Growing older no longer has to mean becoming frail or living with chronic disease. As advances in medicine continue to reshape healthcare, experts are shifting the conversation from simply living longer to living healthier for longer.
In the latest episode of Freshly Brewed, BusinessMirror’s weekly podcast, Dr. Rolando ‘Oyie’ Balburias, medical director of Rhodium Regenerative Institute, joined host and BusinessMirror Health and Fitness Editor Anne Ruth Dela Cruz to discuss longevity medicine, also known as healthspan or age management medicine, and how it is helping redefine what it means to age well.
‘What’s the point of living longer if the quality of life is very much compromised?’ Dr. Balburias said.
‘Longevity medicine is about extending your healthspan-living longer while maintaining your quality of life.’
For decades, healthcare focused primarily on increasing lifespan. Today, longevity medicine emphasizes healthspan, or the number of years a person remains healthy, active and free from disease.
‘Aging is inevitable,’ Dr. Balburias explained. ‘Chronological age is simply the number of years you’ve been alive. But healthspan is about the years you live without disease, when you’re still active and highly functional because your biological age is different from your chronological age.’
While technologies that estimate biological age continue to evolve, Dr. Balburias cautioned against relying solely on machines.
‘The body’s biological system is very complex. These machines can serve as useful guides by measuring factors like muscle mass and body fat, but they cannot fully determine a person’s health.’
The Filipino healthspan gap
ONE of the more concerning realities, he noted, is that Filipinos spend a significant portion of their later years living with disease.
‘Our lifespan is now around 72 years old, but our average healthspan is only about 62 years old,’ he said. ‘That’s a huge gap.’
With retirement commonly beginning at age 60, many Filipinos spend what should be their most enjoyable years managing chronic illnesses instead of remaining active and independent.
Although aging cannot be stopped, Dr. Balburias stressed that the rate at which the body ages can be influenced.
‘We now understand the hallmarks of aging. The goal is to identify biological changes early and determine whether your body is aging faster than your chronological age.’
He believes one of the biggest misconceptions about aging is the assumption that illness is simply part of getting older.
‘When we age, we’re expected to get sick. That’s not true at all. Many chronic diseases develop long before they are detected.’
Rather than waiting for symptoms to appear, longevity medicine encourages people to become proactive in managing their health.
‘Aging is not a single disease. It’s the result of interconnected biological systems gradually losing balance. We need to shift from reactive healthcare to proactive healthcare.’
Understanding the hallmarks of aging
SCIENTISTS have identified 12 biological processes, known as the hallmarks of aging, that contribute to the body’s gradual decline.
Many of these processes, Dr. Balburias said, are influenced by everyday habits.
‘The food we eat, the quality and duration of our sleep, our stress levels, physical activity, relationships and even our environmental exposures all affect how quickly our biological systems age.’
Researchers monitor these processes through biological markers or ‘biological clocks,’ which help assess how the body’s systems are functioning.
‘Our biological systems are influenced by what we call our exposome-everything we’re exposed to, from nutrition and exercise to environmental toxins and even toxic relationships,’ he explained.
Poor sleep, for instance, weakens immune resilience and affects the body’s ability to fight infections, highlighting how interconnected the body’s systems are.
Small habits, big impact
BECAUSE aging is cumulative, Dr. Balburias emphasized that daily habits create a compound effect on long-term health.
Nutrition, he said, serves as preventive medicine by helping maintain metabolic health, preserving muscle mass and protecting cognitive function.
One intervention that has gained attention in recent years is fasting.
According to Dr. Balburias, fasting activates a natural cellular process called autophagy, which allows the body to remove damaged components and recycle healthy ones.
‘When we’re not constantly feeding our bodies, autophagy is activated. It’s the body’s natural clean-up mechanism.’
Autophagy also helps reduce the accumulation of senescent or ‘zombie’ cells-cells that no longer function properly but remain in the body and release inflammatory substances that accelerate aging. ‘When you activate autophagy, your body clears many of these senescent cells that contribute to biological aging.’
He also highlighted the importance of maintaining nutritional balance rather than following restrictive diets. ‘When it comes to macronutrients, fats, proteins and carbohydrates all have important roles. The goal is balance.’
Certain foods also contain bioactive compounds that influence hormone signaling, helping maintain metabolic efficiency as hormone production naturally declines with age.
Separating science from marketing
AS longevity medicine gains popularity, more clinics are offering anti-aging treatments and regenerative therapies. Dr. Balburias encouraged consumers to be discerning.
‘It’s important to measure your own biological system first because every individual is unique,’ he said. ‘Don’t simply rely on influencers promoting certain interventions.’
He stressed that any treatment plan should begin with a comprehensive medical evaluation conducted by physicians trained in age management medicine.
‘The goal is first to identify which physiological systems are out of balance before deciding which interventions are appropriate.’
Living longer-and better
DESPITE advances in longevity science, Dr. Balburias believes the foundation of healthy aging remains surprisingly simple.
He encourages people to eat colorful, nutrient-dense meals, prioritize uninterrupted sleep, ideally between 11 pm and 6 am, exercise regularly, build healthy relationships and manage stress.
Ultimately, he said, food remains one of the most powerful tools for protecting long-term health.
‘Food is fundamental and foundational because it’s where we get everything our body needs to function,’ he said. ‘If we don’t provide our body with the nutrients it needs, it compensates. Eventually, that ability becomes limited, and dysfunction develops. Diseases begin long before they are detected.’
Healthy aging, Dr. Balburias concluded, is not simply about adding years to life but ensuring those years are lived with vitality, independence, and purpose.
Rhodium Regenerative Institute is located at Unit 2303, 23rd Floor, Centuria Medical Makati, Century City, Kalayaan Avenue corner Salamanca Street, Makati City. For inquiries, call +63 917 896 0237 or +63 2 8363 3022.
Watch the full interview on BusinessMirror’s YouTube channel. Catch new episodes of Freshly Brewed every Monday at 10 a.m. on BusinessMirror’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and website.