In this week’s newsletter

✅ Introduction to episode 16 with Dr. David Luu. ✅ Creating a network of longevity doctors. ✅ The low-hanging fruit of cardiovascular longevity. ✅ Show notes.  ✅ David’s view on rapamycin and metformin. ✅ ”What is the opposite of living longer? Dying prematurely. Who wants that?”

Creating the modern longevity community

I want a future where you can walk into your doctor's office and say: ”I'm healthy. How do you want to help me stay that way?” Yet finding physicians who think this way - who focus on prevention rather than just treating disease - has been difficult.

But this is about to change, as you’ll learn in this week’s episode of the LEVITY podcast where Patrick and I talk to pediatric cardiac surgeon turned longevity pioneer Dr. David Luu.

Dr. Luu is building a global network of physicians dedicated to preventing disease and extending healthy lifespans. Through LongevityDocs, he's (so far) connected over 300 forward-thinking doctors across 40 countries who share this preventive mindset.

From his father's story as an immigrant doctor pioneering acupuncture research in France, to creating AI-powered medical platforms, to running humanitarian missions providing free surgeries in developing nations, Dr. Luu represents a new breed of physician-entrepreneur working to transform healthcare.

In our conversation, we explore commonly overlooked cardiovascular risk factors, the role of AI in medicine, and why creating modern micro blue zones - communities that naturally promote longevity - might be key to living longer, healthier lives. Dr. Luu also shares his practical framework for thinking about longevity interventions, from foundational lifestyle changes to cutting-edge treatments.

For anyone interested in the future of preventive medicine or extending their healthy lifespan, this episode offers insights from someone working at the intersection of traditional medicine, longevity science, and technological innovation.

You can watch the first episode below or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other places, like PocketCasts. Please follow, like and subscribe! 🙏🏼 This will boost our chances of reaching a bigger audience.

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A detailed overview of the episode

Welcome and Introduction

• Host Peter Ottsjö welcomes David Luu to the Levity podcast.

• Peter asks: “What is a longevity doctor?”

• David sets the stage for how he views medicine at the intersection of treating disease and extending life rather than just saving it.

Key Moments & Details

• David’s self-definition of a “longevity doctor”:

• Emphasis on how all doctors ”should be” longevity-focused, ensuring both quality and quantity of life.

• Longevity medicine vs. traditional medicine: David envisions future physicians focusing on preventing chronic illnesses, extending healthspan, and preserving functionality over time.

David’s Early Life: Family Roots in Cannes & Chinese Medicine

• Peter asks David to share his background, starting with the story of David’s father emigrating from Laos to Cannes, France.

• David’s father was an immigrant of Chinese descent who became a French-trained physician specializing in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine.

Key Moments & Details

1. Father’s Journey

   • Arrived in France in the 1960s, learned French while in high school in Cannes.

   • Studied Western medicine in Montpellier and later integrated acupuncture into mainstream medical practice.

   • Collaborated with anatomy departments to dissect cadavers, researching ”energy transfer” and the physiological basis of acupuncture.

   • Helped pioneer official medical diplomas for acupuncture in French medical schools.

2. Mother’s Role

   • David’s mother was a pediatric nurse focusing on vulnerable children, reinforcing David’s childhood sense of service.

3. Childhood Influences

   • David, as a young boy, witnessed dissections in anatomy labs, inspiring an early comfort with medical science.

   • By age three, he was already set on becoming a doctor.

The Many Initiatives: Hearty & JuiSci

Summary

• Peter highlights David’s busy schedule - pediatric cardiac surgeon turned entrepreneur - and asks about some of David’s health-tech platforms.

• Discussion centers on Hearty and JuiSci, two of David’s major ventures.

JuiSci (pronounced ”Juicy” / ”Juice of Science”)

• Origin: Began during COVID-19 when David summarized scientific papers for colleagues via WhatsApp.

• Goal: Summarize scientific publications in a concise, AI-powered format so clinicians can stay updated on the latest research.

• Technology: Built its own large language model (LLM) - pre-dating ChatGPT - to digest PubMed abstracts and preprints.

  • Advisory committee of physicians reviews potential ”hallucinations” from AI.

Hearty

• What It Is: A software platform for longevity medicine that evolved from an initial virtual-first clinic.

  Mission: Empower doctors to create their own practices by integrating data from wearables, lab work, and imaging in a single platform.

Part 4 – Emergence into Longevity & AI

Early AI Exposure (2014-2015)

• Working in Africa, screening children for rheumatic heart disease.

• Connected with Butterfly Network's portable ultrasound device ”The first time I heard about AI was probably 2014, 2015...I remember when we're talking to Jonathan Rothberg, the founder, [who said] we could use artificial intelligence at some point to detect malformation in the heart.”

Team Approach

• Applies surgical mindset to tech projects ”As a surgeon is I always knew you couldn't perform the surgery by yourself. You have to be leading a team... And so the same way I'm operating in the operating room, I'm operating in the startup field where you have to have a vision, but you have to have experts around you.”

Journey into Longevity (2018)

• Sparked by learning about Yamanaka factors and sirtuins.

• Began exploring biomarkers and disease prediction.

• Led to founding Hearty, focusing on root causes of chronic diseases and premature aging.

Part 5 – The Heart Fund: Philanthropy & Cardiac Surgery

Summary

• David shares the story of The Heart Fund, the foundation he created at age 21.

• The foundation conducts pediatric cardiac surgeries in developing regions and mobilizes volunteer surgeons.

Key Moments

• Humanitarian Missions: Operating in Cambodia, Burkina Faso, and elsewhere in Africa.

• Early “frugal, agile” approach: No big organizational infrastructure, just immediate fundraising and direct action.

The Genesis of Longevity Docs

Summary

• David recounts attending the A4M conference (American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine) in Las Vegas about two years ago.

• He attended A4M and wanted to learn more about everything but felt lost.

• He organized a small dinner with other doctors to help guide him.

• This led to creating a WhatsApp group to keep each other updated. LongevityDocs was born.

Key Moments

1. WhatsApp Group: Grew from 10 to ~300 doctors across 40 countries.

2. Community: Doctors wanted a space to share new research, protocols, and challenges in clinical longevity practice.

Longevity Docs Today: Master Classes & Global Network

Summary

• The Longevity Docs community expands with in-person events and ”mastermind” sessions.

• Two big meetups in New York with ~150 doctors, plus global participation (Japan, Singapore, Australia, Sweden, etc.).

• Focus: Not to create ”consensus guidelines” but to spark debate, share evidence, and encourage research.

References & Initiatives

• Longevity Docs Institute currently working on patient registries and real-world evidence.

• The newsletter: “Buzz in the Chat” section captures real doctor-to-doctor talk.

Cannes: ”Longevity Docs Festival”

David talks about plans for Longevity Docs in Cannes.

• His connection: His father's immigrant story, years of Heart Fund galas during Film Festival, and seeing Cannes as ”a place of longevity” with its Mediterranean lifestyle.

Key Elements

• Working with Cannes city to create:

  1. A festival for longevity

  2. Awards celebrating longevity medicine and science

• Vision:

  • Create a place for ”serious discussion with impact” between diverse stakeholders (doctors, academia, policymakers, investors, government, nonprofits, scientists, advocates, media, and patients)

  • Avoid being ”another echo chamber” among many longevity conferences

  • Put ”people fighting for the health of humanity” on the red carpet as ”the new rock stars”

Current Public Health Challenges

Summary

• Discussion shifts to broader public health: the ”metabolic crisis” the mental health epidemic, and the rising rate of chronic disease in younger populations.

Key Points

1. US Trends

   • Despite technological advances, life expectancy is not increasing as expected.

   • Nutrition, lifestyle, environment, and stress are major factors.

2. Global View

   • Some countries (e.g., Singapore) launch ”Healthy Singapore” initiatives to treat longevity as a public policy goal.

   • Blue Zones concept: societies with longer lifespans often revolve around strong community ties, healthy diets, active lifestyles.

Lp(a): The Low-Hanging Fruit of Cardiovascular Longevity

Summary

• Peter mentions David's talk at the ARDD conference in Copenhagen in 2024 and brings up lipoprotein(a) as a crucial marker.

• David shares his personal discovery: After a skateboarding accident, routine blood work revealed elevated cholesterol, leading him to discover his high Lp(a) levels.

Key Points about Lp(a)

• Largely genetic and linked to inflammation.

• Creates plaque in arteries that can become calcified, leading to heart attacks.

• Without direct treatment available today, people with high Lp(a) must be ”even more proactive than anyone else” about other risk factors.

• Testing is inexpensive ($5-20) and only needs to be done once.

• Important to test children if parents have high Lp(a).

Future of Testing

• Need to go beyond standard lipid panels to include ApoB, Lp(a), and oxidized LDL.

• Tools available include AI-powered calcium scores to analyze soft plaque.

• David envisions tests becoming available at ”any daily shop, barber, CVS or drugstore”.

Metformin, Rapamycin, and Pharmacological Longevity

Summary

• Peter asks about repurposed drugs like metformin and rapamycin.

• David emphasizes there's no ”magic pill” and warns against jumping to advanced interventions prematurely.

Key Quote:

The Level Approach

• Level 1: Basic but crucial - good nutrition, exercise, avoiding accidents, preventing major diseases.

• Level 2: Deeper analysis of macro and micronutrients, understanding disease evolution.

• Level 3 & 4: More advanced interventions including senolytics, peptides, stem cells. [Note: David is certainly not recommending anyone do anything before consulting their own physician.]

The Formula One Analogy

• Different approaches for different lifestyles.

• A CEO running multiple companies needs to function ”like a Formula One” with everything monitored.

• A parent running a family is ”like driving a school bus” - different needs, different approach.

• Key is understanding who you are and building the right team around you.

The Question of ”Why Live Longer?”

• David cuts to the core question: ”Why do you want to live longer? Everyone should take a minute to really think about that.”

His Answer: ”I want to increase the chance of having happier moments for longer... if you live longer, if you are healthier, and if you have an amazing community, if your family live longer, if your friends live longer, if you can travel and experience all the beauty of this world, create memorable experiences.”

Key Framework

• Have a ”longevity roadmap” - like you would for career or investments.

• Mentions Peter Attia’s ”centenarian decathlon”.

• Question your targets: ”If you want to live to 90 or 100... Why? Is that an ego trip?”

• Consider fulfillment: ”Would you be happy? Would you be fulfilled? Would you be excited to live anymore with infinite time?”

The Mission

• Not about immortality or serving select groups.

• Focus on ”good doctors trying to improve longevity for humanity”.

• Simple perspective: ”What is the opposite of living longer? Dying prematurely. Who wants that?”

Community and ”Micro Blue Zones”

• David talks about living in Sag Harbor on Long Island.

• Found key elements for longevity: ”The community is amazing. People supporting each other, checking on each other... being close to the water, being in nature.”

Beyond Medical Solutions

• ”The magic pill is a society”.

• True health requires:

  • Financial stability.

  • Food safety and accessibility.

  • Education.

  • Security and infrastructure.

  • Strong communities.

Technology vs. Human Connection ”I want to accelerate the pace at which I can live extraordinary experience... I want to stack the number of moments I'm happy and create as many connections, human connections as possible. Because I know that the more technology advances, the more we're gonna reduce human interaction.”

The Bigger Picture

• Health isn't just about biomarkers.

• Creating ”micro zones” where people support each other and live healthy.

• Preserving human moments that ”we cannot replicate” with technology.

Next Steps for Longevity Docs

Summary

• ”I never had a business model for it. I think it's just solving the daily challenge for doctors, right? And giving them a voice, a platform and the power to become more independent, to challenge the status quo so we can impact lives at scale.”

  Key Elements

  • Not building a company but fostering ”a movement”.

  • Evolution will be organic, not prescribed.

  • Focus on empowering doctors to practice better medicine.

  Vision

  • Global, decentralized network of physicians.

  • Platform for challenging medical status quo.

  • ”It's so much bigger than just me or the current doctors”.

  Scale Through Freedom

  • Doctors need ”more autonomy, more powers to practice just good medicine”.

  • Let the ecosystem evolve at its own pace.

  • No artificial limits on growth or direction.