Longevity at WELL: A Sit Down with Dr. Meek
Following up on our conversation On Longevity: A Chat with Dr. Grant Meek, we again met with Dr. Meek to dive deeper into the ins and outs of the Longevity program at WELL.
Remind us how Longevity medicine differs from traditional medical assessments
Typically, a patient experiences symptoms, visits their doctor, and then gets treated. That’s what I was trained in, what we all did.
Longevity medicine utilizes preventative health assessments. We look for disease before it’s clinically evident in them – before they have symptoms. It could help prevent complications and make it easier for the patient.
You have 20 seconds to describe WELL’s Longevity Program to someone – what do you say?
Technology has advanced enough that we are now able to accurately and confidently predict someone’s health outcomes long before they’re in a diseased state. WELL’s Longevity Program involves a lot of work from both the patient and the doctors, but we can give you control back over your health. Through testing and guidance, we can help you maintain optimal levels of health so you’re living better, longer.
What can someone expect from the Longevity Program?
We take each person in our Longevity Program on an individualized journey. It starts with testing – physical exam, blood and urine testing, coronary risk analysis, diabetes screening, all of it. The next level includes a Total Body Scan, including both MRI and CT scans. We can then test molecular biomarkers for organ and cellular ages. There’s also opportunity for microbiome and genetic testing.
The information we gather from these tests determines next steps. We address any immediate issues and flag potential future issues. While we look at the test data, we also consider our patients’ wants, needs and desires; their lifestyles; what makes sense for each person. This means individualized recommendations for things like exercise, nutrition, sleep, and potential treatment.
For a lot of our patients, it’s about living well, not just living long. Good health goes beyond the body. We spend time helping our patients with things like mindfulness, a sense of purpose, and a sense of community. For example, for many of patients in the 50-60 age range, we talk about next steps after retiring. They’ve been working for the past 40 years – what do they do now. We work on goals, talk about things they can do, making sure they get that sense of purpose.
There are levels to WELL’s Longevity Program. How does someone know which one to choose?
We start with the Proactive Health Assessment, which has all the basic testing. The next level includes a Total Body Scan; then we add a Total Body Scan and Biomarker testing; and our Annual Program includes microbiome, genetic and other testing.
I won’t pressure people to go into higher paid levels of assessments. People come in with general or specific questions about their health. I say, “Look, we get you in for what you think will answer your health questions. If we feel like you see more value moving up after we complete testing, we’ll just add the next step. You’ve already done the first part.”
Where do you see Longevity medicine heading?
Longevity is what I like to think of as the next frontier in healthcare. Over the past five years or so, the technology has increased so much that we can really move the needle in terms of optimizing your health. With technological advancements, including things like AI, we can really track and predict where your health will be in 3,4,5 or more years. This kind of data-driven prediction was unheard of a few years ago. And it’s only becoming more advanced.
Ready to take a deeper look at your health? Contact us to learn more.
604.628.2822