Transcend

April 27, 2009
According to futurist Kurzweil (The Singularity is Near) and homeopathic medical doctor Grossman (The Baby Boomer's Guide to Living Forever), medicine is transforming into an information technology, which by its nature advances at an exponential rate. Thus, those interested in "radical life extension" must make it their immediate goal to live through the next 20 or so years, in order to see advances like DNA reprogramming and submicroscopic, cell-repairing robots. This "guide to Bridge One" outlines nine areas: talking with your doctor, relaxation, assessment, nutrition, supplementation, calorie reduction, exercise, new technologies, and detoxification. Familiar common-sense health advice abounds, but is practical and thorough; along with one to five cups of green tea each day, the authors provide low-cal recipes like Ginger Turkey Burgers and Herbed Zucchini. A detailed exercise routine for aerobic and weight training is also included. Kurzweil and Grossman, who last explored this subject together in 2005's Fantastic Voyage, also look at supplements, medical tests and hormone "optimization"; happily, chapters on calorie reduction and detoxification avoid trendy, potentially dangerous approaches. Whether or not it's true that, within two decades, we'll have the tools to live forever, this is an intelligent, optimistic guide to healthy living, with an intriguing view of medicine's future.

April 13, 2009
Verdict: An introduction to antiaging techniques that offers familiar, and frequently inaccessible, suggestions and visions for future medical treatments that are more speculative than truly persuasive. Buy for demand only. Background: Kurzweil and Grossman, authors of Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough To Live Forever, continue to explore how medical technology might stop-or even reverse-the aging process, if we can stay healthy into the 2020s or 2030s when it will become available. Their program, a rehashed version of their earlier book, promotes a largely vegetarian diet, sufficient exercise, and many diet supplements. Their view of future technology is fascinating and fun, but quite far from being completely credible. The supplements they recommend are expensive and, in some cases, unproven; their recommended foods are by no means universally available at affordable prices.-Susan B. Hagloch, formerly with the Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH

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