"Use it or lose it". Sometimes the origins of an idiom are lost in time, but you can just imagine people saying it when the first patents were registered. Then as now, a patent gives you a monopoly. No one else can copy your work. This gives you the chance to sell your product without competition at a higher price and so collect your development costs more quickly. But, if you don't use the time, you lose the protection. Now the world can copy your ideas and get the money you neglected to collect. The saying today is more confusing. Use oil or lose it? Hardly, if we don't make it into gas for our cars, it stays in the ground as a resource. So the saying is used to talk about how to keep Alzheimer's away: use your brain or lose your mind; and to discuss erectile dysfunction: have lots of sex as you grow older or you'll lose the power. But how real is this advice?

As always, there's a new piece of research to answer the question but, this time, it's a bit more authoritative. It's a piece of meta-research. Instead of recruiting people and having them go through a program, this re-analyzes past studies. In this case, 40 studies published between 2006 and 2010 were reviewed. It shows a direct link between life expectancy, heath and lifestyle. Obviously, you can't control your genes and there's always some luck in your life. But more or less everything else is under your control, e.g. whether you smoke, drink alcohol, eat modest amounts of healthy food, exercise on a regular basis, etc. In both sexes, the results of the meta-research show the more active you are, the smaller the risk of colon cancer at any age. It also helps prevent dementia in seniors. As for men, those leading an inactive life, working in an office and returning home to the couch, are more likely to get prostate cancer and significantly more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction.

As a adult, the moral of this story is to spend at least two-and-a-half hours a week in an activity that raises the heartbeat and keeps it high during the activity. This could be a vigorous walk for thirty minutes, five days a week, swimming, dancing or playing a sport. Although it's a real struggle for most people, the ideal is a BMI of 25 or less to avoid the majority of the more serious chronic disorders. Even if you cannot reduce your BMI down to this level, any reduction is good for you. As an older person, routine exercise helps joint mobility and maintains balance. Indeed, as you age, you should increase your activity level to remain sexually active and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. If you do find erectile dysfunction becoming a problem, generic Viagra will keep you active for longer. There's no reason why men should not continue to enjoy sex into their seventies. With exercise, this may be unaided. For these less motivated, buy Viagra online and stay active for longer.