Longevity Medicine Biomarker
Longevity Medicine is an emerging clinical model that utilizes a comprehensive preventative and personalized medical framework. Longevity medicine seems to be rapidly evolving alongside other evidence-based models including Functional Medicine and Precision Medicine.
The Underlying premise of Longevity Medicine is to maximize both health span and lifespan by the targeted use of lifestyle, nutraceutical, and pharmacological interventions. This precision-based approach seems to have gained serious traction in the decade which I attribute to the increased public awareness spearheaded by Dr. Rhona Patrick and Dr. Peter Attia. Both of which have devoted podcasts to topics surrounding longevity medicine.
Biomarkers are defined as biologic metrics or parameters used to track a physiologic process or condition. A good example of biomarker utility is the use of Hemoglobin A1C that’s used to track the risk, severity, or treatment response in the case of Type 2 Diabetes. However, in this context, a biomarker is a term that will be used to quantify the aging process.
Researchers have attempted to uncover distinct biomarkers that might correlate to longevity, but for the most part, this question has remained unanswered.
However, a recent retrospective cohort study posted in JAMA may have at least partially answered this question. This study set out to assess the correlation between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and All-Cause Mortality and revealed some significant findings. Cardiorespiratory fitness had a dose-dependent and significant inverse correlation with All-Cause Mortality. Essentially this means that an individual with higher cardiorespiratory fitness decreased their risk of death. This finding was independent of other factors such as age or sex.
This study sheds light on the importance of maximizing the foundational aspects of one’s health before experimenting with some of the novel longevity agents like NAD, Metformin, Rapamycin or Resveratrol.
Dr. Tanner Wilson, DC, IFMCP is a Functional Medicine Physician that specializes in the treatment of Chronic Disease.