Modern Age Launches the Aging Wellness Assessment

by Dr. Anant Vinjamoori, MD

Modern Age exists to help people age on their terms — to look and feel the way they want no matter the number on their birth certificate. Today, we are excited to introduce our Aging Wellness Assessment, which is the most comprehensive and personalized way to take control of your aging journey.

All of us age, and we all have the aspiration to look and feel our best as we get older. Yet we often struggle to find the right support when we turn to our doctors. Our healthcare system is primarily set up to react to problems once they arise, and so if you don’t have a problem, there isn’t much the system can do for you. You might have a few tests run to rule out diseases, and then be given some generic lifestyle advice that you’ve probably heard dozens of times before.

There are insights that we can draw from published research, as well as accumulated expert experience to help people live their best and age on their terms. And for years, these approaches were only available to a select few- primarily celebrities, athletes and executives with access to the rare physicians versed in this type of medicine, who are also willing to pay lots of money for their health.

Through our Aging Wellness Assessment, we seek to unlock these secrets for everyone.

Our approach started with understanding people’s aging goals. Over the last several months we spoke with hundreds of patients to understand the aspirations people have for how they age. Many expressed a desire to live as long and healthily as possible, but we also heard more specific goals: people wanted more energy so that they could be more present with their families, improved libido to be closer to their partners, better attention and focus to perform better at work, improved skin and hair health to boost self-confidence, among many others.

We then did extensive research to determine the best ways to measure where people stand with respect to these goals. We drew from published research as well as the work of the world’s top longevity and performance medicine physicians and scientists. We had to push well beyond what most lab companies offer, as we discovered that they are both insufficient to address the root causes that govern aging, and also focus on what is “normal” instead of what is optimal.

Our assessment revolves around 4 key areas that govern the biology of how we look and feel as we age:

• Hormone balance- Hormones are molecules that enable the different parts of our body to communicate with one another. Having adequate hormone levels and health balance between hormones is essential to feeling our best. There are 4 especially important hormones relevant to aging- estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and thyroid hormone, as all of these are affected by aging. We know that by measuring these hormones in a detailed fashion, we can then take the appropriate actions to restore balance. It’s also important to look at all of these hormones for both men and women- a fact that many do not realize. Testosterone is an extremely important hormone for women, and it is very important to understand the levels of estrogen in men.
• Inflammation: Inflammation is a process wherein our body’s defense processes, normally designed to protect us from foreign invaders, go haywire and turn on healthy tissue. Most people think of inflammation in the context of autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis. But we know that the biological process of aging results in a smoldering, but steadily increasing amount of inflammation that can cause many of us to feel less than our best- brain fog, fatigue, hair loss and skin issues, among others.
• Metabolism: Every cell in our body requires energy to function properly, and our metabolism is the cellular machinery that enables each cell to harness and store energy from the food we eat. Metabolism changes as we age- and our cells as a result become less efficient in how they harness energy. This has broad reaching consequences for how we look and feel. These encompass more than just weight gain- our energy levels, our mood and even our skin can be affected by our metabolic health.
• Cognitive health: Our brains are the motherboards for our bodies. Most of us appreciate the importance of healthy brain function for cognition and mood, but brain health is also essential for the health of our bodies. Research is increasingly highlighting the extensive connection between the brain and the body, and we are discovering that many conditions that we previously thought were driven by problems in our bodies, are actually driven by dysfunction in our brain circuitry. As we get older, our brains can form dysfunctional patterns- largely from the accumulated stress and trauma of lived experience that cause not only to feel worse mentally, but physically as well.

Taking these 4 areas, we built a suite of diagnostic tests that comprise our unique Aging Wellness Assessment. It includes:

• 65 blood markers that relate to 3 key biological drivers of the aging process- metabolic health, inflammation, and hormone function. These 3 areas are derived from 9 cellular hallmarks of aging, with a focus on what is measurable and changeable in patients. For example, we measure key hormones such as thyroid, testosterone, and estrogen; markers of inflammation such as CRP; and indicators of metabolism such as hemoglobin A1c and apolipoprotein B (an advanced cholesterol marker). Importantly, many of these measurements are not part of bloodwork ordered by physicians.
• A brain health assessment that measures key aspects of mental function that can change with age, such as memory, attention, and flexibility. Improved mental and cognitive function is a major goal for many, but there aren’t a lot of good solutions available to help people understand where they stand and take action.
• An AI-powered skin analysis tool that uses a smartphone camera photo to compare your skin to others in your age group.
• A radiation-free bone density measurement that provides you an assessment of your rate of bone loss. Bone health is foundational to healthy function later in life.
• A subjective age assessment that measures what is contributing to how old you feel, taking into account lifestyle and psychological factors, as well as skin health.

You will get your blood drawn and complete your bone scan by visiting our studio, and can complete the rest of the assessments at home. After your results are back, you will have a 1 hour in-depth meeting with one of our Modern Age expert clinicians, who will create a personalized plan for you, based on your test results, your medical history, and your goals.

We have a wide variety of treatment options that are supported by research and clinical experience. Some examples of what we do include:

• Hormone replacement therapy to address deficiencies in key sex hormones as well as thyroid hormone
• IV therapies, such as IV Vitamin C therapy to reduce inflammation
• Skin and hair health treatments
• Neurofeedback therapy, a non-invasive, drug free therapy to boost mental function
• Personalized lifestyle guidance on diet, exercise and sleep to enable long-term sustainability

As people get older, most don’t realize how much better they can feel, and a big reason for this is that they don’t know what to measure. Our Aging Wellness Assessment solves this. We are so excited to help you take control of your health- and help you look and feel better than you could have imagined.

You can purchase our Aging Wellness Assessment here. To learn more, you can also book a free consultation with one of our experts here.