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A longevity screening is only the first step. From ApoB and biological age to visceral fat and VO₂ Max, here's what your results mean – and the lifestyle changes doctors say make the biggest difference
So you’ve done your longevity screening. Congratulations! Your reward? A report packed with terms like VO₂ Max, ApoB and HOMA-IR. You might find some of them familiar. But others sound curiously like some cafe’s Wi-Fi password.
Before you get all flustered (or immediately upload the whole report to ChatGPT – more on that later), here’s the good news: Those terms and numbers aren’t there to sentence you to a life of eating boiled chicken and broccoli.
They’re there to paint a picture about where your health is headed. And, more importantly, to remind you about what you can still change before it’s too late.
“A longevity screening is not an endpoint,” says Dr. Toh Zheng Jie, Family Physician at HMI Medical Centre (Amara). “It’s the beginning of a personalised health optimisation journey.” HMI Medical recently introduced hormone- and longevity-focused screenings, reflecting a broader shift towards preventive healthcare.
READ: What happens when you go for a longevity screening at MORROW?
Think of it like planning a self-drive trip. The longevity screening gives you your current coordinates. Your doctor helps map out the best route to where you want to be in 10, 20, 30 or more years’ time. But you’ll still need to get behind the wheel.
Typically, this involves sitting down with your doctor to interpret the results within the context of your medical history, family history, lifestyle and personal goals.
“Rather than focusing over a single abnormal result, the emphasis is on identifying patterns, uncovering potential risk factors, and understanding opportunities for intervention,” Dr. Toh adds.
Depending on your needs, your care team may also include dietitians, psychologists, physiotherapists, fitness coaches and other allied health professionals. Think of them as the pit crew on your health optimisation journey. They’re there to help you fine-tune everything from nutrition and sleep to strength, stress management and metabolic health.
If you’re still wondering whether a longevity screening is right for you, check out our guide, “Should You Get a Longevity Screening?“.
In the meantime, we ask three doctors who run specialist longevity clinics in Singapore what happens after receiving your longevity screening results, which biomarkers matter most, and how to achieve the biggest gains on your long-term health.
In this article
According to the doctors we spoke to, the longevity screening itself is only the starting point. “The real value comes from translating findings into action,” says Dr. Kyle Tan, Co-founder of NOVI Health.
Depending on your results, your personalised action plan could mean improving your nutrition, increasing your protein intake, strength training, sleeping better, managing stress or, where appropriate, exploring targeted medical interventions.
In longevity circles, you’ll often hear the term “longevity protocol” instead of “personalised action plan”. They both refer to the same thing: A roadmap.
If specialist input – such as medical, fitness, or allied health – is needed, “We bring the expertise together under one roof, so our clients receive coordinated care without the inconvenience of navigating multiple providers across different locations,” explains Dr. Claudine Pang, Co-founder of Asia Longevity.
READ: Longevity centres and clinics in Singapore. Which one is right for you?
This might come as a surprise, but just because you look healthy doesn’t mean you are. Even those who are Type As or fitspos might have underlying conditions.
“We frequently see executives, entrepreneurs and professionals who appear healthy, maintain demanding careers and have normal BMI readings, yet show significant metabolic dysfunction beneath the surface,” says Dr. Tan.
It’s a similar scenario at Asia Longevity. “High-achieving professionals often present with impressive fitness routines, disciplined schedules, and robust energy – yet their screenings reveal elevated visceral fat, poor sleep quality, or a biological age that runs well ahead of their chronological one,” explains Dr. Pang.
Stress, it turns out, is one of the biggest factors. Maybe these professionals are running companies, clocking long hours, or living out of suitcases. Whatever the case may be, chronically high levels of cortisol can quietly accelerate ageing in ways that no amount of gym time fully offsets.
One giveaway? Being “skinny fat” – a phenomenon where someone appears lean on the outside but has visceral fat, or excess fat that’s carried around the internal organs. This increases their risk of developing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Many of these clients, says Dr. Tan, “Are shocked to discover that their biological risk profiles resemble someone much older. Longevity screenings help uncover these blind spots before they become Disease.”
But there’s a silver lining: “Once these gaps are identified, motivated individuals tend to be among the most responsive to targeted interventions,” offers Dr. Pang.
Longevity screenings look at metrics such as body composition, muscle mass, visceral fat and VO₂ max, all of which provide a more complete picture of your long-term health. But what do they indicate, exactly?
“Metrics such as skeletal muscle mass and visceral fat area are particularly telling in where your health trajectory is headed,” says Dr. Pang. “They can indicate meaningful risk of future disease even in individuals who currently appear to be in excellent health.”
Muscle mass, the doctors from NOVI Health explain, acts as a metabolic reserve that supports glucose regulation, mobility, strength and resilience as we age. Visceral fat, meanwhile, is metabolically active tissue associated with inflammation, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and fatty liver disease.
The good news? These are areas that can often be improved. “The research here is encouraging,” says Dr. Pang. “Even modest reductions in visceral fat – in the range of five- to 10 per cent – can produce measurable improvements in metabolic health and, in some cases, help manage or reverse chronic conditions.”
VO₂ Max is another metric that longevity doctors pay close attention to. It measures how efficiently the body delivers and uses oxygen during exercise. According to the doctors from NOVI Health, higher VO₂ Max levels are strongly associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease, disability and premature mortality.
If you’re hoping for that one magic biomarker that can predict how well you’ll age, the doctors have some disappointing news.
“There is no single metric that predicts longevity on its own,” says Dr. Sue-Anne Toh, Co-founder of NOVI Health. “But several consistently stand out.”
Chief among them is VO₂ Max, which measures how efficiently the body delivers and uses oxygen during exercise. According to Dr. Toh, it remains one of the strongest predictors of long-term health and mortality because it reflects the combined function of the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems.
For Dr. Pang, VO₂ Max is the “gateway longevity metric”.
“Based on how active and functional a person wants to be in their later decades, we can work backwards to determine a target VO₂ Max they should be achieving today,” she says. “Crucially, it is a number that improves meaningfully with consistent, guided exercise.”
Better still, the benefits don’t stop there.
“Gains in VO₂ Max also tend to cascade positively into other areas of health and wellness, from metabolic function to cognitive resilience,” adds Dr. Pang. “It is one of the few metrics that is both deeply predictive and genuinely actionable.”
Longevity medicine is evolving rapidly, and with it, the biomarkers that doctors pay attention to.
While traditional markers like cholesterol and blood sugar remain important, many doctors are increasingly looking beyond them to build a more complete picture of long-term health.
For Dr. Pang, much of the focus today is on metabolic health and inflammatory health – two areas increasingly linked to healthy ageing.
“Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR [Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance] are early indicators of insulin resistance, while high-sensitivity CRP [C-Reactive Protein] provides a window into systemic inflammation. HbA1c [Haemoglobin A1c] gives us a longer-term view of blood sugar regulation.” (See chart below for further explanation)
Beyond that, Dr. Pang says her team is also monitoring DHEA-S (Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) and IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1), which reflect hormonal and growth factor status as we age.
“Individually, each tells part of the story; together, they form a much clearer picture of biological age and future risk,” she explains.
The field continues to evolve, too. “We’re also watching developments around mitochondrial health markers with considerable interest,” says Dr. Pang, referring to a rapidly emerging area of longevity research.
If you were hoping the answer involved a new-to-market supplement, cutting-edge treatment or the latest wellness gadget, you might be disappointed.
According to the doctors from NOVI Health, the biggest gains still come from getting the basics right.
“The fundamentals remain remarkably powerful,” they say. “Consistent physical activity, strength training, adequate protein intake, high-quality sleep and sustainable nutrition habits continue to deliver the greatest returns.”
In other words, longevity isn’t about finding a silver bullet, a cure-all, or an elixir of life. It’s about doing the simple things, and making them part of your everyday routine.
“Many people search for advanced longevity interventions, but the largest gains usually come from optimising these foundational behaviours,” the doctors explain. “The science of longevity is often less about finding a secret and more about consistently executing proven habits.”
The answer is a resounding yes.
“We regularly see meaningful improvements within months when individuals commit to evidence-based lifestyle changes,” says Dr. Toh.
Among the changes her team commonly observes are reductions in visceral fat, improvements in HbA1c and insulin resistance, lower blood pressure, healthier cholesterol profiles and significant gains in VO₂ Max.
“We have also seen individuals reverse prediabetes, reduce cardiovascular risk factors and regain physical function through structured lifestyle interventions,” she adds.
Dr. Pang has witnessed similar outcomes in her practice.
“One of the most compelling areas we have observed is the reversal of biological age following targeted supplementation and therapies designed to support mitochondrial function,” she says.
Clients who combine these interventions with meaningful dietary and lifestyle changes have returned for follow-up screenings showing measurable reductions in their biological age.
Beyond biological age, Dr. Pang says her team has also seen significant improvements in visceral fat, fasting insulin levels and VO₂ Max among clients who consistently follow personalised exercise and nutrition programmes.
“These are not outliers,” she says. “They reflect what becomes possible when the right information is paired with the right support.”
According to the NOVI Health doctors, artificial intelligence is making it easier for clinicians to process large volumes of health data, integrating information from wearables, laboratory tests, body composition analyses and lifestyle factors into a more comprehensive view of health.
AI is also changing consumer behaviour. “Many people are already uploading their screening results to large language models and receiving surprisingly coherent-sounding advice,” says Dr. Pang. “While we appreciate the enthusiasm, we would gently counsel caution.”
Meaningful interpretation, she explains, requires medical history, lifestyle factors, personal goals and nuanced clinical judgement that comes from a trained physician. “AI is improving rapidly, but human expertise, accountability and support remain indispensable.”
For most healthy adults, the doctors from NOVI Health recommend doing a comprehensive longevity assessment every 12 months. Those with existing risk factors, chronic conditions or specific health goals may benefit from more frequent monitoring of selected biomarkers.
Dr. Pang, too, generally recommends undergoing a longevity screening at least once, if not twice, a year. But, she adds, frequency isn’t the most important factor.
“A longevity screening is most valuable when it creates a feedback loop: Assess, act, reassess,” she says. “The goal is to observe how your biomarkers respond to the changes you are making, and to refine your approach accordingly.”
After all, more frequent testing without meaningful lifestyle changes in between is unlikely to produce different results.
READ: We answer common terms and questions about longevity
| Biometric/Marker | What it tells you | Why doctors care |
| Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) | The number of cholesterol-carrying particles in your blood | Many doctors consider it a better indicator of cardiovascular risk than LDL cholesterol alone |
| Body composition | Your ratio of muscle, fat and bone | Gives a much clearer picture of health than body weight or BMI alone |
| Bone density | The strength of your bones | Important for identifying osteoporosis risk and maintaining mobility as you age |
| DHEA-S | A hormone produced by your adrenal glands that naturally declines with age | Can provide insights into hormonal health, resilience and aspects of the ageing process |
| HbA1c | Your average blood sugar levels over the past 2 – 3 months | Used to screen for diabetes and pre-diabetes, but may not detect insulin resistance in its earliest stages |
| HOMA-IR | How resistant your body is to insulin | Can reveal metabolic changes years before blood sugar starts to rise |
| IGF-1 | A hormone involved in growth, muscle maintenance and tissue repair | Helps doctors understand growth factor activity and healthy ageing |
| Inflammatory markers (e.g. hs-CRP) | Levels of chronic, low-grade inflammation | Persistent inflammation has been linked to heart disease and other age-related conditions |
| Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] | An inherited cholesterol-related risk factor | High levels increase your lifetime risk of heart disease and stroke. Since it’s largely genetic, it’s usually only measured once |
| Muscle mass | How much lean muscle your body has | More than just strength, muscle supports metabolism, mobility, balance and healthy ageing |
| Visceral fat | Fat stored around your internal organs | Unlike the fat under your skin, visceral fat is linked to diabetes, heart disease and chronic inflammation |
| VO₂ Max | How efficiently your body uses oxygen during exercise | One of the strongest predictors of long-term health and longevity. The higher (within a healthy range), the better your cardiovascular fitness |
