Aria Asks: What Are You Assuming About Your Health?

From Aria’s Desk | HormoneSynergy® Editorial Watchdog

I’m Aria, a Shepadoodle. Half German Shepherd, half Standard Poodle, which means I notice things and then give them more thought than my humans find necessary. Lately, I’ve been listening to conversations about longevity medicine. Humans would like to live longer, feel better, and remain themselves for as much of the journey as possible. I’m sympathetic. I would like everyone available for walks well into the foreseeable future.

What interests me is how often these conversations begin with a conclusion. Someone feels fine, so nothing needs attention. A number improves, so the treatment must be working. A person speaks confidently into a microphone, and suddenly everyone is buying the powder. I also respond to confident voices, but usually there is a biscuit involved.

When it comes to your health and your healthspan, what are you assuming? And what would persuade you to reconsider?

You can explore these subjects further in the HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine Resource Center.

“I feel fine. Surely that counts.”

Of course it counts. Feeling well is worth enjoying. It just cannot tell you everything happening beneath the fur, or whatever arrangement humans have. High blood pressure can occur without obvious symptoms, which makes feeling fine an unreliable way to determine whether yours is normal. Your medical history, family history, age, and other circumstances help a physician decide what deserves attention.¹

You can appreciate a good day and still have your blood pressure checked. Humans sometimes behave as though looking into a risk will summon it. From what I’ve observed, leaving the veterinary appointment off the calendar does not make the veterinarian disappear.

“Then I should test everything.”

There is the other direction. I recognize it because I have personally investigated the dishwasher on numerous occasions. So far, additional surveillance has produced very little actionable information.

Before ordering a medical test, a clinician should be able to explain why it makes sense for you and how the result might change your care. Finding something can lead to useful treatment, but it can also lead to uncertainty, further procedures, and worry. As one specific example, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against screening low-risk adults without symptoms using resting or exercise ECG because potential harms equal or exceed benefits. That recommendation concerns a particular test in a particular population; other tests need their own evaluation.²

It is worth asking what you expect another measurement to give you. Sometimes you need information to make a decision. Sometimes you are hoping for the feeling that nothing could possibly go wrong. That second request is a great deal to ask of a laboratory.

Consider a full-body MRI such as Prenuvo®. Before booking, ask what the results would actually provide. A finding that changes your care? Something uncertain that needs more investigation? And if the report is reassuring, would you understand what the scan could not rule out? These scans may identify important disease in selected people, but they can also uncover incidental findings that lead to more testing, expense, and worry. It helps to discuss those possibilities with your physician before you are holding the report.

I understand wanting someone to announce that everything is safe. I request this reassurance about the vacuum cleaner regularly. The question is whether you are seeking information you can act on or certainty that a scan cannot give you. Knowing which one you want is worth a conversation before you climb into the machine.

“My biological age went down. It must be working.”

I heard “biological age,” and naturally I tilted my head. Humans already have one age they find difficult to accept. Now there are additional estimates to negotiate.

The research deserves attention, along with its limitations. In a calorie-restriction trial, researchers found improvement in one DNA-based measure of the pace of aging, while other biological-age measures did not change. Longer follow-up is needed to determine whether the measured change translates into lasting health benefits or a longer life.³ Before deciding that a treatment has made you younger, ask what the test actually measured and what that change has been shown to mean.

I can look considerably more youthful after grooming. My humans wisely require additional evidence before adjusting my birthday.

“The exciting treatment deserves my attention.”

Anything that crinkles has my attention, so I approach this subject with humility. Humans have their own interesting packaging, especially when it promises something they badly want to believe.

Physical activity already has evidence supporting better function and a lower risk of several chronic diseases.⁴ When an emerging treatment comes along, ask what it could add to your care, whether the research applies to people like you, and how its possible benefits compare with its risks and expense. You are allowed to be interested while waiting for a satisfactory answer.

The same curiosity should apply to familiar advice. Having believed something for twenty years tells you how long you have believed it. You may still have good reasons to continue, but those reasons deserve an occasional airing. I revisit familiar territory every morning. There are often developments.

What do you want those healthy years to hold?

I sometimes wonder whether humans become so occupied with extending their lives that they forget what they were going to do that afternoon. There is always another score to check, another routine to perfect, another person explaining how breakfast should have been handled.

Consider an ordinary day you would like to keep enjoying. Perhaps you want to travel, follow a conversation easily, carry your groceries, or get down on the floor with someone who is very pleased to see you there. Tell your physician about those things. They help give a purpose to the measurements, treatment decisions, and follow-up.

Ask what improvement you can reasonably expect and when you will reconsider the plan. That can be uncomfortable after you have invested money, effort, or hope. Humans grow attached to explanations. I understand attachment; I have a particular sock. Still, you should be able to change your mind without feeling that you have failed. You have learned something about yourself. That was presumably the point of looking.

Take good care of the years ahead. Leave a little room to inhabit the one you’re in. If you need help with that part, I suggest we go outside. I’ve been standing by the door for most of this discussion.

Related reading

• Healthspan vs. Lifespan: Why the Difference Matters
• 10 Wellness Influencer Red Flags

References

1. National Institute on Aging: High Blood Pressure and Older Adults.
2. USPSTF: Cardiovascular Disease Risk—Screening With Electrocardiography.
3. National Institute on Aging: Cutting Calories May Slow the Pace of Aging in Healthy Adults.
4. National Institute on Aging: Health Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity.