Aging With Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives

In "Aging with Grace," Snowdon walks the lay-reader through the steps and stages that made his now-famous "nun study" possible. You may have caught bits of this study in Time Magazine, The Donohue Show, or many other popular media. This is the story behind the story. It is the story of the nuns themselves. Snowdon uses the nun's own words to describe where they came from, what they aspired to as young initiates, and where they are going as they move on into their advanced years.

The book isn't all drama. Snowdon provides useful background on Alzheimer's disease, its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. He goes on to draw both firm and tentative conclusions. In short, he sprinkles in advice based on sound, careful, peer-reviewed, scientific research. You'll learn what parents can do for their children, what children can do for their aging parents, and what various factors may contribute to or exacerbate senile dementia.

Lastly, this book stands in sharp contrast to the fraud so frequently perpetuated on a desperate and uninformed public by various "alternative" medical practices. Snowdon's work provides an excellent example of how medical research is done. I've been very comfortable sharing this book with friends who desperately need reliable information in a forthright yet compassionate form, and they have assured me that my recommendation really helped fill a need and made them feel less helpless.

I found this book soberly informative, compassionate, personal, and spiritual - a rare combination in any reliable medical book. I encourage all medical researches to hold this book up as their model for successfully communicating with a non-medical audience. ~Robert