Longevity Decoded: The 7 Keys to Healthy Aging

You can live a long and healthy life. There is no magic pill or Fountain of Youth, but you can achieve it with simple lifestyle modifications: 1. Eating the right foods 2. Getting the right exercise 3. Reducing and managing stress 4. Improving the quality of sleep 5. Eliminating tobacco 6. Remaining intellectually engaged 7. Staying involved socially The advice in Longevity Decoded works—because it puts you in charge of shaping your future. Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life—Longevity Decoded is your roadmap. The seven keys cost nothing, except your time and commitment. Dr. Stephen Schimpff provides you with straightforward advice for achieving and maintaining good health over a long life. Following his seven keys will pay generous returns over the years ahead, and there’s a bonus: You’ll become a role model and inspiration to your children and grandchildren!


“Dr. Schimpff explores the exciting topic of healthy aging. He combines the science of aging with evidence to suggest how each of us influences our personal journey in life.  We make choices every day which impact our health.  This book will help you understand how those daily choices will influence your life not only today, but as you get older.  Begin today to plan for tomorrow.”
    —James (Jim) M. Anders, Jr., CPA, MBA, CGMA, President and Chairman of the Board, National Senior Campuses, Inc., Administrator and Chief Operating Officer, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Inc.

“A highly enjoyable and uplifting read written by a physician with uncommon intellect and wisdom.  Certainly, we can all benefit from following Dr. Schimpff's prescription for a healthier and more meaningful life.”
—R. Alan Butler, Chief Executive Office, Erickson Living

“Brilliant work by Dr. Stephen Schimpff yet again!  Dr. Schimpff has done a systematic analysis of aging and longevity.  His uncanny ability to use data and science together makes his suggestions compelling and convincing, while being insightful.  Despite being a complete and thorough account for advanced readers, his book is simple enough to understand for a beginner. If there is only one book you want to read on this subject, it should be this one.”
—Hiren Doshi, CEO, Paragon Private Health, Co-founder and President, OmniActive Health Technologies

“As my age cohort heads toward Medicare, like a veritable tsunami of aging boomers, this text ought to be our navigational guide in the storm.  We will want yoga on the lawn, rather than a wheelchair in the garden; we will crave gourmet organic meals, not a nursing home tray!! Dr Schimpff will help us to achieve these dreams with his folksy and reassuring style. This book only confirms for me that the best is yet to come!”
—David B. Nash MD, MBA. Founding Dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health

“As the world's older population continues to expand at an unprecedented rate, Dr. Schimpff gives readers simple steps that can lay the crucial groundwork for our future health. He provides an optimistic approach to the inevitability of aging and a refreshing perspective that our 'golden years' can also be our 'golden age,' based on his first-hand experience as a healthcare practitioner.”
—E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine

We all age. As the years go by, we get grayer, develop newwrinkles, and feel less spry than we once did. It is just part of life, right?Well, what if there was a way to dramatically slow down the aging process? According to Stephen Schimpff, MD, MACP, there is. In his newbook, Longevity Decoded: The Seven Keys to Healthy Aging, Schimpff identifies the seven "keys" to living longer and healthierlives.

Before you roll your eyes, you should know that this isn't some NewAge, woo-woo mumbo-jumbo. Schimpff's longevity "keys" are bothpractical and deeply rooted in science.

In fact, you've probably heard most of them before: Eat ahealthy diet, exercise, get enough sleep, avoid tobacco, manage stress,stimulate your brain, and engage socially. These so-called "keys"aren't necessarily new or groundbreaking, Schimpff concedes, and many areintuitive. Taken together, though, they can have a real and measurable effecton your life.

"We're always told to start saving for retirement whenwe're young because it will compound and our investment will grow," hesays. "What I wrote about is the same message: If you start early, thebenefits will compound over time."

Longevity is more than just a list of what you shouldand should not eat or do as you get older. It's an accessible and entertainingoverview of the latest research on aging, detailing what scientists currentlyknow about the process at a cellular level and what they're studying inlaboratories around the world.

Is aging caused by free radicals? The structure of our DNA?The health of our gut microbiome? Turns out that while there's compellingevidence about each of these things, the science just isn't there yet.

"There are a lot of ideas about why we age; yet, whenyou get right down to it, we really don't know. We don't know what turns it on,and we don't know what turns it off," Schimpff says. "For all of ourbiomedical research since WWII, not that much has been spent studying the agingprocess."

As more and more people live beyond 65 years of age--anestimated 19 percent of the world's population will be older than 65 by2030--that is changing. What's more, as research increasingly shows that ourbodies begin to decline as early as 30-years-old, concerns about aging are nolonger just relegated to the elderly.

"Everybody knows that we should eat better, exercise, soon, but most people don't know why," Schimpff says, adding that peopleoften think superficially and in the short-term when it comes to health.

"We need to get away from that and talk about our healthand keeping healthy for the long-term. And if there's a message in this book,it's that we have it within our power to make a very significant change in ourlife... can we prevent every disease? Absolutely not. But as individuals, we canhave a huge impact."

Yale Medicine (Review has been condensed) 

"Dr. Schimpff explores the exciting topic of healthy aging. He combines the science of aging with evidence to suggest how each of us influences our personal journey in life.  We make choices every day which impact our health.  This book will help you understand how those daily choices will influence your life not only today, but as you get older.  Begintoday to plan for tomorrow."
--James (Jim) M. Anders, Jr., CPA, MBA, CGMA, President and Chairman of the Board, National Senior Campuses, Inc., Administrator and Chief Operating Officer, KennedyKrieger Institute, Inc.

"A highly enjoyable and uplifting read written by a physician withuncommon intellect and wisdom.  Certainly, we can all benefit fromfollowing Dr. Schimpff's prescription for a healthier and moremeaningful life."
--R. Alan Butler, Chief Executive Office, Erickson Living

"Brilliant work by Dr. Stephen Schimpff yet again!  Dr. Schimpff hasdone a systematic analysis of aging and longevity.  His uncanny abilityto use data and science together makes his suggestions compelling andconvincing, while being insightful.  Despite being a complete andthorough account for advanced readers, his book is simple enough tounderstand for a beginner. If there is only one book you want to read on this subject, it should be this one."
--Hiren Doshi, CEO, Paragon Private Health, Co-founder and President, OmniActive Health Technologies

"As my age cohort heads toward Medicare, like a veritable tsunami ofaging boomers, this text ought to be our navigational guide in thestorm.  We will want yoga on the lawn, rather than a wheelchair in thegarden; we will crave gourmet organic meals, not a nursing home tray!!Dr Schimpff will help us to achieve these dreams with his folksy andreassuring style. This book only confirms for me that the best is yet to come!"
--David B. Nash MD, MBA. Founding Dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health