Living Longer for Dummies

What's the average human life span...72 years...78 years? Actually, science has determined that humans were designed to live 120 years, and that, until now, most people died too soon. It's also now clear that most of the maladies we commonly associate with aging, such as frailty, senility, and arthritis aren't part of nature's plan, but the result of other factors such as bad nutrition, disease, and disuse. Best of all is the news that, no matter how old you are or what shape you're in, you can take steps to reverse the aging process that has already occurred in you and to slow your rate of aging in the future.

You're never too old-or too young-to begin living a longer, healthier life, and Living Longer For Dummies can show you how. Written by a leading national expert on aging, it's packed with life-changing tips on nutrition, exercise, attitude and behavior, that can help enhance and sustain your physical and psychological well- being to age 100 and beyond. You'll discover how to:

• Slow your rate of aging
• Reverse many of the effects of aging
• Avoid maladies associated with age
• Keep your mind and senses sharp
• Maintain limberness and muscle tone
• Keep your energy level high
• Rebound from illness
• Stay sexually active

Dr. Bortz shatters common myths about aging and explains, in plain English, what science now knows about the normal aging process in humans. And he explores a wide range of life-prolonging topics, including:

• Getting good health care
• Exercising to stay healthy for life
• Eating right for a long life
• Getting adequate rest and relaxation
• Using alternative medicine and exercise techniques
• Maintaining brain-power
• Having sex to prolong your life and coping with sexual difficulties
• Handling health crises

The number of people age 100 and older increases a whopping 8 percent every year in the United States? If you choose to, you can become one of them someday. Let Living Longer For Dummies show you how.

Walter M. Bortz, M.D., teaches at Stanford University Medical School. He is the past president of the American Geriatrics Society and a physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.