The Telomere Effect- Live Longer, Live Better

We all want to be healthier and live longer, better lives... right? Nobel Prize Winner Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel have written The Telomere Effect to help us head in the right direction, focusing on one of the most smallest and most important parts of our bodies: telomeres. 

I'm not going to give a big long scientific lecture about what telomeres are. I thought the authors did a great job explaining them to the common person, but I have to say I did think they went a little light on their explanation. Anyway, telomeres are basically the caps on the ends of our chromosomes that have shown to be directly related to health: the longer your telomeres, the longer you remain in the "healthy" zone of your life and thrive. Telomeres shorten after every cellular division and help determine how fast our cells age and eventually die- the authors use the analogy of the little plastic caps on the end of our shoe laces. So the more you can do to protect your telomeres, the longer they will remain, and, theoretically, the healthier you will stay (obviously there are a lot of exceptions, but you can read the book for those).

So, how do we keep our telomeres from shortening prematurely, and even lengthen them (they can get longer!  Telomere health can be improved!)? There are many, many things, but here are the major categories:

1. Eat healthily: less processed food and red meat, more omega-3s and plants

2. Sleep: Quality of sleep is incredibly important for our bodies to heal and recharge

3. Exercise: Cardiovascular activity most days for thirty minutes is one of the most important things you can do for your telomeres. A variety of activity helps, as well. 

4. Educate yourself: Those that have gone to college have longer telomeres (as do their children).

5. Manage stress: Ongoing, long-term stress does a ridiculous amount of harm to your telomeres

6. Foster relationships: Having people who you are close to lengthens telomeres. Weekly sex has substantial benefits as well (just saying what the science says).

7. Avoid chemical exposure: Be mindful of where you live and products you use in your home.

The book also spends some time discussing the role childhood trauma can have on telomere length, the genetic aspects of the process (telomere length starts in the womb), and positive thinking.

A lot of what this book discussed was just common sense, in terms of things we should do to live healthy lifestyles. Connecting them down to the chromosomal level and providing evidence to back everything up was really powerful for me, though. There are a lot of things I do well (exercise, relationships, being outside, and have an advanced education), but there are many things I need to work on (better sleep, managing stress, and consistently eating well, as I tend to fluctuate between apples and cupcakes too often). 

I really enjoyed this book, both from the perspective of someone who enjoys life science and from someone who tries to be mindful of her health. It was a quick read and has stayed with me- I have developed this internal monologue that frequently lectures me for doing things that may shorten my telomeres. Annoying, but good. 

When Breath Becomes Air

I don't tend to do whole posts centered on just one book, but I do make exceptions, most often for nonfiction works. When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi, is such one. I read this unfinished memoir in less than a day, sucked in by his cerebral, yet lovely, prose, his philosophical pondering, and his story in general.

For those unfamiliar with this bestseller, Kalanithi was a relatively young, brilliant, neurosurgeon at Stanford who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He wrestled with careers in literature and science as a college student (while I wasn't even a fraction as intelligent as he, I did feel he was a kindred spirit in this sense, since I also faced this debate) and ultimately medicine won. He was incredibly bright and successful, although his description of his own accolades I found modest and humble. The first half of his part of the book is devoted to his background, giving us context for how he handles his diagnosis and course of treatment. I felt that even though brief, this part of the book gave me a decent picture of the man- one that I'd like to be friends or have as my own doctor (god forbid I even need a neurosurgeon). 

During the second section, the reader is already in awe of Kalanithi as a person, medical professional, and scientist. I was deeply affected reading his musings on life and death, and feeling conflict as he wrestled with his treatment options and whether or not he and his wife Lucy should have a baby with the sperm they proactively froze when they learned he had cancer. Death on one level is so simple and natural, but that's just biologically. Cells die. It's what they do. When human emotions and familial bonds are brought into play death becomes one of the most complex human events possible. 

The idea of knowledge is paramount to this book. Knowledge is power, so they say, but it can complicate matters profusely. At one point Kalanithi's oncologist tells him, gently, that whenever he is ready to let her be the doctor and allow himself to be the patient, she can make it happen. Having the information he has as an expertly trained physician proves to often be incredibly helpful, but it also makes the process of battling the disease more challenging as well. Doctoring oneself is no small task. 

Kalanithi loses his battle quicker than I anticipated, and his accounts of how much he suffered (before he stopped writing) were heart-breaking. His wife Lucy takes up the third portion of the book, writing about his final days and how she started coping once he did pass. Her descriptions of his final days and his interactions with their baby brought me to tears, which rarely happens when I read. 

It's cliche, but this book really does make you think about time and who, and what, is important in life. What makes you happy? What makes you feel valued? Does this sense of value make your life worth living? How important is your career? When we face death how would we react? This concept got me; if I was diagnosed with a terminal disease what would I do? Would I continue my life as is, or would I make drastic changes? We all want to think we'd go down with dignity, but you can't predict that sort of behavior. 

There's a blurb on the back of the book from Ann Patchett that says something to the tune of this book being something anyone could read. I had proposed it as a book club selection and it was vetoed by someone who lost a family member to cancer (understandable, since none of us had read it). I think, though, it's something that everyone can take something away from, even when such a loss is still fresh. It's a book that can help prepare, help heal, and help provoke thought. 

Nonfiction Nagging- Gulp

These past few weeks I have been slowly, yet enthusiastically, reading science writer Mary Roach's book Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. Yup. I just willingly read an entire book on the digestive system, and I loved it.

Roach's book is broken up into seventeen sections, each tackling one of the oddities of food intake. For example, there's a chapter dedicated to how pet food is created to be pleasing to animals. There's another on a man who had a hole in his stomach, which allowed his physician to study what happened internally. You can learn about what exactly you can stuff up your -ahem- butt, just in case you ever find yourself in prison (and want to smuggle in cell phones! That's all I meant, I promise) or forced into becoming an international drug mule (yet have we learned nothing from Orange in the New Black?). You will also learn about the noses of professional sniffers, including those that make up those wonderful descriptions of wine (you know, the ones that compare a Chardonnay to "a fresh cut lawn strewn with strawberries in March of 2011, just after a raccoon with wet paws has walked across it"). Constipation is discussed. So is saliva. All the gross stuff. 

Yet, none of it really seems gross, or boring, for that matter. And Lord knows there's potential, on both ends (badumdumdum). Roach is incredibly skilled, though, both in constructing her actual prose, but also in determining how far to take her subject. She's humorous, intelligent, and has a quick, biting wit. Basically, I'd like to be best friends with her.

I am resisting the urge to order the rest of her books, but I've added to my collection lately, so I'm trying to resist. 

Nonfiction Nagging- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

I'm really not sure what took my so long to read Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, but I'm thrilled that I finally have. For me this book married two of my most favorite things: biology and narrative (it is a true story, but it reads with the fluidity of a novel). Skloot traces the famous HeLa cells ("immortal" cells from patient Henrietta Lacks that have been used to study countless diseases and create many cures) back to their origins, investigating the treatment of the original patient and those connected to her since then. The research the cells have allowed has prompted developments as essential as the polio vaccine, cloning, and gene mapping- they've directly and indirectly saved many lives. The resounding ethical question: was it right for doctors to take her cells without permission?

Structure

Skloot structures this text so that the reader is constantly being moved from Henrietta Lack's past to the author's investigation in the present. As we're finding out about Lacks and her illness, death, and the usage of her cells, we're also learning about her family and how the exploitation of her cells have impacted their lives. This book is an incredibly quick read, in part due to the overall flow.

The three sections of the book are entitled "Life, "Death," and "Immortality," which parallel Lacks' existence. This process is also something that her surviving family members must deal with as well; coping with loss is difficult, but not being able to obtain true closure complicates matters even more. 

Narrative Style

I just spent a few minutes looking at the negative reviews of this book and was amused to see many say that Skloot has a "liberal agenda" and is "self-serving." While you can absolutely detect liberal undertones (she does think that the family should be recognized, which would therefore be a stab at the pharmaceutical industry... ie big business), I thought she did an admirable job of leaving herself out of the text. We have no idea what her personal life is like, what she likes to do during her time off, or how devoting so much time impacted her finances (I often wondered). Skloot's tone is straightforward but dimpled with humor and wit. Her research efforts must be applauded as well. As Skloot begins to include Lack's daughter, Deborah, the book becomes a little more sentimental and personal, but without taking away from the overall purpose of the investigation.

Ethics

The ethical implication behind Henrietta Lacks' story are incredible. She was a poor, black woman with STDs and cancer in the 1950s- there was absolutely no regard whatsoever for patient choice. Researchers took her cells and once it was determined that they rapidly replicated they were eventually sold to labs around the world, the Lacks family seeing none of the profit, adding to the dilemma. Race compounds the issue, Skloot adding in additional research on other controversial policies during the time period. While legislation offers more protection now, what does that mean for the Lacks family? Is it okay for doctors to make exceptions to help thousands of others and advance medical science? How should patients be compensated when their medical records are used and generate profit? And who pays whom? It's a really complicated, emotionally charged debate that's simultaneously fascinating and mind-boggling.

Science

My biggest warning about this book- don't shy away from it because it so heavily deals with science. Skloot does a great job explaining everything from the basic structure of a cell, to replication, and sample contamination. I do think some diagrams would have added to the text as a whole, though. 

Highly Recommended

I absolutely recommend this book- you will learn without feeling lectured. Besides being educational, it raises some great ethical questions (which is why so many book clubs have read it).