After President-Elect Obama mentioned her in his victory speech, CNN interviewed Ms. Cooper about the secret to her longevity. Her response:

“I ain’t got time to die,” she said. “I don’t know how it happened, but being cheerful had a lot to do with it. I’ve always been a happy person, a giggling person — a wide-mouthed person!”

As reported in the 11/05/08 edition of the NY Times, “Several dozen would-be cosmetic-surgery patients gathered at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan recently to hear a lecture on the latest procedures by a prominent plastic surgeon.

But the surgeon, Dr. Gerald Pitman, spent the first 20 minutes of his talk trying to discourage the audience from having cosmetic operations in the first place.

“Ask yourself, ‘Can you avoid it?’ ” Dr. Pitman said to the audience last month. “What kind of lifestyle changes can you make?”

During the lecture, he endorsed a number of behavioral changes that might improve both health and appearance.

For example, resistance exercises, which help retard osteoporosis, may have a secondary benefit. “You will look better because your posture is better,” he said.

Ditto for aerobic exercise for heart health. “When you do aerobic exercise, you release endorphins,” Dr. Pitman said. “You feel better, so you look better.”

“Some people think liposuction and tummy tucks are alternatives to diet and exercise,” Dr. Pitman said. “They are not.”

Isn’t it about time? Isn’t it about time that we had an MD stand up and say “change your lifestyle” before resorting to more dangerous treatments like drugs…or in this case, completely un-necessary surgery?

We say 3 cheers! It’s about time!!!

The Bottom Line... The Bottom Line... The Bottom Line...

Exercise, proper nutrition, adequate rest, and a positive-happy attitude are being touted by experts and lay people alike as a way and means of leading a happy and healthy life. And, its about time! Given how many TV commercials there are these days promoting a pill for every ill and contributing to the common attitude that my lifestyle doesn’t matter…when there’s a problem, medicine will fix it. That attitude is just not working folks. Time to look at lifestyle!!