Longevity Insights
Peer-reviewed research translated into actionable intelligence. Browse by category or scroll for the latest.
Does TRT cause heart problems? No extra heart attacks, more irregular rhythm
Does TRT cause heart problems? In 5,246 men the heart attack and stroke rates matched a hormone-free gel, while irregular heartbeats were more common.
Does stem cell therapy work for back pain? Only before-and-after data
Stem cell therapy for back pain has been measured in 283 people across eight studies, all of whom got the injection, with no untreated group to compare.
What does VO2 max mean? The oxygen your body uses at full effort
The most oxygen your body can use in a minute of all-out exercise, per kilogram of body weight. What VO2 max means, and what sets the ceiling.
What are the side effects of low-dose rapamycin? No more than a placebo
Over 48 weeks in healthy adults, side effects of low-dose rapamycin matched a dummy pill. The heavier list comes from daily transplant doses.
Does creatine affect kidney function? The marker rises, filtering doesn't
Does creatine affect kidney function? Across 12 pooled trials the kidneys' filtering rate held steady while the blood marker used to estimate it edged up.
Does testosterone therapy help erectile dysfunction?
Testosterone therapy helps erectile dysfunction in a minority of men, those with low testosterone confirmed by blood tests, and the trials disagree.
Does creatine cause bloating? A small early water gain, then it settles
Bloating from creatine is described as transient water retention in the early weeks, and in a review of 951 women the weight gap came to about 1.4 kg, or none.
Does PRP work for tennis elbow? The placebo trials disagree
Does PRP work for tennis elbow? Pooled trials found no advantage over the injections it was compared with, while a four-arm trial favoured it at two years.
How much creatine per day? Trials mostly used 3 to 5 grams
How much creatine per day did the research use? Mostly 3 to 5 grams of monohydrate, taken continuously, with the loading week only speeding things up.
Is a cold plunge safe for your heart? 64 plunges on a heart monitor
Is a cold plunge safe? Twenty middle-aged swimmers wore heart monitors through 64 plunges in 7-degree water. One brief rhythm blip between them.
How to measure VO2 max at home: estimates, not measurements
Every way to measure VO2 max at home - a timed run, a step test, a watch - gives an estimate, and validation studies put individual errors above 10 points.
How accurate is a DEXA scan for body fat?
How accurate is a DEXA scan for body fat? It is the reference clinics measure against, not a true gold standard, and the method gaps are large.
Is grip strength an indicator of longevity? What 500,000 adults showed
Grip strength is an indicator of longevity in cohorts of half a million adults: each 5 kg of weaker grip tracked 16-20% higher death rates.
Does red light therapy work for joint pain? Short-term relief only
Trials of red light therapy for joint pain report short-term relief, usually stronger with invisible near-infrared light, and none of them measured cartilage.
What are the side effects of creatine? Mostly mild, and not kidney damage
The side effects of creatine are mild and no more common than with placebo. The catch is water weight, and a blood marker that can misread healthy kidneys.
Does HRT help with hot flushes? About 75% fewer, reviews agree
HRT cuts hot flushes by roughly three-quarters, and the added risk of stroke, clots or breast cancer runs near one extra case per 1,000 women a year.
What does the lean mass number on a DEXA scan mean?
The lean mass number on a DEXA scan has a published threshold for 'low', and in 1,372 adults over 50 it tracked spine fractures better than body fat did.
What does a high Lp(a) mean? An inherited risk, tested once
About one in five adults has a high Lp(a), an inherited particle that raises heart risk even when LDL cholesterol looks normal. What the thresholds mean.
Does fasting cause muscle loss? Short fasts no, multi-day fasts yes
Fasting causes muscle loss on multi-day water fasts, where two-thirds of the weight lost is lean tissue. Ten days of alternate-day fasting did not.
Does hyperbaric oxygen therapy work? What the trials actually tested
The trial evidence for hyperbaric oxygen therapy sits in wounds that will not heal. The ageing and brain claims rest on reviews, not randomised trials.
Does calorie restriction slow aging? What the CALERIE trial found
The one long trial of calorie restriction in healthy adults slowed a single measure of aging - and people ate 12% less, not the 25% asked of them.
What does a high hs-CRP mean? A risk signal, not a diagnosis
A high hs-CRP predicts heart attacks and early death, but the trials that lowered it produced one modest win and one clear failure.
Does loneliness shorten your life? Isolation is the stronger predictor
Does loneliness shorten your life? In 90 studies of 2.2 million adults, social isolation predicted earlier death more consistently than feeling lonely.
Does BPC-157 work? Three human studies, all of them pilots
Does BPC-157 work? In rodents, injured tendons heal faster. In people the entire record is three pilot studies, one of which enrolled two adults.