OUTLIVE
The Science and Art of Longevity by Dr. Peter Attia, Bill Gifford
Penguin Random House, UK, 2023
The author is a practising medical professional who is not satisfied with the traditional medicinal appoach which he has described as Medicine 2.0 and propagated Medicine 3.0 apporach to humankind. The book is divided into 3 parts where part 1 deals with the introduction of the longevity history of the human race and need to intoduce Medicine 3.0 for the age of chronic diseases. Part 2 deals with the centenarians and attempts to find a causality between those who live 100+ years and their lifestyle along with discussion on the 3 main causes which he calls as "Horsemen diseases" and how they are impacting us. Part 3 basically discusses means and strategies to avoid aging as well as horsemen diseases.
The book is result of years of knowledge gathered by the writer in dealing with patients and his pursuit to find one of the oldest and trickiest question ie. how to approach longevity by balancing lifespan and healthspan. The 3 Horsemen diseases are Alzheimer's disease, cardiac diseases and Cancer. The author in chapter 6 titled "The Crisis of Abundance : Can our ancient genes cope with our modern diet?" states that the food is abundant now which is also a good thing and bad thing. Bad because it has led to accumulation of fat in liver which has lead to growth of NASH and NAFLD diseases. He laid emphasis on Metabolism which is a process by which we take in nutrients and break down for use in the body. he adds that no fat is bad as long as we are able to use it.
"In Chasing Memory" the author has discussed the Alzheimers Disease which is one of the horseman disease and affecting the quality of life as one grows old. He identifies Sleep as powerful tool against it and how sleep initiates deep cleaning of brain. In Part 3, the author discusses the strategy to overcome these diseases or atleast slow their attack. Of all the things, he identifies exercise and muscle training as key and focusing on aerobic health. Apart from it he adds that nutrition is important determinant and our food and eating habits are factored by genetics, social influences, economic factors, education, metabolic health, religion and other factors. He states that no amount of alcohal is healthy contrary to popular perception of moderate dose. He adds that the strategy should be based on following principles:
"1. Whats good for the heart is good for the brain.
2. Whats good for the liver ad pancreas is good for the brain. Metabolic health is crucial to brain health.
3. Time is key. Sooner the better.
4. Our most powerful tool for preventing cognitive decline is exercise."
In the final part he lays emphasis on good sleep and emotional health and why it is important to maintain the sanity and give purpose to our life, to lead a good life and have a caring and loving family. The book is inclined towards technical side but the author has lucidly explained all the key related concepts. They are important to understand given the technical nature of our body where each and every body part is a system in itself. He has painstakingly studied various research journals, collaborated with specialists in their respective field and debunked various myths associated with food and exercise with facts. The essence of the book is that if you want to outlive and have a good lifespan and healthspan then certain lifestyle changes have to be made from eating right to exercise and healthy lifestyle having proper sleep, no alcohal and emotional well being.
"Writing about science and medicine for the public requires striking a balance between brevity and nuance, rigor and readability." I think Prof. Attia succeeds in this. I will recommend everyone to read the book and make notes of it as sooner or later we'll start growing old and to outlive we have to follow this path of Dr. Attia.
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