An informative self-helper, full of stimulating insights and actionable tips on growing old gracefully and slowly.
Smart lifestyles can hold off the Grim Reaper for a while, and new drugs and technologies may do more, according to this hopeful guide to anti-aging medicine.
The Howards ground their treatise in a tour of the mechanisms that cause the body to wear out, including the inexorable damage to cells caused by reactive oxygen species pumped out by the mitochondria; the buildup of senescent cells that no longer divide and secrete toxins; accumulating genetic mutations; the steady shortening of the telomeres that bind DNA strands together; and a chronic inflammation that ravages just about everything. They move on to therapies that slow the downward spiral, starting with healthy living; they exhort readers to exercise, sleep well, meditate to relieve stress, maintain a sex life, and eat a good diet. The authors suggest a raft of supplements that are heavy on antioxidants and strongly recommend hormone replacement therapy for older people to improve strength and vitality. Finally, they explore the experimental and conjectural frontiers of aging medicine, including the drugs rapamycin and metformin; activation of the enzyme telomerase; transcranial electrical stimulation to boost brain functions; replacing worn-out organs with new ones made with 3D printers; CRISPR gene editing to repair DNA damage; and nanobots that clean out brain plaques that cause Alzheimer’s. The Howards distill a wealth of scientific research into a concise, comprehensive, clearly organized text that judiciously appraises the promises and pitfalls of anti-aging therapies. (They warn, for example, against taking concentrated supplements of the green tea ingredient EGCG, which can cause liver problems.) They convey all of this in lucid, elegant prose that ripples with evocative metaphors. (“In our younger years, abundant growth hormone maintains robust tissues—muscles repair swiftly, skin stays firm, and bones remain strong. But with aging, its production diminishes like a slowly fading musical note, and the body’s regenerative vigor wanes.”) Readers will find much useful advice here on taking their health into their own hands.
An informative self-helper, full of stimulating insights and actionable tips on growing old gracefully and slowly.Pub Date: June 16, 2025
ISBN: 9798992917819
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Vibrant Ages
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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