Professor of surgery at Yale, Nuland, 76 , blends medical expertise, eclectic interests, and erudition into a graceful and gracious primer rich in humanity. As in his National Book Award-winning “How We Die, ” Nuland steers readers away from harmful diets of pie in the sky while prescribing how to keep tarnish off our golden years. The average man reaching 65 in 2007 can expect to live nearly another 17 years; the average woman, close to 20. While “aging is not a disease,” it is a risk factor for many diseases and a time of decline in hormonal systems, muscle mass, vision, bladder elasticity, gastrointestinal efficiency. Nuland fears well-intentioned efforts to prolong life or choose the genetic makeup of children could “[breed] out variety [and] alter factors necessary for the survival of our species and its relationship to every form of life on earth. If we retain our “receptiveness to change,” if we continue to grow, Nuland feels, we acquire a wisdom that leads to love for our fellow humans and an understanding of how to die, which Montaigne pointed out is also understanding of how to live. read more
[Tags]nuland, aging, live, years, , fear, weight loss news[/Tags]
