Prime Time Replay:
John H. Bland
on Staying Active into Old Age
MsgId: *infinities(2)
Date: Sun Mar 23 21:58:40 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Welcome back to Infinities. This evening, we're delighted to welcome John H. Bland, M.D., author of "Live Long, Die Fast: Playing the Aging Game to Win" (Fairview Press). An octogenerian and marathon runner, Bland practices what he preaches, and will share some strategies you can employ to increase your longevity--at any age.
MsgId: *infinities(3)
Date: Sun Mar 23 21:59:31 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H._Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Ready when you are. :)
MsgId: *infinities(4)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:02:27 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Dr. Bland and you in the cyberaudience, welcome. In your book, Dr. Bland, you say old age can be "prevented." Other than by an early death, can old age truly be prevented--or merely postponed?
MsgId: *infinities(5)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:12:08 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H._Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Well, we're all programmed to go to somewhere between age 65 and 121 and there are so many different things that one can do to see that we can get as far as our programming will allow us to do. There are six diseases that we die of. That is, that we are programmed to go to what is now the oldest person in the world, a woman in France who is 121 years of age. One can account for death by six diseases in the United States today. These diseases are: arteriosclerosis, which includes heart attacks, strokes, loss of ciruculation to the legs, kidney disease, and liver disease, and the way to manage in this life is to go as long as one can, as hard as one can, and die as fast as one can.It so happens that if one lives to between 72 and 79 and does not have disabling symptoms of one or more of the six diseases we're dying from, one is very likely to see 85. Current evidence is that people who are dying between 85 and 121 are dying in minutes, hours, days. The longest that someone older than 85 has taken to die is 3 months.
MsgId: *infinities(8)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:17:05 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
You talk about preparing for old age and death starting as early as the teen years. Could you give us some prescriptions for what to do in the years between 20 and 40?
MsgId: *infinities(9)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:18:49 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Yes, surely, it's simply a matter of attitude toward death. It takes certainly some time and some serious thinking in order to adapt oneself to one's own death. It is inevitable. There are two things I'm absolutely, totally, irrevocably certain are going to happen, and one can't start too early to recognize this. Number one is that I'm going to be dead one day and number two is that I'm not dead now.That as soon as I recognized there was no star in the East when I was born, I know I'm not immortal and I know that some day I'll die. My suggestion is that all of us should decide that the best approach to life is to live as long as we can, as hard as we can, and when we reach the part where we see death is in our future, to die as fast as we can.
MsgId: *infinities(11)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:22:58 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Could you tell us a little about the value of exercise at the various stages of life, say, in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.
MsgId: *infinities(12)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:24:55 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Yes, we are, as are all animals, born to move. One can totally destroy ligaments, tendons, bones, by total immobilization. For example, if a knee has a cast on it for four months, it will be destroyed. All elements of the body are required to move and to exercise and that this becomes a necessity if one wishes to realize his maximum life potential -- that is, to live as long as he possibly can.
MsgId: *infinities(13)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:26:41 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
With an emphasis on the elderly, what is the exercise-mind/health connection.
MsgId: *infinities(14)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:28:14 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Well, one can say that walking, simply walking, is the best exercise of all. It does not need to be exercise like running a marathon. Simple walking at a reasonable clip will activate many systems in muscle, ligament, tendon, bone that maintain these structures at their optimum level of performance. I think the practice of inertia, that is, doing as little as possible, leads to an early state of incompetence. We actually require a certain amount of use of all the structures that compose us.
MsgId: *infinities(16)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:31:13 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Talking of maintaining mobility, these days we often hear complaints about patients being kicked out of bed early because of tight insurance regulations. According to you, being forced to get out of bed may be the best thing for the patient. It seems counterintuitive that bedrest should be harmful.
MsgId: *infinities(17)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:32:35 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
That's right, the practice of inertia is inviting an early death. I'd like to define elder: An elder is a person who continues to develop & grow, remains a learner, still has potential, and most importantly, whose life still continues to have in it, promise for, and connection to, the future.
MsgId: *infinities(18)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:34:32 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
In what ways is inertia harmful?
MsgId: *infinities(19)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:37:42 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
The basic problem is that to initiate mechanisms by which muscle works and propels us around, require mechanical stimulation, and this means exercise. We have in our genetic endowment, the mechanism by which muscle, ligament, tendon, bone, materials that hold us together are activated by new synthesis secondary to exercise -- stretching or use. With the practice of inertia, these systems become deactivated and they lose the ability to make motion occur. That really is the issue. A really famous Swedish physician put to bed an Olympic team, kept them there 20 days, and found to a real sense that they aged over the 20 days, losing their abilities. This is not peculiar to youth. People 90 years old can regain the physics of making a body move. It's not lost with increasing age.
MsgId: *infinities(20)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:39:09 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
What's the biggest myth about sex after sixty?
MsgId: *infinities(21)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:42:27 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
A little-appreciated issue about aging is that one's sexuality lasts as long as one does. The major problem is that we are taught, in a real sense, that sexuality is lost as soon as the matter of producing children is no longer needed or required. We follow the path of our expectations with training and proper instructions in continuing sexuality throughout old age, can and has been proven, to remain functional. This is one of the great myths of aging and certainly is extremely harmful. Many people will report that their sexuality was gone when they are at the point of not producing new members of our population.
MsgId: *infinities(23)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:44:10 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Other than staying informed on the subject, what can people do to help maintain sexual interest, activity, passion long into their lives?
MsgId: *infinities(24)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:46:26 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
There is a major issue with attitude. That is, sexuality is apt, if one is without proper training in the reason for sexuality, that is, it's far more than adding members to our population. There are endocrine and anatomic mechanisms that result in longevity and a more appropriate death. More than any other single fate or mechanism is the attitude toward sexuality as being limited to reproduction, the new members to our population. That is, if one really truely believes that sexuality is as important as exercise, work, continuing adequate nutrition, maintaining streching exercise, then sexuality automatically becomes a part of this life, lasting as long as you do.
MsgId: *infinities(25)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:49:08 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
In your book, you stress the importance of good nutrition. What are the five most important things people need to know about nutrition that will help improve and extend their lives?
MsgId: *infinities(26)
Date: Sun Mar 23 22:50:59 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
Number one is that it's been solidly established that within certain limits, the less calories, the better. That is, all animals, including ourselves, that are moderately restricted live longer, have more energy, and are more successful in life. Number two is drinking enough water. Water is the universal nutrient and by and large, if we follow only our thirst, we won't be getting enough water to live long and die fast. All living things need a concentration of water to survive. Drinking somewhat over what one's thirst directs is of importance.The three basic requirements in diet: carbohydrates, protein, and fat, most of us tend to eat much more fat than either carbohydrate and protein and thus, restriction of fat within certain limits is a very important part of maintaining the proper mix. Number four is making certain that the food we eat does reach our muscle, ligament, tendon, bone, joint. This requires that we eat reasonably slowly and that we maintain a normal healthy bowel habit, that is, that we excrete what we don't need and that we hold on to what we do need to make dietary repairs. And lastly, that we get amounts of necessary components in the diet.
For example, calcium constitutes the principle component, other than organic materials in which calcium is deposited in our bones. Thus calcium is important. The development of osteoporosis is prevented by having enough calcium in the diet. And lastly, maintenance of appetite, that is, the need for taking in the food and this is a major function of exercise. The person who is not exercising sufficiently will have insufficient need for exercise and then will eat enough in order to maintain the elements of all food to maintain a long life. Appetite tends to diminish in people who are less active.
MsgId: *infinities(31)
Date: Sun Mar 23 23:03:21 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
One more question from me, Dr. Bland. Given the increasing numbers of over-65s (and 85s), how should public policy be dealing with improving their health and longevity?
MsgId: *infinities(32)
Date: Sun Mar 23 23:05:29 PST 1997
From: Dr._John_H_Bland At: 152.170.137.193
It looks like we've lost our moderator. Thanks for having me here to talk about my book LIVE LONG, DIE FAST. You can find it at your bookstore. There's no question nowadays that we can live to our maximum, somewhere between 100 and 125 years, and there are a total of 20 factors associated with living long and dying fast. All of which are simple straightforward utilization of physiologic mechanisms characteristic of our species, Homo Sapiens. This is all covered in the book. Good night!
MsgId: *infinities(34)
Date: Sun Mar 23 23:09:25 PST 1997
From: Melanie At: 206.80.178.122
Thanks for being with us, Dr. Bland and to you and our audience, we say live long and prosper and die fast. Good night.
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