Roizen Speaks About ‘You’

Dr. Michael Roizen, the chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, has authored 11 books and regularly holds lectures concerning the idea of "Real Age," which suggests one's body conditions can reflect ages older or younger than their actual age depending on one's health.
Dr. Michael Roizen, the chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, has authored 11 books and regularly holds lectures concerning the idea of "Real Age," which suggests one's body conditions can reflect ages older or younger than their actual age depending on one's health.
Dr. Michael Roizen, the chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic, has authored 11 books and regularly holds lectures concerning the idea of “Real Age,” which suggests one’s body conditions can reflect ages older or younger than their actual age depending on one’s health.

By Alexis Rufener

 

On Sept. 30, Michael Roizen, Cleveland Clinic Chief Wellness Officer, added Youngstown State University to his list of venues as he gave a speech on one of his many best selling health series — “YOU”  — in the Chestnut Room located in Kilcawley Center.

Jim Tressel, YSU president, introduced Roizen.

“He is a delightful person,” Tressel said. “We are excited to have at our campus community, Dr. Michael Roizen.”

He presented his book “The Top 12 Things You Can Do for Your Health”, co-authored by Mehmet Oz, a world-renowned celebrity physician.

Roizen’s visit gave the students a chance to learn about gene control, what food to eat, along with the right vitamins and supplements that the body needs. He also discussed the American culture’s negative living habits.

“We’ve exploited our bad habits. That is good news from a competitive standpoint, but it is bad news for everyone’s standard of living. Because now every country has America’s problems,” he said during his speech.

He is a graduate of not only Williams College, but he is also an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the University of California.  After that, he began a residency at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital, furthering his knowledge of internal medicine.

He then took a big leap to The National Institute of Health to complete his residency. After holding the rank of chairman in California, he moved on to become chair at the top 10-ranked Anesthesia and Critical Care Department at the University of Chicago.

In 2007, Roizen was given the honor of chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic and to this day still holds the title. He was the first one to hold such position at a U.S. healthcare institution.

While working there, he helps patients keep up their well being, and his department’s main goal is to heighten preventive care and well being as the main brand for the Cleveland Clinic. The Clinic hopes this goal will spread to communities involved with Cleveland.

Carrie Clyde, wellness coordinator at YSU, picked Rozien as a presenter after she had the opportunity to hear him at a previous presentation. She heard him speak in Columbus at the Building Healthy Academic Communities National Summit for Ohio State University in April of 2013.

“I valued his experience and wealth of knowledge and found him to be both inspiring and motivating,” Clyde said, “I felt that his message of preventative care to maintain health and reverse disease through positive healthy lifestyle behaviors would be well received here at YSU.”

Roizen has had many accomplishments in his 68 years of life. His first book for the general audience  “RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be?” as well as his 2005 book”YOU: The Owner’s Manual” rose to the number one  spot on Amazon’s best seller list.

Along with this series making number one on the New York Times bestseller’s list, the book he wrote with Oz titled “YOU: On a Diet, the Owner’s Manual for Waist Management” held the number two spot in 2006. Both books have been successful with being translated into more than 20 languages and reached other bestsellers list in five other countries.

“I hope … people … feel inspired to preserve their health by practicing healthy habits.  It is possible to even reverse some disease through lifestyle change,” Clyde said, “I want people to feel motivated to make changes to improve their overall health, even if those changes are small, you have to start somewhere.”

Roizen continues to work with Oz on their daily newspaper column and educates Cleveland Clinic employees on ways to better improve their health and reduce stress in their daily lives.