Since Jan 17, I have been reviewing the new science of aging and chronic illness and the simple ways that you can use it to prolong your healthier life. I started with the most basic facts and built on the story with the next post. You are the only member of the healthcare team that can make a longer, healthier life a reality. We can help you understand what works and we can help you achieve it, but you make it all happen. The results can be remarkable.
The last post told you about the man in his 90s who is more fit than most people in their 30s. He is not the only one. There is a great program on Netflix called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. There are five places in the world from Okinawa to Greece and Costa Rica where individuals regularly live to 100 at a high level of function. The common denominator of all these places is the sense of community is strong, families are very supportive, they eat real whole food, and they get exercise as part of their everyday lives. Those are all lifestyle benefits. We have discussed how certain medications can ad to the benefits.
I have told you about the patient who was a golfer that shot his age twice when he was 89. I am still amazed by that. I treated a patient with type 1 diabetes in his mid-70s who lived a great life but was completely free of complications. He just did what he should to take care of himself. One patient was on a scooter chair and could not exercise at 50. She had diabetes. She lost 150 pounds just by eating real food and avoiding medications that cause weight gain. She no longer needed the scooter chair. She could easily walk two miles in the mountains near her home. Another patient regularly had chest pain and had been told she had no heart disease, but she did have it. Eating well, exercising, and optimal medical therapy for her heart artery disease have relieved her pain. She has had no pain for two years. The promise of the new science has never been greater.
If you have had a heart attack, and you receive optimal medical therapy (OMT), you are ten times as likely to be alive in five years compared with patients in usual care—the care that most of us receive. Your treatment will cost $20,000 a year less. The best care is the least expensive care. There is no other treatment for these patients that produces these results.
If you have type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease you also have a very high risk of heart attack and stroke. Patients like this on OMT have one fourth as many heart attacks, one fifth as many strokes, and one sixth as many progress to needing dialysis compared with patients receiving usual care. One third as many lose their vision or a leg. Patients on OMT live 8 years longer and their heart attacks are delayed 8 years. They are 70% less likely to be in the hospital for congestive heart failure.
I have been doing this kind of work for 25 years. For the last 5 years I have been working with dozens of others to develop the systems to support organizations and clinicians that want to produce OMT consistently. I have been working with Vestra Health for 5 years and they and proven that these concepts work in real communities. Vestra is a worksite clinic company. We worked with them in their first clinic with one family practice physician and four nurse practitioners. They are all trained in OMT and they use it consistently. Patients who are seen in the clinic cost half as much as those seen in the broader community. They are in the hospital one fifth as often and in the ER one third as often and that is because their health is better.
You have learned about individuals who are living longer healthier lives. You have learned about regions where lifestyle and cultural factors lead to full function at advanced age and now you have learned about research that tells us how best practice medical treatment is part of the story. You have seen that these benefits have already come to an American community through Vestra Health. Most importantly, you have seen that YOU can extend your healthy, fully funtional life now!
My colleagues at Keio University of Tokyo, who founded the Japanese Society of Ningen Dock, belong to a group of pioneers exploring “Blue Zone Like” lifestyle treatment options to lower the risks of Diabetes for the Japanese population. They are the generation honored for making Japan have the lowest incidence (4% vs. 12.3% USA) of diabetes among the developed countries. They are now using MCG to advance and refine their early detection of metabolic dysfunction and further optimization measures to eliminate metabolic dysfunctions and improve people's lives. I am honored to be contributing to with their work!
Amazing results!! Anyone who cares about people would jump on putting this into practice!!