How to Live a Long Life with Poor Genes

I am a retired academic Ophthalmologist, age 82. After attending high school at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York, Dartmouth College, and Tufts University Medical School, in Boston, followed by a residency at N.Y.U.-Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, I was a Fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard. Most of my career was spent at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, with one third of my time seeing patients and performing corneal and cataract surgery, one third teaching, and one third research. My research was supported over the next 25 consecutive years by The National Institutes of Health (NIH). I have authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. I retired in June, 2011.

After a short prologue that recounts my early life, education, and training, I review those hereditary and environmental factors that influence longevity. These include genes, stem cells, smoking, alcohol, diet, carcinogens, water, salt, exercise, and other ways to lengthen life, such as social relationships and pets. I also list those medicines I take and my laboratory values.