Following health and well-being, the beauty industry is homing in on longevity. A relatively new concept, longevity medicine is currently practiced in longevity clinics. These clinics attempt to slow down aging and provide treatments to optimize patients’ health.
Longevity clinics offertreatments at the tissue and cellular level to assist patients in optimizing their health and reduce their risk of age-related diseases. They are centers where physicians utilize data collection methods such as full body MRIs, genetic testing and aging clocks to analyze an individual’s health and aging status.
But the procedures aren’t cheap; screenings often costing thousands of dollars for one visit. Moreover, most services and products are not covered by health insurance. Some clinics work with insurers to get coverage for medications or laboratory tests. Many longevity clinics use membership-based models to keep client loads low enough so that providers can spend time with each patient. Others are fee-for-service or use a combination of the two. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, medical director, Longevity Club Rose Bar, what we see as “normal” aging—decrepitude, frailty, disability and degeneration—is truly “abnormal” aging. He insists aging is a disease that can be treated.
Investors agree. According to Longevity Research and Media Company, longevity venture capital investment in longevity clinics more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 from $27 million to $57 million globally. No official count of longevity clinics exists, but analysts estimate as many as 800 clinics exist in the US alone. Consumer spending on wellness products and services has risen since the pandemic, contributing to a $5.6 trillion wellness market, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
Unfortunately, many people may be wasting time and money on products or services that will never materially help them. According to Allied Market Research, longevity is expected to be a $44 billion market by 2030. According to Phil Norman, editor-in-chief, Longevity Technologies, roughly 70% of global investment in longevity clinics happens in the US. Clinics are popular among the ultrawealthy because they capitalize on consumers’ obsession with living longer and their desire for personalized medical care. Americans are obsessed with fighting aging. Most people who frequent the clinics are over 40 and willing to accept the risk of services. Most longevity clinics are private and accessible only to elite few who can afford them.
Biological Aging
While chronological age refers to how long a person has been alive, biological age measures the rate at which an individual is aging. Scientists recently developed a way to estimate the age of organs, separate from the body’s age. As more of our cells fail, our bodies start to fail. There are all sorts of theories as to why this occurs. One day, patients may be able to tell through a blood test which organs are aging faster and start treatment years before chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s, diabetes or hypertension set in, according to researchers.1 This column briefly reviews some longevity- and wellness-focused clinics that offer science-based, highly personalized guidance.
Longevity Centers
Hooke Longevity Center in London operates with the mission that early intervention can treat the vast majority of diseases. Hooke offers an advanced roster of diagnostic tests to clients. A yearly membership costs $40,000. Clinique La Prairie sits in a small resort town on the coast of Lake Geneva and is known as one of the world’s premier longevity destinations. It has been around for more than 90 years; it is a destination for personalized treatments that can slow the aging process. A week of treatment at this luxurious clinic starts at $53,000. Lanserhof Lans Longevity Clinic is located in the Austrian Alps. Services include several medical examinations to support a thorough regeneration of the intestines.
Six Senses, a luxury resort in Ibiza, Spain, offers services that may sound like they are derived from science fiction. Guests can take DNA methylation tests to measure their epigenomes, analyzing which of their aging-associated genes are activated. The most popular longevity treatment is an intravenous “Ozone Therapy,” which is said to increase oxygen levels in the body and enhance cellular function. This seven-day program costs $4,700 per person. Clients can book one-day, three-day or seven-day programs. The Well Longevity Clinic has locations in New York, Miami, Mexico and Costa Rica. It offers a four-day program that costs about $3,000 per person. The clinic also offers customized IV drips, infra-red sauna sessions cold plunges and health coaching sessions.
For nearly 20 years, Navin Geria has been detailing the latest developments in the aging and longevity space. You can view all of his columns here.
Human Longevity Inc. (HLI) has clinics in San Francisco, San Diego and Beijing. HLI is focused on combining the latest technology and analytics to assist clients in extending their healthy lifespans beyond 100 years. HLI uses genotypic and phenotypic data, and diagnostic tools to generate insights that allow early detection of health risks and continuous monitoring. Together, they enable proactive avoidance of preventable and lower age-related diseases, and lower treatment costs, according to HLI. Fountain Life offers precision diagnostics for early detection of cancer, heart disease and dementia. Its clinics are located in Dallas, Naples, FL and White Plains, NY. The clinic offers a range of services, including non-invasive MRI and computerized tomography (CT) scans, a comprehensive blood panel, biological age testing, whole genome sequencing, gut microbiome analysis and DEXA bone density scans. Results are reviewed annually by a physician to monitor the client’s health. Prenuvo Longevity Clinic has six locations, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. It offers preventative whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The clinic’s mission is to provide fast and easy access to clinically significant insights, such as cancer detection so that clients can make more informed decisions about their health. Health Nucleus San Diego, CA, combines advanced technologies with the goal of helping people achieve their healthiest and longest lives.
Kaizen Progressive Health based in Scottsdale, AZ, provides regenerative, rehabilitative, and preventive services.
Human Biotechnology Company (HBC), San Diego, CA, develops therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases of aging such as vision loss and cognitive decline. HBC selectively eliminates or modulates senescent cells in an effort to restore aging or damaged tissues to a more functionally healthy state.
Chi Longevity, Singapore, offers a comprehensive 360-degree view of your health, with long-term solutions and strategies to reverse biological aging. The goal is to make evidence-based healthy longevity medicine accessible to everyone at a fraction of the cost of private longevity clinics. While private clinics can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a personalized plan, Chi Longevity charges between $1,500 and $3,000 for a baseline assessment and year-long customized care program.2 Its regenerative aesthetics therapies modulate body systems, with the promise to recover the youthful structure and function of the body. Chi’s cellular regenerative program replaces non-functioning cells in the body, which leads to the repair and regeneration of tissues and organs. Its immune health program supports and improves the overall function of the immune system and prevents immune-related illness or diseases. Stanford Center on Longevity aims to develop, accelerate and implement scientific discoveries, technological advances and behavioral practices.
Healthy Longevity Clinic has locations in Florida and Czech Republic. In acknowledging the high cost of longevity clinic visits, CEO Peter Sramek shared nine simple tips to help maximize life: eat a healthy diet, limit sugar intake, get screened regularly, move your body, manage stress, go to extremes (as we get older, our cellular recycling system slows down, so by going from hot to cold, we shock it back), get plenty of sleep, avoid toxins, and cultivate social connections.
Anderson Longevity Center, Jacksonville, FL, practices a “whole person” approach to treatment rather than focusing on symptoms. Going beyond traditional medicine, Anderson’s treatment methods include prolotherapy, low testosterone treatment and advanced lab testing.
Minicircle Life-extension Gene Therapy, based in Texas, is on “a mission to relieve suffering and enrich the human condition through means of developing safe, accessible gene therapy.” Advaitam Shafer Clinic, based in New York, offers IVs and shots as well as at-home supplements.
Proceed with Caution
Most research on aging is less focused on immortality and more on the question of how we can live longer, healthier lives. Longevity biotechnology companies are developing new biomedical treatments to target the hallmarks of aging to improve healthy lifespan and are at the forefront of the longevity industry. The rise of longevity clinics has sparked global interest, with many individuals keen to discover how they might extend their life and health span. The clinics promise cutting edge treatments and interventions to slow aging and to improve overall health. These clinics focus on early detection and treatment of age-related diseases.
However, many doctors and scientists question the safety and effectiveness of certain treatments offered by some of these longevity clinics. They caution these treatments lack robust scientific evidence or they introduce health risks.3 The ethics of stem cell use continues to be debated. The FDA has approved only a handful of stem-cell treatments, mainly for blood and immune disorders. Risks of unapproved treatments include bacterial infections and tumor growth. While there are no documented interventions that have been proven safe and effective in slowing aging in humans today.
In his book, “Ageless The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old,” Dr. Andrew Steele describes a series of experimental interventions designed to slow biological processes that are part of aging. Some clinics offer non-FDA approved services like various stem cell therapies. In general, these therapies are not approved in most circ*mstances and can lead to other health problems. It’s worth noting that, while these clinics are not totally regulated, the priciest longevity clinics offer experimental treatments in addition to medically-proven treatments. All of them hope to slow the march of time and even reverse a portion of the aging process.
References:
- Wall St. Jr. 3//11/24, A. Janin
- Life Extension, April ’24, Breakthrough Longevity News
- A. Janin, WSJ, 7/12/23, non-FDA -approved therapies such as stem-cell rejuvenation
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Navin Geria
Chief Scientific Officer
Ayurderm Technologies, LLC
navin@ayurderm.com
Navin Geria, former Pfizer Research Fellow is a cosmetic and pharmaceutical product development chemist and the chief scientific officer of AyurDerm Technologies LLC, which provides Ayurvedic, natural and cosmeceutical custom formulation development and consulting services to the spa-wellness-dermatology industries. He has launched dozens of cosmeceutical and ayurvedic anti-aging products. Geria has more than 30 years of experience in the personal care industry and was previously with Clairol, Warner-Lambert, Schick-Energizer, Bristol-Myers and Spa Dermaceuticals. He has nearly 20 US patents and has been published extensively. Geria edited the Handbook of Skin-Aging Theories for Cosmetic Formulation Development focus book published in April 2016 by Harry’s Cosmeticology. He is a speaker, moderator and chairman at cosmetic industry events.
