The War on Aging Is Fought Against Chronic Diseases

Sometimes when seniors get together, it’s like an organ recital… people share too many stories about their chronic diseases!

When Rob and I finally admitted we were growing older (in our 70s!), we decided not to change our lifestyle except to increase the intensity of all healthy habits and eliminate the less healthy ones. This is why we wrote our book the War on Aging. Our book promotes the message that we plan to fight hard to not lose strengths and to eliminate or delay the chronic diseases of aging.

It’s often said nobody dies from “old age.” They die from diseases, mostly from chronic degenerative diseases that strike people in their older years. But disease has no time-table or age limits and in the US, younger people are being diagnosed with many of the same diseases prevalent in the elderly: multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, arthritis, and chronic fatigue.

And among seniors, and pre-seniors, these diseases are rampant. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of all Americans suffer from at least one chronic illness. That’s nearly 164 million people in the US alone. (Worse, chronic diseases have quadrupled among children since 1960!)

These chronic diseases are common among seniors: cancers, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Chronic Disease Is a Leading Cause of Death

Chronic diseases are responsible for about one-third of all deaths. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases contribute to a huge decline in quality of life after 65. In 2014, seven out of ten deaths were due to chronic diseases and 46 percent of deaths that year were due to cancer and heart ailments.

While the US ranks number one by a huge margin in healthcare expenditures, it ranks 70th in quality of care. Why are doctors increasingly unable to provide solutions that work? I turned to author and physician Dr. Joseph Mercola in his book Ketofast:

“I sincerely believe most physicians truly intend to help their patients. However, the tools available to them in their conventional medicine tool chest simply don’t include one of the most effective strategies for preventing, diagnosing, and reversing chronic disease—empowering your body to heal itself through periodic fast.”

Fasting to Fight Aging

I’m a big fan of eating. In fact, I eat too often and have a hard time saying no to sweets. I hate dieting so I tend to watch what I eat and limit portions. Over the years, I’ve suffered from bouts of irritable bowel syndrome, so I’ve tried fasting as a means to calm things down. It works.

With a fast, it’s hard to get started and not fudge. But once I committed to nothing but water, coffee and some broth for 24 hours, it became easier. In fact, I felt great afterwards. You can read about it here.

In my next post I’ll review the different kinds of fasting and why it is so beneficial to a healthy body. You wouldn’t drive your car without periodically changing the oil and filters would you? Maybe a partial fast is just what your cells need to clean themselves out.