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Tag: longevity

  • 4 Ways to Get Happier As You Age

    People around the world collectively spend billions of dollars each year on products and services designed to extend their lives. But if they funnel all that money, time, and energy into the pursuit of longevity—only to reach those extra years and realize they’re not exactly enjoying them—what’s the point?

    Such is the dilemma that inspired Dr. Kerry Burnight, a geriatrician who’s treated thousands of older patients, to coin the term “joyspan”—what she sees as the third piece of the longevity puzzle, alongside “lifespan” (how many years you live) and “healthspan” (how many of them are spent in good health). Joyspan, as its name suggests, describes the experience of well-being and satisfaction in longevity.

    “What motivated me is watching all the suffering,” Burnight says. “For the first 20 years of my career, I kept seeing people alone, slumped over in wheelchairs, who were like, ‘I don’t have any purpose in my life.’”

    At first, she assumed that was the inevitable result of reaching an advanced age. Then she realized that, actually, a robust body of research shines light on why some people thrive in their later years and others don’t. In her 2025 book Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half, Burnight dispenses tips on how to achieve this better way of growing older.

    As part of TIME’s series interviewing leaders in the longevity field, we caught up with Burnight to talk about what the new “old age” could look like. 

    This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

    When should people start thinking about cultivating their joyspan?

    Joyspan is for anyone who’s aging, and guess who that is? Everyone. The earlier you start, the better. What improves your life from 83 to 84 is the same thing that improves your life from 23 to 24.

    In this emphasis on quantity of years, we’ve overlooked quality. Joyspan focuses on the quality of your long life—and it isn’t just chance; it isn’t just genes. It’s these small, everyday habits and outlooks that we adopt. It’s up to us to lean into growing older, and to change the question from how not to age, to how to age with vitality, with beauty, with relevance, with humor, and with gusto.

    It sounds like the million-dollar question: How does one go about doing that?

    It’s very clear. The research groups it into four areas: grow, connect, adapt, and give. They’re all verbs, because they all take effort. Just like with physical health, you don’t just say, ‘Oh, that person’s just lucky.’ No, every day they were choosing to do things that lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease and improved their flexibility and agility, and as a result, they changed their aging trajectory physically. Likewise, you can do these four things on the inside—and it’s a lifelong practice.

    Let’s talk through each of these four actions. What does prioritizing growth look like as you age?

    When we say things like ‘I expect to grow, I’m going to put effort into my growth, and I’m going to push myself to do hard things, uncomfortable things, novel things, and fun things,’ that’s going to make you a different older person than an older person who’s like, ‘I can’t do anything anymore. I can just stay in my house.’

    Read More: 4 Science-Backed Habits That Could Help You Live Longer

    Ask yourself: ‘What am I currently doing that is growth?’ It starts with curiosity, like if you have any tiny inkling of, ‘What the heck is Bitcoin?’ Or, ‘I wonder if I could do stand-up comedy or learn how to do makeup so I can do it for women who have cancer, and draw on their eyebrows.’ The next step is actually doing those things. We make kids do hard things all the time: ‘You never jumped off a high dive? Too bad.’ When we’re older, we stop doing that—so we need to get back in the habit of pushing ourselves to do things that are a little hard.

    Connecting is another key to aging well. How can people get better at it?

    People who excel at connecting put time into new and existing relationships. We need to be that friend—the one who picks up the phone to call, who offers to drive you to chemo, who remembers that your dad died five years ago on this day. I have people come to me and go, ‘Nobody calls me, nobody invites me anywhere. I don’t have anything to look forward to.’ I listen with love, and then I say, ‘Tell me about the invitations you’ve extended. Tell me about the people you texted.’ And every time, they go, ‘Oh, shoot.’

    At every age, we need to be putting ourselves out there, even if it takes knocking on five doors to find our person.

    What does it mean to learn how to adapt?

    Adapting means adjusting to changing and challenging situations. You’re going to have to deal with hard stuff, and when you do, you can say: ‘I have a choice on how I attend to this.’ The way you’re remembered in life is largely how you walk with your hard thing, whatever it is. There’s this quote from Henry Miller I always think about: ‘There is nothing wrong with life itself. It is the ocean in which we swim, and we either adapt to it or sink to the bottom.’ We can do that through coping strategies like journaling, meditating, and adopting a gratitude practice.

    Read More: Unlocking the Secrets to Living to 100

    That gratitude practice seems so simple, but it’s really proven in the literature. I see it over and over again when people wake up in the morning and go, ‘I have to do this, then I have this doctor’s appointment, and this is wrong, and my daughter’s getting a divorce.’ This is the opposite of that. You proactively wake up in the morning and go, ‘I have a soft pillow. I get to go downstairs and have some coffee. I’m going to call this person. I’m going to pet my cat.’ And then, you start seeing things to be grateful for everywhere you look.

    You’ve said your favorite element of aging well is giving. Why is it key to thriving in life?

    When people give, they’re sharing themselves. I recommend coming up with a giving goal, like doing one little kind gesture a day. Maybe you live next door to a single mother, and you tell her that at dinner time, you can go over and hold or entertain the kids while she focuses on cooking. Then it becomes a habit, and before you know it, you feel great, because these acts of giving feed you as much—if not more—than they do the person you’re giving to.

    Read More: Want to Live Longer? First Find Out How Old You Really Are

    I have a patient who’s almost 100, and she is the best listener in the world. Everybody—her kids, her nurses, the grandkids—can’t wait to be with her, because she’s such an engaged listener. When I look at her, I think, ‘Oh my gosh. Even if I have all these challenges, I could be like her, because she has something to give, and she’s giving it.’ 

    Joyspan doesn’t just make you happier—it makes you healthier, too. What are some of the benefits?

    That’s the great news: The same things that increase your joyspan have also been shown to increase your lifespan and your healthspan. There’s research showing that the “giver’s high,” for example, lowers inflammation, and that’s correlated to a healthier and longer life. And when physical exercise releases endorphins that help you feel better, that enables you to go, ‘Hmm. I think maybe I’ll give it a go to try to make a new friend.’ All these arrows point in the same direction.

    What message of hope do you want to spread to people?

    My mom started these practices 20 years ago, and I have watched her change the trajectory of her life. She’s 96 now. She lives alone in her home, and she’s the best version of herself that she’s ever been. She wasn’t always positive. She didn’t always have perfect health habits. But these seemingly small changes have made a different life for her. 

    She has congestive heart failure and she’s had knee replacements, and she also went through bankruptcy and her husband died. Yet she is gorgeous, radiant, and hilarious, and people can’t get enough of her. And she’s not unique. There are millions of people who are doing this, and it’s possible for all of us regardless of external circumstances. I want to normalize that, so we can all recognize that this new longevity—this new old age—is different.

    This article is part of TIME Longevity, an editorial platform dedicated to exploring how and why people are living longer and what this means for individuals, institutions, and the future of society. For other articles on this topic, click here.

    Angela Haupt

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  • Startups Are Trying to Help People Live Longer. Longevity Researchers Say They Should Focus on This Instead

    Human longevity science has seen a surge of commercial investment in recent years, as venture capitalists and private financiers flood the space looking to develop medical interventions and therapies that purport to extend the human lifespan. 

    At the Inc. 5000 conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, the scientific researchers Jay Olshansky and Allen Wang discussed the human longevity boom alongside Mark Rivers, the CEO of Canyon Ranch, a hospitality group. 

    The trio all agreed that the explosion of investment and hype surrounding human longevity can sometimes muddle a vital point: It’s important the industry focuses on improving people’s health, rather than lifespans. 

    “I came into the [human longevity] field a couple years ago, and really the philosophy that all the researchers enforce is that our research is extending the health-span, not the lifespan,” Wang, an epigenomic researcher at the University of California, San Diego, said. 

    “A year of healthy life has an extraordinary value that I think we don’t often understand or appreciate,” Olshansky, a professor of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago said, echoing Wang. 

    While eliminating disease is a noble and worthwhile goal, that isn’t the goal of longevity research. Rather, Olshansky’s field seeks to understand how to expand the years of healthy life enjoyed by most people. “The longer we live, the more difficult it becomes to live longer,” he said. 

    It’s easy to see how a startup promising the elixir of youth could be seen as peddling snake oil, Olshansky argued. But longevity is a broad category, encompassing apps that track certain biometric markers, supplements that purport to promote longevity, as well as companies like Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical firm staffed by PhDs that develops therapies for cellular health. 

    There’s also full-body MRIs, hormone therapies, and perhaps most popular, GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backs a longevity startup called Retro Biosciences, and the field has grown thanks to the influencer Bryan Johnson, whose attempts to become immortal have become a pop-culture phenomenon portrayed in a Netflix documentary. 

    What often gets lost in all the hype surrounding longevity, Olshansky said, is that there aren’t a lot of revolutionary therapies available for the common person. At least not yet. Canyon Ranch offers a retreat called Longevity8, which immerses attendees in a protocol of screenings, tests, and various mental health programs. It costs $20,000, and Rivers said “it’s not a panacea,” but it still gets people coming back. “In this space, there are mercenaries, and there are missionaries,” Rivers said. “We are devout believers in science.” 

    Rivers explained that Longevity8 combines “eastern modalities, mental health, and spiritual wellness” programs with board certified dieticians, sports medicine specialists, and Dexabody scans, which measure bone density. 

    That kind of treatment might not be affordable for most people. Luckily, there are plenty of ways for the vast majority of humanity to heighten their chances of living longer. “Get a good pair of walking or running shoes,” Olshansky said, “because exercise is about the only equivalent to a fountain of youth that exists today.”

    Sam Blum

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  • Is Creatine A Brain Health Supplement? What A New Study Reveals

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  • The Link Between Sleep & Muscle Health, From A Nurse Practitioner

    That doesn’t mean exercise and nutrition aren’t important when it comes to building and maintaining muscle. “When I’m working with someone who’s really trying to build lean muscle, I always remind them that you have to hit protein macros, you have to lift heavy things, and you have to have high-quality sleep,” she explains. “You can’t build healthy, lean muscle without all three of those.” 

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  • Study Finds Microplastics In The Brain — Here’s What To Do About It

    For years, scientists have sounded the alarm on microplastics—tiny plastic particles found in our food, water, air, and even our blood. But now, groundbreaking research has confirmed something even more alarming: These plastic fragments are accumulating in the human brain at higher levels than ever recorded.

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  • 4 Science-Backed Habits That Could Help You Live Longer

    People have been obsessed with cheating death for millennia, but until recently, little had been understood about how to extend life—or if it was even possible. 

    Scientists now say they are getting closer to unlocking the secrets of longevity. Billions of dollars are being spent on an effort to find drugs and other therapies that could help people live healthier for longer. 

    But what if the fountain of youth was already within our reach: everyday habits, backed by science, that could transform your health now? 

    Dr. Eric Verdin, president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, says that while continued research into aging and potential longevity therapies is necessary and exciting, researchers have already identified four simple factors that could help people live healthier, longer lives.

    “Most people today could expect to live to 95 in good health based on what we know about these four factors,” says Verdin, who is also a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “When I tell this to people, they don’t really believe me. They think this isn’t true, but it is. That’s what the data says.”

    So, what are these factors? Nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and social engagement.

    “People will think, oh, that’s boring. I know this. My grandmother knew this. But I would say, not so fast. Educate yourself about what it means,” says Verdin. “When we say physical activity, what does that mean? What’s a healthier diet?” 

    Longevity researchers have been probing these questions and have unearthed some compelling answers, Verdin says. As part of TIME’s series interviewing leaders in the longevity field, we spoke to Verdin about this research and other advancements in the science of aging.

    This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

    How would you define aging?

    Imagine two trucks, both made in the 1940s. One is rusty and has all the telltale signs of age and the other one is in pristine condition because a car collector has been maintaining it and repairing it so it’s essentially in the same state it was in when it rolled off the assembly line. 

    The difference between these two trucks is maintenance and repair and the same thing is true for us. From the day you’re born, your body is subjected to a whole series of insults—ultraviolet light from the sun, gamma rays coming from space, the oxygen that we breathe that induces oxidative stress, gravity that pulls on your nerves, on your tendons and so on. All of these forces generate insults and cause damage to your DNA, to your proteins, to your cells in general. But our bodies are imbued with a whole series of protective mechanisms that allows it to repair damage and it’s doing that continuously.

    Aging is the subtle, progressive degradation of these repair pathways over time. This degradation causes you to slowly accumulate small defects—a wrinkle, for example. A wrinkle is a cross-linking of some of the collagen fibers under your skin. Once it’s cross-linked, you cannot undo that. You cannot repair it. Now imagine that at the level of the whole organism. That is what aging is.

    The implication of this is that if we could understand what these maintenance and repair pathways are and can figure out how to target them, then we will be able to slow down aging. This is what a lot of the longevity field is now dealing with.

    What prompted your interest in longevity research? 

    My lab started working more actively on aging around the mid-1990s, which was an exciting time for aging research. Aging had previously been viewed as a sort of non-specific process that was very hard to study. But from around 1988 to 1995, a number of labs identified a whole series of genes that, when mutated, could actually increase lifespan [in yeast and animals]. People had previously predicted that finding these genes would be impossible because aging was thought to have multiple causes: oxidative stress, gamma rays, gravity. But what these discoveries showed was that despite the multiplicity of insults that lead to aging, there were a number of central genes that could change the whole paradigm of how well and how fast you age. That really created a lot of excitement. Since then, hundreds of genes have been identified that appear to control aging. 

    My lab has focused mostly on epigenetic regulation [which is the process by which genes can be turned on or off by certain biochemical mechanisms]. Epigenetic regulation is very relevant to aging because during the aging process, these mechanisms become a little loose. My lab has identified, cloned, and characterized some of the key enzymes that modify histones [a type of protein that plays a central role in epigenetic regulation]. Another area that we’ve worked a lot on is ketogenesis and the role of ketone bodies.

    Does that have anything to do with the “keto” diet? 

    It does. Ketone bodies or ketones [a type of chemical that is produced by the liver when it breaks down fats] are a form of energy that our body can use like fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. But other than being an energy source, we discovered in the 2000s that ketones are also signaling molecules that are speaking to the epigenetic regulatory mechanism. We found that a type of ketone known as beta hydroxybutyrate is an inhibitor of [an enzyme that modifies histones and is involved in aging]. Based on this, we postulated that ketones might have an anti-aging effect. We put mice on a ketogenic diet and showed that they actually did live longer. Median age was increased and they had better brain aging and so on. I think the reason you’ve heard about the ketogenic diet being healthy is in large part because of that work.

    There are multiple ways to enter a state of ketosis. One way is prolonged fasting. It takes at least 21 hours of fully fasting to get into ketosis. The other way is to restrict carbohydrates. This is what a lot of people on the ketogenic diet do. They eat, but they don’t eat more than between 30 and 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, which is not very much. The last way is to take a supplement that has ketones in it. I have designed some novel ketone esters—these are ketone precursors that you can take as a supplement that will put you into ketosis within 30 minutes. 

    We are currently recruiting participants for a couple of clinical trials at the Buck Institute [a California-based biomedical research center focused on aging] that are testing these ketone esters. One of them is testing to see what level of ketone supplements are best for people. What is the proper dose? How long does it last? And the other one is targeting aging. We want to see if taking ketone esters can help people who have signs of a condition associated with aging called frailty, where people have loss of muscle mass and don’t have good balance.

    We have 22 research groups at the Buck Institute working on all kinds of different topics related to aging. Some are studying the basic mechanisms of aging in animals, others are studying the role of aging in diseases like Alzheimer’s. Over the last 10 years, we’ve been building up a whole infrastructure to allow us to start doing clinical trials. We now have several underway.

    Based on what we know today, can we extend lifespan in people? 

    That’s the question I was hoping you were going to ask.

    How much of a role do you think genetics plays in longevity? It turns out that almost all of your life expectancy is determined by non-genetic factors—more than 90%, according to some research. To me, that’s an incredibly powerful message, because it means you cannot be fatalistic about your own aging. Your decisions about whether to live healthily or not are going to have a huge effect on how long and how well you live.

    So, how do you do this? By thinking about what I call the “five pillars of aging”: nutrition, physical activity, sleep, community, and interventions like drugs or supplements.

    I always tell people that we currently have no drugs and no supplements that have been proven to increase lifespan in humans. I get bombarded every day on Instagram by this supplement or that supplement that promises to make me live longer. But nothing has been proven. There are some drugs that can increase lifespan in mice but more research is needed to make sure they are safe and effective in humans.

    The field of aging research occupies itself with this last pillar quite often and people sometimes think that we are only developing drugs. That would be a tragic mistake to make because although we have no proven drugs or supplements, the field has shown that the other four pillars have clear effects in terms of aging. Most people today could expect to live to 95 in good health based on what we know about these four factors. When I tell this to people, they don’t really believe me. They think this isn’t true, but it is. That’s what the data says.

    People will think, oh, that’s boring. I know this. My grandmother knew this. But I would say, not so fast. Educate yourself about what it means. When we say physical activity, what does that mean? What’s a healthier diet? If you ask people if a vegetarian diet is healthier than a regular diet, most would probably tell you that, yes, it is healthier. But many studies don’t support that. 

    I think about the four factors almost like a bank account or a stock portfolio. If you exercise a lot, you might get an extra five years of life. If you eat well on top of it, you might get an extra three or four years and if you sleep well, you’re probably going to get another two or three. The most powerful effect is actually from community: how many relationships do you have in your life that you’d consider strong, people who you can really count on? That could be a partner, it could be a spouse or children or a friend. It doesn’t have to be anything bound by society. It just has to be a type of relationship where you feel like the person is watching over you and cares about you and will be there when you need them. That’s the strongest factor, by the way, which is really interesting, and it’s the one that’s the hardest to study in the lab.

    Tell me more about the different pillars. What kind of diet appears to help you live longer? 

    The data is really clear that restrictive diets don’t work because many of them are not well-balanced and people have a hard time being on them for a long time. That includes the keto diet and also veganism and vegetarianism. I love the Mediterranean diet for a number of reasons: it’s very balanced, it includes a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits. 

    Ultra-processed food should be avoided as much as possible and eating a lot of saturated fat from meat isn’t healthy. If you’re going to eat meat, eat low-fat meat that is organic. 

    The most important thing to avoid is sugar. Sugar is the enemy of healthy aging, especially fast carbohydrates like cereals and fruit juice. The reason is, they make your glucose levels spike, which triggers a disproportionate insulin response. The surge of insulin then causes your glucose levels to get too low, which triggers hunger and then you restart the cycle. 

    I would recommend that people use a continuous glucose monitor [CGM] to understand their own carbohydrate metabolism. I’ve argued that every high schooler should have a CGM for two weeks which can show them the impact on their blood sugar of what they’re eating. I do it from time to time to remind myself of the consequences of eating that ice cream.

    How about physical activity and sleep? 

    There is still a lot to be learned about what an optimal exercise regimen might be for most people. We do know that sitting is worse than smoking in terms of risk, so I tell people to stand up between Zoom calls. Do some squats, move around the house, go grab a coffee.

    Walking for 35 to 40 minutes a day has enormous health benefits. Just 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night will have a really profound effect on your health. You can get even more benefits if you start lifting weights, especially if you’re older. Also, balancing exercises and stretching.

    As for sleep, we know that something like 70% of the population is not getting adequate sleep. Most people need seven or eight hours. Some people might tell you, oh, I only need six—and I can tell you that in 99% of those cases, they’re deluding themselves. Not getting enough sleep has a big effect on things like metabolism and inflammation.

    What is your advice to people who want to experiment with drugs or supplements for longevity? 

    I think there are drugs coming in the future—maybe in the next five to 10 years—that will have a protective effect against the aging process. Those are coming, but they’re not here yet. 

    There are a number of physicians now specializing in this who really understand the risks and the consequences. This is not something that you want to just play with by yourself. I hear so many stories of people buying supplements on the internet and taking them, and then they show me their numbers, and as a physician and a scientist, it doesn’t take very long to realize they’re actually harming themselves. 

    Educate yourself. Listen to serious people. Avoid the hype. Remember that supplements are unregulated. The first question that you want to ask yourself when you buy a supplement is, who’s making it? How do I know that what’s on the bottle’s label is actually in the bottle?

    My attitude is, let’s start focusing on the four pillars that can bring everybody to 95 in good health, which would be transformative to society.

    Dominique Mosbergen

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  • 29% Of U.S. Adults Are Prone To These 10 Diseases—Are You?

    Getting enough vitamin D promotes whole-body health and longevity.

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  • 100-year-old great-grandmother reveals her secret of living a long life

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    Longevity is a lifestyle practice, according to 100-year-old Ruth Lemay, who has gone viral for sharing her vibrant energy and fitness routine.

    Lemay, who lives in Virginia Beach, was featured in a video while pedaling on a recumbent exercise bike at the gym, which was posted by the health brand evry.day club (@evrydayclub) on Instagram.

    The centenarian was asked what she does to stay so fit and “look so great” for her age, as she was wrapping up three miles on the bike after 30 minutes.

    7 STEPS TO ‘SUPER-AGING’ ARE KEY TO LIVING A LONGER, MORE FULFILLING LIFE, EXPERTS SAY

    “Then I’ll do 30 more minutes,” she commented. “And I walk — [I’ll] do a mile.”

    Lemay shared her “secret to longevity” — the fact that she started walking four miles every day after she retired.

    “That’s just what keeps you going,” she said. “A lot of exercise. Plenty of sleep. I go to bed at 9:30 at night and I eat a lot of vegetables — trying to keep healthy.”

    TWO KEY HEART HEALTH METRICS COULD DETERMINE HOW LONG YOU’LL LIVE

    Lemay said that she and her 78-year-old daughter attend the gym three times per week, where they typically do individual workouts.

    Her sessions include riding the recumbent bike, which is reclined to support the lower back, for two 30-minute stints, reaching about three miles both times.

    ONE OVERLOOKED DAILY HABIT COULD SLOW THE AGING PROCESS, RESEARCHERS SAY

    That is followed by a 1.4-mile walk, as Lemay is currently working toward reaching a mile and a half.

    “When I don’t go to the recreation center, I still try and walk from one end of my house to the other,” she told Women’s Health. “It’s 170 steps, 40 times, which is 6,800 steps (3.22 miles).”

    Ruth Lemay, 100, bikes and walks every day to keep healthy. (Instagram/@evrydayclub; iStock)

    In an interview with TODAY.com, Lemay said she lives in her own home, enjoys cooking and drove a car until she was 98.

    “I’ve always exercised,” she said. “I feel fine. I might be a little bit tired after riding the bicycle and the walk, but that’s OK. I don’t expect not to feel tired.”

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    According to Lemay, her late husband of 56 years would encourage her to walk after work.

    “He said, ‘You just take the dog and go for a walk and I’ll fix dinner,’” she recalled. “It was wonderful.”

    Senior couple walking in park on path with trees in the background.

    Lemay’s late husband always encouraged her to walk when she got home from work. (Lemays not pictured) (iStock)

    Lemay’s daughter, Annette Parker, shared with TODAY that her mother has “always been very conscious of her diet.”

    This includes non-fat yogurt, walnuts, oatmeal with banana and milk, or a scrambled egg with toast in the mornings. For protein, Lemay sticks with chicken, turkey or seafood.

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    Lemay’s diet also includes red grapes, blueberries and many vegetables.

    “I love vegetables. I grew up in the country, and my dad grew all kinds of vegetables, and they were wonderful for you,” she said.

    four senior friends talk and laugh

    Maintaining social relationships and good mental health have been shown to promote longevity. (iStock)

    Lemay, who has never smoked and doesn’t drink alcohol, added, “I’m in pretty good health for my age.”

    While genetics may impact longevity, Lemay shared with TODAY that she doesn’t know anyone in her family who has lived as long as her. Her mother died of colon cancer at 65 and her father died from a heart condition at 74.

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    Other than one heart valve replacement, the great-grandmother has avoided major health complications.

    In addition to paying attention to nutrition and fitness, Lemay and Parker said that maintaining good mental health and keeping a vibrant social life have been key longevity factors.

    Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

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  • Exactly When To Take Amino Acids for Energy, Recovery & Lean Muscle*

    And what to look for in a supplement.

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  • How Tracking Your Health Metrics Can Help You Live Longer

    Zahi Fayad practices what he preaches. As a professor of radiology and director of the biomedical engineering and imaging institute at Mount Sinai, Fayad is leading a study investigating how our health data can be put to better use to help us live healthier, and by extension, longer. At his lab in New York City, he recently showed off his current go-to digital health devices (which rotate as new gadgets become available): an Oura Ring and a Garmin watch. He also uses an ECG strap to measure his heart rate every day, and occasionally pops on a continuous glucose monitor to keep track of his glucose levels.

    Fayad is convinced that the trend of collecting more health data, on a more continuous basis—which the explosion of wearables made possible—will revolutionize health care. Keeping on top of risk factors for chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity could help not just doctors but all health-conscious consumers identify when these conditions are beginning and potentially avoid them altogether.

    In the lab, his team is developing better, more flexible, and inconspicuous patches to monitor health metrics—think Band-Aid-like patches embedded with sophisticated sensors that can pick up deeper vibrations from the opening and closing of valves in the heart, for example. Fayad shared his vision for how health care is changing, as well as how we can take advantage of technology to ensure that we not only live more years, but that we’re healthier and able to enjoy them more.

    This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

    How did you get involved in longevity research?

    My interest has always been in trying to better understand lifestyle exposures on the body—specifically, initially, on the cardiovascular system. As we started to evolve in terms of what else we should look at, we started to think about how things get modulated through the immune system and the connection to the brain. When we looked at all the lifestyle exposures—diet, exercise, sleep, and stress—how do we start to study them? It’s hard to put them all on the table.

    Eight-plus years ago, we initiated a research program with different projects that the National Institutes of Health funded. We focused on people with exposure to chronic stress or a traumatic event. We wanted to understand how the cardiovascular system and immune system were modulated by stress, so we created a platform to try to tease out what was happening. My background is in imaging, and imaging is a great tool to probe the body in multiple organs and understand their connection.

    I was interested in not only chronic stress but, as a whole, all of the other exposures we experience. As the field evolved, people started to talk about not only chronic disease, but about healthspan and longevity. I said to myself that it wasn’t enough to study chronic disease. We needed to understand what health is in general.

    How do you define health?

    When you look in [scientific] literature, we know very little about health. We understand disease, but we don’t understand health. I wanted to start expanding the platform with the technology we now have, so it included not only imaging methods, but also things related to digital health, such as wearable devices, or sensors that have exploded [in popularity] during and after COVID. We started to integrate these technologies one by one.

    Read More: How Well Will You Age? Check Your Grip Strength

    And finally, because I am an exercise enthusiast, I started to stay on top of measurements we can do with imaging and digital health to understand the effect of strength on the body. Strength is one of the measures that will carry over as a surrogate marker for aging as people get older.

    All of this data is collected in a project you call the digital twin study. Can you describe what the digital twin project involves?

    The idea came initially from NASA as they were putting out rockets in the Apollo program. They needed to have a way to launch that rocket, so they created a digital twin of the same rocket here on Earth. That way, if they ran into a problem, they could figure out what went wrong and what to do.

    They do the same thing with planes. A [plane] has over 30,000 sensors to track everything it does, from taking off to landing. All of that information is beamed back in real time to Earth to a station so they can maintain safety but also maintenance.

    I started to think, why not carry out these digital twin tools for humans? But you need a lot of information to create a twin. Going to the doctor once a year and doing all of the lab testing will give you a very cross-sectional view of your health. Basically, you’re still missing the other 364 days. You cannot build a digital twin out of that. You need continuously updated information. Once you have that—let’s say blood measurements that you do at home on a quarterly basis—that information can feed into a digital twin. 

    Continuous monitoring [of health metrics] at home, like heart rate, body temperature, and O2 saturation, is now possible with the latest wearables. We need that continuous update. It doesn’t have to all be real time, but we need the information as frequently as possible so we can create this view of this physical entity in digital form.

    What can we do with a digital twin?

    Once we have all of that health information in digital form, we are able to do simulations. Now that I understand a person’s health trajectory based on the information collected, the idea is, can I predict what might happen to you in a year, or three years or five years? Once I see changes in your trajectory, the digital twin can be interrogated to say, how can I correct that?

    Simulations are cheap. I can do billions of simulations to try to manipulate the factors affecting somebody’s health—say, for example, with a different diet. Would that have any effect on your trajectory? We could do the same thing with exercise, sleep, and other mental health factors.

    Read More: The Best Longevity Habit You’re Not Thinking About

    The digital twin becomes a tool for us to create these agentic agents. Now I have multiple agents, each one of them optimizing different lifestyle factors, from diet to exercise to sleep and stress. I can give you specific information in the morning or on a weekly basis to try to optimize them.

    Now suddenly, you have in your pocket multiple doctors or multiple people giving you specific recommendations.

    Could a digital twin be used to help prevent disease?

    I’m looking to intervene before you get to the level of having, say, a heart attack. I’m an engineer by training, so I have a bunch of data points, and they give me a curve that is the trajectory of somebody’s health. Let’s say you are stable, stable, stable, then suddenly start seeing a small dip in some measurements. That dip is presymptomatic, by the way—you’re not sick, or you don’t have any symptoms. But even if you don’t have a heart attack yet, your body is secreting things in the bloodstream related to cancer, heart disease, and even cognitive changes. 

    I can now see these dips. That’s when I want to intervene. I want to try to predict small changes and, ultimately, alter them.

    You recently launched the digital twin study and equipped people with a swag bag of health devices. Can you talk us through what you’re measuring and why?

    Let’s start with what we give them so they can do monitoring at home, or continuously. We chose the Oura Ring because we tested it, and people don’t mind wearing the ring continuously, compared to a watch. It gives us information on physical activity, sleep, heart rate variability, O2 saturation, estimated VO2 max, and body temperature.

    We also give people a blood pressure cuff so they can measure their blood pressure at home. We ask them to measure it twice a day, in the morning and afternoon, and do it two days a week. We have access to the data through a connection to our own digital health app.

    We give them a weight scale, too—I use it myself.

    Another device we provide is a continuous glucose monitor. It gives us estimated glucose values, and we ask them to wear it for two weeks and repeat that quarterly.

    For respiratory function, we send them home with a spirometer to measure lung function; it gives us three different measures of lung capacity, and they use it once a week.

    To measure the air quality and environment in which people live, we have a silicon band that is chemically treated and analyzed here at Mount Sinai to give us an idea of exposure to pesticides and anything else in the environment. We do this for two weeks twice a year. After wearing it for two weeks, they send it to us, and we give them a report on the types of exposures they might have.

    Then there is a device that measures particles in air. It looks like a [computer] mouse and is something you put on the table to capture certain particles in air.

    We also do two types of blood analyses on a quarterly basis. One is a cartridge with a small lancet that we ask people to use on each shoulder. The samples are studied for proteomics, which gives us information on immune proteins. We also analyze metabolites and lipids.

    Finally, we do blood markers, a whole series of them involving lipids, triglycerides, HbA1C, and hormones. These are done via a finger prick onto a dry blood card that people send into our labs.

    The study participants also come in once a year for a health visit. We test muscle strength and grip strength, and take a sample for whole genome sequencing. We also take stool and saliva samples to measure their microbiome [the bacteria that normally live in and on the body].

    Each of the study recipients also receive an annual MRI, which is different from the scans that doctors generally use for screening. This is a multi-organ scan where I collect information on brain volume, grey matter, body composition, heart, lungs, kidney, liver, and pancreas.

    The digital twin study sounds like it would be popular with participants. How many people are you following so far?

    We purposely kept it intimately small, and it’s in its early stages. We can’t scale up yet because of the cost it takes us to do all measurements. Ultimately, we may learn that not all of these measurements are as sensitive or useful, and we may therefore take them out. But first I want to put in everything, then little by little as I learn, take things out.

    Right now, we have the money to do at least 20 people. By the end of this year and next year, we should be able to scale to more than 100 people. I would like to do 10,000 people, but that would cost billions of dollars.

    How do you think studies like yours, combined with digital technology, will change health care in five or 10 years?

    To be bold, I think that the way the hospital will change is that we are going to see the hospital at home. And physical locations like Mount Sinai will be the place people come to do interventions. I really think everything in the future is going to be reliant on things you can do remotely. Little by little, we are starting to see the explosion of sensors become specific to biomarkers that we are interested in—like for diabetes or heart health. Being able to measure them frequently will help you see early changes. It will be a new way to analyze biomarkers and understand them. We are prototyping some—I’m working on sweat markers for inflammation, for example. I think that’s the next generation.

    Read More: What Getting 105 Blood Tests From a Health Startup Taught Me

    We are also going to see the integration of physiological, molecular, and imaging sensors, like putting an ultrasound on a patch. Then you are suddenly measuring your heart with an ultrasound automatically. We’re not talking science fiction—there are [already scientific] publications in most of these areas.

    Digital technology is going to change the whole delivery of health care. We are focused on healthspan more than lifespan. In the U.S. now, the average lifespan is 79 for males and 83 for females. People start degrading in health after age 60 or 65. What we want to do is to be able to push that as much as possible. If I am able to take people at 60 and not extend their life, but make them live their years in better shape, I will be very happy.

    This article is part of TIME Longevity, an editorial platform dedicated to exploring how and why people are living longer and what this means for individuals, institutions, and the future of society. For other articles on this topic, click here.

    Alice Park

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  • Want To Stay Sharp? This Simple Habit Can Delay Dementia By 5 Years

    This might just be the most fun way to improve cognitive health.

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  • Why Gravity Could Be The Key To Gut Health, Longevity & Mental Resilience

    We rarely think about it, but every second of our lives, we’re negotiating with one of the most powerful forces on Earth: gravity. It shapes how we stand, how our organs function, and even how we feel mentally. Yet in medicine, gravity has largely been overlooked—until now.

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  • The Powerful Link Between Exercise & Cancer Survival Rates

    The study1 analyzed data from 28,248 cancer patients enrolled in South Africa’s Discovery Health Medical Scheme. All participants were part of the Vitality health promotion program, which tracked their physical activity through fitness devices, gym visits, and organized events.

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  • This Gut-Friendly Bacteria Thrives On Coffee — Here’s Why

    We often reach for coffee to kickstart our mornings, but your daily cup might be doing more than just waking you up. Emerging research1 suggests that coffee consumption is linked to higher levels of Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus, a beneficial gut bacterium that produces butyrate, a compound known to reduce inflammation and support a healthy digestive system.

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  • Vitamin D Promotes Antioxidant Activity For Healthy Longevity*

    mbg’s vitamin D3 potency+ provides 5,000 IU of organic vitamin D3 derived from sustainable, vegan algal oil, plus a trio of organic oils (avocado, flax, and olive, to be exact) to optimize bioavailability and absorption.* (All in one gelcap, mind you.)

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  • Want to Live Longer? Move Closer to the Ocean 

    If you want to increase your chances of living longer, there are all kinds of common-sense changes you can make to your life. As we all know, more exercise, vegetables, and socializing, and less booze, stress and cigarettes can hopefully buy you a few extra years. 

    But according to a new study there’s another change that might help you squeeze out another good year or two that you probably haven’t considered — living closer to the ocean. 

    It’s not exactly a secret that spending time near the ocean is pleasant and life-affirming for many people. Millions of us flock to the beach every summer for this very reason. But can the positive qualities of being near the sea actually add years to your life? 

    That’s what a team out of te Ohio State University recently aimed to determine with a huge number-crunching exercise. They gathered data on life expectancy and other demographic factors for more than 66,000 U.S. census tracts and also analyzed each area’s proximity to various bodies of water. Were there any links between the two, the team wanted to know. 

    Their results were recently published in Environmental Research, and the short answer is yes. The details were a bit more complicated. 

    You might expect living near a lake or river should have much the same effects on health and longevity as living near the ocean. People enjoy these kinds of places in much the same way, after all. But that’s not what the numbers showed. Seaside living has special benefits. Having a river pass through your town, not so much. 

    “Overall, the coastal residents were expected to live a year or more longer than the 79-year average, and those who lived in more urban areas near inland rivers and lakes were likely to die by about 78 or so,” commented  lead researcher Jianyong Wu.

    Why living near the ocean is so beneficial 

    Why does living within 30 miles of the sea appear uniquely beneficial? The researchers conducted a variety of statistical tests to try to untangle the reasons. 

    The most obvious answer is that many coastal areas are wildly expensive places to live. If you call Malibu or the Hamptons home ,you are probably rich, and being rich helps you live longer. 

    That’s definitely part of the explanation, according to the researchers, but it’s not all of it. Coastal areas also have fewer extremely hot and cold days, which stress the body, as well as better air quality. They also often have more facilities and opportunities for recreation. All of these factors likely contribute to keeping those who live near the ocean alive a little bit longer. 

    The ‘Blue Mind’ theory  

    Though it’s harder for number crunching to prove it, there may also be subtler psychological reasons being by the sea seems to help people live a bit longer too. As Wharton psychologist Adam Grant explained, “recent experiments show that after just two minutes of viewing water outdoors, blood pressure and heart rate drop. It’s more calming to look at a lake, pool, or stream than trees or grass. And wider bodies of water bring more tranquility.” 

    Grant is referencing something called the “Blue Mind” theory here. The idea, developed by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols and others, is that the ocean was a particularly inviting environment for our distant ancestors. It provided plenty of easily gathered seafood to nourish us and the open landscape made it easier to move around and spot predators. 

    As a result, over millennia humans developed a deep affinity for coastal environments. Which is why being by any water seems to make us happy, but being by the ocean has the greatest calming — and therefore health-giving effect — of all. 

    Oceanside towns you can actually afford to live in 

    The authors of the Ohio State study don’t weigh in on whether humans have some deep psychic tie to the sea forged in our distant past. But they are clear in their conclusion that, whatever the mix of causes, living near the ocean is uniquely good for us in ways that living near a lake or river isn’t. 

    So good in fact that being near the ocean just might add a year or so to your life. 

    Taking advantage of this insight could, of course, be pretty pricey. Most coastal real estate is eye-wateringly expensive. But as Apartment Therapy points out, it doesn’t have to be. The real estate and design blog helpfully dug up 18 affordable beach towns where you might actually be able to make ends meet. 

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Jessica Stillman

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  • Unlocking the Secrets to Living to 100

    Want to enjoy a long, healthy, and happy life? Just live like a centenarian.

    That’s the advice of Stacy Andersen, a behavioral neuroscientist at Boston University and co-director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians and their families in the world. 

    The study, which has enrolled more than 3,000 centenarians over its 30-year history, has been exploring the genetic factors, lifestyle choices, and environmental influences that appear to play a role in the longevity of people who live to 100 and beyond. The hope is that by studying centenarians, researchers can find treatments, as well as identify habits and environmental factors, that could help everyone live healthier for longer.

    “Our goal is not to get everyone to live to age 100. What we’re trying to understand is: How do you live to whatever age—your 70s, 80s, or 90s—in very good health?” Andersen says. 

    It turns out that centenarians, on average, don’t smoke, eat a varied diet, are social, and generally don’t sweat the small stuff. They typically spend more years of their life in good health, known as “healthspan.” They also tend to have a feeling of purpose and can find joy in the everyday, even in their twilight years, Andersen says.

    As part of TIME’s series interviewing leaders in the longevity field, we spoke to Andersen about her work with centenarians and what all of us can learn from them about aging well. 

    This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

    You run the New England Centenarian Study. What is it? 

    The study was started in 1995 by Dr. Thomas Perls [a Boston University geriatrician]. When Dr. Perls was a fellow doing his training in geriatrics, he was assigned to two patients over the age of 100 who were living in a retirement community. He had always been taught that the older you get, the sicker you get, so he expected the patients to be confined to their rooms and to be his sickest patients—but that wasn’t the case. Much to his surprise, they were two of his healthiest and most active patients. They were giving piano concerts to the community. They were out there doing things. He wondered if the two patients were just two remarkable outliers or if there was something different about people who reach these extreme ages—100 and over. So, he started the New England Centenarian Study. It has that name because it originally started in the eight towns around Boston, but over the years we’ve enrolled people all over the U.S., Canada, and other countries as well.

    Read More: Want to Live Longer? First Find Out How Old You Really Are

    To date, we’ve enrolled over 3,000 centenarians, as well as many of their siblings and offspring. Our oldest participant died at the age of 119. Her daughter lived to 101.

    What we’ve seen with our centenarians is that the older you get, the healthier you’ve been, because, on average, centenarians have significantly delayed or avoided many chronic age-related illnesses. So in addition to having many extra years of life, they also have very long healthspans. And I think that’s what most of us want.

    What kinds of data do you collect from the study participants? 

    The first thing we do is get a blood sample. We’re looking at many different factors in the blood that could tell us about how people age in a healthy way. We look at genetics, but then we go beyond the genes and look at other -omics data [which refers to the study of biological molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites]. We also collect a stool sample so that we can understand how bacteria in the gut might contribute to healthy aging, and we send participants preconfigured touchscreen tablets through which we can administer an array of cognitive function tests. We also check their blood pressure and measure their grip strength. 

    Then we follow up with them every year. We want to see what medical conditions they develop after we meet them. Are they still able to walk a certain distance? Are they still able to manage their medications on their own over time? We are really trying to understand their aging trajectory.

    For one of our studies, we focus on what we call “cognitive superagers” [those who maintain cognitive function similar to people who are 30 years younger]. For that study, we ask people to sign up for our brain donation program so we can look at their brain tissue after they pass away and identify whether there is the protein buildup that’s associated with Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia. For some of our centenarians, we’ve seen a real disconnect. They functioned very well in their daily lives, but then we look at their brain tissue and they have significant buildup of amyloid and tau [proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease]. From those cases, we can learn a lot about resilience. We’re still trying to understand how that disconnect happens. How do they maintain such good cognitive function when they have evidence of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains?

    How big of a role does genetics play in centenarians’ longevity?

    For the vast majority of us, genetics accounts for only about 25% [of longevity], and the rest is related to the health behaviors that we follow. Do you maintain a healthy weight? Are you eating a nutritious diet? Are you getting moderate activity every day? Those are things that can help everyone live 10 years longer. 

    For centenarians, there’s a much bigger genetic component. Genetics accounts for about 75% of what gets you to really extreme ages like 105 and older. We’ve learned over the years that it really isn’t one or two genes that are getting people to these extreme ages, but more like 200 genetic variants.

    Read More: Scientists Say These Daily Routines Can Slow Cognitive Decline

    We also always assumed that our centenarians wouldn’t have disease variants of genes and that they must be enriched for protective factors, but it turns out that, with a couple of exceptions, they do have most of the same disease genes. This suggests even more strongly that they are enriched with protective factors, and that’s what we’re trying to learn more about, because that could help everyone. If we can understand these biological mechanisms, we could in theory come up with therapeutics that would help the general population.

    Like a longevity pill? 

    Well, we’ve seen that centenarians have a healthier immune profile. We’ve seen that they have better DNA repair, and their cells seem to react differently to stress. We’re trying to dig into those mechanisms and those could be translated into a pill that could replicate those same effects.

    Are there environmental factors and lifestyle habits that seem to contribute to centenarians’ longevity? 

    Yes, genetics isn’t everything. Environmental factors are a big piece that we’re trying to dive into more now. We are looking at things like sleep and leisure activities, social networks, how long people worked for and why they retired, how long people drive for and why they stopped driving. We want to understand if continuing to do rich activities over your lifetime plays a role in reaching age 100. 

    There are many centenarian studies all over the world, and each one takes a different lens on longevity, but I would say that across studies it really seems like centenarians have very good psychological well-being. They tend to score low in neuroticism. They don’t worry too much about bad things that happen. They’re able to deal with them and move on. They also score high in extraversion. They’re willing to try new things. They tend to be very outgoing, which I think helps them make new social connections as their peers pass away. They’re out doing things and meeting new people, and that helps their social networks. It also helps keep their brains strong.

    Read More: Your Brain Reveals a Lot About Your Age

    Another big piece is that there seems to be a feeling of having purpose in life—so waking up in the morning with things that you want to do. I think that’s a little bit surprising to hear about people at age 100; you might think they are just sitting around doing nothing, but that’s really not the case. They still have things that they want to accomplish. Maybe they’re not planning 10 years out, but they’re still finding joy in life.

    Generally, our centenarians say that they never followed any specific diet and they didn’t go to the gym but they stayed busy and they were careful not to overeat and they ate a wide range of foods. 

    How about smoking and alcohol? 

    Smoking is very rare among our centenarians. Once in a while you’ll see in the media a 105-year-old woman who’s smoking a pack a day, but that’s a needle in a haystack. 

    In terms of alcohol, it varies. They mostly aren’t drinking excessively, but some of our centenarians do have a glass of wine a day or a shot of whatever they like every day. There’s a lot of variability in the different health behaviors of our centenarians. They aren’t all doing one thing.

    Does gender play a role?

    About 85% of our centenarians are women. But the interesting thing is, the men who live to 100 tend to be healthier. The women are better at surviving a long time with chronic diseases. The men, although there are far fewer of them who reach age 100, generally have very good physical and cognitive function. The men tend to be what we call “escapers,” where they are avoiding disease until after the age of 100.

    I don’t think we know yet why there’s this difference, but it’s an area that we keep looking at, and it’s a reason that looking at sex differences even among centenarians is really important.

    Has working with centenarians changed the way you think about aging? 

    It has given me a very positive view of aging. Most people I know say they don’t want to age or they’re scared of aging, and what we hear from our centenarians is that they also were scared of aging, but then they reached age 100 and they found that they actually enjoyed it.

    Read More: Here’s How Much Sleep You Need According to Your Age

    I think seeing people at age 100 who are enjoying life and doing the things they want to do and who still love learning is really eye-opening. Centenarians also just have so much wisdom, and to actually speak with one is really a gift.

    What’s next for the centenarian study? 

    Our study has shown that centenarians reach their extreme ages because they are, on average, very healthy agers. And now we’re trying to delve into the biological mechanisms underlying that, as well as health behaviors and environmental factors that might help them age so well.

    I think the most interesting piece of our work right now is focused on people who are really bucking the trend of aging and are just superstars of aging—centenarians who are still biking three miles a day or are still working or who are cognitive superagers. We’re trying to learn everything we can about how they are managing to do that. 

    Also, we are always looking for new participants. If you know an amazing centenarian living anywhere in the U.S. who may be willing to help with the study—or are a centenarian yourself—call 888-333-6327, email agewell@bu.edu, or visit our study website.

    This article is part of TIME Longevity, an editorial platform dedicated to exploring how and why people are living longer and what this means for individuals, institutions, and the future of society. For other articles on this topic, click here.

    Dominique Mosbergen

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  • A Longer Life on Statins?  | NutritionFacts.org

    What are the pros and cons of relative risk, absolute risk, number needed to treat, and average postponement of death when taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs?

    In response to the charge that describing the benefits of statin drugs only in terms of relative risk reduction is a “statistical deception” created to give the appearance that statins are more effective than they really are, it was pointed out that describing things in terms of absolute risk reduction or number needed to treat can depend on the duration of the study.

    For example, let’s say a disease has a 2% chance of killing you every year, but some drug cuts that risk by 50%. That sounds amazing, until you realize that, at the end of a year, your risk will only have fallen from 2% to 1%, so the absolute reduction of risk is only 1%. If a hundred people were treated with the drug, instead of two people dying, one person would die, so a hundred people would have to be treated to save one life, as shown below and at 1:01 in my video How Much Longer Do You Live on Statins?.

    But there’s about a 99% chance that taking the drug all year would have no effect either way. So, to say the drug cuts the risk of dying by 50% seems like an overstatement. But think about it: Benefits accrue over time. If there’s a 2% chance of dying every year, year after year, after a few decades, the majority of those who refused the drug would be dead, whereas the majority who took the drug would be alive. So, yes, perhaps during the first year on the drug, there was only about a 1% chance it would be life-saving, but, eventually, you could end up with a decent chance the drug would save your life after all.

    “This is actually the very reason why the usage of relative risk makes sense…” Absolute risk changes depending on the time frame being discussed, but with relative risk, you know that whatever risk you have, you can cut it in half by taking the drug. On average, statins only cut the risk of a cardiovascular “event” by 25%, but since cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of men and women, if you’re unwilling to change your diet, that’s a powerful argument in favor of taking these kinds of drugs. You can see the same kind of dependency on trial duration, looking at the “postponement of death” by taking a statin. How much longer might you live if you take statins?

    The average postponement of death has some advantages over other statistics because it may offer “a better intuitive understanding among lay persons,” whereas a stat like a number needed to treat has more of a win-or-lose “lottery-like” quality. So, when a statin drug prevents, say, one heart attack out of a hundred people treated over five years, it’s not as though the other 99 completely lost out. Their cholesterol also dropped, and their heart disease progression presumably slowed down, too, just not enough to catch a heart attack within that narrow time frame.

    So, what’s the effect of statins on average survival? According to an early estimate, if you put all the randomized trials together, the average postponement of death was calculated at maybe three or four days. Three or four days? Who would take a drug every day for years just to live a few more days? Well, let’s try to put that into context. Three or four days is comparable to the gains in life expectancy from other medical interventions. For example, it’s nearly identical to what you’d get from “highly effective childhood vaccines.” Because vaccines have been so effective in wiping out infectious diseases, these days, they only add an average of three extra days to a child’s life. But, of course, “those whose deaths are averted gain virtually their whole lifetimes.” That’s why we vaccinate. It just seems like such a small average benefit because it gets distributed over the many millions of kids who get the vaccine. Is that the same with statins?

    An updated estimate was published in 2019, which explained that the prior estimate of three or four days was plagued by “important weaknesses,” and the actual average postponement of death was actually ten days. Headline writers went giddy from these data, but what they didn’t understand was that this was only for the duration of the trial. So, if your life expectancy is only five years, then, yes, statins may increase your lifespan by only ten days, but statins are meant to be taken a lot longer than five years. What you want to know is how much longer you might get to live if you stick with the drugs your whole life.

    In that case, it isn’t an extra ten days, but living up to ten extra years. Taking statins can enable you to live years longer. That’s because, for every millimole per liter you lower your bad LDL cholesterol, you may live three years longer and maybe even six more years, depending on which study you’re reading. A millimole in U.S. units is 39 points. Drop your LDL cholesterol by about 39 points, and you could live years longer. Exercise your whole life, and you may only increase your lifespan by six months, and stopping smoking may net you nine months. But if you drop your LDL cholesterol by about 39 points, you could live years longer. You can accomplish that by taking drugs, or you can achieve that within just two weeks of eating a diet packed with fruits, vegetables, and nuts, as seen here and at 5:30 in my video. 

    Want to know what’s better than drugs? “Something important and fundamental has been lost in the controversy around this broad expansion of statin therapy.…It is imperative that physicians (and drug labels) inform patients that not only their lipid [cholesterol] levels but also their cardiovascular risk can be reduced substantially by adoption of a plant-based dietary pattern, and without drugs. Dietary modifications for cardiovascular risk reduction, including plant-based diets, have been shown to improve not only lipid status, but also obesity, hypertension, systemic inflammation, insulin sensitivity, oxidative stress, endothelial function, thrombosis, and cardiovascular event risk…The importance of this [plant-based] approach is magnified when one considers that, in contrast to statins, the ‘side effects’ of plant-based diets—weight loss, more energy, and improved quality of life—are beneficial.” 

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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  • 4 Hormonal Dementia Risk Factors That Directly Impact Women

    “In particular, they literally push our neurons to bring glucose to make energy. So if your hormones are high, your brain energy is high. But then what happens to testosterone is that it doesn’t quite decline that much over time, whereas for women, estrogens pretty much plummet when women go through menopause,” Mosconi shares. 

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  • The Real Benefits of Statins and Their Side Effects  | NutritionFacts.org

    A Mayo Clinic visualization tool can help you decide if cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are right for you.

    “Physicians have a duty to inform their patients about the risks and benefits of the interventions available to them. However, physicians rarely communicate with methods that convey absolute information, such as numbers needed to treat, numbers needed to harm, or prolongation of life, despite patients wanting this information.” That is, for example, how many people are actually helped by a particular drug, how many are actually hurt by it, or how much longer the drug will enable you to live, respectively.

    If doctors inform patients only about the relative risk reduction—for example, telling them a pill will cut their risk of heart attacks by 34 percent—nine out of ten agree to take it. However, give them the same information framed as absolute risk reduction—“1.4% fewer patients had heart attacks”—then those agreeing to take the drug drops to only four out of ten. And, if they use the number needed to treat, only three in ten patients would agree to take the pill. So, if you’re a doctor and you really want your patient to take the drug, which statistic are you going to use?

    The use of relative risk stats to inflate the benefits and absolute risk stats to downplay any side effects has been referred to as “statistical deception.” To see how one might spin a study to accomplish this, let’s look at an example. As you can see below and at 1:49 in my video, The True Benefits vs. Side Effects of Statins, there is a significantly lower risk of the incidence of heart attack over five years in study participants randomized to a placebo compared to those getting the drug. If you wanted statins to sound good, you’d use the relative risk reduction (24 percent lower risk). If you wanted statins to sound bad, you’d use the absolute risk reduction (3 percent fewer heart attacks).

    Then you could flip it for side effects. For example, the researchers found that 0.3 percent (1 out of 290 women in the placebo group) got breast cancer over five years, compared to 4.1 percent (12 out of 286) in the statin group. So, a pro-statin spin might be a 24 percent drop in heart attack risk and only 3.8 percent more breast cancers, whereas an anti-statin spin might be only 3 percent fewer heart attacks compared to a 1,267 percent higher risk of breast cancer. Both portrayals are technically true, but you can see how easily you could manipulate people if you picked and chose how you were presenting the risks and benefits. So, ideally, you’d use both the relative risk reduction stat and the absolute risk reduction stat.

    In terms of benefits, when you compile many statin trials, it looks like the relative risk reduction is 25 percent. So, if your ten-year risk of a heart attack or stroke is 5 percent, then taking a statin could lower that from 5 percent to 3.75 percent, for an absolute risk reduction of 1.25 percent, or a number needed to treat of 80, meaning there’s about a 1 in 80 chance that you’d avoid a heart attack or stroke by taking the drug for the next ten years. As you can see, as your baseline risk gets higher and higher, even though you have that same 25 percent risk reduction, your absolute risk reduction gets bigger and bigger. And, with a 20 percent baseline risk, that means you have a 1 in 20 chance of avoiding a heart attack or stroke over the subsequent decade if you take the drug, as seen below and at 3:31 in my video.

    So, those are the benefits. In terms of risk, that breast cancer finding appears to be a fluke. Put together all the studies, and “there was no association between use of statins and the risk of cancer.” In terms of muscle problems, estimates of risk range from approximately 1 in 1,000 to closer to 1 in 50.

    If all those numbers just blur together, the Mayo Clinic developed a great visualization tool, seen below and at 4:39 in my video.

    For those at average risk, 10 people out of 100 who do not take a statin may have a heart attack over the next ten years. If, however, all 100 people took a statin every day for those ten years, 8 would still have a heart attack, but 2 would be spared, so there’s about a 1 in 50 chance that taking the drug would help avert a heart attack over the next decade. What are the downsides? The cost and inconvenience of taking a pill every day, which can cause some gastrointestinal side effects, muscle aching, and stiffness in about 5 percent, reversible liver inflammation in 2 percent, and more serious damage in perhaps 1 in 20,000 patients.

    Note that the two happy faces in the bottom left row of the YES STATIN chart represent heart attacks averted, not lives saved. The chance that a few years of statins will actually save your life if you have no known heart disease is about 1 in 250.

    If you want a more personalized approach, the Mayo Clinic has an interactive tool that lets you calculate your ten-year risk. You can get there directly by going to bit.ly/statindecision.

    Michael Greger M.D. FACLM

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