The Vital Link: MAHA, Longevity, and the Future of Our Nation
"A nation can only be as strong as the health of its people." The Cleveland Clinic Experiment
The Vital Link: MAHA, Longevity, and the Future of Our Nation
In a world where the pace of life is perpetually accelerating, the wisdom of nurturing our health and slowing the rate of aging–called MAHA—Make America Healthy Again by RFK, Jr--often gets overshadowed. Yet, as my esteemed former boss at the Cleveland Clinic, Toby Cosgrove, MD, profoundly stated, "A nation can only be as strong as the health of its people." This fundamental truth is what inspired the inception of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic—a pioneering endeavor aimed at incentivizing health and wellness among our 101,000 employees and dependents.
Our initiative was not just a shot in the dark; it was a calculated experiment to see if proactive health measures could yield tangible benefits. The results were nothing short of impressive. We witnessed a transformation within our community—an astounding leap from 6% of our population being in optimal health (the national average for 47-year-olds) to over 45% achieving "six normals plus two" annually (BP. LDL, FBS, Waist relative to height, Urine cotinine, stress management active, screenings up to date, and see a primary care provider yearly, which my friends now call ”Dr Roizen and his teams’ ‘6 normals +2’”. This achievement was encouraged by a significant financial incentive, the maximum allowed by the ACA PPA (Obama Care) law, exceeding $1,600 a year now for those who reached this milestone.
Could this model be scaled to the national level? I believe so. The Cleveland Clinic is almost a microcosm of society, encompassing not just healthcare professionals but also environmental service workers, personal service representatives, food service workers, and front desk personnel. The question of why our nation's healthcare costs are so exorbitant finds a partial answer in the fact that less than 1% of Americans at age 65 (last known as 0.6%), upon entering Medicare, have achieved ”Dr Roizen and his teams’ ‘6 normals +2’”.
By empowering individuals to attain and maintain these health benchmarks, we can dramatically slow and even reverse the upward trajectory of medical costs. Our data at the Cleveland Clinic supports this, showing a savings of over $180 million annually (over 1.5 billion dollars since 2008) compared to national averages and our competitors. Moreover, it enhanced productivity, reduced absenteeism, and augmented the income of employees who voluntarily choose to participate.
This week, two pivotal articles have reignited this conversation. The first highlights a troubling rise in cancer rates among younger female populations, each of the increased cancers linked to obesity and the consumption of ultra-processed foods (https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/cancer-incidence-rate-for-women-under-50-rises-above-mens.html).
The second article (DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2206916) presents compelling evidence that achieving five health standards (note the similarity to ”Dr Roizen and his teams’ ‘6 normals +2’”) --can extend disability-free life expectancy by approximately 13 years for women and 10 years for men. This aligns with our findings at the Cleveland Clinic, where participants experienced a 15% increase in healthy longevity, effectively reducing their RealAge relative to their calendar age.
Specifically, according to that study in the New England Journal of Medicine there are five risk factors that account for around half of all cases of CVD. All in my humble opinion also contribute to all-cause mortality thru other than direct CVD mortality. They’re hypertension, elevated lousy LDL cholesterol, being overweight (or underweight), diabetes and smoking
But if you modify your habits—like smoking or overeating—and lower your weight, blood pressure and lousy cholesterol, you can expect to avoid CVD for about 13 additional years if you’re a woman and almost 11 years if you’re a man. The researchers also found that at 55 to 60 years old, if women ditch those five risk factors they can add an additional 14.5 years to their lifespan, and men can add 12 years. And its healthy years you are adding!!
You can also achieve healthier aging by staying connected with your posse (stress management). So, enlist you buddies to go walking with regularly, and work together to support each other whether for other difficulties or even if going through smoking cessation.
As someone whose chronological age is 79, yet enjoys a "RealAge" nearly 22 years younger, I can attest that achieving and maintaining optimal health is not an insurmountable task. It involves a commitment to nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and regular health screenings, encapsulated in our "six normals plus two" framework: normal blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, waist-to-height ratio, absence of tobacco byproducts, stress management (a posse at work), and up-to-date screenings and primary care visits.
The recent advances in genomic research, which have drastically (by 8000 fold) reduced the cost and time (by 12,000 fold) required to sequence a human genome, underscore the potential for even greater breakthroughs in understanding aging. As research in the 14 areas of aging mechanisms continues to evolve, we stand on the brink of not only extending life but enhancing its quality. In the next weeks (maybe skip a few) we will be updating the progress in these 14 and why I believe seno-rejuvenators, telomerase extenders and TPE look very promising as a combo now (make old cells young—getting rid of old cells, increase repair systems, and get rid of old proteins).
In conclusion, if your company or country has yet to prioritize ”Dr Roizen and his teams’ ‘6 normals +2’” goals, I encourage you to take the initiative. The power to stay youthful and vibrant largely lies within your and our grasp. Let us commit to , for in doing so, we not only enrich your own life but fortify the very fabric of our society. RFK, Jr goal is right on for costs, and for the strength of the nation. And then maybe we’ll all be able to stay healthier and with a better economy for much longer as the longevity dividend for society kicks in.
Thank you for reading.
Mike Roizen, MD