The Power of Positive Aging

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David Lereah. The Power of Positive Aging

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Advance Praise forThe Power of Positive Aging

“David Lereah takes us on a personal journey for the ages; his battle against stage three cancer. Along the way he discovers the power of positive aging and presents his findings in this book. It is an inspiring story of how a positive mindset can overcome the physical and mental challenges of aging and disease. A must-read for anyone over 50 years old.”

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According to Blackburn, the enzyme telomerase adds bases to the ends of telomeres. In young cells, telomerase keeps telomeres from wearing down too much. But cells divide repeatedly during the course of our lives, and there is not enough telomerase to last forever, so the telomeres grow shorter and the cells age. Geneticist Richard Cawthon at the University of Utah found shorter telomeres are associated with shorter lives. Among people older than 60, those with shorter telomeres were three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die from infectious disease.10

Telomere length represents our biological age as opposed to our chronological age, and many of the behaviors associated with positive aging have the unintended effect of protecting and lengthening your telomeres. According to studies conducted by Blackburn and Epel, and Epel and Prather, there are a number of ways you can protect and lengthen your telomeres that are consistent with positive aging behavior.11 These include: eating healthy foods, reducing stress, meditation, attitude, social interaction, and exercise. While it is clear that telomeres alone do not dictate life span, more interesting developments are sure to emerge on this fascinating front as an ever-increasing number of scientists continue to study telomeres and the benefits of stopping or possibly reversing the telomere shortening that happens as we age.

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