Peter Attia’s Three Non-Negotiable Longevity Tests

 From the daily SuperAge email blast

Peter Attia’s Three Non-Negotiable Longevity Tests

Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia didn’t mince words at Well Fest: The current standard of health care is not built for “medicine 3.0.” Most of today’s recommendations are reactive, not preventative. If you want to extend your healthspan (not just lifespan), you need to be more proactive and that starts with better testing.

Here are three labs Attia considers non-negotiable for anyone serious about longevity:

• ApoB: A more accurate predictor of cardiovascular risk than LDL cholesterol. ApoB counts the actual number of particles that can form plaque in your arteries and it turns out that number matters more than how much cholesterol is in each particle. “The United States is the only OECD country that hasn’t figured out the benefit of APOB in its complete and utter superiority over LDL cholesterol,” says Attia
  
• Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a): A highly genetic marker of heart disease that isn’t screened for in most annual physicals. This “silent risk factor” can significantly increase your heart disease risk even if everything else looks normal.
  
• Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT): Attia says this is far more accurate than the hemoglobin A1C, which is often used to diagnose diabetes but can miss early signs of dysfunction. The OGTT measures how your body handles sugar over a two-hour window, revealing issues like insulin resistance long before full-blown diabetes shows up.

These are the kinds of metrics that can change the course of your health 20 years before symptoms arrive. You don’t need a concierge doctor to take charge of your health. You just need the right questions, the confidence to ask them, and a doctor willing to hear them.

Put It Into Practice:

• Print this list and bring it to your next check-up: Ask your doctor to test for ApoB and Lp(a). They may not be in your standard panel, but most providers can order them.
  
• If you’re unclear about your blood sugar trends, request an OGTT, especially if you’ve ever been told your A1C is “borderline.”