If you're like most Americans, you probably have a few negative beliefs about getting older, says AARP. You might want to reframe your outlook. A study recently published in the scientific journal Geriatrics shows that people can improve their health as they age. And having positive beliefs about age can influence that improvement.

A positive outlook matters.

Researchers at Yale University followed 11,314 people who were between ages 50 and 99 for 12 years. They tracked two major indicators of health in older adults: cognitive function and walking speed. The research team assessed cognitive function in people ages 50 and older and walking speed in people ages 65 and older.

After analyzing the data and accounting for factors such as age, sex, education, ethnicity and chronic health conditions, the researchers made some interesting discoveries. First, 45 percent of participants showed improvement in walking speed or cognitive function. Most of them improved in only one category. Looking at the categories separately, the researchers found that 28 percent showed better walking speed and 31 percent showed better cognition…. READ MORE…