Robert P. Friedland’s Unaging: The Four Factors that Impact How You Age summarizes the latest research on aging and points out how a few life-style changes can have a big effect on our health as we get older.
“I can’t say enough about the importance of fiber in the diet. Eating fiber is critical to human health–and preventing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia– yet few American eat enough brown rice, beans nuts, berries and other sources of fiber. You body needs fiber because of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) made in gut bacteria. These SCFAs are small molecules that influence energy use in the body.” (p. 139-140)
Friedland also supplies some unnerving statistics: about 30-40 percent of people have Alzheimer’s-related dementia at 90 years of age. Women have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s for reasons that are unclear. The average dementia-free 70-year-old man has about a 27% chance of developing dementia during his life-time.
Alzheimer’s and dementia research continues to explore the causes and possible treatments for this condition but research studies have shown that exercise, mental activity, and a high-fiber diet can help delay or prevent these conditions.
I found Robert P. Friedland’s book clearly written with plenty of examples to illustrate the research findings. If you want to improve your quality of Life as you grow older, Unaging provides a workable, practical roadmap for doing so. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Contents
- List of figures and tables — x
- Preface — xi
- PART I Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging? — 1
- 1 Aging is Not Inevitable, It Is an Opportunity –3
- 2 The Theory of the Multiple Reserve Factors — 25
- 3 The Brain Is Not an organ, It Is the Master — 42
- 4 Memory and Cognition — 60
- 5 The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging — 76
- 6 Stroke and Vascular Cognitive Impairment — 107
- 7 Other Dementias — 117
- 8 Our Microbiota and How to Do Gene Therapy in the Kitchen — 126
- 9 The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor — 148
- 10 Depression, Anxiety, and What Good Is Feeling Bad? — 161
- 11 Genetics Aren’t Everything — 170
- Part II Applications: What Can We Do about the Opportunity of Aging? — 183
- 12 Overview — 185
- 13 Physical Activity — 192
- 14 Whole Body Health — 198
- 15 Mental Activity — 200
- 16 Psychological Measures — 206
- 17 Social Factors — 216
- 18 Dealing with Stress — 219
- 19 Sleep — 222
- 20 Diet — 225
- 21 Microbial Considerations — 246
- 22 Dental Care — 249
- 23 Dealing with Doctors and Drugs — 250
- 24 Hazardous Behaviors — 269
- 25 Toxic Exposures — 274
- PART III Conclusions — 279
- 26 Considerations for Society and the Future of Aging — 281
- 27 Our Attitude and the Opportunity of Aging — 292
- Acknowledgments –298
- Glossary — 300
- References — 303
- Index — 320
Recently, the four factors that most impact how I’m aging are Trump, Gaetz, Greene, and Boebert. As you can guess, there are many other factors, but those four are the main reason why my skin is turning green, my bones shatter at the drop of a Constitution, my body is full of pustules, and my hair is falling out in clumps.
Jerry, you are not alone with the toxic effects of that Gang of Four Fools!
Jerry may have posted his comment humorously, but I believe existential dread is taking a terrible toll on our mental (and, therefore, our physical) well-being. Those of us on the left are full of anxiety & worry about the looming shadows of oncoming fascism; those on the right (who consume FOX News and other echo-chamber media 24/7) are ginned up on a nonstop litany of anger & fear. We can argue about whose dread is “real” (and you know which side of the coin I’m on), but however illusory the source of the feelings, spending all day in a stew of anger, fear, dread, and worry has catastrophic consequences for our physical and mental health. I have to have regular escapes into comfort reading, listening, and viewing–well that and plenty of fiber in my diet–to keep the oppressive “what ifs” at bay.
Deb, we are all feeling the dread and anxiety of this Election season. Russian-Iranian-Chinese-North Korean hackers spread misinformation on social media. Dark Money is funding many of the wackos running for office. FOX NEWS and other conservative news outlets cover “the invasion on the Border” every day. Their strategy is to freak out everyone with fear and angst. That all takes a mental and physical toll on all of us!
What I found shocking in a way:
In most civilised/developed countries average life expectancy has risen in the years since WW2. Of course Covid had a negative effect there but after the first wave things turned around again in Europe eg – but not in the USA???
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/whats-behind-shocking-u-s-life-expectancy-decline-and-what-to-do-about-it/
Wolf, American Life Expectancy took a hit with Covid-19, but a more ominous factor is the rising number of drug overdose deaths mostly from Fentanyl. People are brewing Fentanyl in their basements and selling it everywhere they can!
George, years ago now – and I know it was at least a dozen years, as my mother was still alive – our gastro doctor laid out the benefits of a high fiber diet. I had two potential polyps at my first colonoscopy; since we went on high fiber, none. Jackie had stomach issues for years, but most are gone now. Even my mother benefited and praised our doctor for the rest of her life for the improvement. Jackie has 25 grams of fiber a day, and I have 30-35.
I can’t judge how old we look (well, Jackie is very youthful looking), but neither of us looks or feels 75.
Jeff, more and more research shows a high fiber diet has numerous beneficial health effects…as you, your mother, and Jackie have experienced. Only 10% of Americans get the proper amount of fiber each day, which explains why health statistics are so bad.
My highly unscientific opinion from one who barely pulled a “C” in high school biology: I think it’s largely dependant on genetics, but even genetics can be a crap shoot if you have one parent with high inherited life expectancy and the other whose own forebears mostly tended to drop dead by 65 from congenital heart problems. Having said that, you can certainly help stave off the inevitable by a few years with healthy diet, checkups, vaccination, and activity (and doctor-directed medication for conditions difficult or impossible to control with other means). I agree with the rest of the gang about the current threats to our wellbeing, and I’d add the other GOP presidential hopefuls, the insidious Mike Johnson, the Supreme Court majority, and for us in TX, Greg Abbott and our other reptilian GOP overlords to the poisonous mix.
Fred, genetics affects our lives, but as Robert P. Friesland points out in his chapter on genes, many of the effects need a “trigger” to become active. Meanwhile, our environment, which is becoming hotter and more polluted, has dire effects on our health.