“Another, related issue is that longevity itself, and healthspan in particular, doesn’t really fit into the business model of our current healthcare system. There are few insurance reimbursement codes for most of the largely preventive interventions that I believe are necessary to extend lifespan and healthspan. Health insurance companies won’t pay a doctor very much to tell a patient to change the way he eats, or to monitor his blood glucose levels in order to help prevent him from developing type 2 diabetes. Yet insurance will pay for this same patient’s (very expensive) insulin after he has been diagnosed. Similarly, there’s no billing code for putting a patient on a comprehensive exercise program designed to maintain her muscle mass and sense of balance while building her resistance to injury. But if she falls and breaks her hip, then her surgery and physical therapy will be covered. Nearly all the money flows to treatment rather than prevention—and when I say “prevention,” I mean prevention of human suffering.”
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
“I'll tell you a secret.
Something they don't teach you in your temple.
The Gods envy us.
They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.
You will never be lovelier than you are now.
We will never be here again.”
―
Something they don't teach you in your temple.
The Gods envy us.
They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.
You will never be lovelier than you are now.
We will never be here again.”
―
“Next is diet or nutrition—or as I prefer to call it, nutritional biochemistry. The third domain is sleep, which has gone underappreciated by Medicine 2.0 until relatively recently. The fourth domain encompasses a set of tools and techniques to manage and improve emotional health. Our fifth and final domain consists of the various drugs, supplements, and hormones that doctors learn about in medical school and beyond. I lump these into one bucket called exogenous molecules, meaning molecules we ingest that come from outside the body.”
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge. —Daniel J. Boorstin”
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
― Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
“Markov's not important,' she said. 'I'm not important. You're not important. Winning the war, that's the only important thing.'
'No,' I said, 'I disagree. Markov was important. So am I and so are you. That's why we have to win.”
― City of Thieves
'No,' I said, 'I disagree. Markov was important. So am I and so are you. That's why we have to win.”
― City of Thieves
Patrick’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Patrick’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Patrick
Lists liked by Patrick































