Patients are always asking me for strategies to enable them to live longer and feel happier during their journey to old age. I have constructed the list below as an answer to this request. The flavor of this essay is somewhat tongue-in-cheek (hence the apology to P.J. O’Rourke), although I am willing to defend any of the 12 guides as being reasonable and likely to succeed.
Guide #1: Try to be born into a family with a history of longevity. There is no replacement for good genes. This is the single factor that one cannot influence with a change in lifestyle or attitude. Nevertheless, disobeying the other 11 guides can negate any hereditary propensity for long life.
Guide #2: Never smoke! If you are unlucky enough to be a current smoker, quit the moment you finish reading this article.
Guide #3: Only exercise on the days that you eat. In other words, exercise everyday. The form of exercise is not the most important aspect of this guide, nor is the intensity of your workout. Exercise for 40-60 minutes each day at a level that produces sweating. Don’t bother to count your heart rate unless you are training for competition.
Guide #4: Avoid extreme diets such as the transiently popular starvation diet. This diet has never been shown to prolong life in human beings. It works for inbred mice in the setting of laboratory experiments, and, in my opinion, is not a good strategy for humans.
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— Joseph S. Alpert, MD
This article was originally published in the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of Medicine.
