Last March, the cover of the Wall Street Journal opened with the longevity boom and the showdown it has caused among scientists. Months later, microphones captured images of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin … We talk about the possibility of living up to 120 years old… and there is an area in Ourense, for some reason, where many of the residents are over 100 years old.
Since the average human life expectancy is about 80 years, for some, the goal of medicine has been to extend it to more than 100 years. Others aim to ensure disease-free life expectancy for as long as possible, so that age-related diseases appear as close to the end of life as possible.
It is clear that Longevity boom Arrived in Spain, and in almost every building we find cosmetic or cosmetic clinics, which increasingly include terms such as “Anti-aging”“Wellness,” “well-being,” and “longevity.” For the President of the Spanish Foundation for Aesthetic Medicine and Longevity (FEMEL), Dr. Jesús García Corcovado, longevity medicine can currently be considered a subspecialty of medicine – not yet recognized as a specialty within the catalog of the Ministry of Health – and will consist of research to prolong the disease-free life of the patient.
Dr. Angel Dorantez, director of the Neliva Clinic and a pioneer in this specialty in our country, shares the same opinion; Dr. Ana Castillo, Director of the Kairos Longevity Clinic, and Dr. José Hernandez Poveda, Director of the Aging Reversal Clinics, in Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. The goal is to be able to enjoy our lives to the fullest, slowing down the onset of diseases and even “reversing them, if we can detect them in time,” explains Dr. Dorantez, who is also a member of the Spanish Society of Anti-Aging and Longevity Medicine (SEMAL) and advocates longevity medicine. “If we had an open mind, it would end up being a specialty, like sports medicine, which isn’t there either, but it would end up coming in, as a hope for the future.” Life and associated diseases make the health system unsustainable.
For longevity specialists, Life goes through 4 stages: Until the end of the thirties or the beginning of the forties we live free of diseases; Between the ages of forty and sixty, we live with a subjective perception of a good life; From age 60 onwards, it is life with few health problems but free of dependency; For nearly 78 years, it has become a life of dependency. Knowing that this stratification is the average age.
Patient experience
The centers ABC spoke to agree that, significantly, Diagnostic and monitoring centresSometimes some treatment can be done. “There are not many centers in the world dedicated exclusively to this, and we meet once a year at the BUCK Institute, at the Roundtable of Longevity Clinics, where we talk about upcoming developments and treatments,” explains Dr. Dorantez.
Another common point is that this approach is “unique and personalized for each patient, taking into account their circumstances and needs, after in-depth study,” explains Dr. Ana Castillo.
This process consists of three steps. The first thing is the visit in which the patient’s complete medical history, family history, environment and lifestyle are analyzed. Using this information, a series of imaging tests, analytical tests, biomarkers and, if appropriate, genome sequencing are planned, which may lead to the detection of a greater risk or predisposition to developing a particular disease.
“We are talking about actionable diseases, that is, those that we can act to treat, slow down or reverse,” explains Dr. Luis Izquierdo, Medical Director of Veritas Intercontinental, partner in Clínica Neleva and Sanitas-BUPA.
In the second consultation, test results are reviewed and the patient’s priorities and treatments are determined, which include lifestyle changes, diet, nutritional supplements and, if necessary, medications, with the aim of slowing down the disease – if it is active. Finally, periodic monitoring is carried out according to the needs of each patient.
Rubin, a patient at Klinika Neleva, asserts that his approach to longevity medicine “changed his life.” “Thanks to the tests they performed on me, they discovered a congenital heart disease that gave rise to atheromatous plaques that could deceive me at any time.” Now he admits that he is “obsessed” with this drug, is undergoing treatment and has changed his lifestyle.
SHA Wellness has also moved towards longevity and already has an “Advanced Longevity” programme, which aims to biologically rejuvenate, slow down the aging process, integrate knowledge and eating habits, and increase the number of years we live in good health and function, which is known as Healthspan. Its difference from its predecessors is that it includes income.
Insurance companies are coming too
Longevity is more than just a trend or fad, and this is evidenced by the fact that two insurance companies already have active programs in this area. Asisa, with “Bienvejecer”, a “preventive continuity” program that helps policyholders obtain a full life expectancy”, based on data accumulated over more than 50 years and “its commitment to accompanying people at different stages of their lives in order to Ensure that you live many years with a higher quality of life“, explains Dr. Isabel Diaz, Medical Director of the Asisa Foundation. Through an application that “contains informational content based on scientific evidence, it measures different factors related to healthy lifestyle habits, facilitating health education and adherence to healthy lifestyle habits.” For Dr. Diaz, “a combination of awareness and perseverance is essential.”
Sanitas-Bupa launched the My Genomic Health project a few months ago, in alliance with Veritas, “with the ambition that our patients will live longer with a better quality of life. This is an evidence-based scientific project, where we search, through genome sequencing, for actionable diseases, so that, If we find an increased probability of developing pathology, we can detect it early “By knowing your genome, we can design a highly personalized program for each patient, according to their DNA and genome,” explains Jesús Geronimo, Director of Digital Health at Sanitas and Bupa. This is part of the company’s goal of leaving a better world.
For the Director of Mi Salud Genómica, Dr. Javier Suela, from the data extracted so far, “a greater commitment is inferred, a ‘contract with my life’, because they become aware of the risks associated with their health. We are a health company and we have the challenge of transmitting this information in the hospital environment. “From the information that we extract from the genome, we will be able to implement the improvements that medicine will bring in the future.”