Living Better Longer

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005

Oct. 24, 2005

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Dr. Andrew Weil�s recommendations for maximizing physical and emotional health and happiness as we grow older were welcomed by readers. While some applauded his advice for aging gracefully, others had their own suggestions about diet, exercise, medical aids and the need for effortful mental activity

The excerpt from Dr. Andrew Weil's book Healthy Aging was well presented [Oct. 24]. Weil gave a balanced view of nutritional advice on aging, and I was glad to see someone point out the dubious nature of the antiaging business. Most of what we spend on vitamin supplements and health food represents unreasonable expectations of our ability to control aging. Such purchases only distract from what is truly important: taking the realistic steps necessary to delay age-related disease. I will read Weil's entire book and recommend this article to my patients.
John Kaufmann, M.D.
Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.

With his baby-bottom complexion and piano-player hands, Weil is unlikely to find his advice accepted by those of us who put up drywall, frame houses, work with horses and repair trucks and cars. By age 60, we are so beat up that eating biscuits and gravy is like consuming the elixir of the gods.
Bill Crookham
Caldwell, Idaho, U.S.

It was nice to have advice on a healthy lifestyle from a doctor with a paunch, but it surely convinces no one but him that being a little overweight is a good thing.
Kevin Holland
Westville, South Africa

Dr. Weil's thoughtful suggestions can easily be implemented without unrealistic changes to the average lifestyle. But it is surprising that he didn't mention the importance of continued mental exercise in ensuring healthy aging. Emphasis was placed on physical exercise to maintain muscle and bone vitality, but surely our brains deserve equal time. Crossword puzzles, word games and logic problems can help stretch our minds and keep our mental capacity limber. My mother lived to be 96 and was sharp as a tack to the very end. I attribute this in large measure to her daily completion of two crossword puzzles in record time. Weil ought to step out of the meditation labyrinth he was pictured in and try his hand at a crossword.
Jean Falls
Milton, Canada

Weil's "wellness diet" is right on target. This article will inform and alert people to the impact that their diet has on their health. But his recommendation to "strictly avoid all products made with partially hydrogenated oils of any kind" is almost impossible to follow. Nearly all snack foods, especially packaged cakes and cookies, contain those harmful oils. Scientists should try to find an alternative to them as quickly as possible. People need to know just how bad that stuff is.
David R. Laden
Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.

I don't believe the body and mind start to deteriorate after age 60. I maintain that we remain what we deeply believe we are, physically and mentally. On Nov. 15, I will be 89 years old. I am in excellent health, swim 1,000 yds. [900 m] twice a week, walk 2 miles [3.25 km] three times a week, work out with weights at least once a week and play tennis anytime I can find a partner. I feel as if I am in my early 50s, and my wife and students regard me as about that age. People think I am joking when I tell them my age. I have an active life as a writer, speaker, counselor and father. I am also a poet, artist and musician, and I enjoy a happy, productive life. I am aware of my age but also my youth. I accept both.
Reza Rezazadeh
Platteville, Wisconsin, U.S.

Weil's idea of aging gracefully seems to involve living in a cushy bubble. He forgets that many of us have to worry only about whether there will be enough food on the table. It's understandable that Weil's book is addressed to a small population of élitist baby boomers who engage, as a habit, in the luxury of worrying about their wrinkles. But is this narrow point of view relevant to all your readers?
Regent Lamoureux
Bangkok

Suicide Recruiter
Your story on the Iraqi insurgent leader "Abu Qaqa al-Tamimi" (a pseudonym), who trains and equips suicide bombers [Oct. 24], provided another example of the dangerous weeds that grow in the pastures of religion. Killing Americans and his own people is what al-Tamimi does. He uses children and young people as his tools. The innocent are used to kill the innocent. This will be a long war. It will last until people put humanity ahead of fanatic religious beliefs that are offered up by the powerful few who want to control the many.
Dorse A. Lanpher
Glendale, California, U.S.

Suicide bombers escape the harsh reality of dealing with life in this world: hunger, death of loved ones, frustration and tears. They don't see the carnage they cause or the grieving relatives of the victims. Instead, the bombers get a free ticket out of the world, leaving sorrow and anguish behind them. How nice for them. But they are cowards. The heroes are those who stay and help others through the suffering, regardless of the pain.
Calvin Sale
Klamath Falls, Oregon, U.S.

I was disturbed by the article "Professor of Death" on the Iraqi insurgent who trains suicide bombers. What appalled me most is your reporting on him as if he were some sort of modern businessman, and utterly failing to explicitly categorize him in the class of anti-Islamic raving psychopathic murderers to which he belongs.
Carl Templin
Johannesburg

As a veteran of operation Iraqi freedom, I believe that articles about the insurgents and how they train suicide bombers only fuel the terrorists' desire to carry out destruction. Why not report on the good things the U.S. is achieving in Iraq and Afghanistan and what our families back home are sacrificing for the freedom of others?
Sergeant Robert E. Williamson Jr.
U.S. Army Reserves
Hobart, Indiana, U.S.

The Agony of Kashmir
The earthquake that hit Kashmir brought more than grief and devastation to this underdeveloped region [Oct. 24]. More than 50,000 people are dead, hundreds of thousands are injured, a whole generation has disappeared, children are orphans, and villages are completely destroyed. But not for a single moment was Pakistan defeated by this horrendous situation. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Pakistan's citizens got together and responded to calls for help, united as a nation in a common cause. Virtually every household supported the relief effort. People realized that even the most minute contribution meant a lot. Citizens left their jobs and universities to go to affected areas and help in any way they could. Expatriate Pakistanis all over the world expressed their desire to adopt orphans. It was as if the whole country had suddenly changed from a self-interested, disunited nation into a warmhearted, cohesive force facing the disaster. That made me realize that in any hour of need, my country, my nation, my Pakistan shall not fail.
Agha Ali Murtaza
Lahore, Pakistan

The west perceives us Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular as terrorists. Catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and the Kashmir earthquake can serve as eye-openers. In both cases, governmental bureaucratic structures failed terribly. But if you saw TV coverage after the quake, you could not miss the fact that Pakistanis were painstakingly helping their fellow citizens as soon as they could. The nation has been continuously assisting the victims by providing them with food, water, medicine and shelter. We are basically very compassionate, friendly and benevolent people, ready to sacrifice whatever we can to help others in their hour of need. That is what the Koran teaches us.
Munaza Hasan
Lahore, Pakistan

The quick response by the international community to this terrible calamity is profoundly appreciated. We are thankful to all those who responded with their time, money and prayers. Our special thanks to those who have come from abroad to assist in the ongoing relief efforts. It is amazing how a tragic event can sometimes bring out the best in us. Compassion and concern give mankind hope that we can coexist on this planet as one global family.
Abdul Mughni
Lahore, Pakistan

Are we prepared to meet the challenge brought by unprecedented devastation caused by earthquakes? Only quakeproof buildings should be allowed to be constructed, and all builders should be forced to obtain monthly certifications that their work has been checked and found satisfactory. A strong building code would require contractors to be responsible for the work carried out by them and liable for any lapses. A corruption-free administrative system is essential.
S. Iqbal Ahmad
Karachi

Many of those who survived the quake have been made homeless. More than 3 million poor will brave a harsh winter, trying to survive in the cracked remnants of shattered, improvised houses. The survival of those people is inextricably linked to the provision of material aid and logistical assistance. Pakistan's resources are grossly overtaxed. Help from the world's wealthy communities in this hour of need would have an everlasting impact on the survivors of the quake.
Mehmood Aziz Naviwala
Karachi