101 Tips of Anti-Aging Wisdom to Living to a Fit, Vital and Robust Age

Dr. Robert Goldman, Chairman and Dr. Ronald Klatz, President
American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M)

British novelist Doris Lessing (b. 1919), making reference to the popularization of science fiction in the 1970s, remarked:
What a phenomenon it has been-exploding out of nowhere, unexpectedly of course, as always happens when the human mind is being forced to expand; this time starwards, galaxy-wise, and who knows where next.


WHAT IS ANTI-AGING MEDICINE?

A decade ago, anti-aging medicine was labeled by some as science fiction. Ten years later, many of the insights of anti-aging pioneering researchers and clinicians have become science fact. Today, scientists know much more about the deterioration and vulnerability to disease that typifies the aging process. Many of these discoveries can be attributed to the advent of anti-aging medicine, heralding in a new era for an innovative healthcare model and exciting scientific field of study. Anti-aging medicine is a medical specialty founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related diseases. It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans. As such, anti-aging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties. Anti-aging medicine is:

* Scientific. Anti-aging diagnostic and treatment practices are supported by scientific evidence and therefore cannot be branded as anecdotal.
* Evidence-based. Anti-aging medicine is based on an orderly process for acquiring data in order to formulate a scientific and objective assessment upon which effective treatment is assigned.
* Holistic. Anti-aging medicine utilizes an organized framework for the head-to-toe diagnostic assessment, and subsequent design of a treatment regimen.
* Synergistic. Anti-aging medicine recognizes that oftentimes, a multi-modal, multi-therapeutic approach (including nutritional supplements) may deliver greater rejuvenative effects than by administering single therapies alone.
* Well-documented by peer-reviewed journals including Aging, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, and many others.

Anti-aging medicine focuses on the application of high-tech diagnostic and treatment biomedical technologies for the very earliest detection and most aggressive care of disease. The goal of anti-aging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual's life, but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion.


THE BENEFITS OF LONGEVITY

Longevity has tremendous payoffs not only for each of us as individuals, but collectively as a society. Kevin Murphy and Robert Topel of the University of Chicago Business School used a value per-life of $5 million (extrapolated from accident payouts by insurers) to calculate what the six years' gain in average life expectancy during 1970-1990 alone were worth across the total U.S. population. Their calculations produced the astounding discovery that the change in life expectancy over the twenty-year period was worth a whopping $57 trillion in 1992 dollars. Converted into a yearly valuation, the Murphy and Topel study assigns a $2.4 trillion a year value on longevity for the U.S. alone.

Focusing in on the potential financial gain if the leading causes of death were to be eradicated, Murphy and Topel estimate that eliminating deaths from heart disease would generate an economic value of $48 trillion, curing cancer would be worth $47 trillion. All totalled, Murphy and Topel argue that reducing the death rate from either heart disease or cancer by 20% would be worth around $10 trillion to Americans -- more than one year's U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

With all that long and vital lives can offer us both personally and as a society, anti-aging medicine has accelerated the pace of advancements in health promotion and prevention, and is the most important new model for health care for this new millennium. By implementing a proactive health program embracing elements of anti-aging preventive medical care for yourself, you increase your ability to live a long and robust lifespan in which you will spend quality and abundant time with your family and its future generations. In this article, we share with you 101 tips in hopes of helping you reach your 101st birthday and celebrate it with style. Bon santé!


KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Today, each American spend[s] more on health care than anyone else in the world. And yet, we aren't much healthier as a people. Consider investing in your fitness instead of in pharmaceuticals. ["Health Bulletin," Men's Health, May 2003, p. 46.] Those "in the know," have known this and are applying the principles to themselves to live longer and more healthful lives:

* A number of reputable scientists have been personally consuming antioxidants for years: at the US National Institutes of Health, Dr. Trey Sunderland, age 50, takes Vitamin E and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, while he conducts work as the Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health into Alzheimer's prevention. At Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH USA), Dr. Craig Atwood takes Vitamin E and drinks blueberry shakes while conducting research commissioned by the Alzheimer's Association to find antioxidant compounds to decrease plaques in brain tissue. Such conduct begs the question: If such nutrients were of no preventive or therapeutic value, why would these experts on aging-related diseases continue to consume them? [Jaffe S., "Scientists test theories on aging and their resolve," The Plain Dealer, Dec., 16, 2002].
* Dr. James Jessup at the University of Florida found that older men and women who exercised regularly and took vitamin E supplements became healthier and significantly decreased their levels of free-radical induced oxidative stress, a known contributor to aging and disease. Remarks Dr. Jessup:
The results of this study suggest that people who are over 40 can benefit from regular moderate exercise and vitamin E to protect … their aging bodies." ["Researcher finds vitamins, exercise may slow harmful effects of aging," Breakthrough Digest, July 30, 2003].
* From the University of Illinois to Ball State University (Indiana), human performance scientists are in universal agreement that the one thing you can to do slow the aging process, and feel good afterwards, is to keep yourself physically active. A landmark study published in 1995 tracked 9,777 men ages20-82 and found that physically unfit men who became fit had death rates 44% lower than those who remained unfit. Exercise experts are now revising their definition of "aging" to reflect that aging for most people equates to inactivity. Today, thanks to high-tech sports medicine and rehab advancements, men and women in their 90s and 100s are regaining strength and mobility from muscle training. The take-home lesson: it's never too late to start exercising, but getting a jump start while you're still agile is best. ["The simple answer for defying age: exercise," Newsday.com, August 20,2003]

In closing, we share a quote from Buddha (563-483 BC): "Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care."

Source