How are you? Really? How sure are you that you’re aging well? Stop guessing and start aging well with biotrackers. One of the things that super seniors excel at is using biotrackers.
Like many seniors, you may wake up with sore joints, an upset stomach, or skin that keeps getting spotty and wrinkly. Don’t worry, you’re just “getting older.” But is your aging experience “normal?” How do you know you haven’t got one of those unpronounceable diseases on TV ads?
A certain degree of degeneration is common for aging seniors. But what’s normal and what’s normal for you? If you’ve ever asked yourself such questions, read along. Every smart senior needs to keep informed about what’s a normal part of aging well, and when to call a doctor. Luckily, there are now better ways to track key biomarkers with tests and tracking devices.
Aging Well with Biotrackers
It’s Christmas and most of us aren’t going anywhere. Maybe now would be a good time to invest in genome testing or get a wearable biotracker. Not to be paranoid, but a step in time can prevent one of those nasty senior diseases. If you want to start aging well with biotrackers, you need to invest in testing and measuring. Here’s why.
You are unique in more ways than you could ever know. Your body keeps running day in day out no matter what you feed it and how unhelpful you are with sleep and exercise habits. It is remarkably forgiving. This is good because I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a few bad health habits. With each passing year, we need to know if we’re still getting away with our favorite drink or dessert.
Unfortunately, there appears to be an accumulative affect of bad habits, and they end up causing problems. Your health changes over time. Prevention is a better plan than some of those medications with a long list of side effects. The only way to know is if you are aging well with biotrackers.
Here’s Why Biomarkers Matter
First, it makes sense to have a physical exam with your health care provider once a year if you’re older. If your body is on the wrong path you can make course corrections before you get ill. In order to find out your health and wellness status, the doctor will order some tests for certain biomarkers.
What is a biomarker? The term “biomarker” is used as a simple biological marker such as the level of cholesterol in a human. Biomarkers are a broad category of medical signs—that is, objective indications of a certain medical state as can be measured accurately. Such medical signs stand in contrast to medical symptoms, which are indications of health or illness perceived by the person.
Many of the symptoms of the chronic degenerative diseases of aging don’t show up until it’s too late. Once you’ve got conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Parkinson’s, and dementia, it’s too late for many effective treatments. That’s why it’s key to keep an eye on your biomarkers.
Blood Tests for Biomarkers
Every year (or possibly more often for some seniors), your health provider will ask you for blood draws at a lab. Some of the most common tests will measure:
- Complete blood count (CBC)
- Liver Chemistry (basic metabolic) panel
- Thyroid panel
- Levels of vital nutrients, such as iron or B vitamins
- Hormone levels, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone
- Inflammation markers
Blood tests offer an important snapshot of your overall health. They’re also a good way to catch disease development early. When you notice your levels are out of the normal range, you can improve diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes as a first line of defense, even before medications are warranted.
Technology for Aging Well with Biotrackers
There are new health assessment technologies offered online all the time. I will describe the ones I’m familiar with, but there are many others just as valuable. To use tests to track progress or decline, you would have to repeat the same test after a lapse of time, every six months, for example. However, remember that lifestyles changes take time to show up on lab tests. Don’t be impatient.
Genome Testing: You can take assessments on your own, with your doctors help, or through an online program like InsideTracker.com. The company combines the results of your DNA analysis (through 23andme.com) to make recommendations on diet and lifestyle habits. The goal is for participants to keep their health and biomarker numbers in optimal ranges so that you’ll know if you’re on track for aging well.
InsideTracker is a health fanatic’s dream. The site describes its program as “An ultra-personalized nutrition system that analyzes your blood, DNA and lifestyle to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.” You take their lab tests, submit your DNA testing, answer questions about your health habits, and they tell you where you need to optimize your diet and improve lifestyle. It will even send you daily text reminders.
It’s not cheap to sign up for two programs like InsideTracker and DNA testing, but my husband Rob and I prefer spending money to prevent disease rather than on medicines to cure them. We went all out and signed up for their lab tests of 51 biomarkers. That meant seven vials of red blood.
Of course, most online tracking programs are designed to chart health progress over time. That means getting tested every three to six months. Or not. We’ve opted to get retested periodically and limit testing to the health indicators where we need progress.
Personal Biotrackers: The Future of Health?
Are you wearing a personal biotracker? An example is a smart watch or a fitness device. But the technology field is exploding with more sophisticated devices for aging well with biotrackers. For seniors in the next few years, we will wear innovative biosensors that signal early detection of disease and monitor health concerns. We’re not just living longer, we’re living with fewer debilitating diseases. We can thank biotracking technology for this.
Biotracker devices can measure minute details of our cellular functioning. This includes the obvious health metrics like blood pressure, weight and cholesterol levels, but also hormones, vitamins, and metabolic byproducts.
The technology is already here, but we’re not using them like we could. We can monitor our heart rate, rhythm and blood pressure. That data could tell us what to modify (diet, exercise) in order to prevent chronic disease, heat attack or stroke.
Wearable technology in healthcare includes electronic devices that consumers can wear, like Fitbits and smartwatches, and are designed to collect the data of users’ personal health and exercise. US consumer use of wearables jumped from 9% in 2014 to 33% in 2018, according to Accenture.
According an article in BusinessInsider, biosensors are wearable medical devices that are radically different from wrist trackers and smartwatches. The Philips’ wearable biosensor is a self-adhesive patch that allows patients to move around while collecting data on their movement, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature.
Independent research showed this device registered an 89% reduction in patient deterioration into preventable cardiac or respiratory arrest. Wearable technology incentivizes behaviors that reduce hospital visits and readmissions due to poorly managed personal health—75% of users agree that wearables help them engage with their own health.
Here are some technologies already in development:
- Skin patches: In 2017, the US FDA approved a glucose sensor that you stick on your skin for real-time measurement.
- Your smart phone or watch: Imagine having a constant readout of your blood sugar on your phone or watch. You might not keep eating that cheesecake or drink another cocktail.
- Sweat: We already have the technology to identify diseases, diet changes, injuries and stress through sweat.
- Breath: Companies are working on handheld breath analyzers that can diagnose cancer, infectious diseases, and inflammatory diseases.
- T-shirts and underwear: Other innovators are looking at designing clothing with sensors that track key biomarkers.
- Car seats: Automotive engineers are exploring inserting biosensors in car seats that would send an alert to your dashboard or doctor if there’s something amiss in your heart rate or breathing pattern.
I think many people agree that monitoring their own health to minimize doctor and hospital visits is a good idea. It’s reassuring to know you are in charge of your health. And I find it motivating to know how I can make improvements, especially with diet and exercise. It’s the least I can do for my aging body and bones.
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