A high-level look at the Life West telomere study
What are telomeres?
Telomeres are a biomarker – microscopic pieces of genetic material that form a cap at the end of each chromosome in every cell in your body. Each time a cell divides, the telomere gets a tiny bit shorter. Eventually, there is no more telomere left to protect DNA from “unraveling” and the cell dies.
How are telomeres being used?
While this telomere shortening process is completely natural and expected, the length of one’s telomeres is a very strong indication of biological age. The rate at which this natural shortening happens is a strong indicator of trends within the body’s aging process. This biomarker is providing the Life West research team with a measurable benchmark to study the effect of chiropractic care on the body’s overall health.
How can you help?
Participate! As doctors, as patients, as educators and as advocates for chiropractic care, we need your help to drive this study forward. The efficacy of this study requires as large a sample size as we can create. Your participation, and your encouragement of others to participate, allows us to make the most meaningful contribution to the profession possible.
Q&A with Dr. Monica Smith
How do we know – with irrefutable research and hard data – that someone who is living the chiropractic lifestyle is, in fact, healthier than the average person who is not receiving chiropractic care?
Next steps
What comes next?
1. Confirm your interest
Let us know you’re interested and we’ll schedule a brief, remote meeting with you (videoconference or telephone). We will explain the overall process and what your participation in this research study would involve.
2. Complete the onboarding paperwork
Once you’ve confirmed your intention to proceed with participating in the study, we’ll provide the necessary paperwork to begin onboarding you as a study participant, and we will explain the research study protocol in more detail.
3. Send us your blood sample with the supplied kit
When you enroll in the study, we will offer you two options to participate:
- Option 1: We will ship all of the materials and instructions to you, and you will be responsible for carefully following each step of the strict study protocol to obtain your own blood draw from your own local phlebotomy service, and for packing and shipping your own blood sample to the lab according to specific instructions.
- – or –
- Option 2: For twenty or more participants as a group, we will coordinate a group blood draw event in your area, and we will arrange for a licensed phlebotomy service provider for the group, and we will pack and ship all blood samples to the lab.
Download a Sample Report
Get Started
Confirm your interest
Dig Deeper
