My own story is instructive. More than twenty years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The conventional
treatment made my condition worse, so I approached this health challenge from my perspective as an inventor. I
immersed myself in the scientific literature and came up with a unique program that successfully reversed my diabetes.
In 1993 I wrote a health book (The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life) about this experience, and I continue today to be
free of any indication or complication of this disease.
13
In addition, when I was twenty-two, my father died of heart disease
at the age of fifty-eight, and I have inherited
his genes predisposing me to this illness. Twenty years ago, despite following the public guidelines of the American
Heart Association, my cholesterol was in the high 200s (it should be well below 180), my HDL (high-density
lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol) below 30 (it should be above 50), and my homocysteine (a measure of the health
of a biochemical process called methylation) was an unhealthy 11 (it should be below 7.5). By following a longevity
program that Grossman
and I developed, my current cholesterol level is 130, my HDL is 55, my homocysteine is 6.2,
my C-reactive protein (a measure of inflammation in the body) is a very healthy 0.01, and all of my other indexes (for
heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions) are at ideal levels.
14
When I was forty, my biological age was around thirty-eight. Although I am now fifty-six, a comprehensive test
of my biological aging (measuring various sensory sensitivities, lung capacity, reaction times, memory, and related
tests) conducted at Grossman's longevity clinic measured my biological age at forty.
15
Although there is not yet a
consensus on how
to measure biological age, my scores on these tests matched population norms for this age. So,
according to this set of tests, I have not aged very much in the last sixteen years, which is confirmed by the many
blood tests I take, as well as the way I feel.
These results are not accidental; I have been very aggressive about reprogramming my biochemistry. I take 250
supplements (pills) a day and receive a half-dozen intravenous therapies each week (basically nutritional supplements
delivered directly into my bloodstream, thereby bypassing my GI tract).
As a result, the metabolic reactions in my
body are completely different than they would otherwise be.
16
Approaching this as an engineer, I measure dozens of
levels of nutrients (such as vitamins, minerals, and fats), hormones, and metabolic by-products in my blood and other
body samples (such as hair and saliva). Overall, my levels are where I want them to be,
although I continually fine-
tune my program based on the research that I conduct with Grossman.
17
Although my program may seem extreme, it is
actually conservative—and optimal (based on my current knowledge). Grossman and I have extensively researched
each of the several hundred therapies that I use for safety and efficacy. I stay away from ideas that are unproven or
appear to be risky (the use of human-growth hormone, for example).
We consider the process of reversing and overcoming the dangerous progression of disease as a war. As in any
war it is important to mobilize all the means of intelligence and weaponry that can be harnessed,
throwing everything
we have at the enemy. For this reason we advocate that key dangers—such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke,
and aging—be attacked on multiple fronts. For example, our strategy for preventing heart disease is to adopt ten
different heart-disease-prevention therapies that attack each of the known risk factors.
By adopting such multipronged strategies for each disease process and each aging process, even baby boomers
like myself can remain in good health until the full blossoming of the biotechnology revolution (which we call "bridge
two"), which is already in its early stages and will reach its peak in the second decade of this century.
Biotechnology will provide the means to actually change your genes: not just designer babies will be feasible but
designer baby boomers. We'll also be able to rejuvenate all of your body's tissues and
organs by transforming your
skin cells into youthful versions of every other cell type. Already, new drug development is precisely targeting key
steps in the process of atherosclerosis (the cause of heart disease), cancerous tumor formation, and the metabolic
processes underlying each major disease and aging process.
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