Wednesday, November 26, 2014

A Short Guide to a Long Life; David B. Agus, M.D.

A Short Guide to a Long Life; David B. Agus, M.D
Simon & Schuster - 2014

A Short Guide to a Long Life was a quick and easy book to listen to.  The format was easy to follow and the information interesting, although a good portion was things we've heard before read before. The doctor believes in a set of rules (65) to be exact, for living wisely. He believes that by following this rules we could minimize our risk for cancer, heart issues and strokes. Dr. Agus considers himself to be conservative in his beliefs. The book is divided into three sections: (1) What to Do, (2) What to Avoid, and (3) Doctor’s Orders.  
 
In the first section: What to Do, he recommends knowing your body, and monitoring your vital signs, sleep patterns, what you eat, times you feel lousy and times you feel great.  He has a rule about "Eating Real Food and Don't Let the Apple Fall Far From the Tree".  Eat fresh vegetables and fruit that are in season, not ones that are transported from foreign countries. He points out that by the time such produce reaches us, it has lost much of it's nutritional value.  He also recommends having a glass of wine with dinner, getting a flu shot, good hygiene, getting into a caffeine habit, knowing the health issues our grandparents dealt with, taking baby aspirin, taking statins if you are "over the hill (40+), never skipping breakfast, pursuing your passions and having children! People who have children are more likely to live longer and take better care of themselves according to Dr. Agus.

He also recommends avoiding: processed foods, fad diets, juicing, vitamins and supplements, airport scanners (ask for a pat down), detoxes, insomnia, sunburns and more.

I found Part (3) of the book, Doctor's Orders, a bit annoying. It covers things you should have checked by your physician and various screenings for age groups: 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. It's very basic info most of us know and it's repeated again by age group tacking on a few extra tests as we age.

A few more pieces of interesting info for me was: 1951 was the last year "old age" could be used as a reason for death on US death certificates.  Top (3) causes of death in the US are: Heart Disease, Cancer and Chronic Respiratory Disease, while world wide the top (3) causes of death are: Heart, Stroke, Lower Respiratory Disease (Cancer is #7).

Overall, I'd say that I mostly enjoyed this one.

3.5/5 stars
(audio book from publisher)

3 comments:

  1. Diane, thanks for sharing your honest thoughts about this book. I am interested in reading about the 65 rules. Thanks for sharing some of them. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Diane!

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  2. Wait, "over the hill" is 40? sigh. I suspected that but hoped it wasn't true.
    Looks like great reminders, but he recommends avoiding insomia? Good luck! I've not had the best sleepers in my family so it's no surprise this affects me.
    Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

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  3. I'm glad you reported on the audio version. I linked to it from my review of the print one, because I know some people are going to prefer to listen to this one.

    Joy's Book Blog

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