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Key Takeaways
- The $6.8 trillion wellness economy has given consumers more ways than ever to spend money on their health.
- Dr. Jeffrey Wiegers says the explosion of supplements, tests, treatments and biohacks has made it harder to figure out what actually works.
- He sees a growing role for what he calls a “medical chaperone” to help patients sort through the options.
There have never been more ways to spend money on trying to live longer. Dr. Jeffrey Wiegers isn’t convinced this is making us any healthier.
“People are spending more on sleep and sleeping less. People are spending more on supplements and are less healthy overall,” he says.
Wiegers is the Chief Medical Officer at MuseCell Innovations and a physician at BioReset Medical who specializes in regenerative and longevity medicine. He believes the overwhelming array of supplements, peptides, wearables, tests and treatments has created a new problem: figuring out what actually works for you. Appearing on One Day with Jon Bier, he explained why he thinks people increasingly need a “medical chaperone” to help them navigate it.
Biohacking goes mainstream
Wiegers has watched ideas once only held by hardcore biohackers become mainstream. Red-light therapy is one example. What was once considered fringe is now easy to find at gyms and wellness centers.
Wiegers came to this world from traditional medicine. He trained in anesthesiology and pain management at Cedars-Sinai, where he became interested in regenerative medicine and treatments outside traditional medicine. That curiosity eventually led him to BioReset Medical and Dr. Matt Cook, who Wiegers calls a mentor. “I think I really went from being a doctor to being a healer,” he says.
But the same wellness boom that made these treatments more accessible also made the market harder to navigate. Take peptides. They’ve become something like the new CBD, moving from a relatively niche treatment to products sold well beyond doctors’ offices. Wiegers says quality can vary widely, especially when products aren’t coming from established pharmacies.
And cutting-edge doesn’t always mean credible. Some treatments in the longevity world are still experimental or lack the long-term evidence behind more established medicine. Wiegers himself urges caution. “There’s no free lunch in biology,” he says. Rather than reach for a treatment simply because it’s new, he wants to know what you’re trying to accomplish. “Are we aiming at a target?” he says. “Are we trying to achieve an objective?”
One treatment that caught Wiegers’ attention is Dezawa MuseCells, a type of stem cell discovered by Japanese researcher Dr. Mari Dezawa. Wiegers calls them “the Navy SEALs” of cells because they can seek out damaged tissue and develop into the type of cell needed there. “Even for me, it was almost so shocking to hear some of these traits that I was skeptical,” he says. But after digging into the research, Wiegers became a believer. He now uses MuseCells in his practice and serves as chief medical officer of MuseCell Innovations, the company commercializing the technology.
That’s where Wiegers sees a role for what he calls a “medical chaperone.” People want to know what’s new and what’s coming next, he says, but “they can’t all do the research.”
His rule of thumb is surprisingly low-tech. “If you can fix it with lifestyle, fix it with lifestyle,” he says. From there, he moves up the ladder to supplements, medications and peptides, with more aggressive interventions further up the line.
Personalized guidance comes at a price. Wiegers says BioReset’s basic programs start at around $1,000 a month for things like peptides and hormone management. More intensive plans can run $5,000 to $10,000 a month, depending on the level of testing, treatment and access to the medical team.
That’s clearly not possible for everyone. Wiegers sees it as part of a shift in how people with disposable income spend their money. “I think it’s a priority shift,” he says, toward “feeling good and living well.” His shorthand is even better. Instead of buying the Rolls-Royce, “be the Rolls-Royce.”
Scaling the model
There’s one seeming business wrinkle to BioReset’s model. Wiegers doesn’t necessarily want patients to need him forever.
Some patients work with the clinic intensively for three to six months or a year, then scale back once they have a better handle on their health. “They learn how to heal themselves, and you don’t need us forever a lot of the time,” he says.
For Wiegers, that’s the point of having a medical chaperone. There will always be another supplement, test or treatment promising to make you healthier. His job is to help patients figure out what’s worth trying and what’s not.
Key Takeaways
- The $6.8 trillion wellness economy has given consumers more ways than ever to spend money on their health.
- Dr. Jeffrey Wiegers says the explosion of supplements, tests, treatments and biohacks has made it harder to figure out what actually works.
- He sees a growing role for what he calls a “medical chaperone” to help patients sort through the options.
There have never been more ways to spend money on trying to live longer. Dr. Jeffrey Wiegers isn’t convinced this is making us any healthier.
“People are spending more on sleep and sleeping less. People are spending more on supplements and are less healthy overall,” he says.
Wiegers is the Chief Medical Officer at MuseCell Innovations and a physician at BioReset Medical who specializes in regenerative and longevity medicine. He believes the overwhelming array of supplements, peptides, wearables, tests and treatments has created a new problem: figuring out what actually works for you. Appearing on One Day with Jon Bier, he explained why he thinks people increasingly need a “medical chaperone” to help them navigate it.