PhysioAge Provides a Benchmark for Overall Health and Aging
The Riordan Clinic’s PhysioAge program is a good fit for anyone interested in their health and well-being. Chronological age isn’t as relevant to the body’s aging process when it comes to a person’s overall health, quality of life, and longevity.
Lifestyle, genetics and many other factors can contribute to a person’s physiological age being significantly higher or lower than chronological age.
Michael (Mike) Shaw, PA-C, ABAAHP, oversees the PhysioAge program at Riordan Clinic, and says that the goal of the program is to empower patients to make changes to improve the course of their health and well-being.
Mike said that the ideal time to have an initial evaluation is when a person is in their mid-20s, when most people’s health is at its best. However, he said that the information obtained by the evaluation can be valuable at any age.
He recommends that patients repeat the test, but waiting at least one year between PhysioAge evaluations is advisable. As a result of the testing, Mike works with patients to prepare a proactive plan to slow their aging process, and he said it takes at least a year to see results.
“You can’t reverse problems overnight,” he said.
PhysioAge measures eight biomarkers of aging:
- CardioAge: Evaluates cardiovascular risk by measuring artery stiffness and blood pressure at the heart
- CutoAge: Measures skin elasticity, firmness and resistance
- PulmoAge: Measures lung function
- NeuroAge: Assesses brain aging and cognitive function
- TelomerAge: Measures the length of the caps at the ends of your DNA, which shorten with every cell division and can show how fast your cells are aging.
- ImunoAge: Measures the strength of your immune system
- GlycanAge: Measures how your body controls and interacts with glucose
- PhenoAge: Measures how your blood cells are aging
PhysioAge evaluations usually take about half a day. Mike said that patients can expect blood tests, a body composition analysis, a CT scan at a nearby facility to detect potential problems with arteries, and a treadmill stress test with gas analysis to measure VO2max, which he said is a true measure of a person’s fitness level.
PhysioAge is designed to be proactive. It not only shows where disease is now, but where there is potential for it to develop in the future. You will find out changes you can make now while you have time to do something.
The results of the PhysioAge evaluation are a weighted average of your biomarkers, which evaluate how well your body’s organ systems are performing. Participants receive access to a web-based dashboard that consolidates biomarkers, labs, and other results.
The program was developed by Dr. Joseph Raffaele, MD, whose clinic is in New York City. Mike said he met Dr. Raffaele in 1993 at an American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine conference and he instantly connected with the program. At the time, he had just opened a new business, Age Reversal Technologies. In 2017, Mike joined the Riordan Clinic staff and brought the PhysioAge program with him.
For more information about PhysioAge or to schedule an appointment, call 800-447-7276.
