Kate Marie

At the age of 40, Kate felt fat and frumpy, hardly exercised, ate poorly and drank too much. With a marriage and business failure, Kate was referred to a psychiatrist. A diagnosis of postnatal depression triggered her journey through the healthcare system and her own self- development. A bad reaction to anti-depressant drugs initiated a need to seek alternative solutions. What started with a visit to a GP specialising in nutrition and hormone replacement, comprehensive testing and a hormone and supplement plan, resulted in her body awakening and leaving her with a desire to consider her future and strategy for the next 30 years. She wanted a long-term plan for staying well.

Seeking guidance to help her look good, stay healthy, avoid disease and age slowly, Kate encountered a lack of accepted best practice guidelines. She found no industry-validated and globally-recognised best practice protocols to guide practitioners in delivering anti-ageing medicine or advice. She also found there was no reputable body that accredits, educates or examines doctors or other practitioners in anti-ageing medicine.

Kate came to a realisation that she had no chance of slowing ageing trying to use the healthcare system as it was. Our healthcare system is designed to help us only when we are sick. Evidence indicates that you can increase the length of time that you are healthy, and help fend off disease and disability associated with age. As a result, Kate set out to create her own information source to guide her through the ageing process. She sought to establish a set of principles to help herself and others stay well, knowing that her money, time and effort on was focused on activities that actually work. As a busy professional and working mum, Kate wanted to do things literally 'by the book' to stay well but couldn't find a book that was actually up to the task.

Kate has had a long-term interest in healthcare. She started her working journey as a registered nurse 30 years ago. A diverse range of professional roles include sales and strategic marketing, publishing and business development in the health and medical and aged care sectors. An early exposure to health stimulated her interest (and frustration) in wanting to better support consumers and facilitate empowerment to get more from our healthcare system and enjoy a relationship based on equality with practitioners. Having a background in business, marketing and communications in the publishing and health industries was an asset in putting together the collaboration and taking an evidence-based approach to the development of the book. Kate's professional path has also included the development of major websites that seek to engage and educate healthcare professionals and consumers to more efficiently and effectively engage with the health system.

Kate is also a mother of two lovely and healthy boys, Raphael 11 and Sebastian 9, who are tired of hearing about the book, their health and how to protect their prostate by eating cooked tomatoes every day!