As an academic internal medicine physician, I help adults of all ages prevent, diagnose, and manage chronic diseases. My passion is applying and contributing to the science of preventing or at least delaying many of the biggest fears people associate with aging—such as dementia, heart disease, and loss of independence. I am driven by the belief that you can use proven ways to improve your health in aging and even slow your process of aging. My vision is to create communities and a culture that support this mission.
You probably already believe in the importance of prevention in avoiding disease. I want to encourage you to apply prevention to how you age—which is what I call “preventive aging.” Conventional preventive services with which you are familiar, such as cancer screening and immunizations, are only a part (and a small part) of “preventive aging.” I want to share with you more in-depth preventive approaches that can transform how you age in any decade. These include advances in:
- nutritional science that are showing ways in which food can be medicine or the cause of illness
- hormonal regulation, which can accelerate or slow our risk of developing age-related diseases and our rate of aging
- the understanding of the role of our gut bacteria in determining our health
- the field of positive psychology, which is defining the traits that improve our physical wellbeing
The “problem” is that you will spend a third of your adult life after sixty five. Without the right mindset and lifestyle, your quality of life will likely deteriorate and you may go down a path of decline and debility. By 2030, the number of adults aged 65 and older in the United States will more than double to 71 million. Without changing course, our aging “problem” will place unprecedented strain on our health care resources, age-related services, care-giving systems, and public finances.
The solution I envision is for you to extend the number of years you continue to live healthily, enjoy life, and remain independent. In turn, your contribution as caregiver, volunteer, and mentor in the circle of life will convert our aging “problem” into our greatest resource.
I have no financial disclosures—only a heartfelt desire to give you the necessary tools and resources to make this solution a reality. This website is my way of bringing together a community that shares and hopefully benefits from my mission and vision.