Last month I had the pleasure of attending a conference at which I heard world renowned geriatrician Dr. Bill Thomas speak about healthy aging. According to Dr. Thomas, the key to having what he refers to is a “good old age” can be summed up with the term: MESH, which stands for Move, Eat, Sleep, Heal. As a practicing physician, Dr. Thomas has found that neglecting to do any of these four things can have dire consequences as we age.

Over the next four months, I will devote a column to each of these four behaviors and explore what exactly Dr. Thomas means when he advises us to Move, Eat, Sleep, and Heal.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word mesh as “to cause (things) to fit together or work together successfully.” Starting next month, we will begin to learn how these four things work together to help us age successfully. For those of you with access to a computer, follow this link for a sneak peak on what it means to move, which will be the subject of next month’s column: http://changingaging.org/blogstream/the-best-health-advice-just-move/.