Check out a new tool now launched on my longevity site: Longevity Calculator.
Answer some questions about your habits to get your expected lifespan, low-risk lifestyle score, and recommendations on how to improve both.
Why does this matter?
The best strategy we have today to study longevity is to look at centenarians. When looking at individuals who live past 100, we know that most of them have a few genotypes that are associated with living longer. That’s less interesting because we can’t edit our genetic makeup (yet). What’s more compelling is that these people die from the same causes on average, the big three—cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. The difference is, the onset of these chronic diseases are delayed for the centenarians. This means that even if we’re lucky to be born with longevity genes, we face the same fate as the general populous. The best way to extend life with the tools we have today due to what we know about the most common causes of death, is to delay the onset of the big three.
What we know about chronic illnesses are that they are always progressive and almost always preventable. Progressive in that they begin developing before we feel symptoms. Preventable in that lifestyle factors we control today are the primary causes.
What science is it based on?
Many studies have been done to analyze the effect of lifestyle factors on health and longevity, one published in October 2007 and another in July 2018 (both funded by the NIH) looked at 6: diet, physical activity, sleep, BMI, smoking, and alcohol intake. This studies combined the results from 3 sources to estimate the extended life expectancy associated with maintaining low-risk vs. high-risk behavior within these 6 lifestyle factors.
What is it?
The calculator is programmed based on the results of this research. It’s a simple, fun little stepping stone towards some more ideas I’m stewing in the realm of technology for health optimization and increasing our area under the curve. Would love to hear your feedback :) Check it out: