My Fellow (and Future) Nobodies,
As we continue to advance in the fields of health and wellness, the concept of longevity is gaining unprecedented attention.
It’s not just about living longer; it’s about living a more fulfilling life throughout the years we have left.
At the rate we’re currently moving, the general population of the United States is losing years of life expectancy while also living more of those later years with disease and disability. If those trends continue, we will see significant socioeconomic and financial shifts that will have dire consequences throughout the global population, not just those struggling to thrive.
But as the saying goes, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
Tough times create tough people, and due to these factors, we believe there is no better time to innovate in the health and wellness industry.
At Nobody Studios, we’re aggressively exploring how technological advancements and innovative medical practices can extend human life and improve living quality.
While we’re still in the early days of this process, we’re gathering vital information about market trends, emerging technologies, and overlooked opportunities where we can build exceptional companies to have a massive impact on society and future generations.
This month, we want to highlight the seven key areas that we believe will significantly impact our lifespan and health span over the next decade.
They are as follows:
1. Nutrition & Functional Medicine: The Foundation of Longevity
Nutrition is an essential component of health and longevity. And while there is much to still discover about creating “the perfect diet” or nutritional program, we know far more about food as medicine than we used to.
Functional Medicine is a specialized field of nutrition that emphasizes personalized nutritional plans tailored to an individual’s unique genetic makeup, epigenetic influences through lifestyle, and treating chronic health conditions with precision. By focusing on whole foods, balanced diets, and nutrient-dense meals, medical providers trained in Functional Medicine can work to combat chronic diseases, promote long-term health, and treat the root causes of symptoms.
We believe this field is ripe for innovation due to the availability of at-home blood testing assessments, personalized genetic testing, the adoption of widely available wearable health technology, and a growing awareness of people realizing that the modern medical system has failed to address the true causes of chronic disease.
You’re already seeing these trends come knocking on your door with meal delivery services, foundational supplements, and at-home treatments.
Expect more of this to come over the next few years.
2. Laser Focus on Mitochondrial Health & Aging: The Powerhouses of Longevity
Mitochondria are the energy powerhouses of our cells, and their health is crucial for longevity. We once thought that mitochondria only produce ATP, the energy currency for all cells, but we’ve realized that our mitochondria do far more than that.
They’re primary centers for controlling and influencing inflammation, which Time Magazine listed as “The Silent Killer” on their cover back in 2004. We’ve also discovered that mitochondria play an influential role in controlling our immune system, which opens up doors to treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, cardiovascular disease, and nearly every chronic disease known to humanity.
Mitochondrial function declines as we age, leading to reduced energy levels and increased susceptibility to age-related diseases. New research in mitochondrial health focuses on optimizing mitochondrial quality and quantity, which can significantly impact energy production, reduce oxidative stressors, and enhance cellular repair mechanisms to slow down (and possibly reverse) the aging process.
Modalities like intermittent fasting, supplementation with NAD+ precursors, and heat/cold therapies are promising for optimizing mitochondrial function, but they’re just the start.
While there is still much work to do to understand the impact we can have on our mitochondria, this has become ground zero in the anti-aging and longevity literature. And it’s not going away any time soon…
3. Sleep: The Unsung Hero of Longevity
There’s a reason you sleep a third of your life away—or are supposed to. Yet, many of us fail to get adequate sleep for various reasons. Quality sleep is essential for overall health and longevity; there’s no way to replicate it in a pill, therapy, or procedure.
Sleep allows the body and brain to repair themselves, take out the day’s trash, consolidate memories, and regulate various physiological processes to enhance cellular and immune function. It is fundamental for healthy aging and longevity.
Innovations like Sleep Glide, our predictive software for optimizing sleep, are helping individuals improve their sleep quality and, consequently, their lifespan. While we’re still building this out in stealth mode, we’re excited to share updates on our pilot study as we collect data and gather insights.
Sleep will continue to be a keystone element to prolonging life and promoting longevity, which is why this is one of the first areas of innovation we’re currently working towards at Nobody Studios. And since nearly 70 million Americans struggle with sleep in some way, shape, or form, there is no sign of this industry slowing down anytime soon.
4. Wearable Technology: Monitoring for Longevity
Wearable technologies can provide real-time health data that has the potential to guide lifestyle choices and enhance longevity. Devices like Fitbit, Oura, Garmin, Massimo, and Apple Watch all track vital signs such as heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep patterns, pulse oxygenation, and physical activity levels to give users insights into their individual health trends.
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and other metabolic wearable devices are already helping individuals track their blood sugar levels in real time, allowing for better dietary choices and lifestyle adjustments.
Although these technologies aren’t perfect, they’re a great starting point to get people used to tracking personal health data to make informed decisions. We firmly believe this field will continue to expand in the next few years and change how medical providers work with their patients.
We think the days of white coat syndrome could be a thing of the past with the continuous collection of data that doesn’t require anything more than wearing a patch, watch, or ring.
5. Physical Exercise: A Pillar of Longevity
Regular physical exercise is one of the most effective ways to extend lifespan and improve healthspan. And yet, less than 80% of the US population fails to achieve the daily recommended amount of physical activity.
If we could bottle up the benefits of exercise into a medication, it would be a blockbuster drug for the next millenia! The data on exercise is irrefutable, yet people continue to look for a shortcut around it.
Physical activity boosts cardiovascular health, strengthens muscles, enhances flexibility, optimizes nearly all aspects of brain function, and improves mental well-being. In Australia, data supports it as a first line of therapy for those struggling with depression. Studies also show that physical exercise is one of the most effective ways to delay aging, osteoporosis, and neurodegenerative disease and improve nearly every other chronic health condition.
Whether it’s through high-intensity workouts or daily walking, maintaining an active lifestyle is crucial for longevity. By developing new technologies, integrating social networks, and creating new health tech platforms that help people become active and maintain their physical fitness, we can change the trajectory of aging and save global economies billions of dollars in healthcare costs.
6. Blood Sugar & Obesity: Managing for a Longer Life
Just because diabetes is common doesn’t mean it’s normal.
Type II Diabetes, the most common form of diabetes today, used to be called “Adult Onset Diabetes” because it usually occurred in the later years of life, on less frequent occasions. And yet, today, nearly 11% of Americans have diabetes, 42% of the population is clinically obese, and over 30% of society is overweight. Clearly what we’re doing isn’t working.
Blood sugar regulation is essential for maintaining a healthy weight. We also know that blood sugar instability causes significant amounts of inflammation, increasing our chances of acquiring chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and potentially even Alzheimer’s. By managing blood sugar and combating obesity, we can significantly increase our chances of living a longer, healthier life.
The latest trend of GLP-1 agonists hitting the market en masse should be no surprise. As more people flock to using these highly innovative medicines to lose weight, we will also see their effects across all aspects of health and wellness. Losing weight is a significant piece of the puzzle. And yet, if we aren’t helping people improve their metabolic and mitochondrial health throughout the process, we won’t see the cellular changes we’re hoping for.
We see vast opportunities ahead to support individuals who are using medications for their weight loss and blood sugar management. Taking these medications is just the start. Changing the habits and behaviors that set them up for issues will be essential in promoting long-term health and longevity.
7. Spotlight on Future Precision Medicine: Advanced Immune and Medical Therapies
Today, our research and development efforts are focused on creating the software and platforms needed to help people improve their lives and optimize their decision-making.
But as we continue to gain more experience and knowledge of the industry, it’s only a matter of time before we dive into building hardware, medical devices, and novel therapeutics in the pharmaceutical and immunology sectors.
Advanced therapies could redefine the future of medicine. From stem cell therapy to individualized CAR-T immunotherapies, these innovations will aim to prevent age-related diseases and enhance the body’s natural healing processes for decades to come.
The Vision of Nobody Studios: Leading the Way in Longevity
As you can see, we’re not just students; we’re active creators in this vast field of healthcare and medicine. We’re excited to see what we can do to prolong human life while maximizing the remaining years we all have on this earth.
Medicine will always be a shifting landscape, which makes it even more vital for us to share our learnings and research with our Nobody family.
In the best-case scenario, the information shared today could help solve a health problem for you or a family member tomorrow…
Either way, we’re excited to keep pushing the envelope and, someday, have a positive impact on your personal health!
Health is Wealth!
P.S. We would LOVE to hear from you! We’re always looking for future beta-testers, innovative thinkers, and opportunities to seize.
P.P.S. Follow Nobody Studios on LinkedIn and visit our website for the latest studio updates.
Your next step towards a healthier life is just a click away!
Health is Personal. Health is Wealth. Health is YOU.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Erik Reis
Co-Founder, Director of Health & Wellness, Nobody Studios
As a clinician, entrepreneur, and international speaker, he’s spent the last decade working with complex neuro-orthopedic and metabolic disorders, focusing on ways to scale individualized healthcare to maximize medical outcomes. He believes the best companies have yet to be created in the health and wellness space and is focused on bringing patient-centered start-ups to the forefront of medicine at Nobody Studios.
