Anti-Aging

Definition of Anti-Aging Medicine

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 dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.

It is a health care model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy human lifespan.

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.

­The Basics

The three rules of anti-aging medicine are:

• Don't get sick
• Don't get old
• Don't die

The longer you live, the better your chances are for living even longer. This allows you to take maximum advantage of advancements in medicine.

Medical knowledge doubles every 3.5 years or less. With these gains in medical knowledge, we will reach the point where we will know how to stop aging, put it on hold, and even eventually reset the clock mechanism of life itself.

Early Detection

Health care costs for age 65+ population:

Cost per day

Alzheimer's Disease                  $100+

Stroke                                      $37

Parkinson's Disease                  $10 - $25

Osteoporosis                            $14+

End Stage Renal Disease           $12+

Lung and  Bronchus Cancers     $10

Colorectal Cancer                     $7

Breast Cancer                           $6+

Prostate Cancer                        $5

Early detection offers opportunities to prevent or effectively intervene in disease:

• screening whole body computed tomography (CT) scans
• metabolic profiles and cancer antigens (blood testing)

Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable deaths

• Annually....

• Causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S.
• Costs the country more than $100 billion

 Medical risks associated with obesity

• Type 2 Diabetes
• Gout
• Hypertension
• Osteoarthritis
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Sleep Apnea
• High Cholesterol
• Cancers
• Gallbladder Disease
• Impaired Respiratory Function
• In women -- increased incidence of varicose veins, asthma, and hemorrhoids

Avoid Trauma

Trauma kills more people between the ages of 1 and 44 than any other disease or illness:

• According to the National Center for Health Statistics, trauma (unintentional injuries + homicides) causes 62% of all deaths in ages 15 to 24

Trauma can strike at any time of the day. Each year in the US:

• 8 to 9 million individuals suffer disabling injuries
• more than 3 million people suffer permanent disabilities

Don’t Smoke

• The most significant cause of death
  

• Responsible for most deaths
  

• Highly associated with the development of, and deaths from, bladder, kidney, pancreatic, and cervical cancers
  

Environmental tobacco smoke …

• Is responsible for lung cancers in several thousand nonsmokers each year [US Environmental Protection Agency]

• Contributes to [California Environmental Protection Agency]

Regular Exercise: Wide-Ranging Benefits

• Reduces the risk of heart disease by improving blood circulation throughout the body
• Keeps weight under control
• Improves blood cholesterol levels
• Prevents and manages high blood pressure
• Prevents bone loss
• Boosts energy level
• Helps manage stress
• Releases tension
• Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well
• Improves self-image
• Counters anxiety and depression and increases enthusiasm and optimism
• Increases muscle strength
• Provides a way to share an activity with family and friends
• In older people, helps delay or prevent chronic illnesses and diseases associated with aging and maintains quality of life and independence longer
  

Be Social

• Type of activity had little relation to extent of satisfaction received. Any pursuit that brought people together proved beneficial for promoting positive self-image and personal fulfillment.

An Active Sex Life

Results of an eighteen-year study by Scottish researcher:

• Men who had sex 3 or more times a week looked an average of 12 years younger than they actually were

• “Having sex helps the body produce growth hormones that produce lean muscle tissue and decrease body fat, which can make you look younger”

• Worldwide, 80% of men, and 60% of women ages 40 to 80 responded that sex remained an important part of their lives

Mental Stimulation

The brain is a muscle and must be exercised in order to stay in peak form

• Memorization strategies can encourage the brain to work more effectively and reduce aging-related memory loss

• Cognitive impairment, a risk factor for dementia, is most commonly caused by:

• unexplained memory loss (12.5%)

• medical illness (4%)

• stroke (3.6%)
  

• alcohol abuse (1.5%)

Challenge yourself with activities such as hobbies, adult education, and volunteering

Stress Reduction Tips

• Reduce responsibilities
• Reduce expectations
• Meditate
• Visualize
• Take one thing at a time
• Exercise
• Hobbies
• Healthy lifestyle
• Share your feelings
• Avoid arguments … Be flexible!
• Go easy with giving and receiving criticism

Restful Sleep

Sleep is …

• Necessary for survival
• Necessary for proper nervous systems function
• Rejuvenates brain nerve cells
• Promotes brain function

Deep sleep …

• Coincides with the release of growth hormone in children and young adults
• Promotes increased production, and reduced breakdown of proteins in cells

Make Smart Dietary Choices

Mediterranean Diet: A notably low incidence of chronic diseases and high life-expectancy rates is present in populations living along the Mediterranean Sea (particularly Greeks and southern Italians):

• diet features grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts,
• diet features good fats -- olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids (fish)
• diet includes red meat only sparingly

• low caloric intake
• high vegetables/fruits consumption
• higher intake of good fats -- omega 3s
• monounsaturated fat
• high fiber in diet
• high flavonoid intake

Moderate Alcohol Consumption

• Drinking one or two alcoholic drinks each day could help reduce the risk of developing dementia.
• Light, and even fairly moderate drinking, appears to protect the elderly from developing small blockages in the blood vessels of the brain known as "silent strokes,” therefore lowering stroke risk.
• Dark beer contains large amounts of disease-fighting antioxidants. Beer prevents the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL).

Combat Free Radical Damage

Antioxidants (Vitamin A, C, E, and selenium) protect cells by neutralizing free radicals and beneficially altering the risk of disease:

• A study at UCLA School of Public Health found that men who took 300 mg of vitamin C daily had a 45%. lower risk of heart attack compared with men who took less than the U.S. Government Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).
• In a Harvard study, vitamin E lowered heart attack risk by 41%.
• Selenium decreases infection rates in the elderly, while vitamin E improves their immune response.

Moderate Alcohol Consumption

• Light, and even fairly moderate drinking, appears to protect the elderly from developing small blockages in the blood vessels of the brain known as "silent strokes", therefore lowering stroke risk.
• Dark beer contains large amounts of disease-fighting antioxidants. Beer prevents the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL).

Maintain Immunity

Infectious diseases are the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Water

• Replenish lost fluids with an intake of 8 to 12, 8-ounce glasses of water every day
• Tap water is dangerous

• Today, virtually everyone in the U.S. has one or more toxic chemicals lodged in fatty tissue as a result of ingestion of tap water.
• In the U.S. 53 million Americans drink water from municipal water supplies containing potentially dangerous levels of chloro- and fluoro-chemicals, lead, fecal bacteria, as well as pesticides and other impurities, associated with cancer and metabolic dysfunction.

• Distilled, sterile water is best:

• Maximum ability to eliminate toxins from your body
• Devoid of other substances and minerals
• NOTE: If you drink only sterile distilled water, add a quality daily multimineral dietary supplement