Think “longevity” and a particular type of person comes to mind. A biohacker, covered in smart devices tracking their every move, earnestly discussing supplement stacks between sets at the gym. Probably a man. Possibly specifically Bryan Johnson, the American tech entrepreneur who has developed a $2 million-a-year protocol involving everything from blood transfusions to penis shockwave therapy in pursuit of his one goal: “Don’t die.”
It’s this association that has led Dr Sabine Donnai, founder and chief executive of private health clinic Viavi, to dislike the term “longevity”—even though that’s exactly what her practice focuses on. “For me, longevity is about prevention, in the main, of chronic diseases and functional decline,” she tells me in a room at Viavi’s clinic, which occupies one of the grand terraces on Devonshire Place, one street along from London’s renowned Harley Street. Her take may not be as sexy, but it does sound eminently reasonable. She likes to frame it as “healthy longevity”—”Because what’s the point of living long unless you have all your functionality there?”
