Dr. Edward Rosick

Author of "Optimal Prevention: Common-Sense Ways to Avoid the Five Most Common Killer Diseases Today"... Optimal Family Health

March 2017

By Garry Messick

Dr. Edward Rosick believes that illness should be stopped through prevention before it has a chance to infiltrate our bodies.

As a triple board-certified (in preventive medicine, holistic medicine and public health), physician and writer living in Michigan, Dr. Rosick says he is committed to helping as many people as possible to reach a state of optimum health and well-being, which he describes as “truly the basis for a joyful life.”

Dr. Rosick’s medical philosophy is simple and common-sense, yet grounded in cutting edge science. As he explains it, “Through a well-balanced diet, the appropriate supplements and hormones, a regular exercise regime and some type of stress reduction (be it meditation, prayer, yoga, etc.), the vast majority of chronic diseases, which are the top killers in the western world today—Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, strokes, and type II diabetes—can be prevented, allowing people to live long, healthy, productive and happy lives.”

In this interview with Life Extension®, Dr. Rosick kindly consented to an in-depth discussion of his fascinating new book, Optimal Prevention: Common-Sense Ways to Avoid the Five Most Common Killer Diseases Today.

LE: What kind of a role can supplements play in preventive medicine? You occasionally see articles critical of them in the mainstream press.

ER: Yesterday, as I was checking out at my local grocery store, I picked up a copy of Reader’s Digest and read an article warning people about the “dangers” of supplements. I don’t know where Reader’s Digest gets the authors to write these articles, but I do know from writing over three hundred articles on supplements and integrative medicine that not only is the wise use of supplements not harmful, it can help protect you from the diseases that affect and kill millions of people every year. Recently, the Lewin Group, a leading analytical firm, released information showing that the use of some simple, safe supplements could save over $24 billion in healthcare costs.

LE: What were some of the health benefits they found, and what would be the overall savings in healthcare costs for each?

ER: For example, if the 25% of American women of childbearing age who don’t take folic acid would do so, the number of neural tube defects in their children could be substantially reduced, saving $1.4 billion over the span of five years.

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Another example—if men and women on Medicare began regularly taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, almost 800,000 hospitalizations for hip fractures could be prevented, saving more than $16 billion, again, over a five-year span.

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One more—if more middle-aged and elderly people began taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements, about 375,000 hospitalizations and visits to doctors for heart disease could be prevented, saving over $3 billion a year.

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LE: Let’s talk about some other specific supplements and their benefits. Magnesium, for instance.

ER: This common mineral has been shown in a number of studies to play an important role in preventing or treating a number of cardiovascular illnesses, including atherosclerosis, congestive heart disease, ischemic heart disease, sudden cardiac death, and cardiac arrhythmias. With an impressive résumé like that, it’s no wonder that magnesium is a front-line therapy for heart-disease prevention and a supplement that I recommend to almost all my patients.

GET THE MAGNESIUM YOUR BODY NEEDS FOR OPTIMAL HEART AND OVERALL HEALTH.

ER: I hope you read it (THE BOOK) from cover to cover and implement whatever is right for you. On a larger scale, learn more about prevention and then educate your friends, your relatives, and even your physician. Finally, in a perfect world, the government would wake from its bureaucratic stupor and realize that putting money into preventive medicine would save both lives and money. So write and call your congressional representatives and senators at both the state and national level—if there’s one thing politicians respond to, it’s an active and engaged populace!