Outlive by Peter Attia, M.D.
Outlive
Subtitle: The Science and Art of Longevity
Author: Peter Attia, M.D.
Genre: Health, Science
Format: Digital + Physical (liked it so much, I bought the hardback)
Publish Date: March 2023
Read: March 2023
Favorite Quote: Perhaps my biggest takeaway was that modern medicine does not really have a handle on when and how to treat the chronic diseases of aging that will likely kill most of us.
Synopsis: Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia is one of the best books on health and wellness I’ve ever read. Attia’s principle goal is to show readers that we are on a precipice: continue on our path as we have in the last 50 years and, as a whole, suffer more from cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disease, or move past treating symptoms once they’ve arrived and focus on preventative measures to help us age without these diseases.
Bold premise? Yes. Accomplished? Also, yes.
Over the course of 4oo pages, Attia details what we face as we get older: The Four Horsemen - perhaps not the four horsemen of the apocalypse from lore, but the new Four Horsemen of the Health Apocalypse. As cancer rates rise, so too, do cases of neurodegenerative diseases (like Alzheimer’s), Type 2 Diabetes (and other metabolic dysfunctions), and heart disease. The problem, Attia presents, is that these diseases are not acute - meaning that they take decades to develop. While someone may have a sudden heart attack, the mechanisms to create the environment that caused the heart attack have been brewing for years.
This is where Attia pushes for the move from Medicine 2.0 to Medicine 3.0. Currently, we are living primarily in the world of Medicine 2.0 - treating symptoms and focusing on the present, not what our health could look like in 10, 20, or 30 years. Medicine 3.0, however, should begin as soon as we become aware of it - or sooner. Medicine 3.0 wants humans to avoid the Four Horsemen by using exercise, nutritional biochemistry (not diet - he discusses why in the book), and emotional well-being to set us up for living to age 100 and beyond.
Why does this book beguile? Written by a doctor, Outlive by Peter Attia, pushes the boundaries of what’s typically acceptable in medicine today. He acknowledges how challenging it may be to get a DEXA scan from your doctor, and shares why you aren’t receiving proper nutritional advice from your primary provider. Attia hits on so many things in the medical system today that frustrate me: poor tracking of health metrics, treating symptoms and not causes, little to no specialized nutritional advice, and a pill-for-everything instead of viewing a patient holistically.
Until the medical system, and more importantly, the medical insurance system catches up to Medicine 3.0 (which is probably less profitable than Medicine 2.0), those interested in longevity and preventative measures, may live in the nebulous realm of what I call, Medicine 2.75. Medicine 2.75 is where the patient, like you and me, must take our health into our own hands. Using tools like Everly Well and Empowered DX Labs, you can purchase your own at-home testing kits to monitor what’s important to you. You may have to find a more forward-thinking primary care provider to help order the right tests and scans and then take your nutrition into your own hands. It’s quite a bit of work for the average person, but well worth it to live long and enjoyable lives.
Rating: 5/5
Link*: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia - Amazon | Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia - Bookshop.Org
If you’re interested in this, read*: Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky
Book Club Reading Guide: Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia