introduction: Enhancing Quality of Life as We Age
A subspecialty of medicine called longevity medicine teaches us how to live healthier, longer lives. Its main goal is to make sure that as we age, we continue to lead healthy, active lifestyles. What is the precise meaning of longevity? What simple lifestyle changes can you make to lengthen your life? To learn the answers, read the article.
What exactly does the term “longevity” imply?
The definition of longevity is the ability to live a longer, healthier life. It predicts a person’s lifespan and how healthy he will be as he ages. Another way to conceive about longevity is as a condition in which someone lives over their expected lifespan.
Longevity is comprised on three concepts:
- Increasing an individual’s longevity
- enhancing an individual’s health (healthspan = living longer without sickness)
- regulating and reversing ageing symptoms
Three things that influence your longevity
Many things can influence how long and healthy you live. These elements are as follows:
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- Genetics
Longevity is influenced by genetics. Studies show that about 25% of a person’s variation in lifespan is influenced by genetic variables. These gene variants are in charge of defending the cell from aging’s impacts. They are in charge of maintaining telomeres (chromosome ends), mending DNA, and shielding the cell from oxidative stress, which is caused by mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species.
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- Environment
The environment has a significant impact on longevity. Air quality, for example, is one of the environmental elements. Because of lower air pollution from automobiles and factories during the lockdown, Europe’s death rate fell. Living at higher elevations is another environmental element that might increase longevity.
What longevity tests are available?
The goal of Longeny is to move medicine away from treating illness symptoms and towards disease prevention. Tracking your body provides insights into how to regulate your ageing process and live a healthy life. As a result, we always begin each therapy with extensive, highly personalised lifespan diagnostics. To determine lifespan, we employ several diagnostic methods such as genetic screening, physiological measurements, and epigenetic clocks.
Genetic testing
Hereditary testing is done to determine your hereditary risk of getting certain diseases These genetic risk variations have been linked to an increased risk of illnesses such as cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. If you have these variations, you should take extra measures and strive for a healthy lifestyle from a young age to avoid negative results.
Physiological evaluations
As you age, your cells undergo several changes. Some of these alterations are microscopic, resulting in cell modifications that have a wide range of physiological effects. Here is a list of physiological tests that may be used to measure health at a health or longevity clinic today:
- Pulse Wave Velocity and Aging: As we get older, our blood vessels become stiffer, and our heart doesn’t work as flexibly. To check this, doctors can use tests like electrocardiograms and eye pressure measurements.
- Heart Rate Variability and Aging: With age, changes in how our heart rate varies can lead to heart problems. Any treatment for aging hearts should aim to make these patterns more like those of younger hearts.
- Grip Strength and Staying Healthy: Having weaker grip strength as we age is linked to a higher risk of death, especially from heart problems and overall frailty. Doctors often use grip strength as an important measure in older people’s health.
- Lung Capacity and Exercise: As we age, our lungs don’t work as well, which makes it harder to exercise. Doctors can measure this using tests like spirometry and plethysmography to see how well our lungs are functioning.
The epigenetic clock
There is the epigenome in addition to the genome that you inherit from your parents. The epigenome regulates gene expression through distinct ways. Epigenetic clocks are intended to target epigenetic areas that regulate age-related disorders. The Grim Age clock has so far provided the best forecast for mortality endpoints.
4 ways to increase your longevity
You may go beyond your life expectancy and maximise your longevity by following various tactics and adjusting your lifestyle based on your individual biomarkers revealed in medical tests. Among these approaches are:
Exercise on a regular basis
Exercise has several beneficial impacts. They affect practically every element of the body and brain by lowering the risk of, treating, and preventing illnesses such as noncommunicable and, in particular, cardiovascular diseases. It may just take 15 minutes of exercise every day to get various advantages, such as an extra three years of life.
Consume nutritious plant foods.
It aids your immune system. Plants include important elements that are not found in other foods.
“Plants give your body what it needs to help fight off infection,” explains Andrea Murray, MD Anderson health education expert. “A plant-based diet strengthens your immune system to protect you against germs and microorganisms.”
Good sleeping habits
Sleep is essential for regulating cell activity and healing your body. A regular and consistent sleeping routine is essential, so attempt to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. The amount of time spent sleeping is also crucial. Sleeping too little or too much may reduce your longevity.
Develop your social life.
A robust social network can help you live up to 50% longer. It has been shown that having only three social relationships can reduce your chance of dying prematurely by more than 200%. Having a robust and healthy social circle is associated with decreased stress, which explains the good influence of social life on longevity.
Conclusion: You have the potential to extend your lifespan.
Physical activity, a nutritious diet, and a regular sleep pattern are all effective solutions. There are also certain substances that can help with longevity. However, before implementing or undertaking any of the techniques indicated above, it is always advisable to obtain the counsel of a healthcare practitioner.
Longeny, as a startup, offers valuable insights and tools to help individuals extend their healthy lifespan by understanding and optimizing their unique biomarkers, enabling them to make informed lifestyle choices for a healthier and longer life.
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