Summary
Healthy aging isn't simply a roll of the dice. How people age is a choice.
Mayo Clinic on Healthy Aging discusses the biology of aging -- why we age and how to slow the aging process. It delves into common health and lifestyle concerns and outlines steps that readers can take to enjoy longer and more purposeful lives.
Researchers are finding that genes play a smaller role in overall health than most individuals realize. More often, the life people lead in their later years is a culmination of personal attitudes, decisions made, and actions taken beginning in young adulthood.
The book covers a variety of topics including: responding to personal risks how to challenge the brain and body healthy diet physical activity resiliency retirement planning living a fulfilling life Readers also will find practical tips to keep their minds, bodies, and spirits in top shape. Think of this book as an instruction manual that provides the tools needed to live life to its maximum -- ensuring that the later years are some of the best years.
The advice comes from a wide range of Mayo Clinic specialists, including staff of Mayo Clinic's Kogod Center on Aging. Discoveries being made by scientists at the Kogod Center suggest that aging may be a modifiable risk factor -- a process that can be controlled. The Center's efforts are focused on the goal of increasing human "health span" -- the number of years individuals spend living independently and remaining free of age-related diseases and disabilities.
Nathan K. LeBrasseur, Ph.D., is the Director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and the Co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research, and the Scientific Director of the Office of Translation to Practice at Mayo Clinic. A professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and associate professor of Physiology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, he also serves as the current chair of the NIH Cellular Mechanisms in Aging and Development Study Section. Dr. LeBrasseur is a recipient of the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, the Nathan W. Shock Award Lecture from the National Institute on Aging, and the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research from the American Federation for Aging Research. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.
Christina Chen, M.D . , is a geriatrician in the division of Community Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., with a dual appointment in Integrative Medicine and Health, where she trained in acupuncture. Dr. Chen is involved in a variety of educational endeavors, including course director for geriatrics curriculum (Senior Sages Program) at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, didactic core curriculum leader for the Geriatrics Medicine Fellowship, and course director for the Care of the Older Adult, a continuing medical education conference. Her research focus is on transforming dementia care through integrative therapies and environmental redesign and she has led several clinical trials. Dr. Chen is the host of the Mayo Clinic podcast, Aging Forward .
