Longevity Center plans significant expansion of personalised health clinics that aim to prove the potential of Longevity interventions.

Putting the science of Longevity into practice, Poland’s Longevity Center is the first of what will become a network of preventive health clinics across Europe. Leveraging Longevity biomarkers, the centre builds on the knowledge accumulated by the International Institute of Longevity in areas including genetics, epigenetics, psychology, lifestyle and nutrition, to develop personalised health programmes for its clients.

Longevity.Technology: With so much work going into the research and science behind Longevity, it’s easy to forget what is happening on the front line. Clinics like Longevity Center are a first step in implementing Longevity science at the point of care, so we caught up with founder and CEO Joanna Bensz, and director of Longevity compliance Weronika Laude to find out more.

Having visited centres in the US and Asia doing some aspect of Longevity-centric care, Bensz was convinced that the time was right to start a clinic in Europe.

“I think we are in a perfect moment to combine a lot of the dots, and so we decided to set up our first center in Warsaw,” she says. “At the Institute we saw a lot of meetings between scientists and other scientists, but there was not much interaction between doctors and other areas with the Longevity field.”

The $1.5 million, 550 sqm Warsaw centre was officially opened in January this year, bringing together a broad team of experts, including medical doctors, but also psychologists, nutritionists and physiotherapist to cover the full spectrum of a client’s health. But there is a clear Longevity focus throughout.

“Our health assessment is different because it’s based on the hallmarks of aging … We also test your mitochondrial health, hormonal health, and your overall biological condition.”

“Our health assessment is different because it’s based on the hallmarks of aging,” says Bensz. “We also test your mitochondrial health, hormonal health, and your overall biological condition. And we are using different biological clocks that are already either commercially available or out of the lab – at this stage we are looking at eight different types of biological age assessment.”

Longevity Center offers a range of different programmes, but the most comprehensive option costs between $1,000 and $2,000 for an initial assessment that takes about 4.5 hours, followed by the development of a 12-month action plan based on the results. Ongoing access to the centre’s doctors and other experts ranges from $200 to $500 per month.

The initial assessment includes a full laboratory diagnostic panel measuring 40 biochemical, hormonal and tumour markers, plus genetic and epigenetic tests. Other assessments include cardiovascular health, immune health, antioxidation levels, muscle strength, body composition, posture assessment, cognitive health and emotional state assessment.

Patients also receive a consultation about the results and to discuss their programme with a doctor, but Laude points out that there is significant input from a much wider team.
“What’s unique about Longevity Center is that we have something we call our Consilium, which is a whole panel of different doctors and experts that look at every case in an integral way,” she says. “This is something that we haven’t seen anywhere else.”

Getting patients to change their habits, or form new habits, is key to the success of their programme, and Longevity Center aims to do its part to help drive that success.

“We give you tools on how you can manage your health better next time,” says Bensz. “We are working with Garmin, for example, to keep the clients involved in the process and motivated.”

Proving the efficacy of Longevity interventions

The company also keeps its eye on new Longevity products and solutions that are becoming available, and this is where Laude, as compliance director, is focused. Herself a scientist and an expert in the latest developments around of aging, Laude uses her knowledge to help assess which solutions and supplements are worth considering for use in the centre.
“We are on the front line of that connection between what’s happening in aging science and the people,” she says. “How can we test the science as soon as possible, and, if it really works, let’s bring it to the people now, because there’s no time to waste. And that’s why we are really open to collaboration with different providers from the longevity space – supplements, biomarkers and other interventions. We want to see if they really work.”

“We are on the front line of that connection between what’s happening in aging science and the people …”

Regarding Longevity supplements specifically, the centre is currently working on assessing available supplements for potential inclusion in its programs.

“We are finalizing our evaluation and our discussions with various partners, and our goal is to create a portfolio of the most effective and most valuable products on the market,” says Laude. “Some products have never been tested in humans with biological biomarkers. This is our niche. We want to see if these things are really working in humans. Because we want answers, we want to get to the truth of what’s actually working and what’s not.”

Longevity Center plans to open around 20 more clinics across Europe in the next five years, with the first three to open in Germany soon. Watch this space!

Images courtesy of Longevity Center and Piotr Waniorek