Chasing Life: New Discoveries In The Search For Immortality To Help You Age Less Today (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
This book isn't about "helping you age less" but about helping you live optimally by changing some of your habits. I think the title is somewhat of a turn-off. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by the book: it wasn't glib or breezy, it didn't prophesy doom, it wasn't oversimplified nor was it heavily research-oriented. In fact, I'd say Sanjay Gupta got it just right. He manages to review and add to what we already know on eating, supplements, exercise, the brain, cancer, heart health, attitude, outlook and stress and new technologies. In the end, I didn't feel preached to, lectured to, or scared into anything---I felt that I had been given reasonable information and advice that was doable. Is there anything this guy can't do well? (Assuming he wrote the book himself...)
Readers seeking the key to everlasting life will find some clues in neurosurgeon Gupta's survey of the latest research on longevity. Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, touches on recent breakthroughs as he offers some basic guidelines for adding years to what he and other aging experts call "health span." The goal, Gupta says, is not merely to live longer. To help readers live longer and better, he boils down conflicting health advice and makes some surprising prescriptions. For example,
What do You think about Chasing Life: New Discoveries In The Search For Immortality To Help You Age Less Today (2007)?
Sanjay Gupta talks about his exploration of the current science of extending quality-of-life expectancy, called Healthspan. Some things were only a surprise in their magnitude - like weight. Other things were interesting to read about the justification and validity, like red wine and chocolate. Of course the need to continue learning as a way of preventing Alzheimer's and dementia is probably not a problem for people who would use this site. Hopefully medical science advances will continue, teaching us how to extend our Healthspan, not just our Lifespan.
—Curt
