Introduction

In the 1980s, I first coined the term "anti-aging medicine."  The origins of the anti-aging medical specialty can be traced directly to its two founding physicians, myself and Robert Goldman, MD, PhD, DO, FAASP.  In August 1992, Dr. Goldman and I convened a meeting among a dozen physicians, to discuss scientific breakthroughs making major inroads in identifying the mechanisms of deterioration and vulnerability to age-related diseases. In leading this group of medical pioneers, we introduced a new definition of aging.  In this new perspective, the frailties and physical and mental failures associated with normal aging are caused by physiological dysfunctions that, in many cases, can be altered by appropriate medical interventions.   As an extension of this redefinition, I proposed an innovative model for healthcare that focused on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  "Anti-aging medicine" was born, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) was established. I became the anti-aging movement's first physician and chief champion.   In its March 20, 2006 issue, BusinessWeek refers to me as "The Guru of Anti-Aging" and regards me as a "leading light in the anti-aging medical movement."

Anti-aging medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty throughout the world and is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.  It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans.  As such, anti-aging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties.   The phrase "anti-aging" is, as such, a euphemism for the application of advanced biomedical technologies focused on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of aging-related disease.  Anti-aging medicine is scientifically based and well documented in leading medical journals.

Anti-Aging Interventions of Today

Today, extrapolating from hundreds of anti-aging research experiments conducted on non-human (animal) models, longevity could potentially be extended 20 to 300% via biomedical technologies already proven in the laboratory setting.  Demographic studies show that in humans, adoption of the anti-aging lifestyle contributes to optimal health by extending the healthy, productive lifespan by as much as thirty years.

As I outline them below, there are four key anti-aging interventions which every one of us can employ today, to help reach the goal of the extended healthy human lifespan.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is perhaps the most easily modifiable, proven anti-aging intervention.  A Recently, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that the longest-living Americans are Asian-American women residing in Bergen County, New Jersey USA.  They live longer than any other ethnic group in the United States ? to an average lifespan of 91.1 years.  In contrast, the Harvard team found that the
shortest-living Americans are Native American populations in South Dakota ? living an average lifespan of 66.5 years.  The researchers identified several factors associated with the extraordinary longevity of the Asian-American women in Bergen county, namely: high median income, college education or better; occupations in management or professional settings; diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables, fish, and green tea; and lifestyle including Eastern healing techniques.  ["Bergen County, NJ is long in longevity," New York Times, September 12, 2006; "Asian women in Bergen have nation's top life expectancy," Free Republic, September 12, 2006.]

Diet and Nutrition

Next, diet and nutrition have been found to play a profound role in longevity.  Elderly Okinawans have among the lowest mortality rates in the world from a multitude of chronic diseases of aging and as a result enjoy not only what may be the world's longest life expectancy ? but the world's longest health expectancy. Okinawans have an average life expectancy of 82 years, among the longest in the world.  Their secrets: low caloric intake; plant-based diet, high in vegetables and fruits; higher intake of good fats (omega-3s, monounsaturated fats); high fiber intake; high flavonoid intake; and green tea. ["The Secrets to Living Longer," National Geographic, November 2005.]

Similarly, the Mediterranean Diet has been found by numerous studies to contribute strongly to longevity. Featuring high consumption of grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts; good fats (olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids); and a sparingly low intake of red meat, the Mediterranean Diet correlates to a notably low incidence of chronic diseases and high life-expectancy rates. A 2003 study by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that people living in Mediterranean countries live longer.  Resveratrol (red wine) and quercetin (olive oil) were found to affect the genes that are associated with life extension due to caloric restriction. [Nature, August 2003.]

Scientists have not only found that what we eat influences how long and well we live, but how much we consume plays a major role as well.  A team from Louisiana State University reported in 2006 on the findings from the first completed human study of the effect of calorie-restricted diets on lifespan, the Comprehensive Assessment of the long Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) Study.  It found that prolonged caloric restriction in humans was able to reverse 2 of 3 biomarkers of longevity, fasting insulin level and core body temperature; and that it also reduced DNA damage and DNA fragmentation.  [JAMA, April 2006.]

Stress Response

Thirdly, we now know that the ability to cope with psychological stress factors into longevity. Researchers at the University of California/San Francisco found that chronic psychological stress is associated with accelerated shortening of telomeres on white blood cells.  These shortened telomeres were found to correlate to a weakened immune system as well as an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease.  The most-stressed study participants looked 10 years older than their chronological age.  [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 2004.]  Similarly, researchers from Tel Aviv University (Israel) found that in otherwise healthy persons, job stress was found to fuel the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.  Employees who experienced job burnout were 1.8-times more likely to develop the condition.  Stress was found to disrupt the body's ability to produce glucose.  [Psychosomatic Medicine, Nov./Dec. 2006.]

Dietary Supplementation

Fourthly, dietary supplementation has been found to be a strong contributor to both quality and quantity of life.  Dr. Ranjit Chandra and colleagues from Memorial University (Newfoundland), administered a supplement containing 18 vitamins, minerals, and trace elements was to healthy men and women age 65+, finding that:

• "Those who took the supplement showed "significant improvement in short-term memory, problem-solving ability, abstract thinking, and attention."
• Nutritional supplementation "may be instrumental in preserving the anatomy and function of neurons and their appendages."  As a result these men and women enhanced their capacities to live independently and without major disability.
• The multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement improved immunity.  The numbers of natural killer cells and helper T-cells, and the production of interleukin-2, all improved.   Infection-related illness in those taking the supplement occurred at  less than half the rate (23 days/year) compared to those who took placebo (48 days/year).

[Chandra RK. "Effect of vitamin and trace-element supplementation on cognitive function in elderly subjects."  Nutrition. 2001 Sep;17(9):709-12.]

Anti-Aging Interventions of Tomorrow

We are now ushering in a new reality, in which 75 years old may well be considered middle age.  We need only bridge the gap between the medical knowledge of today and the medical knowledge that we will have in our grasp by the year 2029.  In that medical knowledge doubles every 3.5 years or less, by 2029, we will know at least 256 times more than we know today.  As a result, it is not impracticable nor improbable to expect that humankind will reach the point where we'll know how to substantially slow or perhaps even stop aging, and even eventually reset the clock mechanism of life itself.  By the year 2029, we anticipate that science will accomplish practical immortality ? healthy human lifespans of 150 years and beyond.

In my Model of Practical Immortality, we may consider the years from 2006 through 2029 collectively as a "Bridge to Practical Immortality," during which science will amass key knowledge in biomedical technologies that will enable 150+ year-long lifespans:

Top New Technologies Potentially Leading to 150+ Year Lifespans

As a respected futurist in the field of advanced biotechnologies, I submit that the leading causes of death could be eliminated in the immediate future, were an all-out scientific effort mounted and the politics of disease-based medicine restrained.  As such, I predict the following timetable for major medical breakthroughs during the period I call the "Bridge to Practical Immortality":

• Heart Disease:  Eliminated 2016
• Cancer:  Eliminated 2021
• Diabetes:  Eliminated 2017
• Alzheimer's Disease:  Eliminated 2015
• AIDS & Infectious Disease:  Eliminated 2025

Before the eradication of the diseases of aging and the year 2029, we can rely on the expertise and experience of anti-aging physicians to usher us across the Bridge to Practical Immortality.

The Official Anti-Aging Revolution

As humankind advances closer and closer to the realization of Practical Immortality, I invite you to join the 20,000+ members of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M; www.worldhealth.net) in ushering in this exciting era of human history. The A4M is the world's largest professional organization dedicated to advancing research and clinical pursuits that enhance the quality, and extend the quantity, of the human lifespan. Since its founding in 1992, A4M's scientific educational programs have trained over 100,000 medical professionals, and the organization's education and advocacy initiatives have expanded the availability of advanced biotechnologies and leading-edge preventive healthcare throughout the world.

Often now imitated by those referring to "longevity medicine," "successful aging," "healthy aging," "optimal aging," and "age management," and other sound-alike phrases, make no mistake: over 25 years ago, I first established the concept and original definition of "anti-aging medicine." Various subsequent synonyms have failingly attempted to rebrand this defining concept. The improvement of the human condition heralded by the anti-aging medical movement and spearheaded by the A4M ensures a bright future for us all.   The anti-aging revolution is scientific innovation spearheaded by myself and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M www.worldhealth.net) and the movement can no longer be denied.

To paraphrase the Swedish political leader and former secretary-general of the United Nations, Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold (1905-1961), "Never look [back] to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road."