Talk to your
doctor about it

You have done what you can do alone, and what you can do with a friend. Past this point it is medical care, and we do not deliver medical care. What we can do is make sure you walk into that appointment with a much better list.

What only a doctor can measure

Blood work. DEXA. Coronary artery calcium. FEV1. VO₂ max. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Liver function. None of these are exotic, most are inexpensive, and almost none get ordered unless somebody asks.

Ask about deprescribing

Do you still need all of these? A statin started at seventy takes years to pay off while the side effects start now. Aspirin is genuinely valuable for some people and a bleeding risk for many. The risk-benefit that made sense a decade ago may not be the one you are living in. This is a question almost nobody asks their doctor, and it is one of the most useful ones available.

Two tests to discuss before you take them

A multi-cancer early detection blood test can find things nothing else would. It can also make you uninsurable for long-term care. You cannot unknow a result, and a pre-existing condition is a pre-existing condition. Get your financial plans in place first. Whole-body MRI has its own version of this problem: it finds a great deal, not all of it meaningful.

Athena Clinic

3 packages

  1. 1

    Bring your self-assessment in. Basic physiological measurements, and an honest read of where you stand, limited to what is observable.

  2. 2

    A consultation, then prescriptions for the tests that fill in what looking at you cannot tell: blood work, DEXA, coronary calcium.

  3. 3

    The same, guided. They book the DEXA, arrange the blood draw, and chase the results back.

Add-ons exist for whole-body MRI and multi-cancer detection. Read the warning above first.

disclosure

Dr. Peterson owns Athena Clinic. Everything on this page works exactly as well with your own physician, and we would rather you went to whoever knows your history. If you want it done by his team, that option is below.

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