Just GROW OLD and DIE: Pay No Attention to 20,000 Physicians and Scientists Who Say Otherwise, Suggest Gerontology Academicians

A4M Official Position Statement Regarding Mehlman, Binstock, et al, Anti-Aging Medicine: Can Consumers Be Better Protected?, The Gerontologist 44:304-310(2004)

Chicago, IL July 7, 2004 -- Just GROW OLD and DIE: Pay No Attention to 20,000 Physicians and Scientists Who Say Otherwise, Suggest Gerontology Academicians: A4M Official Position Statement Regarding Mehlman, Binstock, et al, Anti-Aging Medicine: Can Consumers Be Better Protected?, The Gerontologist 44:304-310(2004)

With all that long and vital lives can offer us both personally and as a society, anti-aging medicine has accelerated the pace of advancements in health promotion and prevention, and is the most important new model for health care for this new millennium. It is thus with great surprise that the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) reads an article published in the June 2004 issue of The Gerontologist by Dr. Binstock and colleagues from Case Western Reserve University. Last year, Dr. Robert Binstock and colleagues from the School of Medicine's Aging, Health, and Society Department at Case Western Reserve University in a February 2003 article appearing in The Gerontologist reported that the contemporary prominence of the anti-aging movement "threaten[s] biogerontological researchers and practitioners." [Binstock RH. "The war on 'anti-aging medicine,'" The Gerontologist, 43(1), 4-14.] Dr. Binstock warned that "through their attack on anti-aging medicine, [biogerontologists] may be shooting themselves in the foot." [Radkiewicz M. "The war against anti-aging medicine," EurekAlert Press Release, Feb. 10, 2003.] Instead, Dr. Binstock advocated "public dialogue to ensure that everyone benefits from [aging interventions]."

Sixteen months later and turning his position in the completely opposite direction, in the current issue of The Gerontologist, Dr. Binstock et al have recanted their previously non-partisan position, and now suggest that many anti-aging treatments can seriously harm older persons and aging baby boomers, and may divert them from more medically proven therapies. [Gerontology Researchers Urge Scrutiny of Anti-Aging Treatments, Gerontological Society of America Press Release, 1 July 2004.]

Core anti-aging therapies are medically proven and based on sound medical principles derived from published medical research in established peer-reviewed scientific journals. Considered by many to be the next evolution of preventative medicine, anti-aging therapies that are now widely accepted and prescribed by even the most conservative physicians include:
~ Calcium for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis
~ Vitamin E for the prevention of heart disease and Alzheimers Disease
~ Daily multivitamin/multimineral supplementation to promote immune function in the elderly
~ Early detection screenings for cancers
~ Noninvasive scans for organ health, including the heart and brain
Indeed, it would be considered by many to be low-level, substandard medical care were physicians not to recommend many anti-aging therapies as part of their approach to preventative medicine.

Today, each American spends more on health care than anyone else in the world. And yet, we arent much healthier as a society. Instead, it is up to every one of us as individuals to invest in our health as our number one personal priority. Those in the know, have known this and are applying the principles to themselves to live longer and more healthful lives:
~ A number of reputable scientists have been personally consuming antioxidants for years: at the US National Institutes of Health, Dr. Trey Sunderland, age 50, takes Vitamin E and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, while he conducts work as the Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health into Alzheimer's prevention. At Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH USA), Dr. Craig Atwood takes Vitamin E and drinks blueberry shakes while conducting research commissioned by the Alzheimer's Association to find antioxidant compounds to decrease plaques in brain tissue. Such conduct begs the question: If such nutrients were of no preventive or therapeutic value, why would these experts on aging-related diseases continue to consume them? [Jaffe S., "Scientists test theories on aging and their resolve," The Plain Dealer, Dec., 16, 2002].
~ Dr. James Jessup at the University of Florida found that older men and women who exercised regularly and took vitamin E supplements became healthier and significantly decreased their levels of free-radical induced oxidative stress, a known contributor to aging and disease. Remarks Dr. Jessup: The results of this study suggest that people who are over 40 can benefit from regular moderate exercise and vitamin E to protect their aging bodies. [Researcher finds vitamins, exercise may slow harmful effects of aging, Breakthrough Digest, July 30, 2003].
~ From the University of Illinois to Ball State University (Indiana), human performance scientists are in universal agreement that the one thing you can to do slow the aging process, and feel good afterwards, is to keep yourself physically active. A landmark study published in 1995 tracked 9,777 men ages 20-82 and found that physically unfit men who became fit had death rates 44% lower than those who remained unfit. Exercise experts are now revising their definition of aging to reflect that aging for most people equates to inactivity. Today, thanks to high-tech sports medicine and rehab advancements, men and women in their 90s and 100s are regaining strength and mobility from muscle training. The take-home lesson: its never too late to start exercising, but getting a jump start while youre still agile is best. [The simple answer for defying age: exercise, Newsday.com, August 20,2003]

Indeed, it is the public that serves as the ultimate arbiter on the debate on aging intervention. They have already begun to vote on this discussion with their wallets:
~ The anti-aging medical marketplace is valued at $30 billion annually. ["Dateline NBC," March 27, 2001.]
~ Sixty percent (60%) of Americans age 65+ are pursuing anti-aging interventions -- including hormone replacement therapies and dietary supplementation. [MSNBC Jan. 28, 2002.]
~ Dietary supplement sales in 2000 were $17 billion. [Nutrition Business Journal, Nov. 2001.]
~ Thirty-three percent (33%) of adults take supplements on the specific advice of their doctor. [Harris Interactive survey, 2001.]

The public is evolving into what the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation calls the "top-tier healthcare consumer," capable of making its own educated decisions regarding all purchases including those relating to medical care [Morgan CM, Levy DL. Marketing to the Mindset of Boomers and Their Elders, The Brewer House, 2002.] The report states that top-tier healthcare consumers, due to their financial stature, level of education, and employment, "will have the greatest ability to effect change." The A4M, as a non-profit educational medical organization dedicated to the scientific premise that diseases and disabilities of human aging are largely preventable, treatable, and perhaps even reversible, serves as an advocate for this new science and as a conduit to physicians, scientists, and the educated public who wish to benefit from the almost daily breakthroughs in biotechnology which promise both a greater quality as well as quantity of life. A4M has devoted itself to education thousands of doctors and other professionals in the health-related field throughout the world in the area of anti-aging. A4M presents annual educational programs, written materials, and ongoing updates via accredited joint sponsored Category 1 Physician Recognition Award-Approved Continuing Medical Education scientific conferences and symposiums around the world, its educational Internet websites, and print publishing mediums, in order to keep medical professionals and scientists aware of the progress being made throughout the world on anti-aging medicine. In 2004 alone, the A4M will train over 20,000 physicians in the newest medical sciences and technologies of anti-aging medicine.

A4M oversees physician education and scientific information regarding many types of medical treatments, however A4M does not promote or endorse any specific treatment and not sell or endorse any commercial product. A4M continues to be committed to working to develop an ethical marketplace in which vendors and manufacturers supply independent scientific validation for all products and claims made. On the point made by Dr. Binstock et al urging professional organizations to undertake a sustained program of specific educational efforts to sort out the helpful, the harmful, the fraudulent, and the harmless antiaging practices and products, we wholeheartedly agree, and welcome the involvement of non-partisan entities to assist the A4M in achieving this goal.

The A4M has invited for productive dialogue and journalistic fairness and integrity on the subject of anti-aging medicine, yet it is unfortunate that dictatorial diatribe by a small segment of gerontological academicians persists. For nearly forty years, gerontological academicians have dominated the study of aging, yet have not focused on developing the proper arenas to cultivate discoveries in aging-related disorders; such therapies have instead serendipituously arrived from the clinical application of innovative preventive health techniques, which may be considered to be practices of anti-aging medicine, in the medical offices of practicing physicians.

Count Maurice Maeterlink (1862-1949), Belgian writer, poet, essayist, and Nobel Laureate wrote that "At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past. In the twelve-year long history of anti-aging medicine, science bears out that healthy, robust, extended lifespans are in our foreseeable future. It should be the goal of every biological scientist, be they gerontologist, biogerontologist, or anti-aging clinician, to make a productive contribution to help society achieve a world that is absent of disease and disability, filled instead with productivity and vitality.

The A4M is a non-profit medical society dedicated to the advancement of technology to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process. A4M believes that the disabilities associated with normal aging are caused by physiological dysfunction which in many cases are ameliorable to medical treatment, such that the human lifespan can be increased, and the quality of one's life improved as one grows chronologically older. A4M seeks to disseminate information concerning innovative science and research as well as treatment modalities designed to prolong the human lifespan. A4M sponsors The World Health Network, the #1 website in the subjects of aging and aging intervention. A4M is also dedicated to educating physicians, scientists, and members of the public on anti-aging issues. Its next scientific conference, the 12th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine 2004/Summer Program will take place 20-22 August 2004 in Chicago, IL. Featuring world-renowned lecturers on a diverse array of clinical and research topics pertaining to human longevity, the 12th Annual World Congress Summer 2004 event will attract over 2,000 physicians, scientists, key members of the anti-aging industry, investors, and media. Visit http://www.worldhealth.net/event for program details and to register. Although A4M seeks to disseminate information on many types of medical treatments, it does not promote or endorse any specific treatment nor does it sell or endorse any commercial product.

SOURCE: The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), Chicago, IL
CONTACT: Catherine Cebula
PHONE: (877) 572-0608
FAX: (978) 742-9719
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WEBSITE: www.worldhealth.net
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