Living Well at One Hundred

Living Well at One Hundred

Living Well at One Hundred is an experts book which aims to advocate healthy lifestyle choices, not medicine, as the key to good health and longevity. There is no 'magic' pill or fad diet for good health; personal responsibility for wise choices can help you live to 100.

Like so many things in life, the best answer to a problem is often the simplest. It is no different when it comes to health, wellness, and longevity.

Dr. Sanja Gupta of CNN advocates over the airwaves healthy lifestyle choices. Dr. Mehmet Oz is well known for simplifying the message of preventive health choices and the effects bad health choices have on our bodies. These doctors represent a growing number of physicians and researchers who have taken a stand for better lifestyle choices for improved health and longevity.

In her new book, Living Well at One Hundred, famed biochemist and treatment specialist of non-healing and complex wounds Dr. Darlene McCord joins this medical chorus and shares pertinent information that allows for healthy lifestyle changes. The colorfully illustrated tabletop book is an easy to read reference for anyone looking to improve their stamina, and prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and hypertension as well as increase their life's longevity.

Living Well at One Hundred begins with an honest assessment of the rise in health care spending over the past 40-years, and why bad lifestyle choices - are one of the main culprits to this increase. Dr. McCord is a strong advocate for prevention using diet, exercise and supplements as a foundation to a healthy life.

She says of preventive medicine, "The march to better health is not being led by insurance and pharmaceutical companies-it is being led by a growing number of cutting-edge physicians, researchers, and a throng of people just like you and me."

"Over the past century, the average life expectancy has more than doubled. The extension of human longevity is one of our greatest achievements. However, in order to maintain the tremendous gains we have made, we must become partners in our own health and more actively participate in the choices that will impact it," adds McCord. "The concept of living well is about how to take charge of our everyday life circumstances. Our own longevity is actually controlled each and every day by the decisions we make. Simple choices-from the food we eat to exercise-can result in previously unsurpassed physical and emotional health."

Living Well at One Hundred is decidedly different from most 'health' books in that it encourages and explains many small steps one can take toward a healthy life. At their own pace, readers can plan their own 'journey' to wellness and health.

"The answer to health and wellness is at our fingertips every day, from the food we eat to basic choices," notes McCord. "It really isn't complex, radical diets or new medicines aren't needed."

Dr. Darlene McCord, Ph.D., FAPWCA is known for her work, as a biochemist, in skin and wound care. She has been awarded two patents and invented six highly regarded medical devices. She currently has more than 30 skin health products being sold around the world. Dr. McCord's most current commercialised skin and wound care product offering is the Remedy brand distributed by Medline Industries. The line is based on a proprietary blend of small molecules called Olivamine® that provide corneotherapeutic support for diseased skin. Previously, Dr. McCord developed the Restore line for Hollister and the Cavalon line for 3M. She is currently working with the University of Iowa on compounds that may reverse early stages of necrosis and that can activate GO quiescent cells in the chronic wound environment. She and her husband Doctor James McCord also head the McCord Research Buruli Ulcer Foundation, which focuses on finding the cause of, and cure for, the Buruli Ulcer, a flesh destroying bacteria that mainly affects children in more than thirty countries.

Living Well at One Hundred
Smith Publicity
Author: Dr. Darlene McCord

Interview with Dr. Darlene McCord

What made you decide to write this book, what does the book explore?

Dr. Darlene McCord: I wrote Living Well at One Hundred to provide readers with helpful ideas that will get them on a pathway to good health. They can start their journey wherever they may be, it does not matter. What is important is that all of us realise that simple steps that become habits can pay off in big health dividends.

I am asking the readers to take a journey I have already started. I am a breast cancer survivor and I was overweight. One day I just decided, enough! As a scientist I knew what it would take to get healthy so I started my own journey. My book shows how fun and rewarding such a journey can be.

The book explores how simple changes in diet, exercise, and stress reduction can add many good years to your life. I also let the reader know what kind of medical tests they should get so they know their health status. The most important thing for the reader is the knowledge of how very important it is to take control of their health and to keep good records.


How can we live to 100 and then continue to live well?

Dr. Darlene McCord: Making good health choices now buys time. If I can help the reader live better for just 15 years, science is moving so quickly they may gain 30 to 40 healthy years in their lifespan. Medical discovery is experiencing exponential growth. In the last chapter of my book I share information about important medical advances. Within a decade or so we will not recognise medicine and it is very exciting.

With all of the medical advances around us we can look forward to a longer and better life. But, one thing we must always do is live healthy and do our part. That includes the very things the reader will find in the book. Eat healthy and you will stay healthy. Our cells need the nutrients and protection found in good food supported by good supplements. Stress reduction is a must.


How does it feel to be honored by the United Nations for your work with the Buruli Ulcer Project?

Dr. Darlene McCord: Being recognised at the United Nations as Humanitarian of the Year for 2009 is, of course, a tremendous honor. It will be an evening I will never forget. My work to help the Buruli ulcer children in Africa is something I am very proud of.

Also in attendance for the event will be two young people and their teacher. The children won the trip for their work in creating awareness about the Buruli ulcer. Gail Shellestad, a wonderful teacher of 26 years, has brought her Oak Creek High School (Oak Creek, WI) class to life with a project to help Buruli children in Africa. This teacher and her class represent the best of our future. Having them in attendance is the most wonderful of honors.


Did you own experiences with breast cancer encourage you to work treating diseases and supporting healthy lifestyle choices?

Dr. Darlene McCord: Once a person is diagnosed with a life threatening disease like cancer, everything changes. You start to do everything possible to increase your odds of living disease free in the future. This is why I wrote about starting the good health journey in my book.

Getting healthy should be fun and allow people to bring an array of good choices into their lives. In the book I present a new food pyramid and I have chocolate on the top. Now that's fun! Happiness is part of a long and healthy life.


How can we maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Dr. Darlene McCord: A healthy lifestyle is a choice and you make it one good decision at a time. The book provides easy to follow steps that a person can take on their journey to good health. Choices become habits and habits become lifestyle changes. In combination we get to Living Well at One Hundred.