1. HEALTHY LIVING
End Your Illness
Steve Jobs’ doctor sparks controversy with an
unconventional handbook for health and longevity. ::
W
b y n i c k tat e
hat if everything you thought you
knew about health was wrong?
Low-fat diets are bad for you. Vitamin
supplements may raise your cancer
risk. Naps are unhealthy. Sitting still is as unhealthy as
smoking. A provocative new best-selling book, The End
of Illness (Free Press, $26) posits that very notion.
The book’s author, Dr. David Agus, is one of the
world’s leading oncologists and researchers — best
known for treating Steve Jobs, Lance Armstrong, and
Sen. Edward Kennedy. He has spent two decades on the WELL-HEALED
front lines of the war on cancer and chronic disease, and David Agus’
what he’s seen is sobering. unconventional
In short, he says we’re not winning. wisdom, imparted
in his popular book,
One reason: Medicine treats cancer after the
has been used to
fact — with chemo, radiation, surgery — instead of treat the likes of
preventing it. Another reason: Many conventional health Steve Jobs and
recommendations are, quite simply, wrong. Lance Armstrong.
BOOK CONTROVERSY FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE
In an interview with Newsmax, Agus, a professor of Despite the criticism from some quarters, Agus’ book
medicine at the University of Southern California, says he has been endorsed by a surprising number of health
has been surprised by the strong reaction to his book, and experts of all stripes. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time
not all of it good. Tour de France cycling winner, calls the book a “tour de
Supplement advocates have blasted him for saying force in its delivery and message.” Murray Gell-Mann, a
that some pills containing vitamins, nutrients, and Nobel laureate in physics, hails it as “unconventional and
AGUS/SAUL BROMBERGER & SANDRA HOOVER
antioxidants may actually increase health risks. Dr. thought-provoking,” and says it “will very likely change
Mehmet Oz challenged his views on vitamins on his at least some of your views on health and wellness.”
popular TV show. Michael Dell, the founder of Dell computers, says Agus’
“The response has surprised me, yes,” Agus “unorthodox ideas backed with hard science” point the
acknowledges. “It’s been intimidating to hear from so way to the future of healthcare.
many people on vitamins and supplements. But you see For all the controversy, many of Agus’
what I’ve done is taken away the crutch that a lot of people recommendations are tenets of mainstream medicine.
have, and they don’t like it.” He strongly endorses the flu shot, daily aspirin, and
DR. AGUS’ TIPS FOR Eat a healthy diet: Get
your nutrition, including
Avoid supplements:
Unless you have a
HEALTHY LIVING vitamins and minerals, vitamin deficiency,
from unprocessed food. Eat supplementation is
N o single piece of health advice applies
to everyone, says Agus. But here are
some of his general guidelines:
“good fat, not low-fat” foods
(include olive oil and nuts), and cold-water
fish three times a week.
unnecessary, he says,
citing a 2010 analysis by the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality.
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2. cholesterol-fighting statins for their anti- THE LESSON OF STEVE JOBS
inflammatory properties. He advises women to Agus argues that most people can live a healthy disease-
stay out of high heels, which he says promote free life right up until the day they die. Perhaps the best
inflammation that can lead to health problems example of that approach was embodied by one of his
down the road. And he believes a healthy diet, most famous patients, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who
being physically active, getting proper rest and died of complications from pancreatic cancer years later
reducing stress levels are also keys to longevity. than many specialists’ predicted he would live.
Agus challenges orthodoxy on many issues, “There were two aspects of Steve to note,” he tells
as well. He decries naps as being dangerous Newsmax. “First, he’s a hero. And
because they interrupt normal sleeping second, he lived [in good health] until
patterns. the day he died, and it’s an honor for
He believes nutrition should come from me to take care of patients like that. He
primarily food and not from pills. He even was a remarkable individual.
suggests daily exercise isn’t enough to “Some people are diagnosed
counteract a sedentary lifestyle, claiming long with cancer and as soon as they’re
hours of sitting without physical activity are as diagnosed they say, ‘Why me?’ and
bad for your health as smoking. they stop living. They stop working.
They don’t try to improve their MINDING BODY
TARGETED CARE relationships. But Steve didn’t do that. Steve Jobs was a
Beyond these attention-getting generalities, He worked as long as he could, and he fighter and didn’t
what’s truly revolutionary about Agus’ kept working with his relationships.” allow cancer to
dampen his spirits,
worldview is his belief that no single piece Agus also notes that Jobs played a
instead working to
of one-size-fits-all health advice works for key role in the book’s title, which was improve himself
everyone. originally: What is Health? daily, says Agus.
He argues that “personalized medicine” “He was the one who said, ‘Don’t
— tailoring healthcare to an individual’s use “health” in the title,’” Agus says. “He said, ‘To me,
particular genetic makeup, lifestyle, and risk “health” sounds more like something I’m supposed to eat
factors — is the way forward. but tastes really bad.’ And he was right.”
New developments in the field of The End of Illness does not envision a world without
pharmacogenomics, the study of how people’s disease, of course. But Agus says he hopes most people
genetic makeup determines their response to a drug will look past the debate the book has generated on
— now allow doctors to supplements and conventional
determine if a medication I want to go back to health perspectives, and use
will work for a specific it as a handbook for healthier
patient. Agus himself
people dying without a living, based on the best evidence
holds a financial stake in two firms cause, [such as] cancer available.
in that field: Navigenics, a genomics “I want to go back to people
company, and Applied Proteomics,
or heart disease.” dying in their ninth or 10th decade
JOBS/AP IMAGES / ICONS/ISTOCKPHOTO
which studies how proteins are — Dr. David Agus of life from organ failure and
expressed in the body. living healthy lives right up until
“I want people to collect data about their own health then,” he says. “I want to go back to people dying without
to be in charge of their healthcare,” he says. “You have a cause, [such as] cancer or heart disease. And the truth is
to make the right decisions for you, based on your there’s no reason why we can’t.”
personal code of values and health circumstances, and in Editor’s Note: Get The End of Illness for just $4.95 with our Special Offer.
consultation with your own physician.” Go to www.newsmax.com/end
Move more: A daily Keep regular daily Reduce inflammation:
workout — including schedules: Eat, exercise, Get an annual flu shot, take
cardio, strength training, sleep, and wake up at aspirin and cholesterol-
and stretching —is vital, but roughly the same times lowering statins to reduce
it isn’t enough if you spend every day. No napping. Try inflammation. Use ice,
most of your day sitting. Get up and walk to sleep the same number of hours each not heat, on post-exercise pain to reduce
around every 30 minutes or so. night (seven to nine). inflammation. Don’t wear high heels.
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