Friday, October 5, 2018

Review of Longevity Decoded


Longevity Decoded by Dr. Stephen Schimpff is an engaging discourse on the issues facing seniors today.  The title itself draws the reader into a personal search for ways to age gracefully.  

And it is a tone of lightness and good humor employed by Dr. Schimpff that immediately underscores his central thesis for healthy aging:  a positive attitude; calm acceptance of one’s mortality; and “living in the moment.”

In presenting a common-sense, practical prescription for the aging process, Dr. Schimpff details medical information – including recent medical breakthroughs – with clarity and incisiveness.  His “seven keys” are punctuated with suggestions and tips for the senior.  In one section, he outlines the major elements of the “Mediterranean diet”; in another he notes ways to improve and maintain one’s balance.

Above all, Dr. Schimpff seems to be urging seniors to embrace life toward the end of achieving a sense of mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Reviewed by Frank Haight, retired pubic school teacher
Posted by at 11:26 AM 13 comments
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Praise for Dr Schimpff

The craft of science writing requires skills that are arguably the most underestimated and misunderstood in the media world. Dumbing down all too often gets mistaken for clarity. Showmanship frequently masks a poor presentation of scientific issues. Factoids are paraded in lieu of ideas. Answers are marketed at the expense of searching questions. By contrast, Steve Schimpff provides a fine combination of enlightenment and reading satisfaction. As a medical scientist he brings his readers encyclopedic knowledge of his subject. As a teacher and as a medical ambassador to other disciplines he's learned how to explain medical breakthroughs without unnecessary jargon. As an advisor to policymakers he's acquired the knack of cutting directly to the practical effects, showing how advances in medical science affect the big lifestyle and economic questions that concern us all. But Schimpff's greatest strength as a writer is that he's a physician through and through, caring above all for the person. His engaging conversational style, insights and fascinating treasury of cutting-edge information leave both lay readers and medical professionals turning his pages. In his hands the impact of new medical technologies and discoveries becomes an engrossing story about what lies ahead for us in the 21st century: as healthy people, as patients of all ages, as children, as parents, as taxpayers, as both consumers and providers of health services. There can be few greater stories than the adventure of what awaits our minds, bodies, budgets, lifespans and societies as new technologies change our world. Schimpff tells it with passion, vision, sweep, intelligence and an urgency that none of us can ignore.

-- N.J. Slabbert, science writer, co-author of Innovation, The Key to Prosperity: Technology & America's Role in the 21st Century Global Economy (with Aris Melissaratos, director of technology enterprise at the John Hopkins University).