Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

It is vitally important to us that our clients and prospective clients are as informed as possible. Here are answers to some of our most commonly asked questions. Should you have any that aren’t addressed here or elsewhere on our website, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

What should I expect when going through the MRI process as part of my Human Longevity Experience?

The MRI is a multi-sensory experience. Our MRI is fully open at both ends and you’ll be in constant contact with a technologist throughout the exam. Imaging protocols may vary based on individual needs and can be broken up if necessary. Noises of varying pitch, movement of the table, and mild warming sensations are normal. To make your experience as comfortable as possible, we offer customizable options:

  • Audio: Earbuds will be provided along with your choice of music or playlist
  • Imagery: A series of soothing visuals will be displayed on an LED screen visible from inside the MRI
  • Scent: A selection of essential oils will be available

What imaging advances are used for the whole-body, brain and cardiac MRI scan at Human Longevity?

The MRI scanners are 3 Tesla (or 3T) with the latest hardware and software upgrades to enhance detection capabilities and reduce scan time. These MRI procedures are non-invasive, radiation-free and do not use any contrast dye. This scan provides both qualitative and quantitative measures to establish your own personal baseline. Our MRI scanners scan full-body, cardiac and brain MRI two to three times faster than traditional MRI scanners that use conventional protocols, coils and software. Our images contain more signal and have more spatial resolution.

In addition to using advanced MRI technology, our team analyzes the imaging data with proprietary and specialized algorithms to provide valuable insights optimized to provide:

  • Quantitative brain analysis for signs of dementia and other brain disorders (research use only as part of an IRB research study)
  • Detailed cardiac scan including heart structure and quantitative functional analysis
  • A whole-body scan that can detect some solid organ tumors. This protocol uses advanced diffusion imaging based methods to differentiate high-grade cancerous tumors from benign or low-grade lesions.
  • Metabolic analysis, including body and liver fat measures

How does an assessment from Human Longevity compare to an annual or executive physical?

Human Longevity integrates genome analysis with advanced, non-invasive MRI methods and other clinical testing to provide you with an expanded view of your current health. By integrating the findings from your assessment into your health planning, you and your clinician can gain insights in order to preempt risks.

Testing as recommended by your primary care physician and the US Preventative Task Force including mammography, pap smears and colonoscopy are important components of prevention. Human Longevity is not designed to replace your annual physical, but rather to supplement your medical care with integrated insights.

What are the benefits of an annual health assessment?

By participating in an annual Human Longevity assessment, you may benefit from the following:

  • A quantifiable baseline of health that allows you to measure and track small changes over time.
  • Personalized knowledge about your individual health risk factors based on your genomic and phenotypic (physical) information, not a national average.
  • Early identification of diseases that may not have otherwise been discovered until the development of symptoms. (Examples include identifying insulin resistance which can precede diabetes).
  • Insights about lifestyle modifications or methods for early screening that could assist in preventing or identifying the onset of the disease in the early, more treatable stage.
  • Results of genetic information that may be useful for other family members and future generations.

 What are the steps for an assessment from Human Longevity?

A Human Longevity 100+ assessment includes the following steps:

  • Pre-Visit Consent – We want you to be prepared for your visit, which includes understanding the clinical and research aspects of our program. To ensure that you understand and meet the eligibility requirements to participate in our research studies, as well as to inform you of what is included in the testing on day of visit and results delivery, we provide an informational call prior to your 100+ visit. We will provide you with consent documents that outline the research studies for your review prior to you coming on site. You are also given the opportunity to speak with a member of our clinical team to ask any specific health questions you may have.
  • Personal health and family survey: To make your Human Longevity experience the most relevant and provide you with personalized insights, we will ask you to complete health surveys. This allows us to best tailor the results of your assessment.
  • Human Longevity Visit – A week before your appointment, we will email you information to prepare for your assessment including information about supplements, medications and logistics. Upon arrival at our Human Longevity clinic, one of our team members will escort you to your private client suite. In your suite, we will review your schedule and escort you through the different assessments.
  • Review of Initial Results – Approximately 2 weeks after your 100+ visit, you will meet with your longevity clinician for an initial image review.
  • Personalized Health Reports – Approximately 6 weeks after your initial image review, our team of multidisciplinary specialists will have reviewed and assembled the data into a summary report where we consolidate your genomic findings with your phenotype (physical) data. At this time, your longevity clinician will review your report and discuss integration of your genetic, blood, and imaging biomarkers to create a comprehensive action plan for your longevity goals.

What information will be included in the Human Longevity Genomics Reports?

The Human Longevity Genomics reports will include any medically significant results, as well as other non-clinical information such as traits. These reports provide insights about your genetic risk for certain illnesses or diseases. Please keep in mind that your genes are not the only deciding factor for whether or not you will develop certain diseases and their influence varies depending on the disease.

Clinical:

The Human Longevity Genomic Clinical Report provides you with information on known disease-associated genes, including:

ACMG 59 – This section consists of a list of 59 important genes as defined by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). If mutations are found in these genes, they should be reported to individuals because of their potential high medical importance and actionability.

Disease risks – This section identifies medically actionable genetic variants associated with significant current or future health risks across 70 complex diseases including:

  • Cancer
  • Neurological
  • Cardiovascular
  • Metabolic
  • Immunologic, Renal, Respiratory, Hematologic and Rheumatologic

Pharmacogenomics – This section provides a list of gene variants that helps to predict your personal responses to 40+ medications, including differences in drug effectiveness and side effects

Carrier screening – This section helps you understand if you are a carrier of 242+ inherited conditions and is useful for family planning

Insights:

The Human Longevity Genomic Insights Report provides you with your genetic assessment to understand if your DNA has variants that can increase or decrease your risk for different health conditions including the following:

  • Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Type – association with disease risk
  • Bone health (e.g. Bone mineral density, osteoarthritis)
  • Cancer – inherited gene risk of known cancer-related genes (e.g. bladder, colorectal, esophageal, lung, melanoma, pancreatic, thyroid)
  • Cardiovascular health (e.g. Hypertension, Coronary artery disease [CAD], stroke, atrial fibrillation)
  • Connective tissue (Achilles tendinopathy)
  • Food intolerance and allergy (e.g. Lactose intolerance, celiac, allergies [peanut, shellfish, eggs, milk, etc.])
  • Infectious disease (e.g. Viral resistance)
  • Inflammatory and autoimmune disorders (e.g. Eczema, Rheumatoid arthritis,
  • Systemic sclerosis, Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD])
  • Men’s health (e.g. Prostate cancer)
  • Mental health (e.g. Bipolar disorder, Major depressive disorder)
  • Schizophrenia, Opioid addiction, risk seeking behavior, smoking behavior)
  • Metabolic health (e.g. Thyroid-stimulating hormone level, Type 2 diabetes, lipid levels, Alcohol flush, caffeine, gout, insulin insensitivity, caffeine metabolism, vitamin deficiencies)
  • Neurological (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, Multiple sclerosis)
  • Respiratory (e.g. Asthma, COPD)
  • Sensory health (e.g. Exfoliation glaucoma, bitter taste perception, myopia, age-related macular degeneration)”

Personal Insights

  • Variant list – Provides overview of all genetic variants that make you unique and any associated public information
  • Ancestry – Learn about your family history and composition (Ancestral composition, maternal and paternal and Neanderthal)
  • Lifestyle traits – learn about some of the genes thought to be associated with addictive behavior, taste perception, endurance potential, laser eye surgery risk etc.
  • Traits and physical predictions – Predictions of personal traits including height, weight, eye color and skin color

What’s the difference between Human Longevity whole genome sequencing and other DNA or genetic testing?

Many DNA and genetic tests examine only small segments of DNA associated with ancestry, traits (e.g., eye color, earwax type, bitter taste perception) and disease risk. With these tests, you only receive information about a small targeted set of DNA changes, or variants.

Human Longevity performs genome sequencing – which analyzes over 3.2 billion base pairs of DNA – with high accuracy, and then your Human Longevity clinicians integrate this data with other clinical information. Human Longevity Genomics reports provide information on a broad set of variants, including the common, rare and individually unique variations, and their associations with known traits and disease risks. These reports will provide you with an analysis across a broad spectrum of health areas and may help identify risks and provide opportunities to take action to protect and improve your health.

How does Human Longevity use my data?

Data that has been coded or de-identified, meaning all identifying information such as name or date of birth are removed before being transferred from HN to HLI researchers may, for research and be shared with third parties for research purposes in an attempt to understand health and disease. You have the ability to opt out of including your data in this research and may indicate your preferences on the consent documents. HLI will NOT share your individual medical records with any third party without your express permission.You may withdraw your consent to have your data included in research at any time.

How is my privacy and data protected?

We take our clients’ privacy and security very seriously. To protect the privacy of our clients, we are diligent in our compliance with HIPAA and have implemented strict information security controls to safeguard your data. . We have adopted a Privacy and Compliance Program to assure our compliance with Federal regulations and state laws governing patient privacy and health information security.

We will only provide the results of your Human Longevity assessment to you and your primary care physician (if authorized by you), unless you request in writing for us to provide them to other healthcare provider(s). We will not provide the information to your employer, any insurance providers, nor any other healthcare provider without your explicit authorization.

Who owns the rights to Human Longevity client testing data (genome sequencing results, MRI scan results, etc?

Each patient owns his/her medical record and testing data. Human Longevity has certain legal retention requirements for all clinical and research data. De‐identified means that all identifying information such as name, or date of birth are redacted. De-identified data may be used by Human Longevity for research, and may be shared with third parties for research purposes. Coded means that the data receives a unique, random code to allow clinicians to reidentify the information for longitudinal studies.

Who has access to the customer data ‐ (e.g. health insurance companies, life insurance companies, government agencies or other)?

Human Longevity will NOT share your individual medical records with any third party without your written permission. If you provide your consent, Human Longevity may share your de‐identified or coded data (which means that we have removed any information that could be used to identify you) with Human Longevity researchers and/or other third parties for research purposes.

Are there any restrictions on who can have a Human Longevity 100+ assessment?

Our services are designed to provide genome and clinical results to adults 18 years and older. If you have a child that you would like to undergo genetic testing, please discuss this with their pediatrician or a genetic counselor.

To assure the safety of our clients, there are a few individuals who may not be suitable for a Human Longevity assessment. Our clinical team is available to review and discuss any questions to ensure client safety and candidacy for participation.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Because MRI employs a powerful magnetic field to create images, clients with certain implanted devices, foreign bodies, pacemakers, cochlear. ocular or stem cell implants and/or weighing over 350 pounds are advised to avoid MRI scanning. If you have an implanted device, our clinical team would be happy to investigate if it is safe for MRI scanning.

Genome Sequencing: Individuals that have undergone stem cell transplants may not be eligible for Genome Sequencing testing. Please bring any stem cell transplants to the attention of your longevity clinician.

Coronary Calcium Scoring: Due to the low likelihood of coronary artery disease in clients younger than age 35, we do not recommend Calcium Scoring in this population. While the dose of radiation from the CT scan is small, we feel that there is insufficient clinical justification in our clients < 35.

Women who are pregnant are advised to delay the testing until after childbirth.

Clients with an acute medical illness are not considered ideal candidates for this testing. The Human Longevity platform is for screening and assessing one’s risk for different diseases, as well as early signals of disease risk. This is not a diagnostic disease testing platform.

See Human Longevity eligibility requirements. 

What if I have a family history of disease, such as cancer or heart disease?

The Human Longevity experience is designed for risk factor identification and early detection of disease. Human Longevity focuses on early detection of cancer, metabolic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s.

Human Longevity can be an invaluable resource for staying a step ahead of diseases with a strong genetic component. With genome analysis, we can identify genetic variants that may increase or decrease your risk for different conditions and diseases. Combining these findings with the whole-body MRI scan can provide insights on your current health and uncover early signals of these diseases.

How do my results affect my family members?

As is the case with any genetic testing, if you are at risk for a disease, your family members may also have this same genetic risk. This could impact parents, siblings, children and other more distant family members.

How is my doctor included?

Our aim is to empower you and your primary-care physician to integrate your findings into your ongoing health plan. With your consent, we can include your personal physician in the results sessions, or our clinicians can review your results directly with your doctor.

What if my doctor doesn’t have the time or expertise to participate?

The participation of your primary care physician, or other health specialist is helpful but not required. Our team will walk you through your results and your whole genome report and help you to understand them. We can also review your results with your physician to help him or her understand our findings. If you don’t currently have a Primary Care Physician, we can refer you to our curated network of physicians for your continuity of care.

Will my insurance be accepted?

Our Human Longevity membership is not covered by health insurance plans. 

Can I use my Healthcare Savings Account (HSA) to pay for a Human Longevity assessment?

Please consult your tax professional to understand if your HSA can be used to pay for your Human Longevity assessment.

Here are a few links on covered expenses for HSAs:

HSA Qualified Medical Expenses

HSA qualified medical expenses: IRS Pub 502

What happens if I need follow-up testing?

If there are any significant findings that require immediate medical attention, you will be contacted immediately by one of our clinicians. If warranted and desired, we will connect you with a physician from our network of specialists from Mass General and/or DoctorForMe.ai. When we do uncover an urgent and/or actionable medical finding, we will share test results and review our findings with your physicians with your permission.

Making sure our clients and prospective clients are as informed as possible is vitally important to us. Here are answers to some of our most commonly asked questions. Should you have any that aren’t addressed here or elsewhere on our website, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.