Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

Not a fan, odd.

What do you get when you put a doctor that specializes in preventative medicine and the founder of the singularity concept in front of a typewriter together? A book about how to live forever. "Live forever? But that's impossible," you say. And perhaps it is. Then again, perhaps it's not. In 2003, scientists finished collecting the human genome. The cost? A whopping one billion dollars. Now, in 2010, anyone can have it done for 350,000 dollars. And if you wait another ten years, you can probably have it done--all 25,00 genes--for 500 bucks. But why would anyone care to have his genome mapped, you might be wondering. Already today, scientists can turn off particular genes using RNA interference (imagine turning off the gene that causes every unused calorie to be stored as fat); they can add new genes using gene therapy; they turn proteins and enzymes on and off at will--and they can even transform one type of cell into another. This is no small thing. Imagine being able to turn some of your skin cells into brain cells after suffering a major head injury in a car accident. The future gives us even more reason to be hopeful. Doctors are rapidly working on techniques to delete the genes for telomerase that cancer cells need in order to kill us; to attack and kill undesirable `toxic cells' by activating the immune system; to move mitochondrial genes into the cell nucleus, where they will be more protected from damage; and to replace worn-out or damaged cells, and thus help us retain youthful vigor. In other words, they are unlocking the tools that will allow us to rejuvenate and extend the life of our cells. And that's just on the genetics front. Through advances in nanotechnology, doctors will be able to remove bad cholesterol from our blood, monitor hormone and nutrient levels, remove toxins and destroy pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, cancer cells and prions. Nanobots (robots that are smaller then a human blood cell) will even be able to "perform a range of surgical procedures from inside the body, requiring no incisions and leaving no scar. Injected into a patient by the millions and operating synergistically, each nanosurgeon will perform its work one cell at a time, removing cancerous tumors, mending broken bones, or clearing blocked arteries with more precision than any human surgeon ever could." (405) Think of it: the end of diseases like caner, pulmonary heart disease--and even AIDS. The catch? You have to live long enough for these technologies to emerge. The good news is that it won't be that much longer. With the mapping of the human genome and the birth of nanotechnology (they already have proto-nanoscale devices, called BioMEMS, that can release blood-clotting factors, monitor blood insulin levels, release dopamine into the brain of Parkinson's patients and monitor the electrical activity of patients suffering from neurological disease), health and medicine became an information technology--and information technologies double pow

This is a book well worth reading (and paying for). The in-depth version came out a few years ago as 'Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever' and with Transcend most of the speculation about future technologies (MOST) has been cut out, and the focus instead is on "Bridge One", i.e., getting your frickin' act together TODAY. The themes are fairly obvious (exercise, stop eating crap, don't chug coffee every day), but the greatness is in the many details and specific recommendations (and substitutions for all those terrible foods and habits you enjoy indulging in). I have read all of Ray Kurzweil's books now (except his one on managing Diabetes, since it doesn't exactly concern me) and every one has been enlightening and provocative. The book is clearly aimed at the middle aged, those who (according to the authors) have the most to gain and who are at the most risk, but even if you're my age (26 years old) you can get a lot of benefit from following this book, especially in the nutrition section. I've found many guys (and girls) my age are fairly active physically and intellectually, but because we haven't really begun to feel the effects of aging yet, diet is of very little interest to us. I have good friends who smoke regularly because: "So what man, I can run 10 miles!" This book makes it clear what is going on subtly, behind the scenes as you pump your body full of toxins and bad food, daily! Because of this book and Fantastic Voyage, I have (over the last couple of years) become a vegetarian (from being a lifelong, HEAVY carnivore), gone from being a total coffee fiend to drinking about one espresso per day and mostly just green tea, begun to appreciate the value of at least some supplements and vitamins in pill form, and started reading a lot more extensively about future technological developments and the real potential of what we can do and experience if we live healthfully for the next 30-50 years. I originally bought these both for my 60-something father, but read them myself too, and I can say not only that I feel better but indeed I feel at 26 to adopt these measures I am WAY ahead of the game. Get it, read it, consider it - and if you find it makes good sense, follow it.

This book was much easier to understand than the author's previous book, "Fantastic Voyage." As a 78-year-old senior, I found it easy to comprehend the steps necessary to improving my health in order to survive to the time when regenerative medicine and medical nanotech can come to my rescue. I particularly found interesting their use of an "interview from the future" technique where Ray and Terry spoke from the years 2023 and 2034, explaining how technologies have advanced in those future times. This brought an exciting "futurism" into the book which made it more fascinating. The authors combine excellent health advice with a touch of a "magical future" which makes this book an effortless read and well worth the price.

This book is the more practical version of "Fantastic Voyage", the duo's previous work. Practical in that it provides specific recommendations for a wide array of activities that are all required to live well (exercise, eating right, vitamins and supplements, etc). When I say "practical", I mean they've dedicated many, many pages to things like how to strength train with resistance bands, and how to cook specific healthy food entrees. I would say it's not quite as detailed in the treatment of vitamins and supplements as the previous book, but more mainstream in that regard. And there are enough words around the "why" so you feel comfortable making the investments in time and money to implement the advice. The book uses an interesting "talk from the future" technique which I found increased readability. Periodically a reader/author dialog is presented where the authors might answer the reader from a perspective that is 25 or 35 years in the future! I was a bit puzzled by the persistent name dropping of Dean Ornish in this book, since he was (is?) basically wrong about eliminating nearly all fat from the diet. This book says 40% fat is okay as long as it's the right kind of fat. Of course these authors have zero tolerance for trans fat. And in alignment with Gary Taubes ("Good Calories Bad Calories"), these authors agree that refined carbs are addicting and about as close to poison as you can legally sell. There's a lot more in this book that I have not mentioned; it touches lightly on basic things, like cutting glycemic load to loose weight, all the way to caloric restriction, and of course vitamins and supplements and how they can help. And there are many other topics to round-out the current thinking on practices that enhance longevity. If you want a basic guide for what you can do now to live a healthier life, I'd say you can take pretty much everything in this book without worrying too much about wasting your time and money on hype and things that won't help you reach that goal.

Note: I read an advanced uncorrected proof. My copy was not entirely finished - it was missing a lot of diagrams, and had some notes from the authors to the publishers. However, the content (actual text) was entirely done. See below for the review. ***** It's nice to see that while the authors of the book both have products and services that they sell in conjunction with the topics in the book, they barely mention those - there is no upselling like in a lot of other books. If you're worried about that, rest assured it is not an issue. The first thing to note about this book is that in the first part, a lot of it is repetitive from "Fantastic Voyage". Where "Fantastic Voyage" was filled with technical detail and a thousands of scientific data points to back up the claims, this book does not have that level of thoroughness. However, in many instances that's no longer necessary; a lot of the data points from "Fantastic Voyage" have already been proven in the ensuing years - most of the information is available online from independent sources. There is enough new information to make it worth reading, but those who've read "Fantastic Voyage" will find that they recognise a fair amount of the material. Of course, if you haven't read "Fantastic Voyage", you will find it all new, and well worth the introduction to the science behind physiology, nutrition, and medicine. The second part of the contains action steps that people can take to actually improve their lives. There are nine - the book's title, "Transcend", is a mnemonic for remembering the steps: Talk with your doctor, Relaxation, Assessment, Nutrition, Supplements, Caloric restriction, Exercise, New technologies, and Detoxification. With regards to each, there are practical steps that you can take (ideally in cooperation with your doctor). The items are useful - they discuss tests you can ask your doctor for (and how to interpret them); supplementation and how it improves well-being; healthy recipes that you can make with reasonable ingredients in your kitchen; and even exercises you can do using resistance bands in your living room. It's the second part of the book that really separates this book from the last one. It was highly interesting to read the last one, and provided a lot of scientific information. This one provides that, as well as practical information, and can be used to put into place steps that you can use to extend your life significantly.