementia link that is disputed	Billioti de Gage 2014, BMJ; Gray 2016, BMJ
Sleeping pills	One study found users of fewer than 18 pills a year had 3.6 times the death rate of non-users. An effect this large at so low a dose suggests other causes may explain it.	Adults prescribed sleeping pills	harm	A death and cancer link that may reflect the underlying illness	Kripke 2012, BMJ Open
Acid reflux pills (proton pump inhibitors)	A US veterans study found 45.2 extra deaths per 1,000 users. A randomised trial of pantoprazole found no extra harm except gut infections (1.4% against 1.0%).	Long-term users	harm	Gut infections; the death link is not confirmed by the randomised trial	Xie 2019, BMJ; Moayyedi 2019, Gastroenterology
Antidepressants	In general-population studies, users had a 33% higher death rate and 14% more heart events. Depression itself may explain this, so the direction is uncertain.	Adults in general-population studies	observed	In older people, more falls and low blood sodium	Maslej 2017, Psychother Psychosom
ADHD medicines	In 148,578 Swedes with ADHD, starting medication was linked to a 21% lower death rate over 2 years (39.1 against 48.1 deaths per 10,000).	People diagnosed with ADHD	observed	Heart and blood vessel disease odds 23% higher after more than 5 years of use; high blood pressure	Li 2024, JAMA
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics	A feared link with bulging or tearing of the main artery was not confirmed: in 3.6 million UK adults the risk was the same as with another antibiotic group.	Adults prescribed these antibiotics	none		Brown 2023, JAMA Cardiol

Know your numbersFourteen measurements worth tracking, and what counts as healthySee all 14

Every habit study we found

All 241 findings, including the ones studies disagree on. Trial: a randomized trial showed it. Observed: a consistent link in studies that follow people. Mixed: studies disagree. Not supported: no good evidence.

Habit	What was found	Evidence	Source
Follow a Mediterranean diet	US health workers with the highest Mediterranean diet scores had an 18% lower death rate than those with the lowest scores.	observed	Shan 2023, JAMA Intern Med
Follow a Mediterranean diet (US women, 25 years)	Women with the highest scores had a 23% lower death rate; this shrank to 11% lower after other lifestyle habits were taken into account.	observed	Ahmad 2024, JAMA Netw Open
Follow a Mediterranean diet with extra olive oil or nuts	Spanish trial of 7,447 people at high heart risk: about 30% fewer heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths (0.69 with olive oil, 0.72 with nuts) than low-fat advice.	trial	Estruch 2018, N Engl J Med
Join a Mediterranean diet programme if you have raised heart risk	Across 40 trials in people at raised heart risk, Mediterranean programmes cut deaths (odds ratio 0.72), about 17 fewer deaths per 1,000 over 5 years.	trial	Karam 2023, BMJ
Follow a Mediterranean diet (dementia risk)	UK study found 23% lower dementia risk with high adherence, but a Swedish study of 1,943 dementia cases found no link (0.93, not significant).	mixed	Shannon 2023, BMC Med
Follow the DASH diet	Each 5-point rise in DASH score went with a 5% lower death rate; feeding trials show it lowers blood pressure by 7 to 11 points with low salt.	observed	Soltani 2020, Nutr J
Follow the MIND diet (brain health)	Cohorts link a higher MIND score to 17% lower dementia risk, but the 3-year US trial of 604 people found no benefit for thinking skills.	mixed	Barnes 2023, N Engl J Med
Follow the MIND diet (length of life)	Across 23 observational studies, higher MIND adherence went with a 14% lower death rate.	observed	Ahmadirad 2026, Nutr Metab (Lond)
Eat a vegetarian diet	US Adventist vegetarians had a 12% lower death rate than non-vegetarians (0.88); UK vegetarians showed no difference from meat eaters.	mixed	Orlich 2013, JAMA Intern Med
Eat a vegetarian diet (UK evidence)	In 60,310 UK adults, vegetarians had the same death rate as regular meat eaters (1.02, no difference).	mixed	Appleby 2016, Am J Clin Nutr
Eat a vegetarian diet (heart disease and stroke)	UK vegetarians had 22% less heart disease but 20% more stroke than meat eaters over 18 years.	mixed	Tong 2019, BMJ
Eat a vegan diet	US Adventist vegans had a 15% lower death rate than non-vegetarians, but the result was not statistically clear (range 0.73 to 1.01).	mixed	Orlich 2013, JAMA Intern Med
Eat a vegan diet (bone health)	UK vegans had 2.3 times the hip fracture risk of meat eaters, about 15 more cases per 1,000 people over 10 years.	observed	Tong 2020, BMC Med
Eat mostly healthy plant foods	US health workers with the highest healthy plant-based scores had a 14% lower death rate than those with the lowest.	observed	Shan 2023, JAMA Intern Med
Eat a plant-based diet built on refined grains and sweets	People whose diet shifted most toward unhealthy plant foods over 12 years had a 12% higher death rate than those whose diet stayed stable.	observed	Baden 2019, Circulation
Follow a low-carb diet	Getting under 40% of calories from carbs went with a 20% higher death rate in pooled cohorts; a global study instead linked high carb intake to more deaths.	mixed	Seidelmann 2018, Lancet Public Health
Follow a low-carb diet based on meat and animal fat	Replacing carbs with animal fat and protein went with an 18% higher death rate.	observed	Seidelmann 2018, Lancet Public Health
Follow a low-carb diet based on plant fats and proteins	Replacing carbs with plant fat and protein went with an 18% lower death rate.	observed	Seidelmann 2018, Lancet Public Health
Eat under 30% of calories from carbs	From age 50, expected remaining life was about 29 years at under 30% carbs versus about 33 years at 50 to 55% carbs.	mixed	Seidelmann 2018, Lancet Public Health
Follow a keto diet	No study has followed strict keto dieters for deaths. A 12-week trial found blood sugar no better than a Mediterranean diet, with LDL cholesterol up 10%.	unsupported	Gardner 2022, Am J Clin Nutr
Follow a low-carb high-fat diet (heart risk)	UK low-carb high-fat eaters had about twice the rate of major heart events (9.8% vs 4.3%); a small US scan study found no extra artery plaque.	mixed	Iatan 2024, JACC Adv
Follow the Atkins diet	In a 12-month trial women lost 4.7 kg on Atkins versus 1.6 to 2.6 kg on other diets. No study has measured deaths.	unsupported	Gardner 2007, JAMA
Follow a paleo diet	In 12 cohorts, high paleo-style scores went with a 10% lower death rate; short trials show smaller waist and lower triglycerides.	observed	Bahrami 2026, Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr
Follow a low-fat diet	In the largest diet trial (48,835 US women, 8 years), a low-fat diet did not reduce heart disease (0.97) or stroke (1.02).	unsupported	Howard 2006, JAMA
Follow a low-fat diet (breast cancer deaths in women)	At about 20 years the same trial found 21% fewer deaths from breast cancer (132 vs 251 deaths), with no effect on other cancer deaths.	trial	Chlebowski 2020, J Clin Oncol
Do intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating	In a 12-month trial, eating only between 8am and 4pm plus calorie limits gave no significant extra weight loss over calorie limits alone.	unsupported	Liu 2022, N Engl J Med
Eat within a window of under 8 hours a day	A US survey study linked an eating window under 8 hours to 2.35 times the heart death rate, but found no link with deaths from all causes.	mixed	Chen 2025, Diabetes Metab Syndr
Do alternate-day fasting	In a 12-month trial, alternate-day fasting gave the same weight loss as daily calorie cutting (6.0% vs 5.3%), with more dropouts and higher LDL.	unsupported	Trepanowski 2017, JAMA Intern Med
Cut calories long term while at a healthy weight	A 2-year US trial in healthy adults achieved about 12% fewer calories and 7.5 kg weight loss, with lower LDL, blood pressure and inflammation.	unsupported	Kraus 2019, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
Follow a carnivore diet	The main evidence is a social-media survey of 2,029 followers; among those reporting cholesterol, typical LDL was 172 mg/dL.	unsupported	Lennerz 2021, Curr Dev Nutr
Follow a raw food diet	A German survey found long-term raw food eaters lost 10 to 12 kg; about 30% of women under 45 had missed periods.	unsupported	Koebnick 1999, Ann Nutr Metab
Avoid gluten without having coeliac disease	In 110,000 US adults over 26 years, eating more gluten was not linked to heart disease (0.95, not significant).	unsupported	Lebwohl 2017, BMJ
Follow an alkaline diet	A review screened 8,278 papers and found only one usable study and no trials; it concluded promotion for cancer is not justified.	unsupported	Fenton 2016, BMJ Open
Follow the Whole30 diet	A search of the medical literature found no published studies with Whole30 in the title.	unsupported	Europe PMC title search, 2026
Follow a Nordic diet	Across 13 cohorts of 930,153 people, the highest adherence went with a 22% lower death rate.	observed	Jalilpiran 2022, Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr
Follow a traditional Japanese-style diet	In a large Japanese cohort, the best adherence to national food guidelines went with a 15% lower death rate.	observed	Kurotani 2016, BMJ
Follow a Blue Zones or Okinawan diet	No study has tested a Blue Zones diet. A preprint found reports of extreme old age fell 69 to 82% once US states brought in birth certificates.	unsupported	Newman 2019, bioRxiv preprint
Eat a high-quality diet overall	US health workers with the highest healthy-eating scores (AHEI) had a 20% lower death rate than the lowest over up to 36 years.	observed	Shan 2023, JAMA Intern Med
Follow the planetary health (EAT-Lancet) diet	In 206,404 US health workers, the highest scores went with a 23% lower death rate than the lowest.	observed	Bui 2024, Am J Clin Nutr
Follow the Portfolio (cholesterol-lowering) diet	US health workers with the highest Portfolio scores had 14% less heart disease and stroke than the lowest.	observed	Glenn 2023, Circulation
Switch from a typical Western diet to an ideal diet for life	A model estimates 10.7 extra years for US women and 13.0 for men if started at age 20, and 8.0 and 8.8 years if started at 60.	observed	Fadnes 2022, PLoS Med
Join WW (Weight Watchers)	Trials show at least 2.6% more weight loss at 12 months than control or education. No study has measured deaths.	unsupported	Gudzune 2015, Ann Intern Med
Use Noom	No randomised trial results were found; the evidence is a company survey of 840 users who had already lost weight.	unsupported	May 2023, Obes Sci Pract
Join a diabetes prevention lifestyle programme	The US trial cut new diabetes by 58% over 3 years and 27% over 15 years, but deaths over 21 years were no different (1.02).	unsupported	Lee 2021, Diabetes Care
Join an intensive weight-loss programme if you have type 2 diabetes	A US trial of 5,145 people found no fewer heart events (0.95) and no clear fall in deaths at 16.7 years (0.91, not significant).	unsupported	Look AHEAD Research Group 2022, Diabetes Care
Drink 2 to 5 cups of coffee a day	In 498,134 UK adults, people drinking 2 to 5 cups a day had a 12% lower death rate than non-drinkers over 10 years.	observed	Loftfield 2018, JAMA Intern Med
Drink 1 cup of coffee a day	In the same UK study, 1 cup a day went with an 8% lower death rate than none.	observed	Loftfield 2018, JAMA Intern Med
Drink 8 or more cups of coffee a day	Even at 8 or more cups a day the death rate was 14% lower than in non-drinkers; no upper harm level was seen.	observed	Loftfield 2018, JAMA Intern Med
Drink 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day (US multiethnic study)	Across five US ethnic groups, 2 to 3 cups a day went with an 18% lower death rate than none; decaf looked the same.	observed	Park 2017, Ann Intern Med
Drink your coffee in the morning only	In 40,725 US adults, morning-only coffee drinkers had a 16% lower death rate than non-drinkers; all-day drinkers had no clear benefit.	mixed	Wang 2025, Eur Heart J
Add a little sugar to your coffee	In UK adults, 1.5 to 3.5 lightly sweetened cups a day went with a 28 to 31% lower death rate, similar to unsweetened coffee.	observed	Liu 2022, Ann Intern Med
Drink more coffee because of your genes	In 112,509 Danes, genes that raise coffee intake had no effect on death rates (1.01 per gene variant).	unsupported	Nordestgaard 2016, Int J Epidemiol
Drink 2 or more cups of tea a day	In 498,043 UK adults, 2 to 3 cups of tea a day went with a 13% lower death rate than none; more cups added nothing.	observed	Inoue-Choi 2022, Ann Intern Med
Drink 5 or more cups of green tea a day	In 313,381 Japanese adults, 5 or more cups a day went with a 10% lower death rate in men and 18% lower in women than under 1 cup.	observed	Abe 2019, Eur J Epidemiol
Have a glass of wine or one drink a day	After correcting for study flaws in 107 cohorts, light drinkers had no significant advantage over lifelong non-drinkers (0.93, not significant).	unsupported	Zhao 2023, JAMA Netw Open
Drink alcohol at any level (genetic evidence)	A UK genetic study found death risk rising in a straight line with alcohol (1.27 per unit step), with no protective dip at low intake.	observed	Kassaw 2024, Int J Epidemiol
Drink about 7 to 14 drinks a week	Among 599,912 drinkers, 100 to 200 g of alcohol a week cost about 6 months of life at age 40 versus under 100 g.	observed	Wood 2018, Lancet
Drink about 14 to 25 drinks a week	Among 599,912 drinkers, 200 to 350 g of alcohol a week cost 1 to 2 years of life at age 40 versus under 100 g.	observed	Wood 2018, Lancet
Drink more than 25 drinks a week	Among 599,912 drinkers, over 350 g of alcohol a week cost 4 to 5 years of life at age 40 versus under 100 g.	observed	Wood 2018, Lancet
Drink 65 g or more of alcohol a day (about 5 drinks)	Across 107 cohorts, drinking 65 g or more a day went with a 35% higher death rate than lifelong non-drinking; 45 to 64 g a day, 19% higher.	observed	Zhao 2023, JAMA Netw Open
Choose wine instead of beer or spirits	Among UK drinkers of the same amount, spirits drinkers had a 25% higher and beer drinkers an 18% higher death rate than red wine drinkers.	mixed	Jani 2021, BMC Med
Drink alcohol only with meals	In UK drinkers, drinking without food went with a 10% higher death rate than drinking with food.	mixed	Jani 2021, BMC Med
Have one drink a day (cancer risk)	Lifetime risk of an alcohol-related cancer for women is about 16.5% at under 1 drink a week and 19.0% at 1 a day; for men 10.0% and 11.4%.	observed	US Surgeon General's Advisory 2025
Drink alcohol (dementia risk)	In 559,559 US and UK adults, genetic analysis showed dementia risk rising steadily with drinking, with no protective light-drinking level.	observed	Topiwala 2026, BMJ Evid Based Med
Eat a serving of processed meat every day	In US health workers, each daily serving of bacon, sausage or deli meat went with a 20% higher death rate.	observed	Pan 2012, Arch Intern Med
Eat a serving of red meat every day	US data link each daily serving of unprocessed red meat to a 13% higher death rate, but a guideline panel judged the evidence low-certainty.	mixed	Pan 2012, Arch Intern Med
Keep eating red and processed meat as you do now	A 14-member panel reviewing the same studies advised adults to continue current intake, a weak recommendation on low-certainty evidence.	mixed	Johnston 2019, Ann Intern Med
Cut back on red meat	Raising red meat by half a serving a day went with a 10% higher death rate, but cutting by the same amount was not linked to a lower rate.	mixed	Zheng 2019, BMJ
Eat 50 g of processed meat a day (bowel cancer)	Each 50 g a day of processed meat raises bowel cancer risk by 18%; the WHO cancer agency classes processed meat as a cause of cancer.	observed	Chan 2011, PLoS One
Eat processed red meat most days (dementia risk)	In 133,771 US adults, a quarter serving or more a day of processed red meat went with a 13% higher dementia risk.	observed	Li 2025, Neurology
Eat a handful of nuts every day	US health workers eating nuts 7 or more times a week had a 20% lower death rate than those who never ate them.	observed	Bao 2013, N Engl J Med
Use more than half a tablespoon of olive oil a day	US health workers using over half a tablespoon a day had a 19% lower death rate than those using none or little.	observed	Guasch-Ferre 2022, J Am Coll Cardiol
Use olive oil daily (dementia deaths)	In 92,383 US adults, 7 g or more of olive oil a day went with a 28% lower rate of death from dementia.	observed	Tessier 2024, JAMA Netw Open
Eat a lot of butter	In 221,054 US adults, the highest butter intake went with a 15% higher death rate than the lowest.	observed	Zhang 2025, JAMA Intern Med
Swap butter for plant oils	Replacing 10 g a day of butter with plant oils went with a 17% lower death rate.	observed	Zhang 2025, JAMA Intern Med
Eat 3 servings of whole grains a day	Across 45 studies, each 90 g a day of whole grains (about 3 servings) went with a 17% lower death rate.	observed	Aune 2016, BMJ
Eat 25 to 29 g of fibre a day	Across 185 studies, the highest fibre eaters had 15 to 30% lower death and heart disease rates than the lowest.	observed	Reynolds 2019, Lancet
Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day	Eating 5 servings a day rather than 2 went with a 13% lower death rate; more than 5 added nothing. Juice and potatoes did not count.	observed	Wang 2021, Circulation
Eat beans or lentils every day	Across 32 cohorts, each 50 g a day of legumes went with a 6% lower death rate.	observed	Zargarzadeh 2023, Adv Nutr
Eat a serving of fish every day	Each daily serving of fish went with a 7% lower death rate in pooled studies.	observed	Schwingshackl 2017, Am J Clin Nutr
Eat fried food every day	In 106,966 older US women, a serving or more of fried food a day went with an 8% higher death rate than none.	observed	Sun 2019, BMJ
Eat fried chicken every week	In the same US women, a serving or more of fried chicken a week went with a 13% higher death rate.	observed	Sun 2019, BMJ
Drink 2 or more sugary drinks a day	US health workers drinking 2 or more sugary drinks a day had a 21% higher death rate than those drinking under 1 a month.	observed	Malik 2019, Circulation
Drink 2 or more diet sodas a day	Two or more diet drinks a day went with a 4% higher death rate in the US study (women only) and 26% higher in a European study.	mixed	Malik 2019, Circulation
Get a quarter or more of your calories from added sugar	In US adults, 25% or more of calories from added sugar went with 2.75 times the heart death rate versus under 10%.	observed	Yang 2014, JAMA Intern Med
Eat a lot of ultra-processed food	Pooled studies show a 21% higher death rate, but the longest US study found only 4% higher, driven by processed meat and sweet drinks.	mixed	Fang 2024, BMJ
Eat an egg a day	US pooled data link each half egg a day to an 8% higher death rate, but a review of 33 cohorts found no link (1.02).	mixed	Zhong 2019, JAMA
Eat chocolate regularly	In US women, 1 to 3 servings a week went with a 7% lower death rate than none, with no pattern of more being better.	mixed	Sun 2023, J Acad Nutr Diet
Take a cocoa extract supplement	A US trial found no significant fall in heart events (0.90) or deaths from all causes (0.89); heart deaths were 27% lower.	mixed	Sesso 2022, Am J Clin Nutr
Eat hot chili peppers	US adults who ate any hot red chili pepper had a 13% lower death rate than those who ate none.	mixed	Chopan 2017, PLoS One
Always add salt to food at the table	In 501,379 UK adults, always adding salt went with a 28% higher early death rate and 1.5 (women) to 2.3 (men) fewer years of life at 50.	observed	Ma 2022, Eur Heart J
Use a potassium-enriched salt substitute	A trial of 20,995 older adults in rural China found 12% fewer deaths and 14% fewer strokes with salt substitute than regular salt.	trial	Neal 2021, N Engl J Med
Eat a high-salt diet	In 10,709 adults with measured urine sodium, each extra 1,000 mg a day went with 18% more heart attacks and strokes.	observed	Ma 2022, N Engl J Med
Eat yogurt regularly	US women eating yogurt had a 9 to 15% lower death rate than non-eaters, with no dose pattern; men showed no difference.	mixed	Schmid 2020, Am J Clin Nutr
Skip breakfast	US adults who never ate breakfast had 87% more heart deaths, but the rise in deaths from all causes (19%) was not significant.	mixed	Rong 2019, J Am Coll Cardiol
Eat only one meal a day	US adults eating one meal a day had a 30% higher death rate than those eating three.	mixed	Sun 2023, J Acad Nutr Diet
Stay well hydrated	High-normal blood sodium, used as a stand-in for low fluid intake, went with a 21% higher early death rate in 15,752 US adults.	mixed	Dmitrieva 2023, eBioMedicine
Take a daily multivitamin	In 390,124 healthy US adults, daily multivitamin users had no lower death rate (1.04); a trial also found no significant effect (0.93).	unsupported	Loftfield 2024, JAMA Netw Open
Take a vitamin D supplement	Across 52 trials and 75,454 people, vitamin D did not change deaths from all causes (0.98); cancer deaths were 16% lower.	unsupported	Zhang 2019, BMJ
Take a fish oil supplement	In a US trial of 25,871 adults, fish oil did not change deaths (1.02); heart attacks were 28% lower.	unsupported	Manson 2019, N Engl J Med
Take a magnesium supplement	No death data exist for magnesium pills. Each extra 100 mg a day from food went with a 10% lower death rate.	unsupported	Fang 2016, BMC Med
Take creatine	A literature search found no study of creatine and deaths; a review of 15 studies found no kidney damage.	unsupported	de Souza e Silva 2019, J Ren Nutr
Walk about 5 miles a week (about 15 minutes a day)	In 416,175 Taiwanese adults, about 92 minutes a week of moderate exercise went with a 14% lower death rate and 3 more years of life than none.	observed	Wen 2011, Lancet
Walk for exercise at around the recommended weekly amount	In 272,550 older US adults, walking for exercise at about the guideline amount went with a 9% lower death rate than no walking.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Walk about 2 to 3 hours a week	Across 14 studies, a standard weekly walking dose went with an 11% lower death rate, with the biggest gain at the lowest amounts.	observed	Kelly 2014, Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
Walk more than 2 miles a day	Among 707 retired non-smoking men, 12-year death rates were 23.8% for those walking over 2 miles a day and 40.5% for under 1 mile.	observed	Hakim 1998, N Engl J Med
Walk fast for 15 minutes a day	In about 85,000 mostly low-income US adults, 15 minutes a day of fast walking went with a 19% lower death rate.	observed	Liu 2025, Am J Prev Med
Walk at a brisk pace	In 50,225 British walkers, a brisk or fast usual pace went with a 24% lower death rate than a slow pace; average pace, 20% lower.	observed	Stamatakis 2018, Br J Sports Med
Be a brisk rather than slow walker (life expectancy)	In UK adults, brisk walkers had a life expectancy of about 85 to 88 years; slow walkers with low weight, 65 (men) to 72 (women).	observed	Zaccardi 2019, Mayo Clin Proc
Take 7,000 steps a day	Across 14 device studies, 7,000 steps a day went with a 47% lower death rate than 2,000 steps a day.	observed	Ding 2025, Lancet Public Health
Take 8,000 steps a day	In 4,840 US adults, 8,000 steps a day went with a 51% lower death rate than 4,000; walking speed added nothing extra.	observed	Saint-Maurice 2020, JAMA
Add 1,000 steps a day	One review found a 15% lower death rate per extra 1,000 steps; a UK device study found about 8% lower per extra 2,000 steps.	mixed	Banach 2023, Eur J Prev Cardiol
Take about 4,400 steps a day (older women)	In 16,741 US women aged about 72, roughly 4,400 steps a day went with a 41% lower death rate than 2,700; gains levelled off near 7,500.	observed	Lee 2019, JAMA Intern Med
Take about 9,800 steps a day (dementia risk)	In 78,430 UK adults, about 9,800 steps a day went with half the dementia risk; about 3,800 steps, 25% lower.	observed	del Pozo Cruz 2022, JAMA Neurol
Do some activity, but less than the guideline	In 661,137 adults, some activity below the recommended minimum went with a 20% lower death rate than none.	observed	Arem 2015, JAMA Intern Med
Do 150 minutes of moderate activity a week	US adults meeting the aerobic guideline had a 29% lower death rate than those not meeting it.	observed	Zhao 2020, BMJ
Meet both the aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines	US adults meeting both guidelines had a 40% lower death rate than those meeting neither.	observed	Zhao 2020, BMJ
Do muscle-strengthening exercise	US adults meeting only the strength guideline had an 11% lower death rate; the best results come at just 30 to 60 minutes a week.	observed	Zhao 2020, BMJ
Go from inactive to active	UK adults who went from inactive to meeting the guideline over 5 years had a 24% lower death rate afterwards.	observed	Mok 2019, BMJ
Be active in your free time (years of life)	In 654,827 adults, up to 75 minutes a week of brisk walking went with 1.8 more years of life after 40; 450 minutes or more, 4.5 years.	observed	Moore 2012, PLoS Med
Be as active as the most active quarter of Americans	A model using device data estimates Americans over 40 would live 5.3 years longer if all were as active as the top quarter.	observed	Veerman 2025, Br J Sports Med
Start a structured exercise programme (trial evidence)	A review of trials in about 50,000 older or chronically ill people found exercise did not reduce deaths or new heart disease.	mixed	Ballin 2021, J Intern Med
Do supervised exercise twice a week in your 70s	A 5-year Norwegian trial of 1,567 adults found no difference in deaths between supervised exercise and following standard advice.	mixed	Stensvold 2020, BMJ
Join a walking-based programme if you are over 70 and unsteady	A US trial of 1,635 adults aged 70 to 89 found 18% less major mobility disability over 2.6 years.	trial	Pahor 2014, JAMA
Be more active because of your genes	Genetic studies found no causal link between a tendency to be active or to sit and death rates.	mixed	Han 2026, Geriatr Nurs
Climb 6 to 10 flights of stairs a day	In 280,423 UK adults, 6 to 10 flights a day at home went with a 9% lower death rate, but with no fall in heart deaths.	mixed	Sanchez-Lastra 2021, J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
Get a few short bursts of hard effort in daily life	UK non-exercisers with about 3 one-minute bursts a day had a 38 to 40% lower death rate; a US repeat faded once ill people were excluded.	mixed	Stamatakis 2022, Nat Med
Do about 15 minutes of vigorous activity a week	In 71,893 UK adults, about 15 minutes a week of vigorous activity went with an 18% lower death rate.	observed	Ahmadi 2022, Eur Heart J
Do all your exercise on one or two days a week	In 350,978 US adults, weekend-only exercisers did no worse than people who spread the same amount across the week.	observed	dos Santos 2022, JAMA Intern Med
Take a short walk after meals	One-day trials show light walking breaks lower blood sugar and insulin after meals. No study has measured deaths.	unsupported	Buffey 2022, Sports Med
Sit for most of the day	Across 47 studies, the most sedentary people had a 24% higher death rate than the least, after allowing for exercise.	observed	Biswas 2015, Ann Intern Med
Sit more than 8 hours a day	Each hour of sitting beyond 8 a day went with a 4% higher death rate; below 8 hours the rise was about 1% an hour.	observed	Patterson 2018, Eur J Epidemiol
Sit more than 8 hours a day and do little activity	In a million adults, sitting over 8 hours with little activity went with a 59% higher death rate; very active sitters had no excess.	observed	Ekelund 2016, Lancet
Watch 2 or more hours of TV a day	Each 2 hours a day of TV went with a 13% higher death rate; risk rose above 3 hours a day.	observed	Grontved 2011, JAMA
Spend more of the day standing	In 16,586 Canadian adults, those standing most had a 33% lower death rate than those standing least, only among the inactive.	observed	Katzmarzyk 2014, Med Sci Sports Exerc
Cycle to work	In 263,450 UK commuters, cycling to work went with a 41% lower death rate than driving or public transport.	observed	Celis-Morales 2017, BMJ
Walk to work	In the same UK commuters, walking to work went with fewer heart deaths but no significant difference in deaths from all causes.	mixed	Celis-Morales 2017, BMJ
Go running	Across 14 studies, any running went with a 27% lower death rate than none, with no extra gain from running more.	observed	Pedisic 2020, Br J Sports Med
Go running (US at equal effort)	In older US adults, running at the guideline amount went with a 15% lower death rate than not running.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Play tennis or other racquet sports	In older US adults, racquet sports at the guideline amount went with a 16% lower death rate than not playing.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Play tennis (years of life)	A Danish study of 8,577 adults reported 9.7 more years for tennis players, 6.2 for badminton and 3.2 for jogging versus sedentary people.	mixed	Schnohr 2018, Mayo Clin Proc
Cycle for exercise	In older US adults, cycling at the guideline amount went with a 3% lower death rate; pooled studies of the keenest cyclists show 23% lower.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Go swimming	In older US adults, swimming at the guideline amount went with a 5% lower death rate; a British study found 28% lower for any swimming.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Play golf	In older US adults, golf at the guideline amount went with a 7% lower death rate; Swedish golf club members had 40% lower than the public.	observed	Watts 2022, JAMA Netw Open
Go dancing	In 48,390 British adults, moderate-intensity dancing went with a 46% lower rate of heart death.	observed	Merom 2016, Am J Prev Med
Do gardening	In 13,812 US adults, any gardening went with a 24% lower death rate than none.	observed	Liang 2024, Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis
Do regular housework	In Korean adults, housework alone went with a 28% lower death rate in men; the result in women (16% lower) was not significant.	mixed	Park 2020, PLoS One
Practise tai chi	In 61,477 Chinese men, tai chi went with a 20% lower death rate, about the same as walking; a Singapore study found no clear effect.	observed	Wang 2013, Am J Epidemiol
Practise yoga	One US survey study found a 27% lower death rate in yoga users; an earlier one found no link after allowing for age. Trials show better balance.	mixed	Sheehan 2026, Am J Prev Med
Do stretching exercises	In 26,727 US adults, stretching went with 10% lower odds of death after allowing for all other exercise types.	mixed	Sheehan 2020, Med Sci Sports Exerc
Have a resting heart rate over 80 beats a minute	Across 46 studies, a resting heart rate over 80 went with a 45% higher death rate than the lowest group; each 10 beats higher, 9%.	observed	Zhang 2016, CMAJ
Have a weak hand grip	In 139,691 adults in 17 countries, each 5 kg lower grip strength went with a 16% higher death rate.	observed	Leong 2015, Lancet
Be unable to stand on one leg for 10 seconds	In 1,702 adults aged 51 to 75 at a Brazilian clinic, failing the test went with an 84% higher death rate over 7 years.	observed	Araujo 2022, Br J Sports Med
Need hands or knees to sit down on and get up from the floor	In 2,002 adults aged 51 to 80 at a Brazilian clinic, the lowest scorers had 5.4 times the death rate of the highest.	observed	Brito 2014, Eur J Prev Cardiol
Walk slowly when measured (age 65 and over)	In 34,485 adults over 65, each 0.1 metre per second faster walking speed went with a 12% lower death rate.	observed	Studenski 2011, JAMA
Be able to do more than 40 push-ups	Among 1,104 male firefighters, those doing over 40 push-ups had 96% fewer heart events than those doing under 10.	observed	Yang 2019, JAMA Netw Open
Sleep 6 hours a night instead of 7	Pooled cohorts show the lowest death rate at about 7 hours; each hour less went with a 6% higher rate.	observed	Yin 2017, J Am Heart Assoc
Sleep 8 hours or more a night	Each hour of sleep above 7 went with a 13% higher death rate.	observed	Yin 2017, J Am Heart Assoc
Sleep 6 hours or less in midlife (dementia risk)	In 7,959 UK adults followed 25 years, 6 hours or less at ages 50 and 60 went with 22% and 37% higher dementia risk than 7 hours.	observed	Sabia 2021, Nat Commun
Keep regular sleep and wake times	In 60,977 UK adults wearing wrist devices, more regular sleepers had a 20 to 48% lower death rate than the least regular fifth.	observed	Windred 2024, Sleep
Be a night owl	Finnish twins followed 37 years showed a 9% higher death rate in evening types, explained mainly by smoking and drinking.	unsupported	Hublin 2023, Chronobiol Int
Work rotating night shifts for 5 years or more	In 74,862 US nurses, 6 or more years of rotating night shifts went with an 11% higher death rate.	observed	Gu 2015, Am J Prev Med
Catch up on sleep at weekends	In 43,880 Swedes under 65, short weekday sleep with long weekend sleep carried no higher death rate; short sleep all week, 65% higher.	mixed	Akerstedt 2019, J Sleep Res
Have all five good sleep habits	In 172,321 US adults, all five good sleep habits went with a 30% lower death rate and 4.7 (men) or 2.4 (women) more years at age 30.	observed	Li 2024, QJM
Have ongoing insomnia	One review of 17 studies found no link with deaths (1.07, not significant); another found 13% higher for trouble falling asleep.	mixed	Lovato 2019, Sleep Med Rev
Have untreated severe sleep apnoea	Across 12 cohorts, severe sleep apnoea went with a 92% higher death rate than no apnoea.	observed	Wang 2013, Int J Cardiol
Use CPAP for sleep apnoea	Ten trials in 7,266 patients found no fall in deaths (1.13, not significant); observational studies show large benefits in regular users.	mixed	Yu 2017, JAMA
Take sleeping pills	One US study found 3.6 to 5.3 times the death rate in users; a better-controlled one found no increase at 6 months (1.00).	mixed	Patorno 2017, BMJ
Take melatonin long term	A 2025 conference report on 130,828 insomnia patients linked a year or more of recorded melatonin use to twice the death rate (8% vs 4%).	unsupported	AHA Scientific Sessions 2025, Circulation abstract
Nap for an hour or more a day	Across 11 cohorts, naps of 60 minutes or more went with a 27% higher death rate; naps under an hour showed no link.	observed	Yamada 2015, Sleep
Keep nights dark and days bright	In 88,905 UK adults with wrist light sensors, the brightest nights went with a 21 to 34% higher death rate; bright days, 17 to 34% lower.	observed	Windred 2024, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
Live with depression	Across 293 studies, depression went with a 52% higher death rate, but an umbrella review judged a causal effect unproven.	observed	Cuijpers 2014, Am J Psychiatry
Work 55 or more hours a week	Working 55 or more hours a week went with 33% more strokes and 13% more heart disease; a European study found no link with overall deaths.	mixed	Kivimaki 2015, Lancet
Have a high-strain job	In 197,473 European workers, job strain went with 23% more heart disease.	observed	Kivimaki 2012, Lancet
Be unemployed	Across 42 studies, unemployment went with a 63% higher death rate.	observed	Roelfs 2011, Soc Sci Med
Suffer a sudden large loss of wealth	In 8,714 US adults over 50, a sudden major loss of wealth went with a 50% higher death rate.	observed	Pool 2018, JAMA
Feel a lot of stress	US adults reporting a lot of stress and believing it harmed them had a 43% higher death rate; a study of 719,671 UK women found no link.	mixed	Keller 2012, Health Psychol
Be happy most of the time	Pooled studies show an 8% lower death rate with higher wellbeing, but in 719,671 UK women unhappiness made no difference (0.98).	mixed	Liu 2016, Lancet
Practise meditation	One trial in 201 Black adults with heart disease found 48% fewer deaths, heart attacks and strokes with Transcendental Meditation.	mixed	Schneider 2012, Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes
Take cold plunges or cold showers	A review of 11 trials in 3,177 adults found brief stress relief at 12 hours and no effect on immunity or mood. No death data exist.	unsupported	Cain 2025, PLoS One
Live in a greener neighbourhood	Across 9 cohorts of 8.3 million people, each step up in greenery near home went with a 4% lower death rate.	observed	Rojas-Rueda 2019, Lancet Planet Health
Have acupuncture	The only death study found was in Korean adults with disabilities and heart disease; nothing applies to healthy adults.	unsupported	Jun 2026, BMC Complement Med Ther
Own a dog	A pooled analysis found a 24% lower death rate in dog owners, but it was not adjusted for other factors; adjusted studies found none.	mixed	Kramer 2019, Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes
Own a dog (US national study)	In 11,394 US adults, living with a dog went with a 19 to 21% higher death rate after adjustment, the opposite of the headline claim.	mixed	Gillum 2010, Int J Environ Res Public Health
Own a dog (English study)	In 59,352 English adults followed 11.5 years, living with a dog made no difference to death rates (1.03).	mixed	Ding 2018, Am J Prev Med
Own a dog if you live alone	In 3.4 million Swedes, dog owners living alone had a 33% lower death rate; in other homes, 11% lower.	mixed	Mubanga 2017, Sci Rep
Own a cat	Pooled adjusted studies show no link between cat ownership and deaths from all causes (1.04).	unsupported	El-Qushayri 2020, J Cardiovasc Med
Own a pet (memory and thinking)	In 7,945 older English adults, pet owners living alone showed slower decline in verbal memory; those living with others showed none.	observed	Li 2023, JAMA Netw Open
Walk a dog	About 60% of dog owners walk their dog, a median of 160 minutes a week; owners are only slightly more active than non-owners.	observed	Christian 2013, J Phys Act Health
Be socially isolated	Across 90 cohorts of 2.2 million people, social isolation went with a 32% higher death rate.	observed	Wang 2023, Nat Hum Behav
Feel lonely	Across 90 cohorts, loneliness went with a 14% higher death rate.	observed	Wang 2023, Nat Hum Behav
Live alone	In 458,146 UK adults, living alone went with a 25% higher death rate.	observed	Foster 2023, BMC Med
See friends or family less than once a month	In 458,146 UK adults, visits only every 3 months went with an 11% higher death rate than daily visits; weekly or monthly made no difference.	observed	Foster 2023, BMC Med
Never see friends or family	In 458,146 UK adults, never being visited by friends or family went with a 39% higher death rate than daily visits.	observed	Foster 2023, BMC Med
Take part in no weekly group activity	In 458,146 UK adults, having no weekly group activity went with a 13% higher death rate.	observed	Foster 2023, BMC Med
Be married	Across 53 comparisons in older adults, married people had a 12% lower death rate than unmarried people.	observed	Manzoli 2007, Soc Sci Med
Attend religious services more than once a week	In 74,534 US women, attending more than once a week went with a 33% lower death rate than never attending.	observed	Li 2016, JAMA Intern Med
Volunteer regularly	In adults over 55, volunteering went with a 24% lower death rate after adjustment (47% before).	observed	Okun 2013, Psychol Aging
Take part in social activities in older age	Across 25 cohorts of older adults, high social participation went with a 22% lower death rate.	observed	Xiao 2026, Geriatr Nurs
Have sex at least weekly	In 12,598 US adults aged 20 to 59, sex 52 or more times a year went with a 49% lower death rate than once a year or less.	mixed	Cao 2020, J Sex Med
Be optimistic	Across 15 studies of 229,391 people, optimism went with a 14% lower death rate.	observed	Rozanski 2019, JAMA Netw Open
Be among the most optimistic (lifespan)	The most optimistic US women lived 14.9% longer than the least in one study and 5.4% longer in another.	observed	Lee 2019, PNAS
Have a strong sense of purpose	Across 10 studies of 136,265 people, a strong sense of purpose went with a 17% lower death rate.	observed	Cohen 2016, Psychosom Med
Feel grateful often	In 49,275 older US women, the most grateful third had a 9% lower death rate over 3 years.	mixed	Chen 2024, JAMA Psychiatry
Hold positive views about getting older	In 660 Ohio adults over 50, those with more positive views of ageing lived 7.5 years longer.	observed	Levy 2002, J Pers Soc Psychol
Be less organised and careful than most people	In 76,150 adults, the least conscientious third had a 37% higher death rate.	observed	Jokela 2013, Am J Epidemiol
Laugh often	In 17,152 Japanese adults, laughing less than once a month went with a 95% higher death rate than laughing weekly.	mixed	Sakurada 2020, J Epidemiol
Read books	In 3,635 US adults over 50, book readers had a 20% lower death rate than non-readers over up to 12 years.	observed	Bavishi 2016, Soc Sci Med
Go to museums, concerts or theatre every few months	In 6,710 English adults over 50, going every few months or more went with a 31% lower death rate than never going.	observed	Fancourt 2019, BMJ
Play a musical instrument (dementia risk)	Across 3 cohorts, playing an instrument went with a 36% lower dementia risk.	observed	Arafa 2022, BMC Neurol
Do puzzles, games or other mentally active hobbies (dementia risk)	Across 38 studies of 2.15 million people, mentally stimulating activities went with a 23% lower dementia risk.	observed	Su 2022, Neurology
Speak two languages	Bilingual people showed dementia symptoms 3.45 years later in clinic studies, but studies following people over time found no lower risk.	mixed	Li 2026, Aging Neuropsychol Cogn
Take adult education classes (dementia risk)	In 499,337 UK adults, taking adult education classes went with an 18% lower dementia risk.	observed	Jin 2025, Geroscience
Have a hobby	In 93,263 adults over 65 in 16 countries, having a hobby went with fewer depressive symptoms and higher life satisfaction.	unsupported	Mak 2023, Nat Med
Take regular vacations	In 12,338 US men at high heart risk, more frequent yearly vacations went with a 17% lower death rate over 9 years.	mixed	Gump 2000, Psychosom Med
Keep working past retirement age	A review of 25 studies found no significant link between retirement timing and deaths once earlier health was counted (1.12).	unsupported	Sewdas 2020, J Epidemiol Community Health
Always wear a seat belt	Seat belts cut the risk of fatal injury for front-seat car occupants by 45%; 48% of occupants killed in 2024 were unbelted.	observed	NHTSA Seat Belts page, 2025
Wear a helmet on a motorcycle	Among riders who crash, helmets cut the odds of death by 42% and head injury by 69%.	observed	Liu 2008, Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Wear a helmet on a bicycle	Among cyclists who crash, helmets cut the odds of serious head injury by 69% and fatal head injury by 65%.	observed	Olivier 2017, Int J Epidemiol
Keep working smoke alarms at home	The death rate in reported home fires is about 60% lower in homes with working smoke alarms than in homes without.	observed	McGree 2024, NFPA Smoke Alarms in US Home Fires
Keep a gun in the home	Gun access goes with about 3 times the odds of suicide and twice the odds of being killed; owners had no higher overall death rate.	observed	Anglemyer 2014, Ann Intern Med
Store guns locked and unloaded	A study of youth suicides and accidental shootings found locked and unloaded storage went with about 70% lower odds.	observed	Grossman 2005, JAMA
Get a flu shot soon after a heart attack	In a trial of 2,571 heart attack patients, a flu shot cut deaths over the next year from 4.9% to 2.9%.	trial	Frobert 2021, Circulation
Get a yearly flu shot (older adults in general)	Trials in over 5,000 older adults show flu shots cut flu from 6% to 2.4%, but were too small to show any effect on deaths.	unsupported	Demicheli 2018, Cochrane Database Syst Rev
Get the pneumonia vaccine at 65 or over	A trial of 84,496 adults over 65 found 46% fewer cases of vaccine-type pneumonia; deaths were similar in both groups.	unsupported	Bonten 2015, N Engl J Med
Get the shingles vaccine (dementia risk)	A natural experiment in Wales found the shingles vaccine cut new dementia diagnoses by about 20% over 7 years.	observed	Eyting 2025, Nature
Get vaccinated against COVID-19	A model estimates vaccination prevented 14.4 million deaths worldwide in its first year, a 63% reduction.	observed	Watson 2022, Lancet Infect Dis
Brush your teeth every night	In 5,611 older Californians, never brushing at night went with a 20 to 35% higher death rate than brushing every night.	observed	Paganini-Hill 2011, J Aging Res
Floss your teeth	A 2026 population study found any flossing went with a 30% lower death rate; the authors call this a lead, not proof.	observed	Liu 2026, J Dent
See a dentist twice a year	In 5,611 older Californians, no dental visit in a year went with a 30 to 50% higher death rate than two or more visits.	observed	Paganini-Hill 2011, J Aging Res
Have lost 10 or more teeth	Across 18 studies, each 10 teeth lost went with a 15% higher death rate.	observed	Peng 2019, Biosci Rep
Use sunscreen every day	An Australian trial of 1,621 adults found daily sunscreen cut invasive melanoma by 73% (3 vs 11 cases).	trial	Green 2011, J Clin Oncol
Avoid the sun	In 29,518 Swedish women, sun avoiders lived 0.6 to 2.1 years less than the most sun-exposed.	mixed	Lindqvist 2016, J Intern Med
Use a sauna 3 or more times a week	In 2,575 Finnish men followed 28 years, 3 to 7 sauna sessions a week went with a 14% lower death rate than 2 or fewer.	observed	Kunutsor 2022, Eur J Epidemiol
Take a hot bath almost every day	In 30,076 Japanese adults, a daily tub bath went with 28% less heart disease and stroke than bathing twice a week or less.	observed	Ukai 2020, Heart
Take prescribed medicines as directed	People who took their pills reliably had 44% lower odds of death, but so did people who reliably took dummy pills.	mixed	Simpson 2006, BMJ
See the same doctor over time	In 18 of 22 studies, people with more continuity of care had lower death rates; no single figure could be pooled.	observed	Pereira Gray 2018, BMJ Open
Wear hearing aids if you have hearing loss	US adults with hearing loss who wore aids regularly had a 24% lower death rate; the one large trial found no benefit for thinking skills.	mixed	Choi 2024, Lancet Healthy Longev
Have cataract surgery when needed (dementia risk)	In 3,038 older adults with cataract, surgery went with a 29% lower dementia risk; glaucoma surgery showed no such link.	observed	Lee 2022, JAMA Intern Med
Have uncorrected poor eyesight	Across 17 studies, poor vision went with a 29% higher death rate than good vision.	observed	Ehrlich 2021, Lancet Glob Health
Fall-proof your home	Trials in 8,463 older people show home hazard fixes cut falls by 26%, and by 38% in those at high risk; no benefit at low risk.	trial	Clemson 2023, Cochrane Database Syst Rev

What it costs, with and without insurance

U.S. prices checked in October 2026. Prices change often, so confirm before you book. A blank means no reliable price was found.

Item	Without insurance	With insurance	Medicare	Source
Colonoscopy	$1,250 to $4,800 or more, average $2,750	$0 under ACA preventive rules for ages 45 to 75 when coded as screening, including follow-up after a positive stool test; deductible and coinsurance if coded diagnostic	$0 if the provider accepts assignment; 15% if a polyp is removed	GoodRx colonoscopy cost; Medicare.gov
Cologuard stool DNA test	$649 list price	$0 to $30; $0 under ACA preventive rules as a colorectal screening method	$0	Colonoscopy Cost Guide (secondary site)
Low-dose CT lung cancer scan		$0 under ACA preventive rules for ages 50 to 80 at high risk	$0 once a year for ages 50 to 77 with 20 pack-years, smoking now or quit within 15 years	Medicare.gov; HealthCare.gov
Abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound		$0 under ACA preventive rules once for men of specified ages who have ever smoked	$0 once in a lifetime if at risk (family history, or men 65 to 75 who smoked 100 or more cigarettes)	Medicare.gov; HealthCare.gov
PSA prostate blood test		Varies by plan; not on the ACA $0 list	$0 for men over 50; rectal exam costs 20% after the deductible	Medicare.gov
Screening mammogram		$0 for screening	$0 once every 12 months for women 40 and over; diagnostic mammograms cost 20% after the deductible	Medicare.gov
Bone density scan (DEXA)		Varies by plan	$0 every 24 months if you meet a qualifying condition	Medicare.gov
A1c blood sugar test	$39 ordered direct, HSA or FSA accepted	$0 under ACA preventive rules as diabetes screening for adults 40 to 70 who are overweight	Diabetes screening covered	Labcorp OnDemand; HealthCare.gov
Blood pressure check		$0 under ACA preventive rules	Covered as cardiovascular screening	HealthCare.gov
Cholesterol test		$0 under ACA preventive rules for adults of certain ages or at higher risk	Covered as cardiovascular disease screening	HealthCare.gov
Hepatitis C test		$0 under ACA preventive rules for adults 18 to 79	Covered	HealthCare.gov
Coronary calcium heart scan	$100 to $400, typically $100 to $150	Usually not covered	Original Medicare generally does not cover it	GoodRx coronary calcium scan cost
Galleri multi-cancer blood test	$949 list price	Not covered by most plans	Not covered	Galleri cost page
Whole-body MRI (Prenuvo)	$2,499 whole body; $1,199 focused scan; $3,999 executive	Not covered	Not covered	Prenuvo pricing page
Whole-body MRI (Ezra / Function Health)	$499 for a 22-minute scan	Not covered	Not covered	Function Health press release
Yearly wellness visit		$0 preventive visit	$0 if the provider accepts assignment	Medicare.gov
Routine eye exam		Depends on your vision plan	Not covered	Medicare.gov
Cataract surgery		Deductible and coinsurance apply	20% of the approved amount after the deductible, with a standard lens	Medicare.gov
Shingles vaccine		$0 under ACA preventive rules	$0 with Part D	Medicare.gov
Flu vaccine		$0 under ACA preventive rules	$0 under Part B	Medicare.gov
Prescription hearing aids	$2,000 to $7,000 a pair	Often only a partial add-on benefit	Not covered by Original Medicare; some Medicare Advantage plans add a benefit	GoodRx hearing aid cost; Medicare.gov
Over-the-counter hearing aids	Expected to be under $1,000	Rarely covered	Not covered	GoodRx hearing aid cost; NIDCD
Lisinopril (blood pressure)	From $6.56 with a discount card; average retail $26.01			GoodRx
Amlodipine (blood pressure)	From $5.70 with a discount card; average retail $29.16			GoodRx
Atorvastatin (statin)	From $7.76 with a discount card; average retail $74.35	$0 under ACA preventive rules for adults 40 to 75 at high risk		GoodRx; HealthCare.gov
Metformin 500 mg, 60 tablets	From $7.32 with a discount card; average retail $25.93			GoodRx
Varenicline (stop-smoking pill), 56 tablets	From $27.27 with a coupon; average retail $398.85	Tobacco cessation is $0 under ACA preventive rules		GoodRx; HealthCare.gov
Walmart generic medicines	From $4 for 30 days and $10 for 90 days			Walmart $4 prescriptions
Wegovy injection (GLP-1 weight-loss drug)	$199 a month to start, then $349; list price $1,349.02		$50 a month under the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge from 1 July 2026 if eligible	ThinkGLP price tracker (secondary); Fierce Pharma; AARP
Wegovy pill (GLP-1 weight-loss drug)	$149 to $299 a month depending on dose		$50 a month under the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge if eligible	ThinkGLP price tracker (secondary)
Zepbound (GLP-1 weight-loss drug)	$299 to $449 a month through LillyDirect depending on dose		$50 a month under the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge if eligible (KwikPen)	ThinkGLP price tracker (secondary)
Ozempic (GLP-1 diabetes drug)	$349 a month self-pay ($499 for the 2 mg dose); list price $1,027.51			Fierce Pharma; ThinkGLP price tracker
Mounjaro (GLP-1 diabetes drug)	List price $1,112.16 a month			ThinkGLP price tracker (secondary)
Medicare GLP-1 Bridge			$50 monthly copay from 1 July 2026 to the end of 2027	AARP
Quit-smoking coaching (1-800-QUIT-NOW)	Free	Tobacco cessation is $0 under ACA preventive rules		CDC How to Quit
Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program			$0 if eligible	Medicare.gov
WeightWatchers	$10 to $24 a month for the app; about $50 to $55 a month with workshops; clinic $74 a month plus medicine			PrettySweet WW cost guide (secondary)
BrainHQ brain training	Free through hundreds of US libraries		Free with some Medicare Advantage plans	BrainHQ
SilverSneakers fitness classes			Free through participating health plans	SilverSneakers
Fall prevention services (65 and over)		$0 under ACA preventive rules		HealthCare.gov
Community health centre visit	Sliding scale: full discount at or below the poverty line, partial discounts up to twice the poverty line			HRSA Health Center Program Compliance Manual
CDC breast and cervical cancer screening programme	Free for women with low incomes who lack adequate insurance			CDC NBCCEDP

The full report

Your personal Longevity Report Card

One printable report that shows where you stand today, what to do next, and how much better your outlook could be.

Where you are today: your score, lifespan, mobility and memory outlook
Your recommended plan: screenings, actions and habits ranked by what each is worth to you
Your screening calendar: when to start each test and how often to repeat it
Your future report card: your new score and charts if you follow the plan
Living well with a condition: what studies found helps, if you have a diagnosis
Know your numbers worksheet: 14 tests to take to your doctor and trainer

$9Freefor a limited time

No sign-up and no card needed. Built in your browser from the answers above; nothing is uploaded.

Suggest a study

Send a short description and a link where it can be verified. We add peer-reviewed studies in people that measured death or disease. Every suggestion is reviewed first, and nobody can pay to be included.

Know a study we missed?Send it in and we will review it for the calculatorSuggest it

The evidence behind the calculator

How life changes with age

Published U.S. figures for movement, illness, medical equipment and mood. Mood holds up far better than the body does.

What helps in later life, and what does not

Of these, only the walking and strength programme changes the charts above. The rest are listed so you can see where each popular idea stands.

Screenings and treatments: what the trials show

Rows marked “In the model” can be switched on above. The others have not been shown to reduce deaths, or not yet.

New research, 2022 to 2026

Apart from blood pressure treatment, brain speed training and the shingles vaccine, nothing here changes the calculator.

Where the model's numbers come from

“Read from source” means the figure was read from the paper or official page while building this. “To recheck” means it was written from memory of the paper or taken from a news summary, and should be checked against the paper before anyone relies on it.

These are averages, not a prediction for you, and this is not medical advice. The model starts from 2023 U.S. death rates and multiplies in published risk ratios. Most of those ratios come from studies that observe people and cannot prove cause. Risk factors overlap (weight, blood pressure and diabetes especially), so stacking many of them overstates risk; the largest published gain from a fully healthy lifestyle is about 12 to 14 years. Family-history figures are for getting a disease and are applied here to dying of it. Where a study gave only an overall death ratio, the model spreads it across causes of death, and it assumes the share of adults at each weight, activity and blood-pressure level. Talk to a doctor about your own risks and which screenings fit you.

Common questions

Do these studies prove that a habit makes you live longer?

Mostly not. Many of the figures come from studies that follow people and compare them, which can show a link but cannot prove cause. People who have a habit often differ in income, fitness and health to begin with. Figures marked Trial come from randomized trials, which can show cause. Figures marked Observed are best read as the most a habit could be worth.

How long will I live?

Nobody can say for one person. The average U.S. life expectancy at birth was 79.0 years in 2024: 76.5 for men and 81.4 for women (National Center for Health Statistics). This calculator starts from Social Security Administration death rates for your age and sex, then adjusts for smoking, weight, exercise, blood pressure, alcohol and family history using published studies. The result is an average for people who share your answers.

What is a longevity score?

It is a number from 40 to 100 that compares your expected lifespan with the U.S. average for your age and sex. 70 is average. Scores run from 40 to 100: 80 and above is “Thriving”, 60 to 79 is “On track”, and below 60 is “Room to improve”. Every choice on the page can move it up.

Which cancer screenings are proven to save lives?

Randomized trials show fewer deaths from the screened cancer for mammograms (about 20% fewer breast cancer deaths), stool blood tests (16% fewer colon cancer deaths), low-dose CT scans in heavy smokers (20% fewer lung cancer deaths) and PSA tests (13% fewer prostate cancer deaths). Annual physicals, multi-cancer blood tests, coronary calcium scans and whole-body MRI have not been shown to reduce deaths.

Does a glass of wine a day help you live longer?

Studies do not support it. Compared with people who never drank, light drinkers show no significant benefit (Zhao 2023, JAMA Network Open), and genetic studies show risk rising from the first drink. Above about seven drinks a week, life expectancy falls.

Does drinking coffee help you live longer?

People who drink two to five cups a day had about a 12% lower death rate in large studies that follow people over time. A genetic study did not confirm that coffee itself is the cause.

Does owning a dog help you live longer?

The evidence is contested. A widely quoted 24% lower death rate comes from unadjusted results. Studies that adjust for health and income find no benefit, and one U.S. study found a higher death rate.

Which diet is best for a long life?

The Mediterranean diet is the only named diet with randomized-trial evidence for fewer heart attacks and strokes, and U.S. studies link it to about an 18% lower death rate. Keto, carnivore and intermittent fasting have no studies of length of life. Studies of vegetarian and vegan diets disagree.

Is walking 5 miles a week enough to make a difference?

Probably. The closest published match is about 92 minutes of moderate exercise a week, linked to a 14% lower death rate and about three more years of life (Wen 2011, The Lancet). That is an observed link, not trial proof.

Does any medicine make healthy people live longer?

No medicine has been shown in a randomized trial to lengthen life in healthy people. Statins, blood pressure medicines and some diabetes medicines reduce deaths in people who have the conditions they treat. Rapamycin, metformin in people without diabetes, and supplements have no such evidence.

Does this site store what I enter?

No. The calculator runs in your browser. Your answers are not saved or sent to us or to advertisers.

Is this medical advice?

No. The results are averages from published studies, not a prediction or a diagnosis. Talk to a doctor about your own risks, screenings and medicines.

About this calculator

Longevity Report Card is an independent calculator built from public death-rate tables and published medical studies. It is not written by doctors and is not a medical device. Every figure links to its source, and figures we have not yet checked against the full paper are marked “To recheck”. Paid placements are labelled and never change the numbers. Last reviewed: October 2026.