Longevity is a real trend topic – not only in America, but increasingly also in Europe. While trends usually fade after a short time, Longevity is here to stayThat's because it affects each and every one of us - more than you would expect.
The term longevity originally comes from the American region and was once synonymous with a long life. Over the last few decades, the topic has found its way into science and research - at a rapid pace. Studies on supplements and eating habits that have a positive effect on health and longevity have sprung up everywhere. Knowledge about longevity is growing rapidlyThis development is so positive because trends are usually not evidence-based. Longevity already.
The great challenge in the molecular longevity jungle is that the groundbreaking results also find their way into the wider public. Not least due to Bestselling books like Lifespan from Dr. David Sinclair, or Outlive from Dr. Peter Attia This is already the case. While science often fails to bridge the gap between experts and average consumers, Longevity is already in the middle of life.
The term from ancient Rome
The term Longevity Like so many important words, is derived from Latin. In ancient Rome, clever minds put the words longus, from the adjective long, and vita, from the noun life, to the new expression longaevitās. This meant an individual who lived a long time. Longevity is defined accordingly as "long life" or "a long lifespan". What is the current state of our lifespan?
Life expectancy under scrutiny
Life expectancy has increased considerably over the last century. While a boy or girl born in Germany shortly before 1900 had an average life expectancy of just 40.6 or 44 years respectively, Today a baby can expect to live almost twice as long.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the current Life expectancy of a newborn is 78.5 (men) and 83.4 years (women). In countries like Japan, this number is even higher. Nevertheless, Germany is among the international leaders with these figures. Compared to the Greenland whale, which can live for over 200 years, this seems low - but the rapid increase in life expectancy in humans is outstanding.
It is particularly characteristic of the rapid progress in the fields of medicine and technologyIn addition, changes in everyday life and the world of work have contributed to our life expectancy being turned upside down.
What initially appears to be a quantum leap still has a catch. DThe tunnel vision on curative medicine has led to people constantly thinking about new ways to heal, but neglecting prevention and health maintenance.Illness, disability and frailty now partly dominate the newly gained life time and have an immense impact on the quality of life.
Healthspan versus Lifespan
While the lifespan self-explanatory represents the total number of years we live, is understood as health spanhow many years of our lives we remain healthy, free and free from disease. The global increase in life expectancy in the past was followed by a parallel extension of the health span - but it could not quite keep pace.
The The gap between lifespan and healthspan is even scientifically recognized and is estimated to be about 9 years according to researchBut that's not all. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that a child born in Germany today will only live healthy for 71 (70.89) of its 82 (81.72) years. The sober conclusion: 11 years of loss of quality of lifeLongevity is fighting this discrepancy.
Longevity – the revolution of health
In the past, immortality visionaries in research consistently strove to extend life to 150 years or more. But what good are additional years of life if they are marked by illness?
“Longevity is only desirable if it prolongs youth, but not prolongs old age.” – Alexis Carrel
The advocates of health promotion and maintenance adopted the principle of Alexis Carrel and gradually replaced the immortalists. The new intention is to reach the same age as but fitter, more vital, healthier and more self-determinedIf this also leads to a longer life, that is a nice side effect. These considerations shaped the terms healthspan and lifespan with.
It is also important to know in this context that the influence of our genetic makeup on life expectancy is relatively small. According to scientific studies This makes a maximum of 20-30 percent Everything else is determined by our behavior, our attitude and our environment. These affect our epigenetics Put simply, you can imagine epigenetics as a volume control. Epigenetics can turn genes up (the gene is read more strongly) or down (the gene is read less). To better understand all the molecular processes behind aging, scientists have developed the Hallmarks of Aging These deal with the hallmarks of aging at the molecular and intercellular level. There are now 12 of these Hallmarks.
Let’s take a look at where the modern longevity concept has its origins.
Blue Zones – where Longevity is at home
Before Dan Buettner published the article “The Secrets of Long Life” in the journal National Geographic in 2005, the blue zones of our planet usually means the oceans. Today, the Blue Zones are five longevity strongholds.
Buettner and his team started looking for places where there was not only above-average number of centenarians but also groups of people who without health problems such as heart disease, obesity, cancer or diabetes. The American researcher found them in the following five places:
- Ikaria in Greece
- Okinawa in Japan
- Ogliastra in Sardinia
- Loma Linda in California
- Nicoya in Costa Rica
What do these places actually have in common? This question naturally also preoccupied Dan Buettner. First, his team noticed that the people in the Blue Zones live in a certain sense quite isolated – be it on islands, peninsulas, mountain regions or small towns. Despite all local separation, they have access to modern medical care.
The Blue Zones are also located in sunny subtropical to tropical areas, which means that vitamin D deficiency is rare. This is an advantage, as researchers suspect that a deficiency in vitamin D which can shorten the lifespan.
In addition, the inhabitants consistently maintain a lifestyle that is tradition and responsibility towards the community They live mainly on their own farms and work as shepherds and fishermen. This means constant exercise and lots of time outdoorsTheir diet consists mainly of local, unprocessed foods, while processed foods are rarely or never on their menu.
Even though our modern living conditions do not really allow for a similar way of life, we can still learn a lot from them.
Mark Hyman writes about it in his book Young Forever:
“Live close to nature. Love deeply. Eat simple food raised sustainably. Move naturally. Laugh and rest. Actually live (And live longer as it turns out).”
Longevity Escape Velocity – The Hypothesis of Eternal Life
An exciting concept in the longevity scene is “longevity escape velocity”. Initial The term was coined by the British biogerontologist Aubrey de Gray, who with his book “Never old!“ gained widespread popularity.This means the following:
We all benefit from advances in medical treatments and technologiesThis is also one reason why, on average, we all live longer than the statistical life expectancy at the time of our birth would have suggested. Nevertheless, we are still aging faster than science is making progress in slowing down our aging process, for example.
Longevity escape velocity (escape velocity of longevity) is reached when life expectancy increases by more than one year per year of research. In other words, the Research is producing new useful findings so quickly that it could always provide all the answers to the questions of aging. The result would actually be eternal life. Some experts believe that humanity is either close to that point or has already reached it. Let's wait and see what the future holds.
Medicine 3.0 – the other way to heal
There are many different approaches to achieving and maintaining health and longevity beyond curative medicine. Functional Medicine by Dr. Wachner, the preventive approach by Dr. Stoffel or that Biohacking Lab by Andreas Breitfeld.
The Preventive- and Functional Medicine, for example, sees the imbalance between body and environment as a cause of disease and aging processes.
To put it very clearly:
We humans are not designed to be inflamed, stressed, unrested, infected, undersupplied with important vital substances and surrounded by toxins.
So what makes the functional approach different from curative medicine?
The perspective of the body as an integrated system Instead of a collection of individual organs that are assigned to different medical disciplines, the focus is on the functional perspective. It focuses on the entire system and not just the symptoms.
Famous Longevity Personalities
Maybe you have already read Lifespan by David Sinclair, or the podcast “The Drive” by Peter Attia Maybe you have also Mark Hymans Book “Young forever read or something by Valter Longo and his pseudo-fasting diet. People like these are partly responsible for ensuring that longevity knowledge reaches people far beyond research. In books, podcasts and series, they try to put complicated scientific findings into simple words - with great success.
Dr. David Sinclair
When the book ‘Lifespan – Why we age and why we don't have to' appeared, was David A.Sinclair, PhD Although he was well known, he was not yet the shooting star of the longevity scene that he is today. The thrilling and exciting story of the molecular longevity pathways, which is published in German under the title ‘The end of aging – the revolutionary medicine of tomorrown' catapulted the Australian biologist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School to the top of bestseller lists in dozens of countries.
Dr. Mark Hyman
Mark Hyman is an American family physician, bestselling author and functional medicine practitioner. In his recently published Bestselling book 'Young Forever' he describes food as medicine to support longevity, energy, mental clarity, happiness and much more. The doctor is an internationally recognized figure in the field of functional medicine and discusses in his Podcast 'The Doctor's Farmacy' many different topics related to health and longevity.
Dr. Peter Attia
Peter Attia is one of the most renowned people in the longevity scene. The American doctor and health researcher is known, among other things, for his podcast "The Drive" in which he discusses with guests a variety of topics for a healthy and long life. With his new Bestselling book 'Outlive – The Science and Art of Longevity' Peter Attia also became known outside the scientific community.
Dave Asprey
On a trip to Tibet, the American computer scientist enjoyed Dave Asprey, a tea with typical yak butter and noticed that he felt much better physically and mentally. This experience was, in a way, the starting signal for a new life for the entrepreneur and bestselling author of 'Superhuman'. He summarized his findings as a Bulletproof Diet and has set himself the goal of living to the age of 180.
Bryan Johnson
The successful American entrepreneur invests several million dollars annually in his own rejuvenation program 'Blueprint'. You can find out which concrete steps he takes and which supplements complement his strict nutritional routine in our article about Bryan Johnson's Project Blueprint. He describes himself as the "most studied" person on earth.
The Path to Longevity
Strategies for extending health span are varied and include diet, exercise, supplements, and various high-tech methods. To improve life, we must understand aging and the process behind it and focus on slowing it down.
It is extremely important to continue to invest time and resources in research in order to open up opportunities to underpin the pursuit of healing and long-term health with the acquisition of knowledge. Regardless of whether the driving force is a single disease or aging in general.
While some famous people take a very extreme path towards longevity, MoleQlar is about showing interested people all the possibilities. We want to help you improve your life. Whether that happens with supplements, changes in eating habits or other methods is entirely up to you.
After all, good and long-term health does not begin with a single test and does not end with a few powders that are taken sporadically. Maintaining health begins with you - with your willingness to learn more about your body and to strengthen it.
A epigenetic age test can be a good start to find out where you stand. From there, certain nutritional hacks, the right exercise and selected supplements support your journey towards a healthy future. A relatively new approach in longevity research is the proteome. The proteomics deals with the evaluation of all proteins in your cells. This allows scientists to obtain information about your health using a new approach. In collaboration with the renowned LMU, MoleQlar was able to release one of the first proteomics tests. If you want to know more about your molecular profile want to experience, this is worth it as an introduction to longevity.
Ultimately, longevity is many things. For us, it can be a kind of blueprint for golden times and, in a sense, a tool for self-healingResearch gives us tools – we just have to use them.
Discover your proteome with MoleQlar's Molecular Profile test. Learn more now.
