Longevity is becoming a commonly used word to describe a method of living or a medical practice or system that may potentially lead to a “long life.” Many modern clinics, be they allopathic or complementary and alternative, include the word in their clinic name or on their website to draw patients to their practice.
As a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, I am aware that longevity is the root of East Asian medicine, with a system and theories that focus on homeostasis or yin and yang throughout a lifespan. This includes disease prevention through nutrition and herbal therapy, proper movement, breath work (think qi gong and tai qi), and an overall harmonious relationship with the elements – both inside and out.
Most East Asian medical professionals assess a person’s health and well-being including jing (dense essence) and qi (vital life force) through a series of subjective questions combined with objective findings of a classical pulse and tongue diagnosis and overall physical appearance. Sadly, pulse, tongue and physical appearance cannot be objectively measured by allopathic terms at this point in time and are governed by the jurisdiction of the clinician.
There are many allopathic medical tests that can help to determine a person’s general health and longevity. These range from simple annual blood tests and exams like a CBC, CMP, cholesterol panel, to blood pressure, heart rate and BMI. There are many advanced tests for preventative health and longevity like a DEXA scan, genetic tests, calcium risk score, telomere length and many more that are usually not covered by insurance.
Understanding V02 Max
Another test that can be paid out of pocket by a patient, which is non-invasive and supported by research to show how it is directly linked to longevity, is a VO2 max test. VO2 max testing is the gold standard or most accurate test of aerobic or cardiovascular fitness. Its definition is a person’s maximum capacity to utilize oxygen in a graded exercise test.1
In simple terms, VO2 max or your oxygen uptake can show the volume (V) or how much oxygen (O) your body absorbs and uses while working out.2
Editor’s Note: Click here to see the “range” of V02 max by age and gender.
The collective operation of the heart, lungs, blood, and cells to maintain life is what we call metabolism in Western terms. It is well-documented that the efficiency with which oxygen flows through your body is the most powerful predictor of how long and well you will live, and how well your metabolism functions.3
We can think of VO2 max in relation to qi. Sedentary subjects have a lower VO2 max compared to lifelong endurance athletes. This can lead to an earlier death or fewer “healthy years” – years lived without disability.
Clinical Relevance in Conjunction With TCM
Knowing how well the body is working during exercise can help to provide clear, objective findings about overall health and longevity. In combination with traditional East Asian diagnostics, a very precise treatment plan can be determined for a client.
This might look like a specific herbal formula to enhance lung function or energy production; a change in diet; a regular acupuncture protocol; qi gong to enhance breathing cognition; tai chi to improve balance and coordination; and/or a referral to a personal trainer or physical therapist to help streamline a proper exercise routine that would include data from the VO2 max test.
An important thing to note is that the actual VO2 max test is modified to the subject. Whether running or walking on a treadmill, cycling on an indoor bike, rowing, or a combat bike with incremental varying intensity, a medical evaluation and clearance is important to have since the patient is exercising to their maximum effort. After a warm-up, the actual test only lasts 8-10 minutes, followed by inactive recovery.
Researchers Strasser and Burtscher conclude the following in their study, “Survival of the Fittest: VO2 Max, A Key Predictor of Longevity?”:
“As yet, it is not possible to extend the genetically fixed lifespan with regular exercise training, but the chance to reach the later end of natural lifespan increases with higher physical fitness in midlife, where targeted preventative efforts independent predictor of future life expectancy in both healthy and cardiorespiratory-diseased individuals. In addition, muscle stimulation is essential in order to prevent muscle wasting, disability, and increased hospitalization in old age, all crucial ways to avoid long-term care, thereby promoting quality of life in aging humans. … Thus, extending life is not as important as giving those years more life. This is where physical fitness plays an important role.”4
In terms of gauging a person’s level of physical fitness, and subsequently what level a person may need to be at to optimize longevity, a VO2 max test is the test to use. Please consider contacting a professional in your area, such as an exercise physiologist, or a college exercise science lab, to provide your patients with a VO2 max to add to your clinical findings. This will give your patients some measurable objective data to help improve their longevity.
References
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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