Googling happiness keys to longevity

By Toni Walthall \ Editor
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 11:07 AM CST
from http://www.jacksonvillepatriot.com/articles/2007/11/21/jacksonville_patriot/news/news01.txt


Renowned geriatrics specialist Dr. David A. Lipschitz chats with Terri Roy at the Jacksonville Senior Center Nov. 12. Lipschitz entertained the crowd with his insight on how to live long, fulfilling lives.
Called the Dr. Spock of aging, Dr. David A. Lipschitz taught local seniors how to break the rules of aging.

Lipschitz, one of the most renowned geriatricians in the world, shared his approach to longevity, which he says is steeped in health and happiness.

The best-selling author, columnist and TV personality empowers people with the tools to live longer, happier and healthier lives by giving this advice: Eat right, exercise, Google and never trust a doctor.

“To take advantage of the American health-care system, you must be an educated consumer,” Lipschitz told Jacksonville seniors last week. “Don’t believe everything your doctor tells you.”

Encouraging people to take advantage of all educational resources available, Lipschitz urged seniors to learn how to Google — a brand name for a popular Internet search engine.


Don’t trust a doctor, he’s just making a living,” he said. “Seek a second opinion. If you develop a serious illness, make sure you study it. Learn to ask questions and talk intelligently to your doctor.”

“Dysfuntional” is the word used by Lipschitz in referring to the American health-care system.

“It is broken, “ he said. “We spend two to ten times more per capita on health care than any developed nation in the world. Look at the United States of America. We are not the healthiest nation in the world.”

Comparing the government-funded British health-care system to the privatized American system, Lipschitz said, “Britain has an inconvenient health-care system, but it’s a right available to every citizen, if you like to wait. [America] has all kinds of problem, but even in the best healthcare system in the nation — the VA— you wait. If you can pay, you don’t wait in the American system, but if you can’t pay, then you wait. Forty-seven million Americans can’t pay. So over a quarter of our society has no healthcare at all — and they wait.”

Lipschitz said that people with adequate income and insurance are fortunate enough to avoid long delays in healthcare, but too often, that has its own pitfalls.

“They get unnecessary, inappropriate and senseless healthcare - Too many procedures that do more harm than good and prescribed medicines that cause more problems than they solve,” he said. “We can slice and dice better than the British, but we don’t do prevention.

We don’t use evidence-based medicine. It’s an industry with one goal in mind, to make money. As a consequence, you may not do as well as you should.”

According to Lipschitz, good health is only part of the equation for longevity.

“Love and laughter is the other part,” he said. “Laughter is a healing source.

“Laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. If you know how to cope with stress, you will be happier. Happiness brings longevity.”

Lipschitz named factors that contribute to happiness and better health, saying love is the key. The average, monogamous male will live 10 years longer if he’s married than if he is single. And it’s not because the days seem twice as long, he added.

“Happiness means having love in your life,” he said. “Date. Take advantage of friendship. Embrace the love that exists between a mother and a child, father and daughter, all of the ways that love exists in this world.”

People who live long, like 99-year-old Esther Cox, who Lipschitz referred as the 99-year-old bombshell, have traits in common —-faith, giving, a purpose in life, forgiveness and self esteem, according to Lipschitz.

“People who believe in a higher power live a healthier life, practice what your faith tells you and be spiritual. Live your definition of ‘good,’” he said.

Giving and volunteerism is “like an insurance policy for a longer life.”

Statistics indicate that people who volunteer at least 14 hours a week live five years longer than individuals who don’t volunteer.

“The more you give in relationship to what you have, the longer you live,” Lipschitz told the seniors.

He encouraged people to forgive.

“People with the capacity to forgive are healthier. Angry people are in trouble. Learn the value of forgiveness,” said Lipschitz. “And find a purpose in life. If you sit around all day watching TV, that won’t do it.”

Changing definitions of beauty is a building block in building high self esteem.

“You have to have self love,” said Lipschitz. “You have to realize that beauty has nothing to do with your face. Beauty is the contributions you make to your community, your commitments, your children. Those are the things that make us beautiful. Not physical attributes.”

People must be responsible for each other.

“We can’t rely on the federal, state and city government to help us. We need to help ourselves. That means we live and work together as one, as a family — families who are related by blood, by communities, by churches, by cities, states and countries,” he said.