587: The 5 Biomarkers That Predict How Well You’ll Age | Florence Comite, MD

Max Lugavere (0:00)

What's going on, everybody? It's episode 587 of The Genius Life. Let's rock.

What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to The Genius Life. I'm your host, Max Lugavere. Hope you're having an amazing summer. Today on the show, I'm joined by Dr. Florence Comite. She's a physician scientist, endocrinologist, and longtime pioneer in precision medicine. She's the founder of the Comite Center for Precision Medicine and Health, and the author of the new book, Invincible, the personalized path to a longer, healthier life. This conversation is about what may already be changing beneath the surface of your health, years or even decades before a diagnosis appears. We talk about the earliest signs that a man's hormones or cardiovascular system may be declining, why erectile function can offer important clues about heart health, and the five biomarkers Dr. Comite believes everyone should understand. We also get into testosterone in both men and women, thyroid health, biological age testing, continuous glucose monitors, advanced heart and full body imaging, peptides, fertility, and so much more. The central argument that Dr. Comite makes is that your genes are not necessarily your destiny, but generic advice can only take you so far. The real opportunity is learning how to interpret your own biology before small problems become major ones. Before we dive in, please take a moment to follow the show on your favorite podcast platforms. And if you're enjoying what we're doing here on The Genius Life, sharing this episode with one person is one of the most meaningful ways that you can support it. On top of that, you can leave a rating and review on your podcast app of choice. It takes seconds to do, it costs nothing, and I read each and every one of your reviews, so thank you in advance. And now with all that out of the way, let's dive into episode 586 Here we go.

Dr. Florence Comite, welcome to the show. How are you?

Florence Comite (1:58)

Good. How are you?

Max Lugavere (1:59)

Thanks for coming out. I'm great. I'm excited to talk about all things longevity, and to kind of, I guess, hone in on longevity for men, because we've done a number of podcasts as of late on hormone health in women, pre-menopause, perimenopause, post-menopause, and a common thread underlying all of those conversations, I would say, is increasing health span, increasing lifespan, all of those things that I want for my female listeners. But we haven't really talked about men in the context of longevity.

So let's just start from a high level. What would you say is the biggest lie that we've been told about aging?

Florence Comite (2:39)

That men age well, and they don't live as long as women. So why is that, right? And what are hormones in men? There's not just testosterone, but all the hormones that men have affect their health in the same way as women's hormones affect them, but uniquely male.

Max Lugavere (2:55)

Men were often described, though, as being far simpler than women. Would you say that that's the case?

Florence Comite (3:01)

I wouldn't say far simpler, but I do think that women are uniquely different from one another. In fact, my work started with my identical twin sister being different than me. And a smarter twin, she's a dermatologist, so she gets it right on the outside.

And I'm an endocrinologist. But in men, the aging process is different. In fact, I published back in 2013 a group of 260-something men and showed that the way they age is not because the testosterone falls, which it does, but because the body, the brain doesn't recognize that. So they age in a more linear fashion than women. And we women go through perimenopause at all different ages. It can range from 38 to 58 In men, it could start in the 30s, but go to the 80s or 90s. So that's a very different picture. Men can conceive children late in life.

Max Lugavere (3:56)

But sperm quality declines, does it not?

Florence Comite (3:58)

Sperm quality declines, and also the children, the offspring, can have other disorders, particularly psychological disorders have been shown, like schizophrenia and others, that can happen later in life with having a child.

Max Lugavere (4:11)

Wow, should men freeze their sperm? Is that something that men should consider?

Florence Comite (4:15)

It's not a bad idea, because we've used that for many, many decades, right? Much longer than we've done freezing eggs and freezing embryos.

And it's a way of maybe having better quality sperm. But think about it, there are 20 million sperm per cc, or drop, and there's about three to four drops of semen that men have. That's a lot of sperm, right? And so you can, and you can do it once or twice, and you're done if you wanna tap back into it. It's done frequently if you have an oncologic process, like a cancer, and you're gonna get treated, and they wanna preserve function, and they wanna make sure the sperm are healthy and won't get damaged by the treatment, whether it's using radiation or chemotherapy.