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A longevity clinic owner who claims her biological age is 22 says the best health hacks are free

A longevity clinic owner who claims her biological age is 22 says the best health hacks are free

Kayla Barnes-Lentz, 33, says her biological age is 22.
Barnes-Lentz uses experimental longevity treatments available at her clinic.
But some of her favorite longevity hacks are free.
Kayla Barnes-Lentz is a 33-year-old longevity clinic owner who uses experimental treatments to try to live to 150. But some of her favorite biohacks are free.
Barnes-Lentz, who is based in Los Angeles, says she has reversed her biological age to 22. Biological age measures how healthy a person's cells, tissues, and organs appear to be, but there isn't a set definition because it's unclear how bodies "should" look at any given age.
Barnes-Lentz's daily biohacking routine, which she previously shared with BI, involves a home sauna, mats that send electromagnetic waves through the body, and clinical-grade air purifying machines — all of which cost thousands of dollars.
However, she told Business Insider: "The basics are what moves the needle the most. Although I have a ton of tech, it is essential to remember that we can also make massive improvements through lower-cost habits. It's what we do daily that will make the most significant impact on healthspan and longevity."
She shared her favorite free things she does to improve her health.
Spending time with loved ones
Barnes-Lentz previously told BI that one of the best biohacks was getting married, because her husband is a source of "security and peace" and helps her relax.
Barnes-Lentz said her husband shares a similar attitude toward health and longevity, and they biohack together, including using saunas and doing cold plunges together and holding fortnightly marriage optimization meetings.
Barnes-Lentz said that while some biohackers seem to be "siloed," she has an active social life.
"Some of the longest-lived people have this really great sense of community," she said. The longevity expert Rose Anne Kenny, a professor of medical gerontology at Trinity College Dublin and the lead researcher for The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, said that having strong social connections is just as important for longevity as a healthy diet and exercising.
Barnes-Lentz goes to events in LA at least once a week. The day before speaking to BI, she had friends over, as she does every Thursday. She and her husband also host friends for dinner once a week.
"We always invite everyone over to our house because then I get to really control the environment, and I know what's in the food, how it's made and what oils are used. But everybody typically loves it because we have all these fun health optimization devices that they get to use," she said. "Yesterday, I was having everyone test their grip strength, for example."
Getting enough sleep
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends adults get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night.
Even if you can't commit to eight hours during the week, research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024 suggested that people who " caught up" on sleep during the weekend were 20% less likely to develop heart disease than people who remained sleep deprived.
Exercising daily
"There's never a workout that I regretted," Barnes-Lentz said.
She does zone 2 cardio, which means moving at an intensity where she can just about hold a conversation, every day. She and her husband take a daily 45-minute walk around their neighborhood in the LA hills.
She also does strength training three times a week, lifting weights.
Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist who researches healthy aging as the director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at Mayo Clinic, previously told BI the best type of exercise for longevity is a mixture of strength training and cardio, for at least thirty minutes a day.

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A doctor shares the 7 supplements he takes a day to reduce inflammation, prevent heart disease, and support metabolism
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A doctor shares the 7 supplements he takes a day to reduce inflammation, prevent heart disease, and support metabolism

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During a colonoscopy, patients are either sedated or under general anesthetic while a thin tube with a camera on the end is put in the rectum and colon to check for polyps. They must fast and take a laxative in the days before the procedure. If polyps are found, they can often be removed then and there, meaning the procedure can help prevent colon cancer. "They're actually more like a fast, cleanse, then a nap. It's actually almost like a spa appointment," Bell said of a colonoscopy. "We could be reframing it in positive ways, where it's just a self-care wellness kind of experience." She added: "People do not know that it's this empowering, hopeful thing that can actually protect you from this major threat." Read the original article on Business Insider

Young people with colon cancer are often misdiagnosed. 2 women share the symptoms their doctors missed.
Young people with colon cancer are often misdiagnosed. 2 women share the symptoms their doctors missed.

Business Insider

time5 hours ago

  • Business Insider

Young people with colon cancer are often misdiagnosed. 2 women share the symptoms their doctors missed.

Brooks Bell and Sarah Beran connected online in July 2023 over something unfortunate they had in common: they were both treated for colon cancer in their 30s after doctors misdiagnosed them. Now, they're working together to prevent others from having the same experience. Before Beran was told in 2020 at age 34 that she had colon cancer, she chalked her fatigue up to being a working mom with two young kids. And she presumed the blood that had started appearing in her stools was caused by hemorrhoids. "It was just a crazy time with the kids. They were so young. I was so tired all the time anyway, and I was just so busy," Beran, a stylist in LA, told Business Insider. The most common colon cancer symptoms in people under 50 are abdominal pain, changes to bowel movements such as going more or less frequently, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea, according to a 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open. But other symptoms include blood in feces, unexplained weight loss, anemia, and vomiting for no obvious reason. Many of these symptoms overlap with common digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, which means doctors tread a tightrope when it comes to diagnosing younger, generally healthy patients. In a 2017 survey of 1,535 colon cancer survivors under 50 conducted by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, 82% said they were initially misdiagnosed. A 2020 survey by the charity Bowel Cancer UK of 1,073 colorectal cancer patients diagnosed under 50, and 222 people who responded on a patient's behalf, found 42% were told by doctors they were too young to develop the condition. Half of the participants didn't know they could get the disease at their age, and two thirds were initially diagnosed with conditions such as IBS, hemorrhoids, or anaemia. It's a challenge to make sure a symptom is attributed to the correct condition without scaring people while also not overlooking the early signs of colorectal cancer, Joshua Demb, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies early-onset colon cancer, previously told BI. A year into having IBS-like symptoms and needing to use the bathroom a lot more than usual, Beran's doctors sent her to a gastroenterologist who said she might have a parasite, but said it was likely nothing to worry about given her age, active lifestyle, and healthy diet. An at-home stool test for colon cancer detected no abnormalities. What are known as fecal immunochemical tests, or FIT, are about 80% accurate, according to the University of Colorado Cancer Center. When the bleeding got worse, Beran pushed for a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. She said that doctors found a mass on her rectum and "over 100" polyps — small growths that are often harmless but can turn into cancer — on her colon. "It was quite shocking to hear the word 'cancer,'" she said. "Because I was so healthy, it just wasn't something that I thought would happen to me." Growing up, Beran played sports and, before her diagnosis, she exercised almost every day. She ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, too. Over two years, Beran was treated with 12 rounds of chemotherapy, and surgery to remove the cancerous tissues. She was given a temporary ileostomy connecting her small intestine to her abdomen to collect feces while her colon healed. In early 2022, doctors told her the cancer had spread to her lungs, which was treated with more surgery, as well as radiation therapy. She has been "cancer-free" for almost three years, she said. "I feel so silly looking back on it, but who's not tired, you know what I mean?" Beran said. Bell's doctor said the blood in her poop was likely caused by hemorrhoids While Beran was struggling with her symptoms in LA in 2019, Bell was seeking her own answers 2,500 miles away in North Carolina, after finding blood in her stool at age 38. The former CEO's doctor told her over the phone that she likely had hemorrhoids. When the bleeding didn't stop after a few weeks, Bell's doctor examined her in person and couldn't find hemorrhoids, but said they were probably higher up in her rectum. Sensing something wasn't right, Bell called a GI doctor without a referral, meaning it wasn't covered by her insurance. A colonoscopy revealed that she had stage 3 colon cancer, and was followed by three months of chemotherapy and surgery to remove 10 inches of her colon. In 2024, Bell hit the five-year cancer-free mark, where the likelihood that a cancer patient will have a recurrence drops. The cancer hasn't returned, but the worry never went away. "The treatment sucks, but the anxiety is so intense and is so persistent," she said, "you can't get away from it. It is barely tolerable." Bell is glad she trusted her instinct, despite being told several times the blood in her stool was nothing to worry about. "There were clues all along. You just needed to have someone who is willing to actually ask about your stool and really think about it, not shy away," she said. More younger people are getting colon cancer Overall, thanks to screening and lifestyle changes, fewer people are developing colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. It estimates that in 2025, 107,320 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed. But Bell and Beran are among a growing number of younger people to develop the disease. One in five colon cancer cases in 2019 were in people under 54, up from one in 10 in 1995, according to ACS data published in 2023. The cause is unclear, but scientists have pointed to changes in the gut microbiome, antibiotic use, and environmental exposures as possible explanations. Giving colonoscopies a trendy rebrand Beran reached out to Bell online after she saw her Lead From Behind campaign, which featured Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney getting colonoscopies on camera. In July 2023, they met on Zoom and decided to combine their respective skill sets to create Worldclass, a clothing line intended to reframe colonoscopies as cool. They sell tote bags with the irreverent slogan "colonoscopy enthusiast" printed on, and streetwear-style tracksuits stitched with the the word "ass." In the US, people are advised to get their first colon cancer screening at 45, partly because age is a risk factor for developing polyps. However, if someone younger has more than one symptom of colon cancer, they should consider getting a colonoscopy, Dr. James Cleary, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, previously told BI. During a colonoscopy, patients are either sedated or under general anesthetic while a thin tube with a camera on the end is put in the rectum and colon to check for polyps. They must fast and take a laxative in the days before the procedure. If polyps are found, they can often be removed then and there, meaning the procedure can help prevent colon cancer. "They're actually more like a fast, cleanse, then a nap. It's actually almost like a spa appointment," Bell said of a colonoscopy. "We could be reframing it in positive ways, where it's just a self-care wellness kind of experience." She added: "People do not know that it's this empowering, hopeful thing that can actually protect you from this major threat."

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