Can we live robustly until our last breath? Do we have to suffer
from debilitating conditions and sickness? Is it possible to add
more vibrant years to our lives? In The End of Illness,
David B. Agus, MD, one of the world's leading cancer doctors,
researchers, and technology innovators, tackles these fundamental
questions, challenging long-held wisdoms and dismantling
misperceptions about what "health" means. With a blend of
storytelling, landmark research, and provocative ideas on health,
Dr. Agus presents an eye-opening picture of the human body and all
of the ways it works-and fails-showing us how a new perspective on
our individual health will allow each of us to achieve that often
elusive but now reachable goal of a long, vigorous life.
When Dr. Agus decided to pursue a career in oncology, many of
his mentors questioned his choice. Why, they asked, would a
promising young doctor want to enter a field known for its
inescapably grim outcomes? But it was precisely the lack of
progress that inspired Dr. Agus to join the war on cancer. He moved
away from the modern methods of the medical establishment, which
aim to reduce our afflictions to a single point. Instead, as he
does in this book, Dr. Agus argues for the adoption of a
systemic view-a way of honoring our bodies as complex,
whole systems. This outlook informs how we can avoid all
illnesses-not just cancer. Dr. Agus empowers us to take charge of
our individual health in personal, customized ways we could not
have imagined before.
This indispensable book is not only a manifesto-a call for
revising the way we think about health-it's also filled with
practical but impossible-to-ignore suggestions, including:
• How taking multivitamins and supplements could significantly
increase our risk for cancer over time.
• Why sitting down most of the day, despite a strenuous morning
workout, can be as bad as or worse than smoking.
• How sneaky sources of daily inflammation-from high heels to
the common cold-can lead to a fatal heart attack, and even rob us
of our sanity.
• How three inexpensive medications-aspirin, statins, and an
annual flu vaccine-can substantially change the course of our
health for the better.
• How taking shortcuts to health via blending fruits and
vegetables, and sometimes even by purchasing what we think is
"fresh," could be shortchanging our health.
• The single most important thing we can do today to preserve
our health and happiness that costs absolutely nothing.
Dr. Agus also offers insights and access to breathtaking and
powerful new technologies that promise to transform medicine in our
generation. In the course of offering recommendations, he
emphasizes his belief that there is no "right" answer, no master
guide that is "one size fits all." Each one of us must get to know
our bodies in uniquely personal ways, and he shows us exactly how
to do that so that we can individually create a plan for
wellness.
The End of Illness is a bold call for all of us to
become our own personal health advocates, and a dramatic departure
from orthodox thinking. This is a seminal work that promises to
revolutionize how we live.