Why does David Agus’ book The
End of Illness remind me of John Harvey Kellogg and cereal advertising
claims? Not because his ideas for promoting personal health are
“flakey,” but because his arguments seem to be self-promoting. Agus has
founded Applied Proteomics, a company that hopes to eventually be able
to analyze a person’s molecular proteins much like their DNA is decoded
today. Does an endorsement by Al Gore make the reader think of this
effort more favorably or remind one of inventing the Internet and global
warming inevitability?
Whenever I am home during the
week, I inevitably watch Dr Oz hoping that the foods he talks about will
be the magic ingredients to perfect wellness. Then one day, Dr Oz had A
J Jacobs on as a guest. A J the comic wise ass who tried to read the
entire Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover, and I guess he did, more
recently spent two or three years trying out every health fad to see
what works. A J still looked a little pudgy and was going bald and he
wisely did not put himself on the cover of his book a la Jane Fonda. So
with this context, these books about I know where curing the curse of
human disease is going seem to me to all be put together by medical
quacks, each touting their one elixir.
Agus other than promoting
statins post-40, shunning vitamin supplements, and learning about one’s
intestinal flora, does not have any formula or magic bullet. So he
hearkens back to the future: maintain your body’s homeostasis by a
regular schedule of daily living patterns and whole food diets. He
takes the command, “physician, heal thyself” to a “patient, know thine
metrics.” He recaps in chapter 14:
“…. Keep to a schedule. Move
throughout the day … Eat real food to absorb all the nutrients you need.
Reduce your daily dose of inflammation. Stay abreast of new
technologies that can enhance your health or help you to plan your
future health. Share your medical information with the world wherever
possible.” And this guidance from an oncologist?
It is not enough for him to
expound an empowered patient who is so in tune with his own personal
preventive approach that he will live a relatively healthy and long life
… based on technology and huge databases that “will change diagnosis
and care as we know it.” It is a Seventh Day Adventist approach to
care, trust in the gods of technology and research, and let your body
balance itself too good health.
When oh when will I find another
good book after this spell of mediocre? I am even thinking about
bringing back another two library books after trying out the first
chapter or two, one of which is even the latest J D Robb “In Death”
sequel. Gone With the Wind, here I come.
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