'Power of 2': Ask Dr. Oz How You Can Extend Your Lifespan
How two simple and immediate actions can extend your life.
May 12, 2008— -- At 28 years old, Lisa Przygoda of New York is on a marathon of sorts, one that's lasted more than a decade. She's trying to protect herself from what happened to her father when she 16 years old -- a massive heart attack.
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"We were on our family vacation in Orlando, Fla., he went on his routine morning jog and never came back," she said.
Doctors said what Lisa's family learned is a good lesson for everyone to learn.
First, ask about your family history. A simple question can unlock your medical makeup and add years to your life.
Click here for instructions on how to compile your medical family tree.
Create your own personalized family health history report here.
"We found out that his mother -- my grandmother -- all her siblings passed away of heart disease," Przygoda said. "He never asked."
"The simplest, easiest way to keep yourself alive is to get your family history. It tells us what types of proteins your body makes, and helps us predict how much of a genetic risk you have for disease," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and chairman of surgery at the New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University.
Just by finding out your family history, doctors say one-third of all diseases can be predicted and possibly held at bay.
Przygoda has already made changes.
"By checking her blood pressure and assuring herself that it is in the perfect, optimal range, which is less than 120 over 80, she can get herself an extra decade of life," he said.
And doctors said you should also think about this: exercising your brain.
"When we look at folks who are developing dementia, one thing that we find over and over again is they stop making connections between the neuro cells of the brain. But exercising your brain -- things as simple as crossword puzzles can allow you to arrest dementia," Oz said.
Studies show those who stimulate their minds the most can lower their chances of developing the systems of dementia by 35 percent to 40 percent.
So ABC News took crossword puzzles to a New York cafe, asking people to spend just 15 minutes on them. They had no idea why..
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