Medicine 3.0 and Health Asset ManagementTM
Dr. Peter Attia and others have popularized the concept of 3 very different historical approaches to medicine, and termed them Medicine 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Before the advent of modern medicine, physicians and others providing healthcare used treatments that may or may not have been helpful or tested in a scientific manner (pre- 1900’s medicine). This was Medicine 1.0. From the late 1800’s until today, tools have been discovered that have revolutionize medical diagnosis (e.g., CT scan and MRI), incredible drugs developed that control and even cure disease (e.g., insulin, antibiotics, chemotherapy), interventions developed that save and prolong our lives (e.g., coronary stents, robotic surgery). This is the period of Medicine 2.0, where we have amazing tools and treatments for many of the simplest and even the complex diseases we contract.
Medicine 2.0
Despite this, the framework of Medicine 2.0 is still lacking because it is primarily reactive – that is, encouraging patients to seek care only when they are sick and treating disease only after it has already occurred. When cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic disease, or neurodegenerative disease have already taken hold, it can be extremely difficult (and expensive) to treat, let alone reverse. Medicine 2.0 has enabled us all to live longer (lifespan), but it is reactive instead of proactive, so has not done as much to help us live healthy, functional lives in the last couple of decades of our lives (healthspan). In other words, modern medicine has been successful at keeping people alive longer while sick.
Medicine 3.0
This is where the idea of Medicine 3.0 comes in, where clinicians use the tools of modern medicine and science to determine an individual’s potential risk of getting a disease and then pre-emptively intervene to prevent development of the disease or at least greatly reduce the impact of the disease you will have to endure. In this new paradigm, the focus of healthcare becomes maintaining your good health to not only prolong your life (lifespan) but ensure you are fit and functional enough to enjoy the extra years you live (healthspan).
The figure at the right captures the difference between Medicine 2.0 and 3.0 in the purple striped area. That is, this shows the difference between ‘living longer sicker’ or ‘living longer with better health and functionality.’ Our goal at Paradigm Health is to target this opportunity for improvement in your healthspan.
Health Asset ManagementTM
At Paradigm Health, we look at the big picture: a person’s quality of life now and how they hope to age. We perform a comprehensive assessment (more comprehensive than most people have ever experienced) in order to understand all the strengths and the potential threats to a person’s ongoing and future health. We then use the best medical science available (evidence-based and evidence-informed) to personalize a plan that promotes longevity and healthspan. What this all means is that by investing in your cardiovascular, metabolic, neurocognitive, physical, and emotional health now, you can reap the rewards into your 70s, 80s, and even 90s.
At Paradigm Health, the way we apply Medicine 3.0 is through Health Asset ManagementTM. Much like a financial advisor helps manage your wealth assets, the physicians at Paradigm Health have developed a standardized system to invest in your health and track health dividends that accrue as we implement a goal-oriented plan. Who wants to have saved well for retirement only to spend those savings on constant medical care while being unable to do the things that they love and that give their life meaning?
Health Asset ManagementTM focuses on your longevity and healthspan through a partnership that requires early and intentional investment in the mitigation and prevention of chronic disease, and an even more aggressive approach if disease is already present (as reversing some disease is possible, or at least greatly reducing its progression). This will result in improving your longevity and healthspan, well into your marginal decade (the last decade of one’s life). THAT’s the Medicine 3.0 mindset combined with the Paradigm Health approach. Simply put, we work to add years to your life and health to your years.