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Just when you might have thought it isn’t possible to put a price tag on peace of mind, along comes a head-to-toe (and every square inch in between) medical examination that may help you stay ahead of the curve regarding your own potential fate.At the Princeton Longevity Center (PLC), located in Forrestal Village in Princeton, there’s no such thing as a routine medical exam, says Andrea Lanza, director of corporate services. At PLC, don’t expect the type of doctor’s visit most people have come to associate with annual physicals.

Using advanced technology, PLC offers a daylong comprehensive exam that allows physicians to detect and diagnose serious health concerns — as well as the risk of conditions — such as heart disease and cancer at their earliest stages, perhaps significantly reducing the possibility of death and disability.

PLC clients usually come to the center for one of a few reasons.

“Perhaps they’ve hit a milestone birthday and have started to think about their health more seriously. Or, they hear about someone close to them having a heart attack or getting diagnosed with cancer. Regardless, they want to stay healthy for their families,” Lanza explained.

Princeton Longevity Center focuses on two main ideals: early disease detection and future disease prevention.

“Early disease detection can determine your true health risks,” says Lanza. Knowing this information can make a huge difference in your overall health outcome, especially when it comes to preventing disease.”

While anyone can tap the myriad healthcare services offered by PLC, the vast majority of the center’s clients are corporate executives. Often the comprehensive exams, part of PLC’s Corporate Program, are paid for by employers who are eager to protect their most valuable assets.

“When someone has a heart attack, a stroke or get diagnosed with cancer, a company’s daily operations will be dramatically affected. God forbid that person isn’t able to come back, an important part of the team will have to be replaced,” states Lanza. “From a corporate standpoint, there is no better investment a company can make than in their intellectual capital.”

Nick Romano, former executive vice president of human resources at Sika Corp., wholeheartedly agrees. Though retired for a year now, Romano is still a consultant at Sika, a $1 billion specialty chemicals company with over 1,200 employees in the U.S.

“We have chosen to partner with PLC to provide our executives, the drivers of our businesses, the added benefit of being proactive stewards of their own good health and well-being,” says Romano. “We see this not as a cost but as an investment in their future and hence, the future of our company.”

In the six years since PLC has been working with the company, many Sika executives have been able to address minor and moderate health issues diagnosed through the executive exam. A few, says Romano, have been able to manage “more severe health findings as a result of PLC’s comprehensive approach to health physicals at their state-of-the-art facilities.”

The Comprehensive Executive Program, priced at $2,950, is “the most thorough exam you can get.” Additionally, there a significant number of add-on elective tests available at varying rates. PLC offers corporate pricing.

The base exam takes six to seven hours to complete and includes a thorough review of the client’s medical history and a complete physical exam including cardiac stress test, pulmonary function tests, coronary artery CT scan and individualized fitness assessment. Each client also receives one-on-one prescription and nutrition consultations. All PLC physicians and other health care professionals are experts in their chosen specialties.

“The is all done in one day and you leave with all your test results after you sit down with the doctor,” states Lanza. “When you leave our offices, you will have a detailed health care plan that fits with your lifestyle.”

The latter, she says, is important because many corporate clients travel up to 200 days per year, eat out often and don’t always make it to the gym. Incidentally, for on-the-go clients, interactive monitoring is available in-person, or by video conference and telephone mentoring.

In addition to travel medicine and concierge service, PLC promises companies it will “work with executives throughout the year to monitor their progress in improving their health risk factors such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure, nutrition, fitness, stress reduction, and more.”

In addition to the Comprehensive Executive Exam, some of the other elective add-on options include:

• A full-body scan to look for early cancers and aneurysms fluid around the heart. “We can see abnormalities the size of a grain of rice,” Lanza offered.

• Whole exome sequencing looking at over 22,000 genes (screening for abnormalities)

• Food sensitivity testing

• Virtual colonoscopy (a quick, non-invasive, test)

• An advanced cardiac package (to detect plaque burden in arteries/narrowing of the arteries)  

“The cardiac package allows us to detect concerns, such as blockages, in asymptomatic patients,” says Lanza. “This is critical because many people who have a heart attack would have had a normal stress test the day before.”

Therefore, says Lanza, if PLC physicians determine a client is at an elevated risk for any condition, the person can stay “ahead of the curve by testing more often and choosing medications based on genetic makeup.”

PLC’s Genomic Medicine Program is based on the fact that every individual’s genetic makeup is different and, therefore, risks of developing healthcare conditions vary as well.

Knowing your risk genetic profile allows PLC to create an individualized plan for screening and prevention. However, Lanza says, not everyone wants to know their genetic risks for disease, especially because there are some conditions that are not yet treatable. Therefore, PLC offers both full genomic exams and smaller panels to screen for specific risks.

“It’s completely understandable that many people want to know about the things we can affect change in,” states Lanza. “Genomic testing provides what I call `nice-to-know-info.’ Knowing, and taking the right precautions, can add years to your life.”