Optimal Longevity MD Sets Patients Up For Success Through Longevity Medicine

After years spent moving around for her husband’s military career, Dr. Lucy Guevara has settled back into her home state of Maryland with her family, armed with knowledge of the medical industry gained through time as a doctor, a student and a patient. Her experiences have led her to open Optimal Longevity MD, an integrative functional medicine practice that focuses on elevating patients’ overall health.

“I don’t do it conventionally,” Guevara said. “I want to take everything (into account) and not just the Band-Aid approach. So why is this happening? Well, how’s your sleep? How’s your diet? How’s your exercise? How’s your stress? What is going on and how can we maximally impact that so that you can feel your best without having to go through just having a prescription medication? It’s lifestyle modifications that are also added to it. It’s patient-centered analysis combined with lifestyle modifications that result in a personalized plan for long-term wellness.”

Guevara completed her residency in preventive medicine and public health and pursued a fellowship in addiction medicine. Her journey into exploring longevity and a less conventional approach began after her residency, when she and her husband suffered a series of losses in pregnancy.

When Guevara discovered that part of the cause might have been hormones and where she was in terms of her overall health, it inspired her to dive deeper into how imbalances in one area can contribute to issues elsewhere.

Between her own experiences in pregnancy and the wear and tear that her husband had been through while in the military, Guevara became inspired to look more deeply into how to make the biggest impact, emphasizing longevity, with a focus on functional and regenerative medicine.

“I’m trying to discover my journey in terms of being the healthiest … and then it’s just opened up everything for me,” Guevara said.

She previously worked in a pain management clinic in Columbus, Ohio, and worked as a medical director in New Jersey for three years. Her background in conventional medicine allows her to combine that knowledge with approaches that many doctors wouldn’t have the opportunity to explore for their patients.

“I want to focus on the longevity and optimize that,” Guevara said. “Not just, you’re living until you’re 90 or 100 but you’re in a wheelchair not doing anything, right? I want to be able to go and throw my grandkids up in the air, and go hiking, and walk my dogs, and lift weights and do all of that.”

Optimal Longevity MD exists to help anyone improve their baseline health, but Guevara puts special focus on hormones and alleviating pain through a regenerative approach. “It makes a huge difference without having to do a lot of crazy things,” she said.

One aspect of Optimal Longevity MD that Guevara is excited about is being able to really focus on the patients. Doctors in a conventional office don’t always have time to listen the way that she does. Through looking for the root cause of issues rather than just the symptoms, and through integrating different types of medicine, she helps patients explore not only what works but why it works. “Education is empowerment,” she said.

Guevara encourages patients to focus on prevention, rather than reacting to existing issues. She compared it to investing, noting that it can be difficult to see the impact in the beginning, but that it has a much larger impact over time. “Prevention is the most important, I think,” she said. “It’s the greatest tool we have.”

She practices this idea in her own life. She tries to make sure she and her family members sleep well, exercise, and eat as healthy as possible, but she also puts an emphasis on finding joy. “It’s not changing your whole life; you can still enjoy things,” Guevara said.

In her free time, she enjoys baking and cooking from scratch, watching football with her husband, and spending time with their two kids and two dogs.

Guevara offers 15-minute free consultations because she wants patients to be sure that Optimal Longevity MD is a good fit for their needs.

She wants to help patients optimize their health journey, whether they want to get a head start on staying in good health, or they are already suffering from specific issues.

“At the end of the day, I think a lot of the times I see the majority of patients is when they’ve unfortunately run the full gamut,” Guevara said. “And they’re being told, ‘Well, your labs are normal. This is just part of aging.’ And it’s like, ‘But I don’t feel normal. I don’t feel good.’”

Optimal Longevity MD will open its doors at Perilla Wellness on December 15. Guevara is just launching the practice, but she’s excited for its future. To learn more, go to www.optimallongevitymd.com.