The Life Extension Revolution: The New Science of Growing Older Without Aging

by Monica Reinagel and Philip Lee Miller

Book Overview

For the first time the lay public can benefit from the anti-aging secrets discovered by the Life Extension Foundation, the world's largest, most respected organization dedicated to anti-aging... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553384015
• ISBN13: 9780553384017
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

For a longer, healthier and happier life

This brilliant book from the cutting edge Life Extension Foundation reveals the promise of anti-aging medicine and provides a complete programme of lifestyle, supplements etc. to stay biologically young and healthy. Anti-aging medicine takes an approach built on the principles of functionality, prevention, holism and integration. The authors discuss the reasons for aging, like cellular programming, biochemistry, environmental influences, heredity and lifestyle factors. The good news is that we can now correct, reduce and compensate for metabolic and biochemical changes that take place as we age. Some of the treatments include the use of bio-identical hormone replacement, the use of a wide array of nutrients, herbs and pharmaceuticals, plus lifestyle and dietary changes. This book provides practical and user-friendly programmes whereby you can easily benefit from the spectacular advances in anti-aging medicine in order to live a longer, fuller and happier life. It includes detailed information on how to protect yourself from heart disease, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease through the control of inflammation and oxidation. There is also plenty of advice and information on retaining and increasing brainpower and mental clarity. Diagrams and charts enhance the text and the book concludes with extensive references and appendices to the latest research. The Life Extension Revolution is very thorough and detailed and makes the latest research findings accessible to the average person. I also recommend Renewal by Timothy J Smith, The Superhormone Promise by William Regelson, The New Anti-Aging Revolution: Stopping The Clock by Ronald Klatz and Mind Boosters by Ray Sahelian.

Growing Older Does Not Mean Aging

In LIFE EXTENSION, Dr. Philip Miller explodes the notion that good health means simply the absence of clear disease. To Miller, good health means optimal health, a condition which ought to allow each person to defy the belief that advancing age must be accompanied by those infirmities that historically have accompanied advancing years. Dr. Miller suggests that the desire to live long and prosper involves accepting the notion that an extended and joyously healthy life must involve some serious tinkering with one's hormonal system. He recommends that most would be Methuselahs not only know which supplements to take (DHEA is a favorite of his), but also which ratios of bodily chemistries hold significance. This is a daunting task, but a necessary one. Miller further spends much print on how to slow disease on the cellular level. It is here that he goes into detail about those antioxidants with which most reader are familiar: vitamin C and E, Alpha Lipoic Acid, CoQ10, and the like. One gets the feeling that Miller intends the reader to grasp the concept that an extended life span is a multi-faceted affair requiring an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the intricacies of the human body. And it truly is. Still, as comprehensive as his text is, he necessarily had to focus on the hormonal and nutritional supplement aspect of long life. His chapter on diet is bedrock but brief. For readers who wish a more detailed discussion on dietary advice, I recommend RENEWAL by Timothy Smith, who approaches life extension from a dietary viewpoint. Dr. Miller in his LIFE EXTENSION has set forth a no nonsense but highly attainable regimin that, when followed closely, will truly allow the reader to accomlish in real life what is promised in print.

An excellent introduction to anti-aging medicine

This is a practical book on what you and your doctor can do to avoid or treat many of the problems that traditional medicine regards as normal aging. Dr. Miller gives examples from his practice of people who were helped by treatment of degradations that, while "normal", are not "necessary". He uses blood tests to identify sub-optimal situations, and then improves those conditions with the use of supplements and pharmaceuticals. While his recurring message is that you need a doctor like him to achieve the best results, the basic supplement program that he advocates can be followed without medical permission. Such things as hormone balancing require the active participation of a skilled physician. He explains the safety of bioidentitical human hormone modulation, as opposed to the discredited use of horse derived hormones. Many of his male patients have been prescribed supplemental testosterone, as well as pharmaceutical drugs to control excess estrogen and DHT. Modulation involves both increasing hormones that are too low, and counteracting hormones that are too high. Dr. Miller identifies the best anti-aging substances to use, including supplements, pharmaceuticals, and herbals. His coverage of homocystene and inflammation sound like they should replace cholesterol as the first line approach to avoiding heart problems. The problem with treating these conditions is that the drug companies aren't going to get anywhere near the action that they get selling cholesterol control. As a health consumer, I'm much more concerned with addressing real problems than in just feeding the drug industry's established profit centers. Dr. Miller is not anti-drug, but he's certainly anti-bad-drug. A recurring theme of the book is that common medical practice is out of step with current medical science. His recommendations are designed to optimize health, rather than just avoid deficiency diseases. If only a few of the claims that Dr. Miller makes are true, the conventional medical industry has a lot of explaining to do about their shortcomings.

Dr. Miller is also an excellent physician

Phillip Miller has been my physician for the last 3 years. I taught medical school and have had a lot of physicians as friends and acquaintances, and so am very aware of the differences in quality among physicians. Dr. Miller is among best I have dealth with over the years. He is one of the rare physicians who deal with your body as an entire system evolving in time, does so with a solid basis in cutting edge science, and also likes his patients. Dr. Miller's training has been very wide: biochemistry, neurology, emergency medicine, endocrinology. (My cardiologist, by contrast, sees me as a heart with a human peripheral that he ignores as much as possible. He is personable, treats me as an individual, cares about my opinions in science/business, has a good "bedside manner", but none of that affects his top-of-the-line AMA-brand medicine.) Reading Dr. Miller's book after being his patient was interesting, as I realized how much I had not entirely understood from his instructions and our discussions. I have become a lot more rigorous about diet and some supplements. The book is very readable for anyone with high school biology courses and an interest in physiology/medicine/life extension. Everyone who worries about diseases of aging should read this book. There are a lot of inexpensive means to greatly reduce your risks of heart disease and cancer, and "Life Extension Revolution" makes it easy to understand and adopt them. You will also learn what you need to do to guide your own physician in providing a higher quality of care for you. I also have been reading Kurzweil and Grossman's "Fantastic Voyage". This generally presents the same conclusions as Miller's book, but goes into a lot more detail and so requires a lot more knowledge of biology and biochemistry to read easily. It covers a lot of possible, bleeding-edge technologies that will possibly contribute to life extension. Get both books. Read Miller's first, second and third, as there is a lot to learn and remember, even for someone who knows a lot about this topic. Then get into Fantastic Voyage. Don't put it off. Keep your options open.

Informative and readable

Most modern practice involves simply waiting for something to go wrong and then treating only the symptoms of the problem rather than the cause. The Life Extension Revolution goes beyond this mentality and strives to provide a comprehensive look at the aging from process, and things we can do everyday to help halt and even reverse it. With a focus on blood testing, Dr. Miller gives many real case examples of people he's worked with and the regiments used to help them. I found it very detailed without being too scientific - it'd make an excellent read for anyone interested in taking a proactive approach to aging (and his/her doctor as well).