The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer
10 Easy Tips For a Happier, Healthier Life
- ISBN: 9781771642910
- Tags: Bertil Marklund, Bertil Marklund MD PhD, Health & Wellness, MD, PhD.,
- Dimensions: 4.5 x 7.5
- Published On: 04/10/2017
- 152 Pages
The CliffNotes to living well, the Scandinavian way.
Diet and lifestyle guides are all the rage, but they tend to be too prescriptive and difficult to follow. And most self-help books are too long. Who has time to read 300+ pages or the discipline for a total lifestyle change overnight? Cue The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer. With this pragmatic little book that channels the healthy lifestyle of Scandinavia, 10 easy tips will add 10 healthy years to your life.
Swedish doctor Bertil Marklund covers broad ground in this short book, providing a comprehensive guide to lifestyle choices, many of which are inspired by Nordic ideals about engaging in vigorous outdoor recreation, foraging for food such as berries, and—important to those in Northern climes—getting enough sunlight. Other tips cover areas such as sleep and the negative impact of stress. We can all make some of the changes outlined in the book without completely rethinking the way we live. By providing pragmatic and realistic advice, Dr. Marklund gives you the power to make a difference in your own life–today, and for the future.
Bertil Marklund, MD, PhD, is a medical doctor, researcher, author, professor of general medicine, and specialist in public health. He has worked with patients as a general practitioner for over four decades. He has a medical degree from Gothenburg University, where he is a professor. His first book on symptoms and remedial measures was published in 1980 and has been used as a national reference for nurses who work with telephone counselling.
"Swedish physician and researcher Marklund (medicine, Gothenburg Univ.) packs a lot of common sense and sound health advice into few pages [...] A quick, no-nonsense guide on how to be healthier that will appeal to general readers."
—Library Journal Review
From the Introduction:
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years thinking about how one should live one’s life in order to have as much time on this earth as possible. Both my parents had multiple risk factors, and unfortunately, I lost them far too early. That shook me up. Would their genes have a negative impact on my health and longevity? I decided to get to the bottom of what I needed to do to enjoy as long and as healthy a life as possible.
I am a Swedish physician with over 20 years’ experience in clinical patient care, working at different locations on the Swedish west coast in and around Gothenburg, and I have treated countless patients throughout the years. I have also done extensive research in areas such as family medicine and public health for more than 20 years. As a doctor and researcher, I’ve had access to all the research I needed, and of course, I was already quite well-informed about the issues. In the medical world, we talk a lot about risk factors that lead to disease and premature death. However, I began to think along new lines and became increasingly interested in the health promotion perspective which has been gaining popularity in Scandinavia—how to boost health rather than focusing on disease and death. I decided to study health factors instead of risk factors, to shift from the negative to the positive, with a focus on new knowledge about why some people are so healthy and live so long. I was of course also looking at many of the people around me; what was it that helps Nordic people, in particular, live long and healthy lives?
The research showed me what I wanted to know—how to stay healthy and live longer. Studies showed that the genetic component only accounts for around 25 percent of longevity, with lifestyle coming in at 75 percent. The figures may vary somewhat between studies, but they all indicate that lifestyle is the critical factor. This was a relatively new finding, and I was pleased to learn that I was the one in control of my longevity, not my genes. I can affect my health by shaping my own lifestyle, and the benefits are fantastic—potentially adding as many as 10 healthy years, maybe more, to my life. It is up to me to decide how I want to age—and don’t want to age. Now I want to pass on what I’ve learned, from a Nordic perspective, about lifestyle changes for a healthy and long life to everyone interested in improving and boosting their health and putting the brake on disease and aging. Hopefully, this little book will help you. It can be summed up as a short guide to a long life.
