Description

“If we truly want to focus on preventative medicine and address the biggest risk factor, that risk factor is the biological aging process,” says Ryan Smith, the co-founder of TruDiagnostic, a company at the forefront of epigenetic testing. In this episode, he joins Dr. Regina Druz to break down how advanced tools like DNA methylation clocks are redefining what we know about aging and health.

Is your body aging at the same rate as your chronological years? Ryan explains why that might not be the case and how TruDiagnostic’s DNA methylation technology offers a clearer picture of your biological health. These tools look into how different organ systems age, and provide actionable insights that can shape personalized health interventions.

Dr. Druz and Ryan discuss the evolution of epigenetic clocks, from Steve Horvath’s huge breakthrough to today’s advanced tools like DunedinPACE and SYMPHONYAge. They go into why these clocks are more effective than traditional biomarkers like telomere length and how they can measure the impact of lifestyle changes in real-time.

This episode challenges how we think about aging. If biological age is a stronger predictor of health outcomes, what does that mean for the way we approach preventative care? Join Dr. Druz and Ryan’s discussion to gain a clear understanding of how science is shaping the future of longevity and health optimization.

Quotes

• “I just want to stress the importance of this process of aging. I think when people hear about it, they might think of things like aesthetics, their skin appearance, or some of these more vain applications. But what most people don’t realize is that aging is the biggest risk factor for almost every chronic disease and death.” (04:42 | Ryan Smith)
• “By looking at an individual’s longitudinal journey, we can get clearer signals of what happens as we age. The DunedinPACE gives you a pace of aging, showing how fast you’re aging right now. It’s helpful because it’s responsive to short-term interventions and strongly correlated to quality of life. Some may think about their grandparents’ later years and worry about quality of life, but healthspan and lifespan are correlated—improving one often improves the other. These clocks help us optimize both.” (21:50 | Ryan Smith)
• “This opened a new chapter in how I approach patients at the Holistic Heart Centers, where we optimize metabolic health using digital biomarkers like stress patterns, sleep patterns, body composition, heart rate, blood pressure curves, and metabolic health parameters. We can now see how personalized interventions impact longevity.” (40:21 | Dr. Regina Druz)

Links

Schedule a Discovery Call: https://go.holisticheartcenters.com/apply

Access Courses and Events: https://holisticheartcenters.info/hearthealth

Get Heartwell Toolkits: https://shop.holisticheartcenters.com/

Schedule a Business Meeting:https://calendly.com/heartcenters 

🎉 NEW! Interact with Own Your Heart Health Podcast — on NotebookLM: https://holisticheartcenters.info/notebook

Connect with Dr. Regina Druz:

Website: http://holisticheartcenters.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reginadruzmd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.reginadruz 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holisticheartcenters 

Twitter: https://x.com/heartCenters

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm