summary ofLifespanBook by David A. Sinclair, PhD

first KEY POINT

Aging is the deadliest disease humanity has to battle

While humanity battles with a vast array of deadly illnesses such as cancer, HIV, and heart diseases, these might be the least of our worries. Sinclair believes the real enemy, the one condition we should focus our efforts on, is aging. Our existence is constantly plagued with the ever-present problem of growing old.

We have refused to relent in our fight to find cures or workable management treatments with other illnesses, but somehow, we have accepted that aging and expiration are normal. However, with all our efforts to fight diseases, we cannot indefinitely protect all humanity from ALL of them.The scientific community, Sinclair bemoans, has failed to acknowledge aging as a severe disease and, as such, has exposed us to more fatality than that which we face from other recognized diseases. If we can understand the science of aging, we can unlock the secrets to a longer, healthier life.

We often look to eradicating diseases as the key to longevity, but we might be attacking the enemy with the wrong approach. Humanity, free from infection, will still suffer that same dreadful fate; death; that is why solving the aging crisis is the best bet to getting ahead of the ticking clock that is our existence. In the following chapters, we shall explore the genuine concept of aging and how we can effectively slow it down and even reverse it.Here, Dr. David Sinclair, the world's leading authority on genetics and longevity, reveals a groundbreaking and novel theory for a reason all humans age.

This summary takes readers to the forefront of research from Dr. David Sinclair's lab at Harvard—that demonstrates how we can reduce or even turn the hands of the clock back on aging. The key to this claim on immortality is the activation of newly discovered genes known as vitality genes. These genes result from a much older genetic survival framework that causes aging; it is also the key to reversing it.