Most longevity clinics are private and accessible only to the elite few who can afford them. A new venture hopes to change all that.

The National University Health System, National University of Singapore, and Alexandria Hospital in Singapore recently announced the opening of the world's first Healthy Longevity Clinic located within a public hospital.

The Healthy Longevity Clinic aims to incorporate advances in geroscience and precision longevity medicine into clinical practice at an affordable cost.

With the opening of this clinic, the goal is to increase the healthspan of Singaporeans by three years over the next decade. Healthspan refers to the number of years a person lives in good health.

Singapore already ranks number seven on the list of the world's longest-living populations. This shift toward preventive healthcare for the broader population is likely to boost their ranking.

Comprehensive Care Plan

The Healthy Longevity Clinic provides a comprehensive program that starts with baseline assessments and a personal care plan based on the results, then follows up with frequent health coaching and monitoring of progress.

The baseline assessment identifies a patient's biological age as well as risk factors for chronic disease.

While chronological age refers to how long a person has been alive, biological age measures the rate at which an individual is aging.¹

This is calculated through assessments including aging biomarkers, exercise capacity, and epigenetics. In addition, bloodwork determines the health of metabolic, immune, liver, kidney, and other organ functions.

The clinic also measures many of the health parameters Life Extension® has long recommended. These include arterial stiffness, microbiome analysis, body composition analysis, and digital biomarkers tracking factors like sleep and physical activity.

Next, a team of health professionals puts together a personalized care plan based on the assessment. This includes recommendations for diet and exercise changes, supplementation, and, if necessary, medications.

Individuals are then supported with regular health coaching sessions.

These sessions, says Cheryl Tan, a health coach with Alexandria Hospital, will "inculcate healthy habits in line with our treatment plan, which includes a combination of lifestyle interventions, such as dietary, exercise and sleep modifications, on top of medical interventions, such as medicines and supplements as recommended by the physicians."

The Healthy Longevity Clinic advises follow-up testing to monitor progress. Key indicators that determine treatment effectiveness include:

• A reduction of 0.5% in HbA1C (average blood glucose levels),
• A reduction of 30-40 mg/dL in LDL cholesterol levels,
• A 33% reduction in HS-CRP levels (inflammation levels, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke), and
• An increase of 3-5 mL/kg/min in VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen someone can consume during peak exercise, an indicator of longevity).

The ultimate goal is to lower an individual's biological age.

Collaborative Medicine

The Healthy Longevity Clinic is located within the National University Health System's Centre for Healthy Longevity (NUHS CHL), a research facility at Alexandria Hospital that tests new treatments and technologies for healthy longevity.

The clinic will partner with NUHS CHL, giving individuals the unique opportunity to participate in research trials for supplements, repurposed drugs, and other ways to target biological aging.

One clinical trial testing lifestyle interventions and nutritional supplementation is already underway.

The clinic will also partner with Alexandria Hospital, using its existing infrastructure for laboratory, imaging, and other specialties.

Affordable and Accessible

"The ultimate goal," the Healthy Longevity Clinic noted in a press release, "is to make evidence-based healthy longevity medicine accessible to everyone."

As part of that goal, the clinic offers services at a fraction of the cost of private longevity clinics.

While private clinics can cost tens of thousands of dollars for this type of personalized plan, Singapore's new clinic charges between $1,500 and $3,000 for a baseline assessment and year-long customized care program.

Dr. Laureen Wang, a practicing cardiologist with Alexandria Hospital and National University Health System, is heading up the Healthy Longevity Clinic and describes their holistic approach as follows:

"Our longevity medicine teams will draw up a longevity road map to help individuals learn how to invest in health long after visiting the clinic," Dr. Wang says, "so he or she will be able to continue doing things at age 80 or 90, such as carrying grandchildren or walking up the stairs, which are a big boost for the quality of life."

By following the program and incorporating important preventive measures, clients can expect to reverse their biological age, emerge with a younger, healthier body, and extend healthspan.

For more information, visit https://coe.nuhs.edu.sg/Center-for-Healthy-Longevity or send an email to AH_Wellness@nuhs.edu.sg.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension Wellness Specialist at 1-866-864-3027.

References

1. Zhang Q. An interpretable biological age. Lancet Healthy Longev. 2023 Dec;4(12):e662-e3.