I’ve spent my career reading the science, not the headlines.
So when Harvard Medical School recently published Pathways to Longevity, a comprehensive 49-page review of ageing science that reached the same conclusions I’ve reached over two decades of clinical practice, it felt significant.
Here’s what struck me most.
Your genes are not your destiny
The report states it plainly: genetics accounts for as little as 20% of lifespan variation. Up to 80% is driven by environment and lifestyle. This is the premise of epigenetics, the science of how your behaviours and environment influence which genes are expressed, and which are not. It’s also where the name EpigenEdit comes from. The idea that we can actively edit our health outcomes, not by changing our DNA, but by changing the signals we send it.
Ageing has 12 biological hallmarks, and we can target them
Harvard identifies 12 cellular mechanisms that drive ageing: telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, cellular senescence and more.
These are measurable and increasingly addressable. The era of treating age-related disease one condition at a time is ending. The question scientists are now asking is: what slows the underlying biology of ageing itself?
Healthspan, not lifespan, is the right goal
I’ve always believed that longevity is not about adding more years to life but about adding more life to years. Harvard frames it the same way.
The field has shifted decisively from pure life extension to extending the years lived in good health. This requires a different approach to medicine and a different kind of patient engagement.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is on Harvard’s radar
This matters to me personally. The report reviews HBOT as one of a small number of non-pharmacological interventions showing genuine biological promise.
Research suggests that HBOT may support new blood vessel growth, improve mitochondrial function, increase antioxidant enzyme activity, and contribute to the clearance of senescent cells.
The authors are measured in their conclusions, and rightly so. But the biological mechanisms under investigation map directly onto the hallmarks Harvard identifies as central to ageing. For those of us working with HBOT, this is meaningful third-party validation.
What Harvard suggests you should do
Alongside the emerging science, the report is clear that the most evidence-backed longevity strategy remains lifestyle. A large study of over 700,000 veterans found that 40-year-olds who followed these eight factors extended their life expectancy by up to 24 years:
- Move your body regularly
- Eat predominantly plant-based foods
- Get restorative sleep
- Manage stress
- Stay socially connected
- Limit alcohol
- Avoid tobacco
- Avoid opioid misuse
I started reading this science before most people were asking these questions. What Harvard has now confirmed, I’ve spent two decades living and practising. The tools exist. The evidence is here. The only question is what you do with it?
“Longevity isn’t something that happens to you. It’s something you build, one decision at a time.”
Dr Katrin Dreissigacker
