Although most of them were unable or too frightened to speak, the panicked look on their faces spoke as clearly as if they had shouted. “Am I going to die?”
So many times, I have stood by the beds of patients who had been admitted to the hospital following a heart attack or a massive stroke. A few hours before this moment, most had been going about their lives as usual. Now this. Ironically, for those who could talk, no patient ever bragged how much money they had in the bank, or the size of their house, or the quality of the automobile they drove. They would have traded all these in to buy back their health. But it was too late.
If these men and women had only known what to do before this happened to them. If only they had realized sooner, they could have completely prevented the disease that now threatened their lives. The worst part of this was that I did know. I knew what they could have done to prevent the event that put them in the bed that now destined them to die. I knew that over 50% of Americans die because of blockage of the arteries to their heart or brain. And the most horrific fact I had to face as a physician, was knowing, that it was preventable. The blockage of the arteries of that heart attack patient could have completely been prevented. The blockage of the arteries to the brain of that stroke patient lying in bed could have been prevented.
And, so, as a doctor who has operated on blocked arteries, who has sewn bypasses around the blockages, I decided that I could help more people by telling them how to prevent the process of aging, rather than just treating the symptoms. I decided I would share the medical literature that substantiates the fact that we can control the number one aging process there is; the blockage of our arteries throughout our bodies. I decided to use the medical literature that proved the aging process was preventable.
The consensus of that literature points to three lifestyles that can leave you at least twelve years younger physiologically than your chronological age. But the most exciting part is that you will be adding quality years to be as active as you want. More than adding years to your life, I’m interested in adding life to your years.
The Prescription for Life plan will do that. It will take you through three lifestyle plans to develop. One will deal with your diet; what foods to eat, and which ones to avoid. Another will deal with reaching an ideal weight and being able to sustain that weight for the rest of your life…without ever regaining any of it back. And the third lifestyle change will deal with exercise. You will realize all three lifestyles are intertwined to enhance the other. You won’t do one without the other two. The promise is that this will change not only your physical body, but your entire outlook on life.
“Hospital” photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at www.freedigitalphotos.net
