AGING AND ANTI-AGING MEDICINE

The Anti-Aging Zone by Barry Sears, PhD. Published 1999.

Barry Sears started the diet movement of the decade with the Zone's 40-30-30 eating plan (40 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent each fat and protein). In The Anti- Aging Zone, Sears explains that he thinks aging is not caused so much by depleted hormone levels but by a lack of communication among hormones.

So what exactly do these hormones have to do with aging? Estrogen and testosterone levels affect sex drive and skin tone; a drop in Melatonin can lead to insomnia. Wavering serotonin levels have been shown to be a factor in depression. Insulin gone haywire can mean diabetes. While the intricacies of these hormonal interrelationships are the makings of a graduate degree in endocrinology, Sears offers a layperson's short course. ... in eicosanoids, what he calls "super hormones." And eating in the way advocated by The Anti-Aging Zone, he argues, can help maintain proper eicosanoid functioning, thereby preventing the litany of health problems associated with aging--both mental and physical.

Immortality : How Science Is Extending Your Lifespan, and Changing the World (Sept 1998)
by Ben Bova

Do you want to live to be 200? How about 500? Maybe forever? Ben Bova, famed science fiction author and futurist, predicts that within the lifetimes of many people alive in 1998, molecular biology and genetics will reveal the secrets of cellular immortality, freeing people of the "threescore years and ten" most of us are allotted. Further, Bova asserts in Immortality, we will be living those long lives in healthy, youngish bodies, subject only to death by accident. To back up this claim, Bova offers a nice, clear overview of how genetics has come to the brink of science fiction, made accessible to readers unfamiliar with the terminology through the use of explanatory sidebars and basic definitions. 

Bova assures us that immortal people will (by necessity) become more farsighted and thoughtful about their lives and the lives of others. The search for earthly immortality has occupied humans throughout history ... how long do you want to live? 

Stealing Time: The New Science of Aging (Sept 1999)
by Fred Warshofsky 

A companion to a Public Broadcasting System video produced by Warshofsky.  He shows how scientists are coming to understand the process of body and mind deterioration and at the same time how scientists are able to extend life.  If genetic manipulation of the  kind already carried out in fruit flies and monkeys succeed in people, then some of us can expect to live a healthy life for 150-200 years, Warshofsky asserts!  He also explores advances in cognitive research that hold promise for preserving mental health into these extended years.

Stealing Time: The New Science of Aging. PBS Video

The original PBS video series. See above.

The Time of Our Lives : The Science of Human Aging
by T. B. L. Kirkwood

Aging is not, according to the disposable soma theory expounded here, anything to do with population control or some such crudely deterministic mechanism, but rather the genes making the best of what are, after all, limited energy resources. Our soma cells (anything but the immortal germ-line cells by which we reproduce) are constantly being replicated, a process that, carried out in any sort of energy-efficient manner, leaves room for error. And these errors are cumulative in effect; though the process is generally remarkably accurate, a faultily constructed cell cannot produce a perfect cell, and eventually our bodies will go wrong with fatal consequences.

This book doesn't offer the hope of evading death or even delaying it that significantly, but it does offer up some hope: understanding a process can help to demystify it and dispel fear, and, as Kirkwood illustrates, it can help us to try and intelligently influence the processes at work in our favor.

Renewal: The Anti-Aging Revolution by Timothy J. Smith, MD. Published 1998.

Renewal  incorporates the latest longevity research and is packed with terrific information that is a pleasure to read. You'll learn how and why we age and, more important, how to reverse heart disease, destroy cancer cells, erase visible signs of aging, boost brain power, attack aging at the cellular level, and extend your life span by protecting healthy cells and repairing or replacing damaged or dead ones. This challenging program has three components: an anti-aging diet (a low-fat, vegan eating plan), supplement program (which includes sections on phytochemicals, fiber, and herbs like ginkgo, garlic, and ginseng), and exercise program. Renewal also contains a 14-day meal plan with recipes and chapters on anti-aging hormones and "smart pills." Follow Dr. Smith's advice and you'll keep each of your body's 100 trillion cells humming for decades to come. --Ellen Albertson

100 Hints : How to Live to Be a Healthy 100 : Secrets from Those Who've Reached 100, or Soon Will!
by Russ L. II Potter, Russ L., II Potter

"Today one in ten people on Earth is 60 or older; by the year 2050 it will one in three."  True centenarians have been called "humanity's fastest growing age group." But they are still extremely rare. This book is based on the true lives of very active and healthy centenarians and beyond.  An enjoyable book and one filled with many lessons of the new paradigm.

Reversing Human Aging by Michael Fossel / Hardcover / Published 1996

The first in-depth exploration of the exciting field of anti-aging medicine, Reversing Human Aging examines how aging starts and progresses through the body, the methods that medical scientists are devising to stop it, and what may happen when they succeed.

Stop Aging Now! : The Ultimate Plan for Staying Young and Reversing the Aging Process   by Jean Carper / Hardcover / Published 1996

From the best-selling author of Food--Your Miracle Medicine comes a groundbreaking guide which tells readers how to delay and reverse again by taking specific vitamins, supplements, and herbs, and eating an AntiAging diet. 

The Clock of Ages : Why We Age--How We Age--Winding Back the Clock by John J. Medina / Hardcover / Published 1996

Written in everyday language, The Clock of Ages examines the latest discoveries in geriatric genetics. Sprinkled throughout are descriptions of the aging of many historical figures, such as Napoleon, Jane Austen, Casanova, Florence Nightingale, and Billy the Kid. 47 Line drawings.

How and Why We Age  by Leonard Hayflick, Robert N. Butler (Introduction) / Paperback / Published 1996

From the frontlines of science comes a seminal book by an award-winning cell biologist who has studied the aging process for more than 30 years. Dr. Hayflick presents various theories of about aging.

Hayflick is meticulous but too conservative, academic and detached from the realities of this rapidly moving and market-driven phenomenon.

Cheating Death : The Promise and the Future Impact of Trying to Live Forever by Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies.

Immortality is a popular and recurrent theme in literature and especially in science fiction. More than one author has considered the possibly ironic consequences of living indefinitely. Now that prolonged life is becoming a scientific and medical reality, futurists Cetron and Davies examine the implications of living in a "post mortal world."