Longevity Essentials: Part 2
Adding Healthy Years to Life: What’s Next in Longevity Medicine
The December newsletter launched a new series focused on what we can do to prolong life—and more importantly, how we can add healthy, vibrant years to our lifespan.
As we look ahead to 2026, several innovative testing and technologies are becoming available that can help us move closer to these goals. Dr. Dominique Fradin-Read has always been committed to staying ahead of the curve when it comes to medical innovation, carefully evaluating emerging tools that truly make a difference in patient health and longevity.
We are excited to share that VitaLife-MD will soon be able to offer some of these cutting-edge testing and technologies to our patients, bringing the future of longevity medicine into clinical practice.
Microplastics and Nanoplastics (MNP) Testing
As part of this exploration, we are examining one of the growing burdens of modern civilization: our increasing exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics (MNP). Microplastics and nanoplastics are now recognized as pervasive environmental exposures. Because of their extremely small size, they can enter the human body through multiple routes.
Ingestion is believed to be the primary pathway, occurring through contaminated food, bottled tap water, food packaging, and food processing materials. Microplastics have been widely detected in marine environments and are now commonly found in many species of fish and seafood. Fish can ingest microplastics directly from seawater or indirectly through their food chain. These particles may accumulate primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, but studies suggest that very small particles can also migrate into edible tissues. A recent article published in the journal Environmental Research found that microplastics and nanoplastics have also been detected in edible fruits and vegetables, reflecting the widespread presence of plastic particles in soil, water, and air. Plants may absorb very small plastic particles through their root systems from contaminated soil or irrigation water, while airborne particles can settle on leaves and surfaces during growth, harvesting, and packaging. Food processing, storage, and plastic packaging may further contribute to exposure.
Inhalation is another significant route, as plastic particles are present in household dust, synthetic textiles, and urban air pollution.
There is also emerging evidence that skin contact, particularly with personal care products or prolonged exposure to plastics, may allow limited penetration, especially for nanoplastics.
Once inside the body, these particles may interact with tissues at the cellular level. Research suggests they can act as carriers for chemical additives, heavy metals, and environmental toxins, potentially contributing to low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, and metabolic disturbances. While the long-term health consequences are still being actively studied, the cumulative nature of exposure over a lifetime raises important concerns—particularly in the context of aging, chronic disease risk, and overall resilience.
Recognizing these challenges is only the first step. The next—and most important—question is how we can identify, measure, and mitigate these hidden contributors to aging. Advances in diagnostics now allow for more precise assessment of environmental toxin exposure, cellular stress, and metabolic resilience. VitaLife-MD is proud to offer the first practitioner-exclusive MNP (micro- and nanoplastic) testing.
This test is performed with a quick, small blood draw and provides information on particle size, volume, and likely absorption pathways. While these tests are currently considered exploratory, they can offer valuable insight into a patient’s relative exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics. It’s important to note that these tests are not yet standard clinical diagnostics and there are no established health thresholds for interpretation.
By offering this test at VitaLife-MD our physicians allow patients to better understand their environmental exposures and integrate this information into personalized longevity and wellness strategies.
In parallel, new therapeutic strategies are being developed to support the body’s natural detoxification processes, enhance cellular repair, and promote long-term resilience.
ViewMind testing: the eye is the window to the brain
Another cutting-edge technology will soon be available at VitaLife-MD offering precision measurement of a patient’s cognitive health. ViewMind is a digital health and neurotech company that pioneered a non-invasive, scalable way to assess cognitive health by analyzing eye movements in response to visual stimuli. The core idea is that subtle changes in eye movement patterns reflect underlying neural processing and cognitive function.
ViewMind has received industry awards and acclaim (e.g., Frost & Sullivan’s innovation leadership award) for its ocular digital phenotyping solution. It has been noted for its high sensitivity and specificity relative to traditional tools, and its potential to improve early intervention strategies.
After collecting extensive data, ViewMind’s proprietary models can analyze the information and identify ocular digital phenotype patterns associated with specific neurocognitive disorders. These advanced models ensure precise and robust outcomes.
This technology is being used for:
Early detection of neurocognitive disorders — including Alzheimer’s and related dementias — potentially years before traditional symptoms appear.
Drug development and clinical trials — helping pharmaceutical companies screen participants and measure cognitive effects of treatments.
Monitoring brain health over time — in clinical and research settings.
The ViewMind test is a fully noninvasive cognitive assessment that requires no needles, blood tests, or MRI scans, and it can be completed in less than 30 minutes. It is a language-free test: eye movements don’t rely on language or cultural background,
During the test, the patient sits at a table in a quiet environment wearing a headset that tracks eye movements following controlled visual stimuli. As the patient engages with these stimuli, sophisticated algorithms continuously analyze the patterns in the eye movements, providing precise measurements of various cognitive domains and the brain regions associated with them. The software applies advanced statistical models and artificial intelligence to detect even subtle changes in cognitive performance, allowing clinicians to gain a detailed understanding of brain function in a safe, quick, and reliable manner.
The test is applicable to many conditions; it is used in research related to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cognitive effects of certain diseases, and more.
A report is generated that provides insights into the patient’s cognitive condition through analysis of the data collected. This report is then accessible to the physician.
ViewMind is a real, medically oriented technology that uses eye tracking and AI to provide digital biomarkers of cognitive function, helping detect and monitor brain health with precision and at scale. Dr. Dominique Fradin-Read is pleased to offer this test to her patients and to support them in implementing personalized programs designed to enhance and maintain their cognitive function.