New year, old memories: The Longevity Recap 2022

New year, old memories: The Longevity Recap 2022

We are almost at the first of January. The month of the year when everyone at every organization sits down to review their progress and ups and downs in the past year. It’s only fair that the industry that keeps talking about adding years to human lives performs its due share.

The year 2022 has been one of the investigations, findings, launches, and new avenues of longevity science and technology. We have moved from the initial incubation steps at Insilico Medicine to publish patents of our own, launch new frontiers of health and wellness technology, and integrate our services beyond individual aging clocks.

Here is a quick review of the year past –

New research and scientific publications

Researchers at Deep Longevity published two scientific studies in 2022. Both papers were published in top peer-reviewed academic journals with a focus on human longevity and aging.

The happiness research: Researchers at Deep Longevity and Harvard Medical School came together to publish a new study exploring the true causes of happiness and human longevity. Scientists proposed a deep learning model of human psychology that can predict the subjective age and current well-being of a person. The researchers have also demonstrated how SOM models and AI can be used to promote psychological well-being and slow down aging.

True factors of human aging: Researchers at Deep Longevity and the University of Hong Kong join hands to publish one of its kind study on Chinese older adults. The study used different aging clocks based on blood biomarkers and psychological well-being to predict the subjective age of a test group. And the results demonstrated how psychological and socioeconomic factors affect human aging more than hazardous acts like smoking and serious diseases.

Welcoming new customers and clients at Deep Longevity

Advanced longevity clinics and healthcare providers have already started using multiple branded and white-label LaaS products by Deep Longevity. Although, we expect the trend to continue and power through 2023 and beyond. Here is to the new longevity customers who have pioneered and joined us this year —

Cidrani  Cidrani is a HealthTech startup building an AI-powered platform and pioneering microbiome diversity in the guts to improve human well-being and longevity. Duped as the most-innovative organic beverage, their fermented micro drinks are rich in postbiotics that stimulate immune response and reduce inflammation.

Modern Age  Modern Age is an advanced, NYC-based longevity clinic that offers personalized slow-aging and anti-aging treatments to prolong happiness and well-being.

Chi Tree Health  Chi Tree Health relies on an integrative approach and cutting-edge science to promote well-being. Their consultants provide state of the art solutions, preventive care, and health coaching to live a prolonged and healthy life.

Deep Launches | New Products by Deep Longevity

The year again witnessed Deep Longevity develop and launch advanced products and tools. These solutions will not only help longevity experts and doctors diagnose aging but also allow professionals in related fields, e.g., health insurance, human resource, drug design, etc., to offer better services.

SenoClock Launched in November 2022, SenoClock is a SaaS-based aging clock platform that offers all our aging clocks. It allows doctors and professionals to access biological, psychological, and a variety of subjective aging clocks to evaluate and improve the aging rate and well-being of their patients. The integrative approach, nestled within this tool, will also allow for better care and longevity services in the future.

Our current focus is to avail all our aging clocks to SenoClock. We plan to open the platform for other providers and research groups who may want to offer their aging clocks via SenoClock. It will not only help launch new models of advanced aging clocks — but also allow doctors to keep up with the latest technology. We’ll share more on this in the year to come!

Futurself.ai More than 30000 people are already using Futurself.ai to measure their psychological age and well-being based on a simple questionnaire. Built upon the MindAge clock, the free web service also has an embedded recommendation engine that offers personalized recommendations based on different psycho types and SOM-analysis to improve the psychological well-being of the user.

Although, Futurself and its recommendation engine can improve the aging rate in most use cases. People are still advised to consult trained and certified professionals for significant results.

Global Media Coverage & Social Signals

Journalists and scientists around the world are talking about us and our work. Deep Longevity and its research projects have been covered by some of the most prominent media houses and social accounts from around the globe.

These stories not only help us reach more users but also inform the populace about the new frontiers of longevity science and technology. Here are some of the top stories that our team loves –

Wall Street Journal  Our CEO was interviewed by Wall Street Journal in an exclusive coverage that focused on Deep Longevity’s research in the context of aging clocks and longevity.

Forbes In a Forbes article, our founder and CLO discussed the plasticity of the psychological age – and how our AI tools and recommendation engine may reverse or slow down the damage and help individuals find the optimal path to mental stability.

Bloomberg  Deep Longevity’s research director was covered on Bloomberg. They discussed different approaches to cure aging and improve human longevity, including both digital models of brains and physiological longevity. It’s an interesting read.

The Telegraph  The Telegraph covered our research on the effects of psychosocial factors on aging, which demonstrated how feelings of happiness, hope, and safety lead to better health outcomes.

Fox News  Fox News covered our research on how loneliness can be worse for your health than smoking and serious health and kidney diseases.

SCMP – South China Morning Post covered the launch of Futurself.ai and an exclusive telephonic interview with our CLO, Alex Zhavoronkov.

The Longevity Podcast

Our CEO and CLO appeared on the Inside Tracker podcast with their CEO, Dr. Gil Blander, and Lead Nutrition Scientist, Ashley Reaver

They discussed everything from why we started, how artificial intelligence and deep learning may predict subjective age based on different data types, organ-specific age, modern age diagnosis, longevity therapeutics, and drug design, to other applications of Deep Longevity aging clocks in different industries.

Alex also explained how different aging clocks and recommendation engines correlate and function behind the scene to deliver subjective age reports. You can watch the complete podcast on their YouTube channel. It’s a fun watch, especially when they struggle to explain what exactly it is that these aging clocks measure.

What’s next for Deep Longevity?

Now that we are done with the review of the year – let’s move to the plans for the year ahead.  

As of now, our experts are working day and night to bring the MindAge clock to the SenoClock platform. It will allow physicians and longevity professionals to evaluate the psychological age, well-being, and maturity of their patients, clients, and employees on the go.  

The end goal is to integrate and avail all our aging clocks on SenoClock as soon as possible. It will not only benefit the platform but also quicken the process for the doctors and patients who may want to use these tools in clinical settings.  

Our product and legal teams are also working on a new patent application. The process for which is well underway, and we expect the results either by the end of 2023 or the year next.

And our research continues…

Our researchers and scientists continue to explore new avenues of deep learning and artificial intelligence in the context of aging and longevity. And we plan to publish more exciting findings and news in the near future.  

It is our promise that we will continue with the efforts to improve your and your patient’s future health and happiness. Here is to celebrate the frontiers of human longevity. May your new year bring all the joy and accomplishments you wish for!

We wish you a very very Happy New Year

But wait… 

Have you decided on a goal for your biological or psychological age at the end of 2023? Maybe, you want to slow down aging – or start tracking your aging rate? 

Longevity and preventive medicine require continuous effort, monitoring, and care to improve your health and life. If you haven’t started already, at least think about it. The earlier you begin taking care of your physical and mental health and well-being, the better for you and your family.

Insurance Underwriting Transformation – Mental Health & Psychological Age matter more than Smoking

Insurance Underwriting Transformation – Mental Health & Psychological Age matter more than Smoking

Insurance underwriting transformation is turning into a buzzword already. Insurers across the globe are exploring ways to tap into new customer profiles without increasing risk. In this context, mental health consideration opens a whole new avenue of products, added benefits, advanced premium calculations, better protection, extended human life, etc. 

Mental health issues affect more than 25% of the population across England. The proportion has only risen since the pandemic, which is still ongoing.  

Although a sizable number of organizations and employers have taken note of the situation and now offer some sort of mental health-related support for their employees, this is more of a reactive nature in terms of days off, some internal counselling etc.. The time (and market) is ripe for the much-needed preventive measures that employers can take themselves, it is also inevitable that insurance underwriting undergoes transformation to cover individual customers as well as the customer base of their employers. 

Mental Health Tools for Insurance Underwriting Transformation

Emerging technology and solutions that address psychological resilience and well-being can help insurance underwriters. For example, AI-based psychological age calculator and recommendation engine by Deep Longevity allows insurance providers to both evaluate their customers as well as help them lead a better, longer, and healthier life. 

We know that psychological states affect everything we do – from following a healthy diet and lifestyle to taking medications as per the schedule. These factors converge over time. And for someone dealing with issues like stress, anxiety, mild to severe depression, etc., the effect on health and longevity can be catastrophic.   

Deep Longevity provides a portfolio of aging clocks, including the Psychological Aging Clock, to predict the current biological age and future health prospects. Psychological age refers to the mental state most typical for people of a certain age group. The Psychological Aging Clock measures the psychological well-being of a person, which has a much higher impact on physical health and aging than the best of past speculations. 

This article expands upon our previous issue that explored how BloodAge Clock can improve the health insurance underwriting for both the insurance provider(s) and their customers. The Psychological Aging Clock goes further beyond! Get ready for the insurance underwriting transformation. 

The Missing Factor

Although, insurance underwriters rely on a multitude of factors to determine insurance premiums. Age and Tobacco consumption play the deciding role. Insurers around the world focus on these two parameters without a clear understanding of the former and comparative impact analysis of the latter. 

However, new research by the scientists at Deep Longevity has found a third parameter, which has a bigger impact on physical health and aging compared to smoking. Poor psychological states can accelerate the pace of aging and deterioration of human health much more than tobacco or nicotine. 

It is essential to include mental health and psychological well-being within basic healthcare plans to help people live long and healthy lives. The insurance underwriting transformation of this magnitude will not only reduce healthcare costs and insurance claims but also improve employee productivity, health data collection, medical research, and new markets for insurance providers. 

The Challenge: A ballooning hidden cost

Mental health care is mysterious, barely understood and broken at best. 

Anxiety and depression are the most commonly diagnosed psychological issues in the UK. Insurers offer special packages and premiums to manage these and a few other problems. They do not holistically factor in mental health, which can be measured by psychological age, to determine the associated risk a customer will face in the future. 

There is also no preventive plan to avoid mental health issues, unlike physical health issues with cues on frequent tests, exercise, diet, lifestyle, etc. 

Isn’t it an oxymoron that insurance providers rely on ‘intelligent underwriting systems’ with ‘hard coded rules’ to determine insurance premiums? Higher BMI equals higher premiums, and so do alcohol consumption and smoking. And it all works until you factor in the true cost of mental health and its impact on physical health and mortality. 

Insurers cannot continue to ignore mental health and its potential impact on physical health. The archaic equation of insurance underwriting is futile without factors like psychological age. It is not enough to offer plans for a few diagnosed conditions. 

Even with those plans in place, the cover and treatment for mental health issues like depression and anxiety are sporadic at best. Ignoring the significant impact mental health can have on physical health and aging also misses and leaves the opportunity and avenue of preventive health, which may change the whole conversation around mental health and extend human life. 

The majority of the global workforce deals with some mental health issues – with 59% reporting at least one challenge. Some employers have already stepped up to offer help in the form of leaves, work-life balance, counseling, etc. But it is not enough and not safe enough. 

Insurers must step in to protect and promote better life choices. That is why the insurance underwriting transformation becomes essential. 

The Opportunity: Extending human life (and revenue cycles)

Aging clocks, when availed via infinitely extensible, personalized, and globally deployed digital platforms, can benefit the mental health ecosystem beyond measure. Insurance providers can not only use such technology to evaluate the customers but also help them to extend their healthspan and lifespan. 

It is usually not easy for insurers to provide enough cover for people working in an unstable physical or financial environment. However, knowing the biological and psychological age and profile of such a potential customer may be an opportunity for both parties. Insurance providers will be able to offer services for the huge population working in unconventional and risky industries. And people who need these services the most will finally have access. 

On the other hand, these tests can also uncover potential mental health issues. So, insurers can offer better protection and preventive care at the right time. 

Psychological profile, as measured by Deep Longevity’s MindAge aging clock, along with biological age prediction by Blood Age, gives a better picture of a customer’s current well-being and future health prospects. 

The insurance company that transforms its underwriting practices and implements such a technology will not only add customers and revenue but also help those customers enjoy a long and healthy life. It’s essential for industry leaders to adopt new technologies to keep up with emerging competition.

Psychological Aging clock can also help employers who want to ensure and improve the psychological well-being of their employees, help them live a better (and longer) life.

Read Deep Longevity CEO’s thought leadership article on Insurance Underwriting Transformation:-

1. Going beyond Age & Tobacco in Insurance Underwriting – Mental Health & Psychological Age is more important than Smoking

2. Blood age clocks can revolutionise the insurance underwriting process

Contact us to learn more about MindAge and other tools to transform insurance underwriting at your organization.

The secret to healthy longevity is happiness, recent research shows

The secret to healthy longevity is happiness, recent research shows

Deep Longevity is building a digital model of aging. According to their most recent publication, mental health is a major anti-aging factor and cannot be ignored in biogerontological studies.

Aging research has been blooming ever since the invention of aging clocks. While all people age, some age at a faster pace than others and manifest the signs of growing old at an earlier age. Frailty, aging-related diseases, poor sight and cognitive decline are all unpleasant signs of old age. Aging clocks are statistical models that can predict how soon these symptoms of aging will manifest in a person.

The first aging clock was developed by Steve Horvath in 2013 who used epigenetic data to compare the pace of aging across multiple human tissues. This study was followed by a number of research projects analyzing the footprints of aging in other biodata dimensions: gene expression, clinical blood tests, imaging, gut flora composition. These aging clocks allow to inspect the root causes of aging and provide insights that ultimately can be used to create an anti-aging treatment.

However, most of these models operate with physical, molecular data sources such as DNA and RNA. While these molecules are the very foundation of any life on Earth, one cannot fully grasp such complex and high-order processes as aging relying only on low-level information. The aging process is more than a process of cellular damage accumulation, it is also a societal and psychological phenomenon.

Deep Longevity is a Hong Kong startup that aims to bring together the disparate manifestations of aging into a single narrative and create the tools that will drive biogerontological research in the future. In 2020, Deep Longevity published the first psychological aging clock that showed that one’s perception of their own age is a significant all-cause mortality factor. Earlier this year, Deep Longevity worked with Harvard University to publish a research piece describing an ensemble of neural networks that can help people achieve long-term mental resilience. This research project now serves as the backend behind a free online service FuturSelf.AI that provides its users with comprehensive reports on their psychological age and well-being trajectories.

Deep Longevity continues exploring the psychological component of aging and has just published a new paper demonstrating the interconnectedness of the physical and mental aspects of aging. In collaboration with Stanford University and the University of Hong Kong, the startup analyzed data from 11,914 Chinese adults to compare how emotional states and social factors affect one’s biological age. The pace of aging detected with a novel aging clock was shown to accelerate if a person feels unhappy, lonely, or has trouble sleeping. The detrimental effect of a poor mental state exceeded that of smoking and was on par with the impact of serious lung and liver diseases.

The authors conclude that given the strong connection between psychology and the physical pace of aging, poor mental health needs to be recognized as a major driver of aging. Alex Zhvaoronkov, the founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine and a co-author of the paper, states: “This study lays the foundation for the new tools that may help reverse both the psychological and biological aging and improve well-being at the same time… Both organizations and governments would benefit from increased productivity and decreases in healthcare costs stemming from psychosocial and biological age optimization”.

In combination with the previously announced FuturSelf.AI, this publication provides a fresh perspective on anti-aging solutions for regular people. Mental health applications can be used to improve one’s longevity potential and are compatible with more traditional aging clocks such as Blood Age, according to the new paper in Ageing-US.

Deep Longevity is planning to continue its exploration of psychological aging and its connection to aging-related diseases. Currently, Deep Longevity is analyzing the user-provided data from FuturSelf.AI to prepare a follow-up publication with its academic collaborators from China and the US. The publication will feature a detailed analysis of psychological traits in the context of aging that will be used to further improve the aging clocks provided by the company. Deepankar Nayak, the CEO of Deep longevity affirms, FuturSelf.AI, in combination with our recent study of older Chinese adults combining Mind Age and Blood Age, positions Deep Longevity at the forefront of biogerontological research”.

Most Influential Journalists covered our research

Nicola Davis From The Guardian referred our journal as Digital model of ageing reveals importance of psychological health as well as biological

Brooke Steinberg from NyPost mentioned Being alone and unhappy could be worse on health than smoking: study

Shiv Sudhakar from FoxNews described Loneliness and unhappiness can age us faster than smoking: New study

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech from The Hill wrote Feeling lonely, unhappy can accelerate aging more than smoking

Sarah Knapton from Telegraph quoted A team of international researchers have discovered a startling link between mental and physical well-being and feeling isolated

How longevity doctors can use SenoClock to extend human life

How longevity doctors can use SenoClock to extend human life

Unlike regular doctors who focus on specific diseases and medical conditions, longevity doctors have to deal with a host of issues that are otherwise unheard of in the medical profession. For example — too many parameters, a pure lack of standard diagnosis, patient motivation, result verification, and more. These issues not only affect the earlier diagnosis and treatment of probable aging-related diseases but also add to the confusion that surrounds longevity therapies and solutions, both on the part of the patients and medical professionals.

SenoClock solves these problems. It’s a SaaS-based platform that offers a portfolio of all the aging clocks developed by Deep Longevity. Doctors can use this platform for the diagnosis of current anomalies in a patient’s health as well as for the prediction of their future health concerns and possible solutions to avoid the same.

Let’s explore how it enables longevity doctors to help their patients live healthier, happier, and longer lives.

A new parameter that encompasses them all

Though, longevity doctors have a single goal to extend and preserve the healthy life of their patients. It quickly translates into the struggle to avoid every possible disease or sickness that might affect them.

With no standard diagnosis and parameters in place, it is nearly impossible for medical professionals to come to a consensus regarding the problem and possible interventions. In fact, it is very likely that a human won’t even pick up on the microscopic cues hidden among the numbers in multiple reports.

Aging clocks by Deep Longevity, which are available on SenoClock, help doctors and patients understand and analyze these standard reports by converting them into biological or psychological age.

It is not only straightforward to compare biological age with chronological age – and categorize the patients into slow or fast-ager groups, the detailed reports delivered by these aging clocks make it even easier to decide on possible interventions and therapies.

It is not only straightforward to compare biological age with chronological age – and categorize the patients into slow or fast-ager groups, the detailed reports delivered by these aging clocks make it even easier to decide on possible interventions and therapies.

Patient motivation: New goal, more life

Along with biological age, these aging clocks also predict the optimal age of a patient, i.e., the minimum possible biological age that can be achieved (with interventions available).

Longevity patients are not dealing with ongoing health issues, illness, discomfort, or pain. It doesn’t make sense for them to struggle so much over one or two parameters in their reports that deviate by a few numbers.

SenoClock, by converting these numbers into biological and optimal age, makes it worthwhile and rewarding for the patients to implement lifestyle changes and follow up on therapies. It gives them a new goal to strive for – their optimal age. If they can lower their biological age, even by a couple of years, it is a lot more beneficial and easier for them to continue the best practices.

Patients will also find it easier (and necessary) to get back on track whenever there is a slip-up and if their biological age shifts unexpectedly.

SenoClock may, in hindsight, also help longevity doctors to encourage more patients to undergo the diagnosis and take on preventive measures to improve their health prospects in the future.

Full transparency: Unearthing the real culprit – true biomarkers that affect the most

The next section of Blood Age and other reports that SenoClock avails will always include the different parameters that are used in the prediction. It lists exactly which biomarker adds how many years to a patient’s biological age. So the longevity doctor would know exactly what is affecting a patient the most and where to focus.

SenoClock eliminates all the speculations from the diagnosis and monitoring of longevity treatments. It reveals the causal factors and allows the doctors to recommend further diagnosis and future interventions that may protect a patient from unnecessary pain and procedures.

Thus, even if a patient’s biological age is somewhat less than the chronological age, the doctors will know exactly what to expect in the future. They cannot only intervene right away, they can also help their patients remove another year or two from their biological age.

These factors also go hand-in-hand with patient motivation. If you can show that lowering their cholesterol levels by a few points may take off up to two years from their biological age, it becomes much easier to explain and encourage them to avoid sugar and other unhealthy practices.

Individual patients, individual organs

Human body has a number of vital and necessary organs (and functions) that are imperative to normal human life. We cannot ignore them with an all-encompassing blood or microbiome test that predicts the biological age of a patient.

SenoClock offers a number of aging clocks that address the issue. For example — The Blood Age clock lists individual scores for different vital organs like the heart, kidneys, liver, and other glands (lipid profile). Mind Age measures the mental health and psychological well-being of a person. And microbiome-based aging clocks build different profiles that help longevity doctors better assess a patient’s current health and predict future health prospects.

The diagnosis once again not only informs the current status of the patient – but also allows for early-stage intervention and avoids disastrous possibilities. Life becomes a lot easier, and the impact on lifespan becomes negligible if you can detect the onslaught of diseases like diabetes early on – and start implementing lifestyle changes and other preventive therapies.  The same goes for the other organs as well. If you can spot the slight deterioration in performance early on, it’s easier to undergo preventive measures and avoid the worst. 

Quick intervention: More patients, better results, easier implementation

all that speculation out of the picture – and 100% digital implementation of SenoClock – longevity diagnosis becomes easier and blazing fast.

The platform allows doctors to download aging clock reports within minutes of uploading patient data, which saves both the appointment time and unnecessary waiting-time on the part of the patients. It’s also pretty easy to train professionals for the effective operation of SenoClock – and doesn’t take more than a 1-hour training seminar.

 Most of these aging clocks utilize assessment-based questionnaires and simple blood test reports available globally to predict biological age and generate the reports. So doctors do not need to find new or specific labs to run these tests. 
Longevity doctors can review more patients in less time and offer better services with precise results. By enabling doctors to attract and care for more patients – SenoClock helps them extend the lifespan of their patients at much higher scales, especially when estim With ated collectively.

If you want to implement SenoClock at your longevity clinic or hospital, request a demo call with our experts.

We’re more than ready to answer any questions or queries. There is also a free trial license available for advanced longevity clinics that want to implement the new age preventive technology.

As a word of caution – Even though all of  these aging clocks have been validated and published in multiple peer-reviewed studies around the globe, these are not yet certified for clinical use. Professional expertise is still the first and foremost approach to medicine. The platform, SenoClock, and its aging clocks should never be used to automate medical decisions.

With that said – physicians may still employ these tools to provide their patients with a new longevity-focused perspective of health – and differentiate their practice in the marketplace. If you want to implement SenoClock at your hospital or clinic, please fill up the form.

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