Bioelectrics is poised to be the next frontier of medical technology, and LionHeart Health is developing therapies on several important fronts.
by Susan Belknapp, Senior Writer, California Business Journal
Klotho. You may not have heard of it, but this protein is under intense study, and many in the medical research community believe that Klotho holds the key to healthy aging and longevity. Low Klotho levels are associated with accelerated aging conditions and increase the risk of almost every major disease, including heart disease and cancer. Further, high Klotho levels appear to provide metabolic, neurological, cardiological, inflammatory, and anti-tumor protection, in addition to increasing a healthy lifespan.
Klotho levels may be the key to changing how our bodies, tissues, and organs recover from illness and age. Stimulating the production of Klotho can potentially slow or reverse the aging process, both internally and externally, resulting in increased cardiovascular and organ health and heightened resistance to cancer and all other age-related diseases.
“Currently, there are about 3,400 papers on Klotho cited on PubMed,” says Howard J. Leonhardt, founder of Leonhardt Ventures, the parent company of LionHeart Health. “Only about a dozen of those refer to muscle-building properties; other papers address major health concerns such as reversing diabetes, hypertension, and calcification of arteries, preventing addiction, dementia, and cancer, improving mood and memory, among other benefits.”
Leonhardt is an inventor and serial entrepreneur with over 31 U.S. patents and over 700 patent claims, and 400 new patent claims pending. One of his inventions, the TALENT stent graft, is used worldwide for the non-surgical treatment of aortic aneurysms. Leonhardt and his team, including the company’s renowned Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Leslie Miller, have set their sights on bioelectric innovation to write the next chapter in healthcare breakthroughs.
LionHeart Health is preparing to launch multiple products that apply bioelectric stimulation of Klotho and other protein expressions to address the underlying causes – not just the symptoms of various health concerns.
In the first half of 2023, the company is preparing to release the following innovations:
- BodStim™ for exercise enhancement, increased muscle building, and the potential to increase longevity
- SkinStim™ for skin rejuvenation
- HairCell™ for hair regeneration and restoration
- ErectiStim™ for sexual health and erectile dysfunction
BodStim, the company’s flagship product, is a bioelectric body suit worn while exercising. It is designed to build muscle through increased contractions, help muscle repair and recovery, increase circulation, and promote fat loss through increased metabolism for 48 to 72 hours.
Extensive testing at the company’s UC Irvine labs has demonstrated that wearing the Bodstim suit for 40 minutes while exercising provides benefits equivalent to exercising for two to three hours without one.
“BodStim is a training suit that is FDA-cleared to augment exercise using bioelectrical pulses to contract muscles and stimulate muscle building. Our patented signals for Klotho and Follistatin, two powerful muscle-building proteins, are added to the basic stimulation program with additional benefits,” Leonhardt told California Business Journal.
BodStim has three options:
- BodStim includes a short-sleeved full-zip top and cycling-style shorts made from comfortable stretch fabric. The two pieces connect at the waist and are worn over undergarments.
- BodStim Pro is for use in training environments such as gyms or with personal trainers. The Pro suits consist of a vest and leg wraps that clip into place and are worn over exercise clothes. Instructors utilize the BodStim software, which incorporates multiple workouts, to personalize training for each client. The Pro suits are disinfected after each use.
- BodStim Fit includes yoga pants for personal use and waist, arm, and leg wraps for use in MedSpas (over undergarments). BodStim Fit is designed to accelerate metabolism, tone muscles, promote fat loss, and improve skin elasticity, according to company literature.
Each BodStim suit comes with ten pairs of flexible, interchangeable electrodes that align with major muscle groups. Cables connect the electrodes via wires integrated into the suit’s fabric, so there is no direct skin contact with the wires or cables. A small bioelectric stimulator that plugs snuggly into a pocket on the suit delivers a myriad of workout programs. Leonhardt compares the wearing experience to a light wetsuit or yoga pants.
“The exercise-enhancement benefits of these suits are incredible, but that’s only the beginning,” Miller says. “We plan to launch a study with heart failure patients who have been released from the hospital after treatment. A group of patients will go home with a BodStim suit, and we will compare their recovery progress to a control group. We hope to demonstrate that if a patient exercises, even moderately, wearing a BodStim suit, it will enhance their recovery, and they will have fewer subsequent hospitalizations. We will then apply to the FDA with that data to have it labeled as a product that makes a clinical difference in post-hospitalization heart failure recovery.”
The intention is to test BodStim for a broad range of indications, but the studies must be done one at a time.
How Revolutionary Are Klotho’s Anti-Aging Benefits?
“Klotho was first discovered in 1997 by Dr. Makato Kuro-o, under a Department of Defense grant, and we’re still learning about it,” Leonhardt says. “In layman’s terms, it’s a protein that impacts disease resistance and aging. If a person can increase their circulating Klotho, studies show it could slow or even reverse the effects of aging. When Dr. Kuro-o shut off the Klotho expression in a group of mice, the mice showed early signs of aging and had an 80% shorter lifespan and higher disease rates than mice with normal Klotho levels. He then increased the Klotho levels by 50% in a group of mice with normal Klotho levels – and they lived a healthy 30% longer without many age-related diseases and conditions.
“If these results translate to humans, it would be life-changing. It hasn’t yet been proven, but in those 3,400 papers, there are studies that look at many different aspects that include every type of age-related ailment,” he continues. “Early military experiments involved injecting Klotho directly into an injured muscle to promote faster recovery – which it did – but we asked if it could be stimulated bioelectrically and are having incredible results.”
LionHeart Health is planning to launch a chain of med spas that feature its bioelectric technologies for aesthetic and clinical wellness starting in 2024.
Preorders are available at bodstim.com website. The first 100 people who order and sign up for a Klotho levels study will receive a discount off the BodStim suit and three free Klotho lab tests. We are also working on financing options, which will be available soon.