Finding A Longevity Doctor
It's easy for me to find a well qualified medical doctor
. Being a doctor myself, I know where to look, whom to ask, and what to ask for. But if I need a good lawyer or accountant, I feel a bit helpless. I may ask my friends. Probably they had asked their friends. The quest becomes a daisy chain, in which none of the participants really knows how to tell a good professional from a mediocre or even an inadequate one. They judge mainly on whether the practitioner has a pleasing and persuasive manner, whether he seems to know what he's talking about. Clearly that's not good enough. Finding a well qualified physician requires a little insight, but it's easier than you think. Most physicians are members of the county medical society, although some doctors who are full time in medical schools may not bother to join. Call up the medical society in your vicinity. In Los Angeles, for example, you would find it listed as "Los Angeles County Medical Association." Say you want to inquire about the availability and qualifications of physicians in your area of the city Hollywood, for example. The receptionist will connect you to the person who has that information. Say you are interested in finding a doctor in Hollywood who is a general practitioner, a specialist, or whatever it is you think you need. If you want an allaround doctor to give you an initial examination, to supervise you in a preventive health program such as mine, you probably want either a general practitioner or a physician certified by the Board of Internal Medicine. Ask for recommendations in that category.The county medical society will not recommend a specific person. Nor will it supply information on fees and such matters. But it will gladly give you a list of 4 or 5 practitioners located in your area and in good standing with the society. It will tell you where these physicians went to school, where they served their internships and residencies, how long they have been a member of the county society, and their hospital or medical school affiliations. If they are on the attending staff of a well known hospital Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, for example that's a plus. Being a member of the recently formed American College of Gerontology would also be a plus.Or if you do start by asking your friends, ask more than one. Compile a short list of physicians whom your friends recommend as attentive individuals. Then call the county society and ask for the credentials of these physicians: what medical schools they graduated from, and so on . Several orgaizations now publish lists of longevity doctors for different regions of the United States. None that I've seen has been very discriminating. The lists include a mishmash of M.D.s, some good, some borderline, plus chiropractors, nutritionists, acupuncturists, and so on. TherE are some good people in each of these categories, but you ought at least to know what type of basic credentials you are getting. For example, "Dr." Robert Haas, author of the best selling book Eat to Win The Sports Nutrition Bible, is not a medical doctor at all. His "Dr." is a Ph.D. from an unaccredited "university."8 If that's okay with you, it's okay with me, but know what you are getting. The county medical society is apt to have information on M.D. and non M.D. alike. Seek out this information. Having selected a short list of possible practitioners by one of these methods, call them up. Ask what their fees are, and whether they are interested in preventive medicine, nutrition, and anti aging remedies. Don't be bashful! If they don't want to talk frankly, go elsewhere. Don't tolerate the authoritarian mystique that has grown up around organized medicine. Ideally, you want somebody with satisfactory credentials and an open mind on the subject of anhagjng remedies. II he does not take the present book seriously because it .is a popular book for the lay public see if he has read or will read the book by Dr. Richard Weindruch and me, The Retardation of Aging by Dietary Restriction. Our book does not exactly parallel this one, but it's close enough,and it is a fully documented, high tech science book. A biologIst physician may in part disagree with it, but he or she cannot avoid taking it seriously. And now you have your physician.Checkups And Biomarkers What Exactly To Do Or Have DoneThe General Status Examination ,Start the program with a general medical checkup. The precise nature of this will be up to your physician. It's interesting that a task force of the Canadian Medical As sociation, reporting on a "cost effective" basis what the "periodic health examination" should consist of (in terms of how much hidden disease per dollar spent might be found in a population)9 recommended the following for symptom-free individuals: a blood pressure determination, examination of the mouth, evaluation of hearing, a test for possible hypothyroidism, and after age 45 a test for traces of blood in the stool. The task force specifically did not recommend a routine history and physical examination, any X-rays, any blood chemistries, urinalysis, or electro cardiograms. Since you want personalized service and are not part of a large scale "cost effective" screen, your physician will be correct in doing a history and physical examination, a urinalysis, and a test for anemia. I would not personally recommend any X rays, blood chemistries, or electro cardiograms, except those included under your "biomarker for aging" tests, unless something shows up on the history and physical examination.
by: Peter Gitundu
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