With locations in Walnut Creek and Napa, California, the Medical Institute of Healthy Aging (MDIHA) promotes a proactive approach for men and woman to achieve optimal health. By being proactive, instead of reactive, therapies that are believed to be more precise, preventative, and personalized are implemented. The physicians are working to establish a new discipline in medicine called Valengerontology, or healthy aging medicine, whereby intervening on factors that accelerate the aging process may lead to longer and healthier lives.

MDIHA works on concepts that look at the fundamentals of the aging process. Some of these processes are outlined eloquently in Lifespan Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To by David A. Sinclair, PhD. These include addressing Dr. Sinclair’s “hallmarks” of aging: genomic instability (DNA damage), telomere attrition, alterations to the epigenome, loss of healthy protein maintenance (proteostasis), deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, accumulation of senescent cells, stem cell loss, altered intercellular communication leading to inflammatory molecules. By addressing these issues early, it is postulated that the “downstream” manifestations such as atherosclerosis, neurodegeneration (ie Alzheimer, Parkinson’s), cancer, metabolic (diabetes) and hormonal (menopause) dysfunction may be less severe or avoided.