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Health at 85
What is due at 85: Your eighties — sleep 7-8 h, protein 1.0-1.2 g/kg, plus the screenings and checks of the decade.
Your eighties
Resilience narrows: the same infection, fall or medication change that was an inconvenience at seventy is a hospital stay at eighty-five. The winning strategy is depth — reserve of strength, reserve of weight, a short medication list, and social contact, which predicts survival as strongly as almost anything measured.
| Your numbers at 85 | Value |
|---|---|
| Sleep need | 7-8 h |
| Protein target | 1.0-1.2 g/kg |
| Estimated max heart rate | 135 bpm (220 − age) |
Screenings due this decade
- Blood pressure yearly, with a standing measurement.
- Vision and hearing — yearly; both are independence infrastructure.
- Vaccinations — flu, pneumococcal, and the programmes' others, every year.
- Medication review — at least yearly; the question "what can we stop" is as important as "what do we add".
Checks worth doing
- Weight trend — unintentional loss is a signal at this age, not a victory.
- The chair-rise and balance checks, quarterly — the fall clock starts when these fail.
- Social contact — a standing weekly commitment beats any supplement for this decade.
The evidence for the eighties is consistent: strength, weight stability, a reviewed medication list and social connection predict the good outcomes. The medical checks stay important, but the strongest levers left are the daily ones.
Act on it
- Your calorie and protein needs — the calculator turns the grams into food.
- Fitness reference values — the tests behind the checks.
- Blood test reference ranges — what the results mean.
Reference, not medical advice. Follow your national screening programme's invitations and your clinician's schedule — this page summarises the published recommendations, it does not replace them.