In just a few hours it will officially be February 21st, 2013 — pub day! Everyday I pick up another study which reminds me why I took on this challenging quest and wrote up my journey in THE LAST BEST CURE. The book I hope you’ll soon be holding in your hands.
This week a new study came out in JAMA Internal Medicine showing that although we might assume that adults today are healthier than our parents were at the same age, the opposite is true. 32 percent of our parents reported being in “excellent” health in middle age. Today, only 13 percent of us in mid-life can say the same.
The study discovered why. Those of us in our 40s, 50s and 60s have higher rates of chronic conditions than did our parents, and at younger ages. Diabetes, high blood pressure, you name it. We are twice as likely as our parents were to be suffering from a disabling chronic illness. Study authors sum it up with these words: “You live longer, but those extra years you bought — you’re sicker. That’s not a good public health outcome.”
Something is really wrong with this picture. Something has to change. THE LAST BEST CURE will be available everywhere in just a matter of hours. Here’s hoping it proves a powerful tool in helping to turn the health story of our generation around.
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The Status of Baby Boomers’ Health in the United States: The Healthiest Generation? King DEet al. JAMA Intern Med. 2013 Feb 4:1-2. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2006.
wow,it seems like a terrific book!, I really hope to win it. if i don’t, I will definitively buy it. it has been almost one yr. and not a doctor knows what is wrong with me yet.
it is tough sometime.
good luck everyone
I hope you find answers Nicole. I know it is tough. I know.
I love reading your daily posts and will miss them when publication date arrives.
Becky, that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve loved writing them, it’s been great to think everyday about why I wrote the book and how much I want to help readers. I’ll still be posting twice a week!
I can’t wait to read this. I’ve given your book to many of my clients (I’ma chronic illness career coach). I call it the BIBLE and underpinning of understanding any disease and they’ve all found it immensely helpful. I, too, read the article in JAMA and almost laughed out loud. It’s gratifying when studies can back up what we have experienced. Thanks for all you do on these topics, Donna.
Thanks Rosalind, it is great to see studies back up what we’re experiencing. Thanks for everything you do everyday to help those who are the faces behind these numbers. I admire your work so much!
Donna, I have to agree with the study. I often wonder why my 82 year old mother has less health challenges than myself at 54. I would like to be the one to comfort and support my mother, but seems as though it is she listening more to me about my frequent aches and fatigue. I’m hoping your book will be a new beginning for me in my life.
Thank- you for your daily notes. I too have enjoyed reading them, and am tickeled to know you are a dog lover as well!! : )
Cindy, you put this SO well. I often feel the same way, my mom at 80 has faced very few health challenges. I”ve LOVED posting everyday and will post twice a week so stay tuned! (Yes love my doggies!)