Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever by Ray Kurzweil

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever Reviews

• 
  Kathrynn

  This book was published in 2004 and I would love to see it updated! Two authors collaborated: Ray Kurzwell, PhD (futuristic thinker) and Terry Grossman, M.D. Anti-Aging specialist and expert in Longevity Medicine. Little side note that Ray Kurzwell designed the message typewriter wheels the govn't used... :-)
  
  The book uses three bridges to describe content. The First Bridge is the authors' Longevity Program. This has the current options available, but spruced up. Things we already have access to. The Second Bridge is the upcoming biotechnology that was being tested or experimented on when the book was written. This includes recombinant technology which is deploying gene technology in species we consume. The Third Bridge is looking far into the future using nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Replacing organs like Dr. Oz has talked about on Oprah!
  
  The majority of the information in Fantastic Voyage pertains to Bridge One. Bridge One goes into great detail on ways to take maximum advantage of the most advanced diagnostic testing and preventative methods so a person can get to Bridges Two and Three. I have to say that some of the info in Bridge Three I disliked. It was just too far fetched.
  
  The authors' believe we can live to be 5,000 years old using Bridge Three technology--comfortably.
  
  The authors' talk about food and water. Cancer. Cell mutation. The importance of increasing our alkalinity. Problems with sugar (the white death). Food and protein. Inflammation. The impact our toxic environment has on us.
  
  * Sleeping with an electric blanket is not healthy due to the currents that we expose to our bodies. Similar to talking on a cell phone, so be aware.
  
  Food pollution and how due to over farming and pesticides our farm products no longer have the medicinal value they had in the past. The importance of taking supplements!
  
  Chapter 21 on Aggressive Supplementation breaks down each necessary vitamin, mineral and two essential fatty acids (EFAs). The importance of taking our ACES: Vitamins A, C, E and the mineral selenium. Other important vitamins are the B (2,3,6) and coenzyme Q10 as well as a grapeseed extract (proanthocyanidins)--a powerful antioxidant.
  
  Fantastic Voyage talks about the dangers of taking synthetic hormones and the benefits of using bio-identical hormones for women and men. There are many recommended drugs that the authors' refer to. In Bridge Two they mention drugs still being tested and in the number phase as a name. However, they mention the importance of taking vitamins and supplements BEFORE reaching for a popular drug.
  
  Discussion on "free radicals" further explained what Dr. Oz has been saying on Oprah. Tells exactly how antioxidants repair us. Fascinating. (page 313) The vitamins, minerals and EFAs are broken down and recommended dosage for optimal health is provided in easy to read format.
  
  There are places that went right over my head with a lot of detail and graphs on topics related to the body, cells, cancers, mutations, etc. Whew! For the most part, I was able to follow the authors' as they told their individual health stories, explained how heart disease has been mistreated, talked about good and bad LDL and HDL in a way that I understood what they were saying.
  
  Excellent book!
• 
  Garret

  This book is a collaboration between the number one futurist of our time and one of the top doctors in preventitive medicine. It has an extreme premise: that within our lifetime scientists will find a way to stop the aging process and the goal is to live as healthy as possible in order to make it to that point. As shocking as it sounds, they actually back up their premise with a fair amount of pursuasive emperical data, including a number of technoligical developments that already exist. But whether or not you agree that we can ever stop the aging process (or whether we should even want to), this is one of the very best books on healthy living.
• 
  Richard Houchin

  This book cites a lot of recent medical studies, and it's heavy on specific numbers and sciency talk. I particularly like the run-down of what the essential vitamins and mineral are, what effects they have been observed to have, what effects overdosing on them causes, and what amounts are probably safe for most people.
  
  It's also nice that the book lists the names of the blood tests that will let you know what your level of these nutrients are.
  
  One of the studies cited was a Mayo Clinic study which reported that 93% of patients who complained of 'nonspecific musculoskeletal aches and pains' had dangerously low levels of vitamin D. I've had pains like that all my life, and I figured they were just normal. I just recently had my vitamin D levels checked -- and my doc has me taking 12,500% the RDA to correct my imbalance now!
  
  I also love the info on genomics. Having your DNA sequenced costs about $400 these days, and it can reveal what SNPs you have -- single nucleotide polymorphisms -- genetic mutations. Most SNPs identified so far do things like interfere with your body's absorption of certain vitamins and nutrients, like say, vitamin D.
  
  A genomic test might be worth the investment!
  
  
  
• 
  Ethan Fixell

  the parts on nutrition are pretty sweet, but it took me literally FOR..EV..ER (name that movie) to get through the fucking rest of the crap on heart disease, amino acids, dietary supplements and brain malfunctions. this book is definitely meant for a soon-to-be-dead middle aged dude. not a strapping young twenty-something like myself.
  
  this one isn't nearly as good as Food Revolution, but still, an interesting read if you've got the patience.
  
  ugh...i'm done with health books for awhile.
• 
  William Cane

  This book is my bible. As a nutritionist, I was awed by the breadth and scope of the discussion of supplements and health ideas. Kurzweil's visionary portrayal of the future is inspiring. Dr. Grossman's coverage of health is also inspiring and educational. A must read for anyone who cares about their own longevity.
• 
  Dan

  Fantastic Voyage is a most hopeful book. According to the authors (Kurzweil and Grossman), if you can live for another 20 to 30 years, you might be able to live indefinitely. Getting past the next 20 to 30 years is the challenge. The book is basically advice on healthy ways of living in order to live to such a time when science and technology have advanced to the point where science has eliminated threats to your health.
  
  The authors give advice on vitimins and supplement to take to increase your odds of surviving to 2030 or 2040. They write "we will have the means to stop and even reverse aging within the next two decades (this book was published in 2004). In the meantime, we can slow each aging process to a crawl using the methods outlined in this book."
  
  Kurzweil believes science is developing exponentially. If so, then we might live to see a time when people live for many years, or maybe indefinitely. Today few people expect to live much beyond 100 years, if at that. How will people react when others fail to die so young? At some point people are going to realize that their death is not inevitable. Will people become more careful at that time? I think so. By this time cars will be driving themselves, eliminating traffic accidents. Disease will have been eliminated.
  
  Kurzweil has a new film coming out this year. It has the same title as one of his books, The Singularity is Near. I have ordered a copy on DVD and plan to hold a public showing once I receive it.
  
  How has the writings of Kurzweil affected my life? I no longer accept death as an inevitable outcome. While I may die at some point in time, I also believe that mankind will overcome death.
  Death will become a thing of the past. I hope I live to see that day.
• 
  Quentin Feduchin

  "So much information, heavy duty reading.."
  (I wrote this having only read a quarter of the book, but needing to read no more to review it!)
  
  I have indeed looked at a few parts later in the book that interested me, one of which is the small matter of alcohol. (A little is good for you; you will live longer; too much is bad - most of us know that.)
  
  There is such a wealth of detail that no-one will have any excuse not to enjoy much better health. The detail of the materials of 'the stuff of life', what we are made of, what each chemical, fat, etc does to us, is explained in great detail.
  
  This book goes far beyond any ordinary so called 'diet book'. However although the writers are scientists, nevertheless much of it must be to some extent conjecture, firstly because it was written in 2004 (now is mid 2009) and secondly, therefore, although they say that by 2010 much of what they write must have arrived - I don't see that it's here quite yet!
  
  But then they ARE scientists and it's quite possible that several of those life extending procedures are already taking place, who knows?
  
  I just have to recommend it. If you are into this much detail then you are in for a smörgåsbord. I'm battling through it and, being already 68, hoping to extend my life just a bit. That's why I'm 'doing' it .. so who knows?
  
  PS Anybody reading this book will also be interested in 'The Singularity is Near'. VERY interesting reading.
• 
  The Laughing Man

  Almost Helpful A Bit Repetative
  
  There are some valuable tips and recommendations here, also informative about new and upcoming technologies but nowhere near being a full blown manual for a fantastic journey
• 
  Harry Harman

  185
  
  However, very little was known in the 1960s about heart disease. At that time, we had almost no knowledge about the role of cholesterol, oxidation, fats, carbohydrates, inflammation, or methylation cycles.
  
  The important Apo E genes were both of the E3 type. This was somewhat of a relief, indicating average risk for heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease
  
  Terry and I have a problem with the word supplement because it suggests something that is optional and of secondary importance. We prefer to call them “nutritionals” instead. My view is that I am reprogramming my biochemistry in the same way that I reprogram the computers in my life. Although I recognize that my body is more complex than my machines, and I still don’t have a full copy of my biological “source code,”
  
  I have a half-dozen intravenous therapies—basically, nutritionals delivered directly into my bloodstream, thereby bypassing my GI tract.
  
  I assign myself a problem before I go to sleep. During a lucid dream period in the morning between sleep and waking, I return to the issue, and invariably I have new insights. I find this lucid dream period a remarkably creative time. By the way, this does not work if I use an alarm clock because waking up suddenly bypasses this in-between stage.
  
  Systems biology tries “to connect the dots of all the body’s RNA, DNA, genes, proteins, cells, and tissues, elucidating how they interact with each other to create a breathing, blood-pumping, diseasefighting, food-processing, problem-solving human.”
  
  The important thing to remember about predictive genomics is that, in almost all cases, your genes merely express tendencies. Your lifestyle choices have a much larger role in determining what happens, or how your genes are expressed. Since genomics only tells you your tendencies, and because proteomics and other therapies that will be able to alter these tendencies are still in their infancy, it’s important for you to remain as healthy as possible for the next decade or two
  
  Gregor Mendel, the father of the field of genetics, developed the concept of genetic determinism—that the genes you were born with determine your fate. This has given way to the newer idea of genomic relativism—that your genes don’t determine what diseases you will acquire but rather merely point out your predisposition to them.
  
  the basic structure of a DNA molecule is quite simple: just four molecules called nucleotides—adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). Approximately 3 billion letters were sequenced.6 The individual letters then form the three-letter “words” (codons) that form the protein sentences, which combine into the 35,000 or so “paragraphs” (genes), which make up the 23 “chapters” (chromosomes) of our genetic Book of Life.
  
  Nearly 99.8 percent of human DNA is identical among all people, and human DNA is even 98 percent identical to chimpanzees.
  
  Companies such as U.S. Genomics and the Institute for Genomic Research are building the analytical systems required to maintain that trend, using techniques such as fluorescent tagging of molecules, nanofluid systems, and laser analysis.
  
  Their effect will be far more targeted—“designer” drugs will become available. The days of hit-or-miss, one-size-fits-all drug treatment are nearing an end.
  
  Freitas also has developed detailed conceptual designs for a DNA repair robot that goes into the nucleus of each cell and fixes DNA errors. It could also modify the DNA to anything desired. Ultimately, we will be able to replace the cell nucleus altogether with a nanoengineered computer that contains the genetic code with machinery to produce amino acid strings. This will enable us to block unwanted replication and instantly update our genetic code.
  
  Apo E2 is a pretty good hand of cards; the 105-year-old doughnut-eating smoker
  
  But if Apo E4 were nothing but bad news, it probably would have been selected out of the gene pool long ago.
  
  A study involving more than 14,000 women showed that those who took aspirin regularly had less than half the rate of the most common type of lung cancer.
  
  PG-E3. So consuming fish and fish oil is another powerful method of decreasing inflammation in your body.15 We recommend 1,0003,000 mg of supplemental EPA and 700–2,000 mg of DHA. Individuals with inflammatory disease may need 5,000–10,000 mg of omega-3 EFAs.
  
  Imagine a tiny handheld device with DNA sensors on a microchip that could detect diseases in minutes in your doctor’s office, or at home between visits, using nothing more than a drop of saliva or blood. That’s a future envisioned by Harvard nanobiotech research chemistry professor Dr. Charles Lieber. He and a research team are developing ultrasensitive nanowire sensors almost as small as molecules, yet 1,000 times more sensitive than the latest DNA tests, such as PCR amplification.
  
  Currently, doctors use modified viruses to deliver DNA. But viruses can cause several immune reactions, so they can’t be used repeatedly. One idea is to pack DNA molecules into nanoparticles tiny enough to actually enter the nucleus of cells.
  
  This Trojan-horse strategy is exactly what researchers at Case Western Reserve University and Copernicus Therapeutics are developing. They inject DNA into liposomes (fatty globules) tiny enough to pass through the cell’s outer membrane.
  
  BRCA1 is a major genetic risk factor for breast cancer. A woman who possesses a defective copy of this gene has a significant chance of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. GSTM1, GSTP1, CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and CYP2A6 code for liver enzymes that determine how well you detoxify environmental toxins. Variations in these genes increase or decrease your risk of several types of cancers. Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency predisposes individuals to early emphysema, particularly if they smoke. Apolipoprotein E has a strong influence on one’s potential risk of developing cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s. AGT, ACE, and AT1R are associated with blood pressure. Tests of polymorphisms of these genes can suggest if you should avoid salt and what classes of medications would be most helpful for treating your blood pressure if needed.
  
  Even if you don’t have diabetes, when you eat sugary foods or foods with a high glycemic load, you increase the amount of silent inflammation in your body.
  
  The marker (indicator) used to measure the level of inflammation in your body is called the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP, or CRP). CRP is a protein made in the liver and released into the bloodstream in response to inflammation. We recommend that you obtain a baseline hsCRP, if you haven’t already done so, and then as a regular part of your ongoing health screening evaluations.
  
  The easiest way to determine if your body is performing methylation properly is to measure the level of homocysteine in your blood.
• 
  Yates Buckley

  An important book that helped make radical life extension a pop theme for many years after. The hypothesis so far has not quite worked except for extremely wealthy people and complicated treatments that seem to offer an edge.
  
  What is really important and a shift that society still has to make is to emphasise mantaining good health, avoiding disease as being more important than repairing what goes wrong. This emerges automatically from healthy life extension movements.
• 
  David Rosage

  By far my favorite book this year. This book has inspired me to make better health decisions and has helped me start a new eating/supplementation regimen. Having made these changes I feel the best I have felt since high school. Their scientific approach to health was really interesting...
• 
  Fairport Public Library

  October 2008, Pat R, NonFiction
• 
  Daniel

  I find the parts about how to improve your health through nutrition, excercise etc. incredibly valuable. Moreover, it really surprised me what a big change in longevity and quality of life you can presently attain through those means.
  
  This topic is not the only focus of the book. The authors also go to great lengths to explain the biological mechanisms involved in the processes of aging and, thirdly, their outlook on what improvement the future might bring.
  
  For me, the mix of the three aspects inside of each chapter made it hard to focus my reading to the aspect I was most interested in. Also, this makes it rather impractical to quickly look up, e.g., the important measures for a certain chapter. It think I would have preferred a separation of the book in three parts - one for each aspect.
  
  It is helpful to know that the authors' newer book "Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever" seems to be meant as an updated and rearranged version of this book.
• 
  Patty Apostolides

  Any topic on longevity has been a fascination for me for years. I like to read about centenarians and we subscribe to the Life Extension magazine, and so this book about living longer was one that I had to read.
  
  The book is chock full of information on a number of life extending choices that I'm familiar with, but the authors have added a few more interesting and up to date research. So the book does not disappoint. There are very useful tips that I will return to whenever I need to refresh my memory.
  
  There were a few places where I disagreed with the authors, though - for one, they both take statins for cholesterol. I know that statins, over a period of time, cause congestive heart failure. They deprive the body of CoQ10 and cause muscle problems. Remember, the heart is a muscle also. In addition, my own mother took statins and had elevated liver enzymes because of it. Although her dose was lowered, she still has muscle issues so now she takes COQ10 with it and this has helped. I for one, take high doses of Vitamin C daily which helps raise the HDL level and has kept my cholesterol levels within the boundaries. No need for statins all these years. I was surprised that the authors hadn't covered this also.
  
  Also, turkey and poultry were not part of their diet plan, as well as coffee or chocolate. All these have some benefits, as research has suggested. It is known that turkey has the same compound in it that is given to heart patients to dilate their arteries. Arginine.
  Coffee beans and chocolate beans have antioxidants in them, so how bad can that be for you? They also stimulate the brain.
  
  Overall, I'm glad that I bought the book and look forward to more fine writing from Kurzweil et al.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Paul Mamani

  Eternal life has always been the stuff of myth, fantasy, or faith. But artificial intelligence expert and futurist Ray Kurzweil and physician Terry Grossman have a provocative message: that people alive today can make use of existing medical knowledge to extend their lives and remain healthy until a time, just decades hence, when advanced biotechnology will make “radical life extension” (a slightly hedged euphemism for living forever) feasible. It’s an audacious claim, and the authors make a serious case for it in their new book, Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough To Live Forever.
  
  No, it’s not the Isaac Asimov science fiction classic, but the title is appropriate, since nanotechnology is likely to be a big part of the future of health care. While the book is, indeed, part futurist vision it’s also part advocacy for “aggressive supplementation” and part general health guide. The split focus makes it a sometimes frustrating and even difficult read. For one thing, in order to back up their claims for nutritional supplementation, the authors provide quite detailed biochemistry. There’s a reason most of us didn’t become biochemists, and plowing through the hard science can be tough.
  
  On the plus side, it shows they have a high opinion of their readers. And let’s face it, without supplying the hard science behind “Ray & Terry’s Longevity Program” they’d have a hard time being taken seriously by a public that’s already saturated with confusing and contradictory health information.
• 
  Eric

  Yes, the subtitle is a little provocative. But it's written by Ray Kurzweil and his doctor friend, Terry Grossman, so what else can you expect? The basic premise is that since, according to Kurzweil, the singularity is coming soon, we should do all we possibly can to maintain our health so that we're still around when the rapid changes of the singularity begin to happen. Given the almost absurd premise, the authors put this book together in a great way. They first describe 3 bridges: 1- current/latest research on health, 2- the speculative frontiers of pre-singularity technologies as related to health, and 3- health during the singularity. They wrote most of the book from a Bridge 1 point of view. And any time they wanted to talk about Bridge 2 or 3 ideas, they segregated those discussions in their own separate boxes with clear headings. So you can basically skip all the speculative junk and focus on the current research and findings.
  
  From that point of view, it was a pretty useful book. And like most books on health, the final conclusions of the authors are: eliminate bad carbohydrates, eat good carbohydrates in moderation, eat as much green/leafy vegetables as you can, eat low-mercury fish, exercise daily, work on nurturing healthy relationships, and don't get so stressed out. There was nothing really earth-shattering in the book. But it was still a good read and was motivating enough for me to switch to Stevia in my oats instead of table sugar.
• 
  George Shubin

  Monsanto used to have a slogan, "Better living through chemistry." Kurzweil takes this up a notch. Actually, he takes it up a quantum leap. The sub-title, "Live Long Enough to Live Forever", posits our ability to extend human lifespans through our geometrically increasing knowledge and computing power. Enough time and technological advancement will result in our ability to prevent diseases and aging to such an extent that we will achieve practical immortality.
  
  Of course, that's under the assumption that a human being is nothing more than an electro-chemical machine that needs preventative maintenance and equipment upgrades from time to time, much like an automated factory line.
  
  No doubt we have much to learn and apply to the biological side of our existence, but there is a spiritual dimension to us that materialists like Kurzweil reject.
  
  The book is an interesting read if you can ignore the underlying presuppositions. There's enough here to provide some good ideas about our day-to-day health to make the book a worthwhile read. But if you want a fully comprehensive exposition about the nature of human life and attaining true immortality, you'll have to read the Book that all materialists reject.
• 
  Graham

  Oh man, if you have a terrible fear of death like I do you should read this book. At the very least, it makes you *think* it is possible to live forever, thus extinguishing the fear of the inevitable. A valuable tool if you need peace of mind. It does not get five stars because there is too much work involved in living forever. I want results now. I also lost this book and can't recollect the strict lifestyle required to make it through the next 50 years to the point when science will cure death. I think it has something to do with eat blueberries and drinking green tea and looking both ways when crossing the street. Or maybe not crossing street at all.
  
  Let us not consider the society we will create when some privileged few are immortal. We shall not think of that and instead just think about how glorious life will be when death is no longer.
• 
  Lauren

  I liked this book. It's heavy on science, but the format and writing style made it a bit easier to read. The authors have extremely health-focused lifestyles.
  
  They emphasize regular exercise (walking 30-60 minutes a day); eating lots of green vegetables; drinking green tea instead of coffee; taking dozens of supplements; avoiding sugary foods, fatty foods, red meat, and foods with a high-glycemic load; managing stress (meditation); maintaining a positive outlook on life; and learning new things, especially about how to improve your own health.
  
  They also recommend getting various medical tests to find out more about your body and how you can prevent diseases. This book is big on preventing health problems rather than treating them.
• 
  Joseph Santiago

  I hope that the information contained in this book will happen. It seems to me that if it does happen there will be many people resisting change and new information at every innovation. Many of the supplements and combinations of diet with vitamins are beyond the desire for me to make part of a regiment. I hope to have an IA that becomes my online shadow and somehow we are linked to create a living interactive archive of me. A bit of a sophist wish I admit but I want a chance to become more than I am today. I think this book is an interesting read and those I have talked with about are usually in different places about the content of the advancements. I see the digital footprints I leave everyday as a place to begin sharing with IA Joe. This is a good read.
  
  Mr. Joe
• 
  Scott

  This was an interesting read. For the most part it was quite informative and although it's not a new book most of his predictions are true.
  
  The only thing I didn't enjoy is that there are parts of the book - especially when he discusses various tests - that seem like they've been added with the goal of making the book seem more scientifically based.
  
  Ultimately I have learned some things, and it's prompted me to do further research in some areas. The key take home message I got was avoid foods with a high GL.
• 
  Renee

  I dropped it so take this with a grain of salt...It motivated me to take better care of myself but I don't think the concept is very realistic. The authors say if we do ALOT of certain things we could live long enough to experience the medical breakthroughs to live for hundreds of years...no thanks. The original plan of just going when it's time sounds better to me!
• 
  Enrique Mañas

  I certainly enjoy Ray Kurzweil, even being a partial sceptic of his work. Sometimes I just do not know if I have read the book previously. The ideas are 60% transversal among all his books, and sometimes seems repetitive - which is maybe good in terms of learning, but not in terms of getting new knowledge.
• 
  Patrick

  You won't want to eat sugar again. This book is all about eating healthy enough to live long enough to live forever. The idea is that in the near future the technology of medicine may allow us to replace parts, keep ourselves younger, and continue to live and live.
  
  Scary idea, but interesting.