Longevity and Healthy Aging: Why Personalized Care Matters

August 15, 2025

Dr. Julia Loewntha, a Boston Concierge Primary Care Doctor, uses a stethoscope and tablet to observe a woman in orange athletic wear running on a treadmill with a breathing mask, in a bright room with brick walls and large windows.

Longevity and Healthy Aging: Why Personalized Care Matters

Topic

Longevity & Healthy Aging

In recent years, an interest for longevity and healthy aging has increased, bringing about various wellness trends, breakthrough diagnostics and a growing public awareness around healthy living. Supplements, fitness routings and health hacks are promoted across media, which may lead to confusion and misunderstanding. But what really is longevity, and why is personalized care important as you age?

 Longevity focuses on not only extending lifespan, but health span – the number of years we live in good health, free from chronic disease and functional decline.  Promoting longevity involves proactive lifestyle changes, diagnostics, and personalized strategies to support the body’s systems as they evolve over time.

Why Personalization Matters in Healthy Aging

As society builds an increased awareness around health and longevity, many health topics and trends have emerged to promote healthy aging, which can cause confusion and overwhelm. Individual factors including sleep, movement, nutrition, stress, hormones and genetics all contribute to the aging process.  Understanding how these factors impact aging from a personalized perspective is important for everyone to understand. 

At Lutanen Health, we promote healthy aging by understanding patients’ whole health and providing a personalized care plan as patients age with the ultimate goal of increased health span. Our approach includes deep analysis of genetics, cardiovascular markers, hormones, frailty and lifestyle factors to create strategies that optimize aging and promote long-term vitality.

Cardiovascular Health

The American Heart Association emphasizes that aging itself is a major risk for cardiovascular disease placing importance of early detection and management of cardiovascular changes and risks (Rich et al., 2016).  With advancing age, structural and functional changes occur in the heart and vasculature, including:

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Increased arterial stiffness
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Endothelial dysfunction
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Vascular calcification
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Impaired autonomic regulation.

At the molecular level, aging is characterized by increased oxidative stress, chronic low-grade inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, all of which contribute to vascular and myocardial dysfunction.

A multi-modal approach including assessment of biomarkers, conducting imaging studies, and functional assessments give physicians a complete understanding of patients’ cardiovascular health as they age. Physicians at Lutanen track various biomarkers and functional tests over time to create personalized, long term plans to prevent cardiac disease. Our long term plans include diet, lifestyle, medications, and exercise programming in addition to the tracking of biomarkers and functional assessments.

Hormonal Health

Hormonal changes are a major driver of aging, affecting energy, metabolism, sleep, bone health, sexual function and emotional wellbeing.

In women:

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Menopause brings a decline in estrogen and progesterone.
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Increased FSH and LH levels.
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Higher risk of osteoporosis, heart disease and mood disturbances

In men:

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Gradual testosterone decline
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Reduction in DHEA and growth hormone
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Increased body fat and decreased muscle mass

Both sexes experience a decline in growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 which contributes to reduced lean body mass, increased fat mass, decreased bone density and insulin resistance (Pataky et al., 2021).

The changes of hormones emphasize the importance of tracking hormones and symptoms as individuals age and ultimately create plans to decrease the effects of hormone decline on patients. At Lutanen, we monitor hormone levels alongside patient reported symptoms to tailor treatment plans using nutrition, lifestyle strategies, mediations when appropriate and functional tracking.

Metabolic Health

Aging leads to a progressive decline in metabolic health through multiple interconnected mechanisms.  Changes in body composition such as increased adipose tissue and decreased skeletal muscle mass along with alterations in adipose tissue function and chronic low-grade inflammation contribute to increased insulin resistance This can impair glucose tolerance, elevate fasting glucose and raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (Castro et al., 2022).

Additionally, mitochondrial dysfunction increases with aging which can result in reduced ATP production, increased oxidative stress and impaired cellular energetics which can cause further metabolic decline.

At Lutanen Health, we monitor metabolic health through a combination of:

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Continuous glucose monitors
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Lab tests (fasting glucose, insulin and lipid panels)
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Body composition analysis (to track muscle mass and fat distribution)
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VO2 max and cardiorespiratory fitness assessmentsVO2 max and cardiorespiratory fitness assessments

These tools provide insight into how an individual’s lifestyle may be contributing to metabolic dysfunction and allow us to design personalized strategies to prevent metabolic disease and support optimal metabolism as patients age.

Frailty and Musculoskeletal Health

As one ages, musculoskeletal health declines, characterized by a loss of bone mass, reduced muscle mass and strength, and increased risk of degenerative joint disease.  These changes are closely linked to age-related hormone alterations.

Estrogen deficiency after menopause accelerates bone resorption and impairs bone formation, increasing fracture risk. Effects also occur in men as testosterone and estradiol decline with age. Age related change in hormones increase the risk of osteoporosis, sarcopenia and frailty (Frontera, 2017).

At Lutanen Health, we proactively address musculoskeletal aging through annual musculoskeletal assessments that evaluate:

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Muscle mass and strength
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Functional movement patterns
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Balance and stability
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Fall and frailty risk

The goal is to preserve functional capacity, reduce injury risk and promote long term mobility.  We emphasize a multidisciplinary approach to preserve muscle mass including:

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Progressive resistance training to stimulate muscle and bone regeneration
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Balance and functional movement coaching to prevent injury and falls
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 Adequate nutritional support for muscle protein synthesis, bone density, and joint health
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Mind-body practices to support stability, coordination and flexibility.

Assessing patients overall musculoskeletal health and curating treatment plans help patients remain strong, and independent throughout the aging process while avoiding injury and pain.

A Personalized Journey to Aging

Understanding how an individual’s unique biology, lifestyle, and genetics influence long-term health creates a pathway for healthy aging and longevity. Through personalized diagnostics, targeted interventions and a deep understanding of your health trajectory, Lutanen Health assists patients in building resilience against age-related decline and extending their health span.

Our physicians Dr. Jay Luthar and Dr. Julia Loewenthal bring expertise in the science of aging. Their passion and expertise help patients take charge of their health with clarity, evidence based strategies and a collaborative approach to care. .

Castro, A., Signini, É. F., De Oliveira, J. M., Di Medeiros Leal, M. C. B., Rehder-Santos, P., Millan-Mattos, J. C., Minatel, V., Pantoni, C. B. F., Oliveira, R. V., Catai, A. M., & Ferreira, A. G. (2022). The Aging Process: A Metabolomics Perspective. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 27(24), 8656. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27248656

Frontera W. R. (2017). Physiologic Changes of the Musculoskeletal System with Aging: A Brief Review. Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America, 28(4), 705–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmr.2017.06.004

Pataky, M. W., Young, W. F., & Nair, K. S. (2021). Hormonal and Metabolic Changes of Aging and the Influence of Lifestyle Modifications. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 96(3), 788–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.07.033

Rich, M. W., Chyun, D. A., Skolnick, A. H., Alexander, K. P., Forman, D. E., Kitzman, D. W., Maurer, M. S., McClurken, J. B., Resnick, B. M., Shen, W. K., & Tirschwell, D. L.; on behalf of the American Heart Association Older Populations Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, American College of Cardiology, and American Geriatrics Society. (2016). Knowledge gaps in cardiovascular care of the older adult population: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and American Geriatrics Society. Circulation, 133(21), 2103–2122. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000380

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