NOTE
🇬🇧 English (AI-translated). Original in Thai: 🇹🇭 อ่านภาษาไทย
Speaker: Dr. Wanwiput Sanphasitvong
Preventive Medicine & Wellness Specialist, VitalLife Scientific Wellness Center, Bumrungrad International Hospital
Event: Techsauce Healthspan Festival 2026
Four Horsemen of Health
- Cardiovascular disease - the leading cause of death.
- Metabolic disease - obesity, diabetes.
- Cancer.
- Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s - increases with age.
- The 5th Thai Horseman: Kidney disease - due to high sodium consumption among Thai people.
Health Span vs Lifespan
- Health Span refers to the period of life spent in good health, not just living a long life.
- Modern health check-ups focus on identifying risks and prevention before the disease occurs, rather than waiting for it to develop.
Key Health Metrics to Track
1. HbA1c (Glycated Hemoglobin)
- Traditional diagnostic criteria for diabetes: ≥6.5%.
- Health Span approach: Start lifestyle adjustments as soon as the value rises above 5.4% to prevent the disease beforehand.
2. Cholesterol and Apolipoprotein B
- LDL targets shifted from 130 to <100 mg/dL.
- Apolipoprotein B is like the “driver of the fat delivery truck” that carries risk factors for blood vessel blockage.
- Tracking Apo B helps assess cardiovascular disease risk more accurately than LDL alone.
3. HS-CRP (High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)
- Measures chronic inflammation in the body.
- Chronic inflammation is the root cause of aging and various diseases.
- Correlates with cardiovascular risk (optimal value: <1 mg/L).
4. Fasting Insulin
- Serves as an early warning sign before insulin resistance and diabetes develop.
- Analogy: Like a warrior whose strength is declining - requiring more insulin to lower the same amount of blood sugar.
- Indicates the need for lifestyle adjustments before developing the actual disease.
5. Homocysteine
- A large molecule that risks blocking blood vessels, causing stroke and heart disease.
- Can be caused by genetics (MTHFR gene) or deficiency in vitamin B12 and folate.
- Commonly found in vegetarians/vegans.
6. eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate)
- Decreases with age; needs monitoring to prevent chronic kidney disease.
- If allowed to degenerate too much, sodium and protein intake must be restricted.
7. VO2 Max
- Measures cardiovascular fitness.
- Helps predict the risk of becoming a dependent elderly individual.
- Can be easily measured using a cadence step test (walking up and down steps to music).
- Higher VO2 Max at a younger age ensures sufficient physical capability as one ages.
Impact of High Sugar on the Body
- Sugar binds to collagen, causing skin aging.
- Stiffens blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart disease, kidney disease, eye damage, and brain disease.
- Controlling sugar early on helps prevent all these complications.
6 Areas of Lifestyle Adjustment
- Quality sleep.
- Stress management.
- Physical activity / exercise.
- Proper nutrition.
- Avoiding toxins (alcohol, smoking).
- Mental health and social engagement.
Precautions Regarding Supplements
- Do not rely on supplements as the primary solution; lifestyle adjustments must come first.
- Over-consuming supplements can have side effects on the kidneys.
Biological Age
- There are more than 20 methods (20 clocks) to measure biological age, each yielding different results.
- Each method has limits and varying accuracy (absolute error of some clocks can be ±10 years).
- Understand the limitations of each method before spending money.
- Do not make behavioral adjustment decisions based solely on biological age.
Future Trends in Health Screenings
- Shifting from detecting diseases to detecting risk factors.
- Using existing screening data to analyze and provide more effective recommendations.
- AI will play a role in analyzing health data.
Additional Resources
- Longevity Education Hub - A free course in Thai written by researching scientists.