Effective management of biological age (or slowing down the aging process) is a rapidly developing field that seeks not only to increase life expectancy but also to improve quality of life in old age, prolonging the period of active longevity. Medical rehabilitation plays a fundamental and critical role in managing biological age and promoting health, especially in the context of achieving healthy longevity. The most effective and scientifically proven tool in medical rehabilitation for managing biological age are therapeutic physical factors capable of activating primary and secondary protective and adaptive mechanisms aimed at restoring impaired self-regulation and slowing down the processes of biological aging.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated use of pathogenetically oriented medical rehabilitation methods on biological age indicators and patient quality of life.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study was conducted at the B.V. Sechenov Russian Scientific Center of Surgery. The Petrovsky Clinical Hospital involved 125 participants with an average age of 57.3±0.37 years. All patients received basic therapy (BT), including a course of physical exercise, a reduced-calorie diet, and vitamin therapy. Using a simple fixed randomization method, the entire cohort of patients was divided into 3 groups: a control group (n=42), a comparison group (n=41), and a main group (n=42). Patients in the control group received BT only. In the comparison group, in addition to BT, patients received a course of complex physiotherapy, including whole-body air cryotherapy, hypoxic-hyperoxygen therapy, and dry carbon dioxide baths. The main group of patients, in addition to the comparison group, received a course of binaural therapy. A comprehensive patient examination included anthropometric measurements (body mass index), biochemical (blood lipid profile, blood glucose levels, oxidative stress and systemic inflammation markers), and hormonal (insulin, cortisol, serotonin) parameters, as well as an assessment of biological age according to V.P. Voitenko and the aging rate coefficient. Patients’ quality of life was also assessed using the SF-36 psychometric questionnaire and the EQ VAS questionnaire.
RESULTS
The use of a physiotherapy program, supplemented by a course of binaural therapy, resulted in the maximum corrective effect, manifested by positive changes in anthropometric and laboratory parameters, as well as a decrease in biological age and the aging rate coefficient to normal values. The most significant improvement in quality-of-life indicators was also noted in the study group. An integrative comparative assessment of the effectiveness of medical rehabilitation for patients between the selected groups using a correlation adaptometry algorithm revealed that the greatest decrease in the weight of the correlation graph — a quantitative indicator that collectively reflects the strength of correlations—was observed in the study group. This finding reflects a weakening of the correlational cooperation between various variables, characteristic of an increased level of the body’s functional reserves.
CONCLUSION
The developed non-drug technology, based on the use of therapeutic physical factors, reduces biological age and the aging rate coefficient by activating secondary sanogenetic processes, which have a corrective effect on the systemic mechanisms of aging. The observed combination of changes in various physiological and regulatory systems is aimed at increasing the functional reserves and adaptive capacity of the human body, which ultimately results in an improved quality of life for patients.
