Rating: 
Summary: This book is a totally different concept than ever before.
Review: In light of some of the reviews listed on the Internet, I believe this is a totally new concept with regard to the approach. It is true that there is a great deal of research and that is just the point. We know that the research points to specific areas of health, yet nobody has taken that research and combined it all to come up with a comprehensive approach to individual responsibility. I do not agree that we don't have much control of our health. We have so much control of our health and that is the problem. Most people don't know what to do to help themselve. This book gives the lay person a new approach to their own health. I enjoyed the book thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: A REAl eye opener
Review: It was this book that opened my eyes on how well I was or wasn't taking care of myself. I was motivated after the first chapter to do things like taking aspirin, limit cell phone calls, taking vitamins, watching diet, etc. I have reduced my realage from my chronological age by 15 years now. If a book can influence people to take care of themselves based on medical science, why not pick up a copy? It's an investment in your life!
Rating: 
Summary: Superficial and frivilous review
Review: Okay, this is a superficial and frivilous review. I admit it but it is possibly based on some of the same "scientific" evidence presented in this book.I went to the rating of age for those who have a dog. The benefit is .5 years. What? Dogs help you get out and walk, which is healthy. Petting dogs has been known to lower blood pressure. Also healthy. Ever talk to you dog about your problems and the stresses of the day? I do. Also healthy. And for all these positives, only a mere .5 years benefit? Are all his other stats as questionable? Based on that alone, I dismiss this book. As I said, a superficial, frivilous review but food for thought.
Rating:
Summary: A new paradigm
Review: Real age takes information most people know (and some that most people don't) and puts in a framework that is easy to understand. While for any individual, certain factors may have more importance (many of the reviewers on this site stressed how important dog ownership is to them), the fact that you can change your health and mortality from your own behaviors, and to this degree, is very motivating. As a primary care internist, I have found this paradigm very useful in getting my own patients to quit smoking and start exercising!
Rating:
Summary: Old whine, new bottle
Review: RealAge is a thoroughly traditional (read: stale) message dressed up with an oddly capitalized new word. The sections on weight loss and cholesterol are particularly disappointing. In the area of weight loss, Roizen's message could not be more conventional. Like countless previous diet book authors, Roizen wants to believe that the health and longevity of lean folks who have never been fat is a health and longevity tied strictly to weight: achieve and sustain that weight and you will automatically be healthy and long-lived. Unfortunately, this is not an outcome which has ever been demonstrated in a clinical trial. At best, losing weight produces no effect on longevity and at worst it appears to shorten the lives of those who attempt it. In the area of cholesterol, Roizen is all for micromanaging it through any means possible. Diet and exercise for starters and drugs if necessary. Completely unmentioned is the ability of a single annual donation of blood to do a much better job of risk reduction. Statin drugs can prevent only about three out of every ten coronary events. And each prevented event comes at a cost of roughly half a million dollars. Blood donation prevents better than nine out of ten coronary events. And does it for free, does it without side effects and does it while providing a social benefit. RealAge is a book for people who need to believe that they are doing everything humanly possible to improve their health and extend their lives. Dr. John Cocker, a long-time general practitioner, bluntly sums up this understandable desire: "We have little control over our health. Apart from stopping smoking, wearing seat belts and avoiding high-risk sexual activity, there's not much we can do to improve our health. All the other factors -- diet, exercise, vitamins, annual physicals -- have very minor effects compared with genetics and plain old-fashioned luck. Most people cannot accept this inability to control or even explain our destiny, which is why there are so many religions." Amen.
Rating:
Summary: VERY HELPFUL
Review: Thanks to this book I've reduced my age from 34 to 29, and have more energy than I have in years. The beauty of Roizen's program is that some of the steps are extremely easy, like just taking an aspirin. Others, such as regular aerobic exercise, are more difficult, but knowing you're buying yourself extra years makes the effort worthwhile. I'm giving this book as a Christmas gift to my future in-laws.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new
Review: The author is an anesthesiologist who has not cited any scientifically reasonable research of his own in the area he professes to be an expert in. His suggestions are absolutely nothing new... just the same old public health findings (don't smoke, wear your seat belt etc)told in yet another one of the 1000 ways we have seen come on the market. Boring. Given the tactics of this whole anti-aging industry I would not at all be surprised if most of the reviews here have been fabricated by the author and his friends.
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Summary: You can improve your health & your life with this book.
Review: There may not be an actual fountain of youth but here's a road map for those wanting to improve the length and quality of their life. This book is easy to understand and makes a lot of sense. The fact that it's based on actual scientific studies adds to it's credibility. A lot of it is common sense. Some things are easier to change than others. I like the fact you can choose exactly which areas of your life your willing to change. It was fun going over the book with my friends. The information presented validates some of the choices I have made and really asks me to look at others I have not considered. Thank you Dr. Roizen.
Rating:
Summary: Missed the Mark
Review: This book does a poor (if not irresponsible) job especially in the area of weight management and aging. If you are looking for a well researched book on this topic, read "Biomarkers" The 10 Keys to Prolonging Vitality by Drs. Evans and Rosenberg from Tufts University. The key is to increase muscle mass and aerobic activity while eating a diverse healthy diet.
Rating: 
Summary: This book helps to motivate a health lifestyle
Review: This book makes a lot of good lifestyle reccomendations but overlaps in adding years. The author admits that you cannot add total years from the analysis but that does make it confusing. I am very disapointed that I cannot find the real age quiz on-line.
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