Biomarker Test for "measuring" one's state-of-health

[John34]

Hi everyone,

I have finally decided to spend some of my own money to take a comprehensive test to determine my state-of-health and identify (and possibly correct) my deficiencies. Searching on-line I discovered these two tests:

(1) https://www.insidetracker.com/ultimate/
for $589, recommended by Dr. David Sinclair, Longevity Pioneer

(2) https://www.wellnessfx.com/premium/
for $925, recommended by Ben Greenfield, Biohacker Extraordinaire

Any comments on these or any other (even more comprehensive) options for me to consider would be very much appreciated. If this question has been asked and answered before please forgive me for my inability to locate the answer. If so, can you kindly point me in the right direction or provide me with a link?

Many Thanks,

John

[NF52]

Hi everyone,
...Any comments on these or any other (even more comprehensive) options for me to consider would be very much appreciated. If this question has been asked and answered before please forgive me for my inability to locate the answer. If so, can you kindly point me in the right direction or provide me with a link?...
John

Hi John,

No apologies needed for difficulty finding topics! In a forum with 73,000+ posts and counting, it can be challenging. FWIW, an actual Google search of a topic + "apoe4" sometimes turns up forum topics, The closest thing to a Google search on our forum is to use the magnifying glass icon in the upper right, near your user name. Click on that and you'll go to a Search page. You can put in key words and just hit "search" or narrow the search by Topic Titles, and other fields.

Here's our how-to wiki on Searching the site for information

Here are the search results for "Sinclair + insidetracker"; you can click on the "jump to post" link in the lower right of each preview to read the entire post, and then use the back arrow on your computer to return to search results:
Sinclair: Insidetracker

If you want to get an idea of how your cognition is doing in addition to biomarkers, you may want to check out a new online study. You can find information about it here: APT Webstudy Welcome Full disclosure: I am on the Research Participant Advisory Board for the Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Consortium, a group of dozens of research centers which is coordinating the APT Webstudy, although I am not in any ACTC-sponsored clinical trial or study. My understanding is that participants are notified of their results after each testing period, which occurs every three months.

I noticed in your previous posts that you, like many of us, saw those risk estimates of "3x" the risk of AD with ApoE 3/4. Those estimates are works in progress and tend to ignore more recent (2019) estimates given at the Alzheimer's international Conference that 30% of AD cases may be preventable with aggressive management of risk factors such as excessive alcohol use, smoking, moderate to severe traumatic or repetitive brain injuries, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and use of exercise, diet, cognitive and social stimulation, sleep and stress management.

A 2017 meta-analysis of four large cohorts over time resulted in this statement, used in a study I was in for people with ApoE 3/4 and 4/4:

The Generation Study elected to disclose the following “lifetime” risks of MCI or dementia to its potential participants: 30%–55% for individuals with APOE-e4/e4; 20%–25% for individuals with APOE-e3/e4 and -e2/e4 (with a note that risk might be lower for those with APOE-e2/e4); and 10%–15% for individuals with APOE-e3/e3, -e3/e2, and -e2/e2 (with a note that risk might be lower for those with APOE-e2/e3 and -e2/e2). These values are consistent with our findings, but use round numbers for intelligibility, and broader ranges to reflect statistical and other sources of uncertainty

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/ ... 254#sec019

Keep up posted if you find good sources of personalized assessments and recommendations.

[John34]

Hi NF52,

Thank you for the reply and appreciate the tip on testing cognition. I searched this forum as you suggested but didn't find much to my question. I am a bit surprised to find so little discussion on a topic as important as self-testing and our available options since none of us can fix our deficiencies unless we first identify them by measuring as many of our biomarkers as possible.

Anyway, I decided to go with the WellnessFX Premium test since it is considerably more comprehensive than Sinclair's InsideTracker test. At $925 it is more expensive but it includes detailed NMR lipids markers like APOA1, APOB, LP(a), LDL-P, as well as things like Omega 3 Ratio, Omega Index, Insulin, IGF-1, Homocysteine and other important ones to us APOE4s that are not included in Sinclair's InsideTracker test.

For anyone that may be asking the same question as I was, I found a review of these two services online at this link:
https://coachlevi.com/health/insidetrac ... ellnessfx/

Note that the WellnessFX Premium test requires me to give 18 tubes of blood!

Best regards,

John

[Kristina]

Hi everyone,
...Any comments on these or any other (even more comprehensive) options for me to consider would be very much appreciated. If this question has been asked and answered before please forgive me for my inability to locate the answer. If so, can you kindly point me in the right direction or provide me with a link?...
John

Hi John,

No apologies needed for difficulty finding topics! In a forum with 73,000+ posts and counting, it can be challenging. FWIW, an actual Google search of a topic + "apoe4" sometimes turns up forum topics, The closest thing to a Google search on our forum is to use the magnifying glass icon in the upper right, near your user name. Click on that and you'll go to a Search page. You can put in key words and just hit "search" or narrow the search by Topic Titles, and other fields.

Here's our how-to wiki on Searching the site for information

Here are the search results for "Sinclair + insidetracker"; you can click on the "jump to post" link in the lower right of each preview to read the entire post, and then use the back arrow on your computer to return to search results:
Sinclair: Insidetracker

If you want to get an idea of how your cognition is doing in addition to biomarkers, you may want to check out a new online study. You can find information about it here: APT Webstudy Welcome Full disclosure: I am on the Research Participant Advisory Board for the Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Consortium, a group of dozens of research centers which is coordinating the APT Webstudy, although I am not in any ACTC-sponsored clinical trial or study. My understanding is that participants are notified of their results after each testing period, which occurs every three months.

I noticed in your previous posts that you, like many of us, saw those risk estimates of "3x" the risk of AD with ApoE 3/4. Those estimates are works in progress and tend to ignore more recent (2019) estimates given at the Alzheimer's international Conference that 30% of AD cases may be preventable with aggressive management of risk factors such as excessive alcohol use, smoking, moderate to severe traumatic or repetitive brain injuries, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and use of exercise, diet, cognitive and social stimulation, sleep and stress management.

A 2017 meta-analysis of four large cohorts over time resulted in this statement, used in a study I was in for people with ApoE 3/4 and 4/4:

The Generation Study elected to disclose the following “lifetime” risks of MCI or dementia to its potential participants: 30%–55% for individuals with APOE-e4/e4; 20%–25% for individuals with APOE-e3/e4 and -e2/e4 (with a note that risk might be lower for those with APOE-e2/e4); and 10%–15% for individuals with APOE-e3/e3, -e3/e2, and -e2/e2 (with a note that risk might be lower for those with APOE-e2/e3 and -e2/e2). These values are consistent with our findings, but use round numbers for intelligibility, and broader ranges to reflect statistical and other sources of uncertainty

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/ ... 254#sec019

Keep up posted if you find good sources of personalized assessments and recommendations.

Hi

I am curious about how to improve ones sleep naturally. I am adhering to all sleep hygiene available, mediate twice a day, do yoga in addition to other exercise. Still sleep is very difficult to come by without drugging myself which I try to avoid as an 4/4. Any ideas?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CarrieS]

Hi

I am curious about how to improve ones sleep naturally. I am adhering to all sleep hygiene available, mediate twice a day, do yoga in addition to other exercise. Still sleep is very difficult to come by without drugging myself which I try to avoid as an 4/4. Any ideas?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Kristina
I did a quick search for "sleep" and found a great post in the Wiki. You can find it here. You can also click on the spyglass icon to the left of your name and type in sleep to search for all of the posts that mention sleep (there is a bunch). You may be able to find ideas that would work for you personally with either of these options.

If you haven't found it yet, this How To post in the Wiki is a great resource on how to navigate this site and "get the most" out of all of the resources available.

Personally, I'm finding that taking my magnesium glycinate at bed time has helped me sleep deeper. I have to use other strategies when I don't follow good sleep hygiene and stay online, have high stress or eat too close to bedtime and wake up unable to get back to sleep. These strategies vary and I haven't found a solid method yet that works for me but I keep experimenting to try to figure it out.
Wishing you well,
Carrie

[Kristina]

Thank you Carrie, I’ll have a look. The more tips the better.

Warmly Kristina


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[donbob]

Kristina,

I recently discovered as a medical research volunteer that I have severe sleep apnea. Very surprised, as I am 72 and thought I was a normal sleeper. I meditate, do four yoga classes per week, walk 1 to 2 hours per day, resistance train, use the sauna most days of the week, and eat low carb. By all accounts and measures I am in great shape. Married 40 years with no complaints from my wife that I keep her awake at night. A research sleep study recorded 49 apnea’s/hour with blood oxygen saturation down to 77% at the lowest. That, according to the doctor conducting the research, is in life threatening territory. She insisted I go to my family doctor for a medical evaluation.

Now I am in the process of getting a CPAP. The overnight CPAP titration was far from natural and it seemed like I was up half the night. My back was killing me from the unfamiliar mattress and I never got comfortable with that contraption on my head. However, during my next morning walk while feeling sorry for myself, I realized my step was lighter, my surroundings brighter, and I felt great. It may be placebo effect, but I am looking forward to getting the CPAP.

Consider learning the symptoms of sleep apnea. If warranted, visit your primary care person and relay your concerns. Improving sleep naturally, a noble goal, can only go so far. Best wishes.

[Kristina]

Hi DonBob

That’s really interesting, I’ll check it out.

Thank you!

Warm wishes
Kristina

[John34]

Kristina,

Just to add my experience to your sleep question: I got self-diagnosed with sleep apnea when sleeping on my back several months ago. I was able to identify my problem of being very tired in the afternoons to waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air when sleeping on my back. The most effective way to fix this is with the CPAP but I cannot tolerate wearing the uncomfortable mask so I have tried to solve this problem by doing the following 3 things:

(1) Lose a lot of weight and reduce the size (circumference) of my neck
To this end I adopted a low carb diet, 16/8 Time-Restricted Feeding (TRE), 1 hr/day of exercise in Zone-2. This brought my BMI to just under 25 (I am now considered "normal weight") and reduced the size of my neck from 17.5 inches to 16 inches. The negative was that I had to buy a new wardrobe for work which cost me a pretty penny ... oh well, I'll take that.

(2) Force my self to become a side sleeper (from being predominantly a back sleeper)
To this end I had to buy a new mattress (Purple-4) which provides the right pressure relief for side sleepers and started inserting a small pillow between my legs for added relief.

(3) Miscellaneous
No food 4 hours before bed, blue light blocking glasses 2 hours before bed, nasal rinse (with saline) and nasal strip before bedtime, high-quality HEPA air cleaner running on low through the night, light-blocking drapes on the windows for ultra darkness, thermostat set to 70F.

With that said my sleep is better now than ever before but its still not great. Still working on it. I have no problem sleeping when I go to bed at night but I wake up 2-3 times during the night and toss-and-turn more than I should. So I still have insomnia manifesting in fragmented sleep. The good news is that my Fitbit (Charge 3) has recently been displaying SPO2 sensor data and I can see that my blood oxygenation variability is in the normal range thru the night. I only get about 5.5-6 hours of sleep each night (not good) but I also see that about 1 hour of that is REM and about 1 hour is Deep Sleep ... which isn't terrible. I refuse to take sleeping pills or sleep supplements as I am trying to fix my sleep without pills. FYI, I have already tried Magnesium Glycinate and Magnesium Threonate neither of which did anything for my insomnia. One thing that I find works for me is the addition of a 15 minute nap between 2-3 pm each day ... recharges me for the 2nd half of the day.

Still in the midst of tinkering with my sleep though. Working to increase my Fitbit's sleep score from "fair" to "good" by the end of the year.

Best of luck to you,

John

PS: I am 60 with 1 copy of the bad one

[slacker]

I am a bit surprised to find so little discussion on a topic as important as self-testing and our available options since none of us can fix our deficiencies unless we first identify them by measuring as many of our biomarkers as possible.

Hi John;

Since our website is free flowing conversation based, it is very difficult to find prior member discussions on self-testing and available options. And there have been many! Dr Bredesen has a list of tests in his book; some members have done at least a subset of this long list of tests. Two members have been seeing Dr Gundry for years, and have posted transcripts of some of their appointments with him, which include lab testing. Go to the bottom of the Gundry wiki chapter to find these consulations. Dr Stavia has a short starter list of biomarkers she recommends in her Primer.

There is not a one size fits all on this subject, and cost can be prohibitive.