Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, supplying energy to carry out basic cellular functions such as care and repair of your cells in the body.

Because mitochondria supply energy to your cells to carry out basic functions, when they are not in peak condition (due to age, stress, nutritional deficiencies), this can affect the natural aging of your body, your metabolism, cardiovascular and brain health.

Learn more about your Mitochondrial Health score in our Health Intelligence results guide.

The human body is composed of trillions of cells that provide structure for the body, converting nutrients into energy and carrying out specialized functions. Cellular Health score offers a complete picture of what is happening in the human body on the cellular level and takes into account the aging of your cells, cellular stress, cellular inflammation, along with the health of your mitochondria. Overall cellular health includes the ability of your cells produce energy to function optimally and rejuvenate, and repair themselves. 

Learn more about your Cellular Health score in our Health Intelligence results guide.

When your cells are under stress due to inflammation, over or underactive immune response, and environmental stressors (temperature, toxins and physical damage), they respond through molecular changes that can begin to slow down your cell’s ability to repair and rejuvenate themselves, and function optimally.

Cellular aging (also known as cellular senescence) is the progressive decline in your cells' vital functions which includes inability to handle stress, restore homeostasis, and get rid of cell debris in an efficient manner . As cells age, they become dysfunctional, excreting more and more of their harmful byproducts in the  body and the bloodstream, causing further cellular inflammation, damage, and stress throughout the body., This happens over time as cellular and oxidative stress increase and cells lose their natural ability to reproduce and fight off diseases.

See “What is cellular aging?” above. Cellular senescence is the biological term for cellular aging. 

Your cells experience oxidative stress when a build-up of ROS (reactive oxygen species—a number of reactive molecules and free radicals derived from molecular oxygen) are prevalent enough to damage cellular organelles (such as mitochondria) and normal cellular processes and functions.

Risk factors for oxidative stress include obesity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, diets high in fat, sugar and processed foods, lifestyle, environmental toxins including pollution and radiation.

Under normal circumstances, oxidative stress is a natural response that causes mild inflammation until the infection or injury is healed. But an overabundance of oxidative stress can accelerate aging and is linked to a number of conditions like chronic inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.

The most promising paths to prevent the risks for oxidative stress damage include eating a balanced, healthy, whole food diet including foods and nutrients that have the most benefit for your unique biology, limiting processed foods, reducing stress, regular exercise, and reducing exposure to environmental toxins (including quitting smoking).

Your biological age can be predicted by assessing the efficiency of your cellular activities and your gut microbial activities. This helps determine how well your body is aging in comparison with your age according to the calendar. 

Viome’s Biological Age score comes from our comprehensive Artificial Intelligence model, which AI has analyzed data from more than 200,000 people to be able to match the molecular patterns from your data to people of different ages, which we use to predict your approximate biological age. We offer our Biological Age score as one of 30 scores available with the Health Intelligence Test (this score is not available for minors). 

Learn more about your Biological Age score in our Health Intelligence results guide.

Inflammation is an essential immune response for your body. But relatively high levels of inflammation on a consistent basis can overburden your cellular, mitochondrial and immune systems.

The Immune System Response Score is one of the 30 health scores available with our Health Intelligence Test. We measure inflammatory activity throughout your body as well as inside of your gut. Your immune system may be triggered to increase inflammation by viruses, stress, or diet and medications. It can also come from the microbiome, especially if your gut lining health is compromised. Analysis of a blood sample reveals to us cellular pathways related to acute or low-grade inflammation, while a stool sample analysis can reveal microbial or GI factors.  

Learn more about your Immune System Health score in our Health Intelligence results guide.

Your energy levels and stress response are good indicators for how your body meets energy demands to perform essential functions, manage inflammation and stress, and to detox and repair and care for itself. 

Our Stress Response Health score combines insights from your microbiome-induced stress factors as well as your cellular functions that get activated in response to various triggers of cellular stress. Several factors such as environmental toxins, free radicals, or lifestyle related stress, microbial toxins could trigger stress within your body. These insights are provided in the Stress Response Score, one of 30 health scores available with Health Intelligence.

Learn more about your Stress Response score in our Health Intelligence results guide.

We’ll notify you by email when your results are ready in approximately 3-4 weeks after your samples are accepted at the lab (processing times may vary). Download the Viome app, available for iOS and Android platforms to view. Your results are also available for online access at my.viome.com.