The Life Extension Manual began as a handout for seminars on Life Extension I was doing once or twice a year during the early 1990's. As the "handout" grew in size to that of a small book, I began to convert it into a stand-alone document and to distribute it separately from the seminars.
I probably won't be doing any more of these seminars, but I will be doing a major update of the online Life Extension Manual by sometime in May.
By that time, there will also be an expanded set of advanced information, including an anti-aging forum that will be available on the web only by subscription. This basic Life Extension Manual, however, will remain free.
Both the basic (free) and the expanded (subscription) versions of the Life Extension Manual will only be available online. There are no plans to make any printed copies available.
I'll be adding chapters on the subjects currently listed in the Table of Contents The original version of this manual only discussed DHEA and melatonin, but maintenance of the sex hormones and growth hormone at young adult levels is recognized as one of the most effective means of slowing the manifestations of the aging process. A chapter has been added discussing Human Growth Hormone in more detail, including the practical details about using injectable growth hormone. The cost of HGH injections came down in price to less than $250 a month in 2000-2003, although it has been slowly rising since this period of time. (This is how much it costs if you get a prescription from a U.S. physician and buy the HGH from a legitimate U.S. discount pharmacy.) HGH therapy is the single most effective means currently available for fighting the manifestations of the aging process (although it would be very foolish, and possibly dangerous, to use only one protocol to fight the aging process).
The subscription version of the Life Extension Manual will include advanced topics such as personal genomics.
Progress in medicine is expanding so rapidly that the doubling time for medical knowledge is now about four years (although there no means of really measuring a moving target like expanding knowledge with any degree of accuracy). That means that during the next four years, we will learn as much about medicine as was discovered from the beginning of human existence until now.
Figuring out how to manage and apply all of the information is an enormous challenge, a challenge made even more complex by biochemical individuality: the fact that each of us is unique. In both preventive medicine and traditional "curative" medicine, what works well for most people may have adverse effects on any given individual.
I usually began my Life Extension Seminars by passing around a printed copy of the Index Medicus, the index of most of the medical research reports published in the world for any particular month. The typical Subject Index for one month is a 9-inch by 11.5-inch book that is more than 2 inches thick and weighs more than 6 pounds (nearly 3 kilograms). (The separate Author Index is only a little over one inch thick.) This book is only the index for a single month of medical research reports in scientifically-respected peer-reviewed publications.
The information in the Life Extension Manual is derived from information in those research reports that you don't usually hear much about. I personally make use of most of the information that is contained in the Life Extension Manual; but I am not recommending that anyone else do the same. I am a medical experiment-in-progress, and so is anyone else who decides to make use of relatively new medical information.
The decision whether, and to what extent, to personally make use of information about life extension and anti-aging medicine is a difficult one. While there is an abundance of data pointing to the benefit of, for example, the regular use of melatonin, there is also an abundance of unanswered questions.
Science is the one successful method that has been developed for managing uncertainty. Knowledge and certainty are mutually exclusive. Certainty is a myth of unscientific worldviews.
Life Extension is a new form of applied science that is riddled with uncertainties; but in the short history of this applied science, many of those who have learned to manage the uncertainties have already benefited greatly from it. Those of us who have been practicing state-of-the-art Life Extension for more than a decade have been pleased, and sometimes pleasantly surprised, at just how well these techniques work. (I've been at it to some extent for nearly 40 years, beginning when I was about 20 years old.)
I had intended that the Life Extension Manual would be revised and updated frequently, but I've gotten quite behind in this during the past four years. My personal situation should allow me to remedy this situation soon, and to expand this information. I realize that some sections are inadequately referenced to the primary medical literature. I hope to be able to remedy this over the coming months.
I am frequently asked about my personal life extension program and about to what extent it has worked. I've always been reluctant to publish my own experimental regimen since it would be inappropriate for anyone to use it without medical supervision. I once had it online at this site, but too many people foolishly tried to use it inappropriately for their own program -- so I have deleted it. I have will put some of my personal blood chemistry tests results, with comments, back online as soon as I have time to update that file.
This online manual is hypertexted and linked to many other interesting Web sites, especially in the Recommended Reading and Resources section.
