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"From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time's most influential people, this paradigm-shifting book shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls readers to consider a future where aging can be treated. For decades, experts have believed that we are at the mercy of our genes, and that natural damage to our genes--the kind that inevitably happens as we get older--makes us become sick and grow old. But what if everything you think you know about aging is wrong? What if aging is a disease--and that disease is treatable? In Lifespan, one of the world's foremost experts on aging and genetics reveals a groundbreaking new theory that will forever change the way we think about why we age and what we can do about it. Aging isn't immutable; we can have far more control over it than we realize. This eye-opening and provocative work takes us to the frontlines of research that is pushing the boundaries on our perceived scientific limitations, revealing incredible breakthroughs--many from Dr. David Sinclair's own lab--that demonstrate how we can slow down, or even reverse, the genetic clock. The key is activating newly discovered vitality genes--the decedents of an ancient survival circuit that is both the cause of aging and the key to reversing it. Dr. Sinclair shares the emerging technologies and simple lifestyle changes--such as intermittent fasting, cold exposure, and exercising with the right intensity--that have been shown to help lead to longer lives. Lifespan provides a roadmap for taking charge of our own health destiny and a bold new vision for the future when humankind is able to live to be 100 years young"-- "From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time's most influential people, this paradigm-shifting book shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls readers to consider a future where aging can be treated"--… (more)
User reviews
The God Machine mentality in the book disturbs me.
It is not an easy book to read. Even though he has tried to make it accessible to many readers, much of the technical stuff went above my head.
He didn't answer the question posed by the rock group Queen. "Who wants to live forever?"
His last two chapters addressed issues like climate change, inequality, and conflict. But he drowned them in his relentless optimism. This is techno-geek at its worst.
I also appreciated that Sinclair thinks through some of the social consequences of longer lifespan, and he has good answers where he can. Some areas, he freely admits, don't have good answers: the rich will gain access first, and longer lifespan will allow the rich to acquire even more, creating a feedback loop. (This is something I've seen in a number of the sf stories I've read.) On the other hand, I wasn't convinced by all his answers: he says we'll save money from not having to treat diseases that are symptoms of aging... but since he's not promising immortality, wouldn't those diseases catch up with us again at some point?
The book is clearly trying to be accessible but also not be fluff. I think it fails in threading the needle when it comes to explaining epigenetics, which is the key to Sinclair's theory of aging, but which I totally failed to understand the explanation of; it's a mixture of too-much technical detail and too-dumbed down analogies.
But on the whole, I found this to be one of the more convincing advocacies of anti-aging I've read. Should I start taking the supplements he recommends to extend my own lifespan...?
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This book has or at least will change some habits in my life particularly when it comes to my diet and exercise habits.
Some of my notes (excerpts) from the book:
I believe that aging is a disease. I believe it is treatable. I believe we can treat it within our lifetimes. And in doing so, I believe, everything we know about human health will be fundamentally changed.
There are some simple tests to determine how biologically old you probably are. The number of push-ups you can do is a good indicator. If you are over 45 and can do more than 20, you are doing well. The other test of age is the sitting rising test. Sit on the floor, barefooted, with the legs crossed. Lean forward quickly and see if you can get up in one move. A young person can. A middle-age person typically needs to push off with one of their hands. An elderly person often needs to get onto one knee.
When we stay healthy and vibrant, as long as we feel young physically and mentally, our age doesn't matter. That's true whether you are 32, 52, or 92. Most middle-aged and older adults in the United States report feeling 10 to 20 years younger than their age, because they feel healthy. And feeling younger than your age predicts lower mortality and better cognitive abilities later in life.
After 25 years of researching aging and having read thousands of scientific papers, if there is one piece of advice I can offer, one sure fire way to stay healthy longer, one thing you can do to maximize your lifespan right now, it's this: eat less often.
The authors basic point is that aging is a disease. It is a disease of losing information from the genetic code and its interaction with the ’epigenome’. He is very
He isn’t suggesting we might never die but that we would feel healthy and remain active until death.
There may be problems with a population that lives twice as long- his expectation. But he feels human ingenuity is up to the task.
At 77 I am probably too old to be a major beneficiary from the things his lab is learning. Still it is a very upbeat and hopeful message.