The idea of staying young and healthy is a universal quest of mankind.
Dr. Wimpie Pangkahila, chairman of Udayana University’s Center for the Study of Anti-Aging Medicine announced the opening of the Center for the Study of Anti-Aging Medicine (CSAAM) was opened in February 2006.
The center, the first of its kind in Indonesia, focuses on education and research on anti-aging medicine.
Early last month, the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the prestigious American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (AAM) in the areas of human resource training and technology development.
Pangkahila explained that signing the MOU held a significant impact for the development of anti-aging studies in the country.
"Indonesian doctors need to follow the rapid progress in medical studies. Anti-aging studies is an important subject that has always developed quickly," he said.
While anti-aging studies have long been included in the curriculum of medical schools in Indonesia, the Udayana center provides a more focused, comprehensive approach to the field.
"Anti-aging treatments deal with not only physical appearances, but on the overall health condition of a person using holistic medical diagnoses and approaches," he said.
One of the center’s missions is to educate the public on what anti-aging and anti-aging medicine are, and how they might benefit from this special area.
The first anti-aging medicine was developed by Dr. Robert Goldman and Dr. Ronal Klatz in l981, but the area evolved as a medical specialty in the United States only in early 1991.
During a visit to Bali earlier this month, Goldman launched his best-selling book, The New Anti-Aging Revolution.
According to Goldman and experts in the AAM, the degenerative effects of biological aging leaves the body less able to resist pathogens and combat diseases. The experts believed, said Goldman, that if the aging process could be slowed, the prevalence and acuteness of many degenerative diseases and disabilities associated with aging could be reduced.
Biologically Identical Hormone Replacement, correct use of nutritional supplements and lifestyle changes — including stress management and regular physical exercise — can slow the aging process. Anti-aging therapies have the potential to reinforce bodily self-maintenance and thus reduce the impact of degenerative diseases.
