I believe we can prevent or delay most disease until the 9th or

The words of David Agus—“I believe we can prevent or delay most disease until the 9th or 10th decade. The goal is to prevent anything that can affect your quality of life prior to those years! By the time many of us get to the 9th or 10th decade, who knows where the new medical and science will take us? I am an optimist!”—resound with the voice of both healer and prophet. In them is the vision of a man who does not see aging as an inevitable march toward suffering, but as a journey that can be extended, enriched, and transformed by wisdom, prevention, and the relentless progress of medical science.

From the earliest times, humanity has sought to escape the grip of disease and decay. The ancients searched for the elixir of life, alchemists toiled to turn base metals into gold and weakness into vitality, and philosophers debated the balance between body and soul. Where they sought in mystery, we now search in science. Agus, standing in this lineage, proclaims that our greatest power is not only in curing disease once it strikes, but in preventing it from taking root. His hope is not merely for years added to life, but for life added to years—a quality of being undiminished until the very edge of existence.

History offers us glimpses of this truth. Consider the transformation brought by the discovery of vaccination in the 18th century. Smallpox, a terror that scarred and killed millions, was erased from the earth by prevention rather than cure. Later, penicillin turned once-fatal infections into minor inconveniences. Each breakthrough shifted humanity closer to what Agus envisions: not merely surviving, but thriving well into old age, with diseases postponed until the twilight of life. These are the seeds of his optimism, planted by the victories of the past and nourished by the promises of the future.

His words also carry a challenge: the responsibility for health begins not in the hospital, but in the daily life of each individual. To prevent disease until the 9th or 10th decade is not only the work of scientists—it is also the fruit of choices: the foods we eat, the movements we make, the habits we cultivate. Agus’s vision is not a distant fantasy; it is a call to each of us to live with intention, to guard our quality of life as a treasure, and to see the years not as a burden but as an opportunity to extend vitality.

There is also a sacred humility in his optimism. Agus admits that by the time many of us reach such advanced decades, new horizons will open—who knows where science will take us? In this question lies both awe and hope. It recalls how, in past centuries, men and women could not have imagined antibiotics, organ transplants, or the mapping of the human genome. If the past has brought wonders beyond imagination, what marvels may the future hold? Agus’s optimism, then, is not naïve—it is grounded in the undeniable momentum of human discovery.

The lesson for us is clear: live not in fear of decline, but in preparation for vitality. Do not surrender to the belief that sickness is inevitable; instead, embrace the path of prevention, of conscious living, of hope joined with discipline. Respect the gifts of science, honor the practices of health, and prepare your body and spirit to endure into the long years. Optimism, when coupled with action, becomes power.

Practical action lies before us: attend to your health not only when illness arrives, but daily, in the quiet choices of diet, rest, exercise, and mindfulness. Support the pursuit of medical research, for it carries the torch of progress into the future. And above all, cultivate the optimism Agus proclaims. For it is optimism that drives discovery, that fuels perseverance, that allows humanity to imagine what others call impossible.

So let David Agus’s words be carried like a banner: disease can be delayed, health can be preserved, life can be lengthened in quality and dignity. Let us live with wisdom, prepare with discipline, and hope with courage. For in doing so, we honor not only our own lives but the generations yet to come, who will inherit the fruits of science and the legacy of our optimism.