As a young surgeon, Ellsworth Wareham, M.D. — one of the first doctors to practice open heart surgery in the United States — studied diagrams and simulated human procedures on dogs before operating on a patient.
Today, at age 100, Dr. Wareham notes that modern medicine is vastly different than in his day. But the Loma Linda, Calif., resident’s lifetime of experiences continues to offer timeless and enduring lessons for health and longevity,
Fox News reports.
“You know how people will say they had ‘their call’ to something? I felt that I was actually called to be a doctor,” Dr. Wareham said. “There had never been any question in my mind about this."
Dr. Wareham has garnered as much attention for his career as a surgeon as he has for his longevity. At the age of 100, he still does all of his own yard work and climbs up and down the stairs in his two-story home.
He doesn’t use a cane and has always opted for stairs instead of taking the elevator, citing research out of Stanford University from about 25 years ago that suggested a 46 percent decreased incidence of death by heart disease by climbing a flight of stairs 20 times per week.
He also adopted a vegan diet in midlife after reading research that showed animal protein raises cholesterol. He credits his good health — and his clearness of mind — in large part to that decision.
Although he retired from operating in the surgical unit at Loma Linda University at age 74, Dr. Wareham mentored and assisted residents at the university until age 95.
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