The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging

Just shy of 250 pages the chapters include Death and Immortality Early Views, Sex and Death, Life Expectancy, the Public Health Experiment, Manufactured Time, Antioxidants,the Genetic Frontier, Long Life and Fleeting Youth, Longevity for Sale, A Prescription for the 21st Century. What I found so interesting about the book and how the authors tackle sciences quest to stop or slow down the aging process is the fact that this has been a quest from the centuries ago. That for some reason people fear living rather than death, and that by trying to stop the aging process, people are actually procrastinating and trying to put off making the needed lifestyle choices that would make our lives richer and better lived.It is also nice to read a book that reminds the reader that no matter how hard we may try, we cannot outsmart Mother nature, and that the simple fact that as soon as we tackle one disease, evolution and genetics itself, throws another disease out to tease the scientific minds.

The Quest for Immortality by Olshansky and Carnes was given to me as a gift by a friend who knows my obsession with aging and health. I expected another scientific view of aging written in an incomprehensible language, but was drawn in immediately by the author's easy writing style. Be prepared for a surprise! Once you get to the end of this book you'll understand what aging is really all about, and why many of us (myself included) have fallen into a trap of false hope about the so-called health benefits of products touted by their proponents as ways to stop or reverse aging. These authors obviously know what they're talking about, and perhaps more important, they found a way to tell us about aging in way that is interesting and understandable. Will I live my life differently as a result? Absolutely! I'm going to stop obsessing about aging and do my best to follow the author's tongue-in-cheek recipe for health and longevity contained in the last chapter. I'll also look at the daily stories about anti-aging products with a healthy dose of skepticism. I think the quote from Tuesday's With Morrie in their last chapter says it all; "If you're always battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow." The time has arrived to live life one day at a time.

I picked up a copy of The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging after watching Dr. Olshansky discuss his book and issues associated with human aging on Orange County Television in early January. Having been intrigued by the changes I've seen in my own body through the decades, I found Olshansky's perspective on aging to be fascinating and refreshingly honest. With a copy of his book in hand..., I flipped it over to find endorsements from what I have since discovered is a powerful set of authorities on aging. I was most surprised to find a glowing endorsement from Dr. Andrew Weil, who suggested that this was the best book on the science of aging that he had ever read. Over the years I have come to admire, respect and trust Dr. Weil, and now having read the book he so heartily endorsed, I can see why Dr. Weil and this authoritative group would provide such laudatory comments. What these authors did was, perhaps for the first time that I've seen, provide the general public with a scientifically accurate view of human aging that is easily digestible by everyone. None of the hype; no lies about how we can all stop or reverse aging or achieve an Ageless Body and Timeless Mind as suggested by Deepak Chopra (I've read all of his books); none of the exaggeration or lies about stopping or reversing aging by eating vitamins or antioxidants; and none of the hoopla like that coming from the world of anti-aging medicine where they would have you believe that aging can be reversed with the use of hormones or mind control. Olshansky and Carnes use the first chapter to take the reader on what I found to be a fascinating journey through the history of thought on aging and death. I discovered that the 120 year lifespan thought by many to be the scientific view of how long we can all live, actually comes from a passage in the Old Testament. The origin of alchemy came not from any great desire to transmute lead into gold for aesthetic purposes - gold was sought after because people thought it would make them live longer if they ate it. What I found most fascinating was the description of the legends passed down through the centuries designed to convince people that much longer lives are possible, legends that have made their way into contemporary literature and the ommercialization of anti-aging products (which are described in some detail later in the book). Olshansky and Carnes avoid criticizing directly any of the modern longevity salesmen. What they do instead is let us look at the historical and contemporary world of aging through their eyes, which then makes painfully obvious how those who know very little about aging, are trying to exploit the general public for profit. Not surprisingly, this shameless exploitation has been going on for thousands of years. In later chapters, Olshansky and Carnes explain why life expectancy cannot rise to the levels claimed by many scientists; why there is a scientific reason to expect

If I have learned anything worthwhile from this book, I now realize that it may be possible to avoid taxes with a good accountant, but death is inevitable. Now that I don't have to worry about the misconceptions and outright falsehoods about what I can do to guarantee a longer life, I can concentrate on a happier and hopefully healthier one. This book should lift a load of worry off people's backs. This book is easy, enjoyable and sometimes very funny reading. I wish all scientists and doctors would read it.