Dr. Michael Roizen - You Are Your Own Genetic Engineer - Cutting Edge Health Audio Podcast

Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer emeritus of the Cleveland Clinic and author of nine best-selling books, has developed a concept, RealAge, that motivates people to take control of their lives in a way that will help them live longer and healthier.

“The most important thing for people to understand is they're a genetic engineer,” he maintains. The choices people make in how they live can determine how long they live. His RealAge program, which suggests that people at the age of 90 will soon be able to live like 40-year-olds, advocates taking steps to remain physically active, reduce stress and continue social engagement. All can prolong life span and assure greater health.

“When you do stress management or when you do physical activity, you change which of the genes are in or not in your cells,” Dr. Roizen says. Stressing a muscle, he explains, can send a protein to one’s brain that can fertilize the hippocampus and act as Miracle Grow for the brain. This, in turn, can reduce the likelihood of dementia and other forms of cognitive dysfunction.

Every person, he says, can reach their own “real age” by choosing their method of activity. ”If you don't like walking, you can do gardening, you can play with your kids, you can play ping pong,” Dr. Roizen says. “It's any activity. Do things you love that love you back.”

People can learn more of Dr. Roizen’s ideas and programs for prolonging life through his book, The Great Age Reboot, or visiting the app, Reboot Your Age (greatagereboot.com).

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Like many physicians now engaged in controlling the aging process, Dr. Michael Roizen entered the field from different medical specialties. He is board certified in both internal medicine and anesthesiology. He was running a step-down ICU at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center studying the outcome of patients who had undergone cardiovascular surgery. “It wasn't their cardiac history or their lung function or their liver function or kidney function or their brain function that determined outcome,” he discovered. “What determined the outcome was their age.” He then embarked on a new mission as a physician - motivating patients to take charge of the way they aged.

Dr. Roizen served as Cleveland Clinic’s first Chief Wellness Officer from 2007 to 2019. He now serves fifty percent time as the Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Wellness Officer Emeritus, and the other half as a Professor at the Learner College of Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University.

He is a recipient of an Emmy, an Elle, and the Paul Rogers Best Medical Communicator Award from the National Library of Medicine. He initiated and developed the RealAge concept to motivate behavior change.  He believes that soon 90 will be the new 40, and how one can prepare for it is described in his most recent book, The Great Age Reboot, and Reboot Your Age app.

Dr. Roizen is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and became a member of the American Osteopathic Association after graduating from UCSF School of Medicine. 

He has authored over 195 peer reviewed scientific publications, four New York Times #1 bestsellers, and nine overall bestsellers.  He and Dr. Mehmet Oz co-authored a daily column syndicated to over 100 newspapers that translates current scientific reports into actionable steps for lay audiences.

A recipient of The United Way of Cleveland Humanitarian of the Year Award, Dr. Roizen has won over 75 trophies in class A squash competition.  He practices what he preaches when it comes to enhancing his health and life expectancy, even working at a treadmill desk to help achieve his goal of walking at least 10,000 steps a day.

He and his wife, who is also a medical doctor, have two children: Jenny, a PhD organic chemist working for the US Energ