MINNEAPOLIS — For centuries, people have been chasing the Fountain of Youth. In response, the latest tools and treatments rolling out offer to help you fight aging under the banner of “longevity.”
Longevity clinics are popping up all over the country and here at home. Minnesota-based Life Time just opened their first clinic inside their Target Center location. They’re calling it “Miora,” and it takes visiting the gym to a whole new level — all starting with your blood.
The medical staff at Miora draws up to nine vials, which are used to measure 90 different biomarkers. From there, they offer each member a personalized health plan. They can recommend lifestyle changes and supplements, prescribe medications like hormone replacement or set you up with a vitamin-infused IV drip.
This highly personalized, proactive care is the core of longevity clinics, according to Jim Riggen, a physician assistant and longevity expert at LX Medical.
Riggen says these clinics can help people of all ages, but as you might guess, the clientele skews older.
“The sweet spot rate is like, 45 to 60,” Riggen said, “probably where we start to see the changes very meaningfully start to happen, and people don't like those changes, and then they get their exposure to longevity medicine.”
For $200 a month, clients at Miora have unlimited access to treatments like the hyperbaric chamber. Hyperbaric chambers put people under three times the normal air pressure, which hyper-oxygenates the blood and promotes healing.
BELOW: Dr. Jaron Faber, chiropractor and co-founder of Statera Health discusses how hyperbaric chambers can be beneficial.
"People say that an hour in the chamber at this level of compression is the equivalent of like, a three-hour nap,” Riggen said. “Just how it restores neurotransmitters in the brain."
Access to these machines used to be restricted to hospitals where they're used treat severe burns and wounds, among other things. But you no longer need a prescription to use them. They're popping up at longevity clinics all over the Twin Cities.
Clinics also offer another popular treatment — whole body cryotherapy. The cryotherapy machines resemble a giant freezer and are set to a bone-chilling minus-140 degrees. Members spend up to three minutes inside to help combat inflammation.
BELOW: Cryotherapy machines resemble a giant freezer and are set to a bone-chilling minus-140 degrees to help combat inflammation.
To warm up, members can use infrared saunas, which, unlike traditional saunas, use electromagnetic waves to heat you from the inside out. This increases the blood flow and helps remove toxins.
BELOW: Infrared saunas, unlike traditional saunas, use electromagnetic waves to help increase blood flow and remove toxins.
One of the most popular treatments has been red light therapy, which reportedly stimulates collagen production and improves skin appearance. These machines look similar to tanning beds and use low wavelength red light. According to the Cleveland Clinic, red light therapy is showing great promise in anti-aging applications, but like other longevity treatments, it's not settled science.
BELOW: Red light therapy reportedly stimulates collagen production and improves skin appearance.
These treatments are available at many longevity clinics throughout the Twin Cities, and they're available à la carte, but it will take multiple sessions several times a week to reap the benefits.
According to Riggen, people have been happy with the results, and word of mouth has been driving the business and popularity of the longevity movement.
"It is the future," Riggen said. "And it's here."
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