8. Longevity Interventions Should be Personalized

Because organs age at different rates in different people and fail for different reasons, a universal intervention may be suboptimal for a given individual’s dominant weak link. For example, if a person’s near-term risk is driven by kidney aging, targeting brain-centric pathways may have little impact on outcomes, whereas targeting the kidney would have the greatest impact. A strategy may be suggested: identify the accelerated organ/system trajectories, choose interventions known (or predicted) to slow or rejuvenate those trajectories, and measure response. This is analogous to a strategy already used in clinical practice: measure panels of parameters (e.g., blood biochemistry), identify abnormalities outside the reference range, and then prescribe therapies targeted for that individual. The difference is that interventions targeting differential organ/system aging may be implemented before any functional/pathological changes emerge. This shifts longevity medicine from generic (universal) interventions to personalized interventions, which is expected to make strong impact on healthspan (but not on maximal lifespan).