On February 19, hundreds of longevity devotees attended the Don’t Die Summit in Manhattan, each paying $349 in the hopes of discovering the secret to extended life.
Keynote speaker, US tech millionaire Bryan Johnson, the subject of the recent Netflix documentary, Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, took to the stage to tell the audience: “We are at war with death. We are trying to eliminate death from our environment.”
Johnson made headlines last year when he revealed he spends over $2 million a year on his Project Blueprint, for which he receives plasma transfusions from his teenage son along with gene therapy injections in a bid to reverse or stop ageing.
As far as health buzzwords go, longevity has, no pun intended, stuck around. Claims by the likes of Johnson and his researchers might dominate headlines, but his experiments remain unapproved by the health authorities, further muddying the waters of what longevity actually means. Add in vague phrases such as “biohacking”, “rejuvenation” and “somatic” and it’s clear that the meaning of longevity has got a little lost.
Just as the vague catch-all term “wellness” replaced and repackaged a collection of words such as “diet” and “healthy lifestyle”, longevity has become an all-encompassing concept that covers everything from diet and exercise to genetics. So what exactly is it?
“Longevity, in the medical sense, refers to an individual’s ability to live a long and healthy life while maintaining good physical and mental well-being,” says Dr Afshan Zulfiqar, general practitioner at Aster Clinic, Nuaimiah in Ajman. “It is the period during which a person remains free from serious illness and enjoys a high quality of life free from chronic diseases and disabilities.
“While 'longevity' has gained significant popularity in recent years, it has always been a crucial focus of medical science. Historically, medicine has been concerned with prolonging life and improving overall health through disease prevention, early diagnosis, and effective treatments,” she adds. “Modern advancements and research in healthcare, nutrition and lifestyle modifications have further refined and increased our understanding of what contributes to a longer and healthier life.”
Short-term aims for long-term goals
According to Alberto El Bitar, founder and chief executive of Re Wellness Club, one common misconception about longevity is that people think it’s simply about living a longer life.
“In reality, longevity is more about the quality of life rather than just its duration,” he says. “It’s about maintaining the ability to move, run, play and stay in good health and shape as we age.”
The array of new wellness centres across the UAE dedicated to longevity treatments and programmes is a testament to the popularity of the concept, which boils down to developing a series of short-term habits and goals that make up the bigger picture of an individual’s overall health.
Traditional routes to health such as nutrition and exercise are supported by the development of daily habits which focus on mental and emotional well-being; recovery in the form of rest, sleep and active recovery; and adaptability, allowing the individual to change behaviours and pivot seamlessly between activities as necessary.
Adds El Bitar: “By focusing on these short-term aspects consistently, we create a strong foundation for long-term longevity, allowing us to stay active, healthy, and resilient as we age.”
Bespoke health and personalised programmes
The sheer scale of modern medicine and the amount of health information available online concerning alternative and complementary therapies, supplements, exercise and more means it can be difficult to know how to put together a personalised programme. This is where longevity come in, pulling together a variety of aspects based on the results of things such as blood work assessment, cardiovascular health and fitness levels.
“Longevity is a deeply personal journey, and its success lies in tailoring interventions to everyone’s unique physiology, lifestyle and goals,” says Paulina Mercader, general manager of the Longevity Hub by Clinique La Prairie at One & One Za’abeel.
“This means moving beyond traditional healthcare’s reactive model and instead focusing on preventive precision medicine, leveraging cutting-edge diagnostics, metabolic assessments and genetic insights to create an individualised blueprint for longevity.”
Areas such as stress management, sleep quality, mental and emotional health and preventive measures are considered alongside the traditional health markers of nutrition, exercise and lifestyle.
“Health and strength lay the foundations,” says Sarah Lindsay, owner of Roar Fitness. “Your nutrition and sleep are two major contributing factors to health that you have immediate control over and then strength comes down to your training programme design.”
El Bitar adds: “For true longevity, three key factors must be in alignment: biochemical health, biomechanical health and mental health. These elements work together to support overall well-being. Additionally, having a strong, supportive community and being mindful of where and how you spend your time can significantly impact brain health and overall longevity.”
Can longevity be leveraged?
The general acceptance that no hack will make us immortal, at least in this century, has led us to focus on how to make our finite lives better, says Dr Nas Al Jafari, co-founder and chief medical officer at DNA Health & Wellness.
“Despite all the medical advances of the postwar period, research indicates today’s 50 to 70-year-olds are at greater risk of chronic illness and disability than their predecessors, with rising rates of cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” he says. “Viewing longevity as life enhancement as opposed to extension helps manage expectations around what biohacking can actually achieve, by putting the focus on living healthier for longer.”
Lindsay of Roar Fitness adds: “All my grandparents lived [to] between 95 and 101 years old, which is truly amazing. I want to do everything I can to remain as capable and young as possible for as long as possible.”
