Age proof
Author: Rose Anne Kenny
Publisher: Lagom, London 2022
ISBN: 978 1 7887 0504 2
Price: £20
There is only one certainty in life – that we will all grow older. The question that this book unpicks is whether ageing is within our control to change. Surely we are all after the elixir of youth? The pages of this book share the secrets of how we can stay younger as we grow older, through changes in lifestyle, and in doing so live longer, healthier and happier lives.
Professor Rose Anne Kenny is a Geriatrician and Professor of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin. She is respected internationally for her research and is founding Principal Investigator for the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). She draws on this research to shine a light on why we age and shares with us that 80% of our ageing biology is within our control.
Age proof is a wonderful mix of vignettes of storytelling, backed up and grounded by science. These link together seamlessly and stay with you long after you have put the book down, such as the retired dentist who took up bodybuilding aged 87 years of age and was still going in his mid 90s. Each chapter covers a key area: food, purpose, sex, laughter, exercise, sleep and downtime. I was delighted to hear there is science behind ‘you are as young as you feel’, as often I can convince myself I am still 30!
She shares a wonderful exposition of the seven ‘blue zones’ round the world, where people live the longest and are the healthiest. There is no magic blue zone potion or pill to take but rather a constellation of changes including movement, purpose and diet.
This book will inspire you to make some changes in your life, or may even confirm your life choices and will give you examples and scientific evidence to share with your patients about the choices they can make too.
Lara Mitchell
Consultant Geriatrician
National Clinical Lead Older Adult, Health Improvement Scotland
