I Found My Secret to Feeling Younger and Stronger. The Pandemic Stole It Away.

“I’m volunteering more,” was writer Bruce Horovitz’s reply when his doctor asked what he’d been doing to cause a dramatic improvement in his health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Horovitz had increased his volunteering from one day a week to three days a week, including doing food distribution at the Arlington Food Assistance Center in Arlington, Virginia. But he stopped that in March and says he misses it. Lynne Shallcross/KHN

Back in early January, before COVID-19 was as familiar as the furniture, I went in for my annual physical. My doctor looked at my test results and shook his head. Virtually everything was perfect. My cholesterol was down. So was my weight. My blood pressure was that of a swimmer. A barrage of blood tests turned up zero red flags.

“What are you doing differently?” he asked, almost dumbfounded.