Living Longer For Dummies E-Book

Walter M. Bortz

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 370

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

What's the average human life span...72 years...78 years? Actually, science has determined that humans were designed to live 120 years, and that, until now, most people died too soon. It's also now clear that most of the maladies we commonly associate with aging, such as frailty, senility, and arthritis aren't part of nature's plan, but the result of other factors such as bad nutrition, disease ,and disuse. Best of all is the news that, no matter how old you are or what shape you're in, you can take steps to reverse the aging process that has already occurred in you and to slow your rate of aging in the future. You're never too old-or too young-to begin living a longer, healthier life, and Living Longer For Dummies can show you how. Written by a leading national expert on aging, it's packed with life-changing tips on nutrition, exercise, attitude and behavior, that can help enhance and sustain your physical and psychological well- being to age 100 and beyond. You'll discover how to: * Slow your rate of aging * Reverse many of the effects of aging * Avoid maladies associated with age * Keep your mind and senses sharp * Maintain limberness and muscle tone * Keep your energy level high * Rebound from illness * Stay sexually active Dr. Bortz shatters common myths about aging and explains, in plain English, what science now knows about the normal aging process in humans. And he explores a wide range of life-prolonging topics, including: * Getting good health care * Exercising to stay healthy for life * Eating right for a long life * Getting adequate rest and relaxation * Using alternative medicine and exercise techniques * Maintaining brain-power * Having sex to prolong your life and coping with sexual difficulties * Handling health crises The number of people age 100 and older increases a whopping 8 percent every year in the United States? If you choose to, you can become one of them someday. Let Living Longer For Dummies show you how.

Leseprobe

Living Longer For Dummies

by Walter Bortz, M.D.,

Living Longer For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright ” 2001 Hungry Minds, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 00-112172

ISBN: 0-7645-5335-6

Printed in the United States of America

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About the Author

Walter Bortz, M.D., is a specialist in internal medicine with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California and is a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University. He was also the co-chairman of the American Medical Association’s Task Force on Aging and the past president of the American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Bortz has published over 100 scholarly papers in academic and medical journals as well as articles in The New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Town & Country, and Runner’s World. His best-selling books include We Live Too Short and Die Too Long and Dare To Be 100. Dr. Bortz is also a lecturer and wellness advocate.

At 70 years of age, Dr. Bortz is an avid runner and has completed over 20 marathons, including Boston 2000, and he is the grandfather of nine.

Dedication

I am persuaded by whoever observed that a person’s life achieves less significance by what he/she does than by that which that life causes to happen in others. I dedicate, therefore, this book to our grandchildren, Kellen, Taylor, Ryan, Don, Rosie, Tenly, Carson, Emily, and Eddie, and to your own, now and future. I hope their lives are the better by virtue of what we have learned and pass on.

Author’s Acknowledgments

The sources of this book are many. First, there was Carol Mann, agent, who was there at the right time and has remained a steady advocate. Then, Julie Clark, super-transcriptionist, who took my often illegible yellow tablet scribbles and made them ink on white. Warm thanks. Then the Hungry Minds team, particularly Michael Cunningham, who translated my professorese to dummy-ease. Thank you. Family all ways and always. Patients, friends, colleagues, and many others, thanks.

Finally, I want to acknowledge books. Next to people, books are my most treasured asset. Books of all ages and content. My home study overflows with them. Aging invites warm comment from scientists, poets, economists, ethicists, politicians. Gardner, Finch, Friedan, Cousins, Cassell, Heilbrunn, Carter, Delaneys, Sagan, DeChardin, James, Evans, Erikson, Pauling, Gould, Hayflick, Carstensen, Tolstoi, and Sheehan mix freely on my shelves. Books nourish and inspire. I pray the electronic age does not cause their extinction. You can’t cradle a computer. The computer can’t be your good friend. Books are — thank you books.

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u

The publisher would like to give special thanks to Patrick J. McGovern, without whom this book would not have been possible.

uTHE INFORMATION IN THIS REFERENCE IS NOT INTENDED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERT MEDICAL ADVICE OR TREATMENT; IT IS DESIGNED TO HELP YOU MAKE INFORMED CHOICES. BECAUSE EACH INDIVIDUAL IS UNIQUE, A PHYSICIAN MUST DIAGNOSE CONDITIONS AND SUPERVISE TREATMENTS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL HEALTH PROBLEM. IF AN INDIVIDUAL IS UNDER A DOCTOR’S CARE AND RECEIVES ADVICE CONTRARY TO INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS REFERENCE, THE DOCTOR’S ADVICE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED, AS IT IS BASED ON THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THAT INDIVIDUAL.

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : The Mental and Physical Aspects of Living Longer

Chapter 1: What in the World Is Aging Anyway?

Being “Old” Is New

Defining Aging

Three Sturdy Strategies to Help You Live Longer

Understanding the Three Components of Health

Chapter 2: Getting Good Healthcare

Understanding the Medical System

Understanding Disease and Minimizing Your Risk

Searching for Your Ideal Healthcare Team

What to Tell Your New Doctor

Alternatives to the Doctor-Patient Model

Taking a Health Exam

Chapter 3: Exercising to Keep Your Health for Life

Viewing Exercise as a Must, Not an Option

Use It Or Lose It: The Disuse Syndrome

Exercising Your Way to a Healthier You

Deciding on an Exercise Program that’s Right for You

Chapter 4: Fueling Your Future with Good Food!

You Are What You Eat

Starting Out: The Best Food Plan for You

Losing Weight

Potentially Bad Stuff: Coffee, Soft Drinks, Alcohol, and Cholesterol

Chapter 5: Getting Your R&R

The Need for Sleep and Relaxation

Making Time for a Little R&R

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

Chapter 6: Using Alternative Medicine and Exercise Techniques

Discovering the Difference: Conventional vs. Alternative

The Budding of Alternative Medicine

Sorting Between Good and Bad Therapies

Choosing Alternatives Wisely

Hitting the Mat: Meditation, Yoga, and Other Alternative Exercise Techniques

Part II : The Psychological Aspects of Living Longer

Chapter 7: Maintaining Your Brain Power and Engaging in Life “Sense-ibly”

Interacting with Others Through Our Senses

Taking Hold of Your Senses as You Age

Keeping Your Windows to the World Wide Open

Maintaining Creativity as We Age

Cultivating Creativity

Chapter 8: Living to Work or Working to Live?

What’s This Thing Called Work?

Paying Your Way in Life

Avoiding Four Common Retirement Traps

Staying Active and Challenged upon Retirement

Chapter 9: Sex Matters

Exposing the Lie

Handling Sexual Difficulties

Keeping the Flame Alive

Sex Can Extend Your Life

Chapter 10: Building Your Last Nest

Grappling with the New Mobility

Making the Big Location Decision

Staying in Your Home in Later Years

Life Beyond Home: Assisted Living

Handling the Nursing Home Decision

End-of-Life Care

Part III : Handling a Health Crisis

Chapter 11: Understanding Your Role in an Emergency Situation

First Things First: Your Primary Care Physician’s Role

Deciding If It’s an Emergency or Not

Navigating the ER Successfully

Using the Urgent Care Center as an In Between Step

Chapter 12: Making the Hospital Work for You

The New Hospital in the New Millennium

Aging Patients in the Hospital

Taking Charge: An Insider’s Guide to a Hospital Stay

Chapter 13: Surgery and the Older Patient

Big Trends in Surgery

Knowing When to Say “Yes” to Surgery

When Surgery is Necessary: Shopping for a Surgeon

Having Surgery As an Older Patient

Part IV : The Part of Tens

Chapter 14: Ten Keys to a Long, Healthy Life

Creating Your Own Road Map to Life

Using It, Not Losing It

Eating Well to Live Well

Getting Enough Rest

Getting Involved

Staying Optimistic

Finding Meaning in Life

Staying in Control

Embracing Responsibility

Accepting Aging as a Normal Part of Life

Chapter 15: Ten Reasons to Get Moving

Writing the Master Prescription

Keeping Cash in the Bank

Breathing Easier

Making Yourself Strong

Staying Loose

Getting Balanced

Avoiding “Oh, My Aching Back!”

Hurting from Arthritis? Exercise!

Keeping a Healthy Mind

Knowing the Simple Basics

Chapter 16: Ten Best Anti-Aging Diet Tips

Getting a Perspective on Carbomania

Watching Fat Intake

Being Pro-protein

Roughing It

Knowing Your Vitamins

Drinking Fluids

Taking Minerals

Consuming Alcohol

Eating Just the Right Amount

Spicing It up with Variety

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Use, Not Lose, Your Mind

Working Your Brain as a Muscle

Hitting the Road

Drawing from Your Experience and Wisdom

Managing Stress and Keeping Cool

Being a Life-Long Learner

Earning Your Good Citizen Stripes

Staying Creative

Being Sense-able

Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease

Revering Memory

Chapter 18: Ten Guidelines for Taking Medications Safely

Trying to Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Knowing When to Stop Taking a Medicine

Knowing When to Continue Taking a Medicine

Taking the Lowest Dose Possible

Updating Your Prescriptions

Keeping Your Drug History Current

Staying Aware of Possible Drug Interactions

Measuring Your Drug Levels

Taking Medications as Directed

Minimizing the Number of Doses

Part V : Appendixes

Appendix A: A Guide to Medicines

How Drugs Work

New Drugs and Old Patients

How Medicine Affects Older People Differently

A Brief Course in Common Drugs

Drugs and the “Placebo Effect”

Appendix B: Common Conditions and Treatments

Introduction

W riter Mae Sarton said, “As I age, I become more me.” My hope is that this book may help you to become more “you” as you age. Becoming yourself is the ultimate human fulfillment story.