When I started Parsley Health over 9 years ago, we flipped the script on preventive testing and created the Parsley Baseline—a comprehensive panel of 100+ biomarkers—that you now see others offering.
Why?
In my medical training, I was constantly told that "over-testing" was the problem.
But when most hospitalized patients are there because of the downstream effects of preventable, non-communicable chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions, that narrative didn’t make sense to me.
Per the CDC, 90% of Americans don’t get basic preventive screenings each year—screenings that could save billions. We’ve made it hard, time-consuming, and expensive to see a doctor. We've also made it difficult to access your own data, track it over time, and understand what it means.
And we’ve trained people to believe you only go to the doctor when you’re sick—so care becomes a “should,” not a “want.”
That doesn't work in an era where chronic disease is driving healthcare costs up by the trillions—and where the U.S. spends nearly 2x more per person on healthcare than peer countries, yet has worse outcomes (Commonwealth Fund, 2023).
Say what you will about the MAHA movement—we can argue all day about whether school nutrition or affordable housing is more important to public health (spoiler: it’s all important)—but the core idea, that we each have a role to play in owning our health, is a cultural shift we need.
That’s why I’ve long supported the rise of direct-to-consumer testing and the wearable data boom. When individuals normalize seeking out their health data, understanding it, and acting on it, we shift the entire healthcare paradigm.
This week, I’m proud to share that Parsley Health launched its Female Longevity Labs offering nationally—bringing the testing we’ve used to help nearly 50,000 patients (80% of them women) unlock their health. It’s a tailored data set optimized for female health, with:
- Clear explanations of what your results mean
- Actionable guidance on what to do next
- The ability to add on care with our clinical team
(Men’s version coming soon 🙂)
In this week’s newsletter, I share the specific tests we’ve seen deliver the highest clinical value, the why behind each, and why “over-testing” is largely a myth when the goal is to get ahead of the chronic disease tsunami heading for women in midlife.
To my colleagues in medicine (and at payers) who still decry over-testing: I believe this wave of consumer data empowerment will ultimately bend the cost curve—proving that looking upstream and finding root cause isn’t just idealistic. It’s the only way forward in medicine.
https://lnkd.in/eQe2QFsb
