Kayla Burns Lentz and the Rise of Super Longevity Tracking
Longevity entrepreneur Kayla Burns Lentz meticulously measures everything in her life to live longer.
Brian Johnson isn’t afraid of TMI. He shared blood tests, sleep scores, HIIT workout protocols, heart rate, muscle oxygen saturation, and a myriad of complex biomarkers. Last week, at the end of April, the longevity advocate decided to go a step further and post his girlfriend’s vaginal microbiome report to X.
“Score 100/100,” he wrote. “Top 1% of all vaginas.”
Dr. Johnson analyzed a vaginal microbiome panel that tested for the probiotic Lactobacillus crispatus (a “good” protective bacteria) and “bad” bacteria that can cause frequent infections.
The post received more than 21 million views on X, but was not without ridicule.
One user quipped, “Men used to go to war, now they post their girlfriends’ vagina stats on the internet.”
Amid the controversy, Mr. Johnson’s girlfriend, Kate Toro, wrote, “People don’t get tested for oral sexually transmitted infections… They don’t talk to their partners about their dental health, recent illnesses, or when they last got tested. This is a public health gap.” “I’m grateful to have a partner who takes my health, his health, and our collective health seriously.”
Longevity advocates also defended them. Kayla Barnes Lentz, 35, shared her report.
“I’m thrilled he posted it,” Burns-Lentz told USA TODAY. “Not enough people are talking about this. I feel like women are suffering too much. We have to talk about this more.”
Burns-Lentz tested her vaginal microbiome and says she was able to raise her score from 97 to 100. She is a spokesperson for Evvy, an AI precision medicine platform for women that sells home testing kits. Obstetricians and gynecologists say that while testing is valuable for symptomatic women, especially those with chronic bacterial vaginosis or yeast infections, not everyone needs to jump on this latest health trend.
Here’s what you need to know about the vaginal microbiome.
What is the vaginal microbiome?
The vaginal microbiome is the collection of bacteria in the vagina, ideally dominated by protective Lactobacillus bacteria that help prevent infections. Kathleen Green, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist at Maven Clinic, says a lack of lactic acid bacteria can lead to an increase in yeast and bacterial infections.
Disruption of the vaginal microbiome can lead to inflammation of the reproductive tract, which can lead to problems with fertility, early miscarriage, endometriosis, and ovarian cancer progression, said the report, published in Frontiers in Reproduction Health and the Journal of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, according to Dr. Kate McLean, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and chief medical officer of Evvy.
“Testing gives you a clearer, more personalized picture of what’s going on, so you can take the guesswork out of it and make informed decisions about your care,” MacLean says.
This vaginal ecosystem can change throughout a woman’s life and at different stages of the menstrual cycle.
Why long-lived influencers test their vaginal microbiomes
For Barnes-Lentz, tracking these biomarkers is about preempting potential problems.
“These imbalanced vaginal microbiomes can cause further inflammation, which can cause inflammation in other parts of the body and affect the ovaries,” she says. “In my opinion, the ovaries are like pacemakers for longevity.”
The ovaries are one of the first organs in the body to show signs of aging, and research suggests that they can accelerate the aging of multiple organs in the body.
Is a vaginal microbiome test worth it?
While reproductive experts can classify the vaginal microbiome as “healthy” or “unhealthy,” Green says the reality of vaginal health is more nuanced.
Green says there’s no clinically validated scoring system for vaginal health, and “we’ll never say, ‘This is a good vagina,’ or ‘This is a bad vagina.'”
“There’s no such thing as a 99/100 vagina,” she added.
Some of Green’s patients come to the hospital with “no problems,” but some are concerned about their low scores. “Now they have complexes about their vaginas not being healthy,” she says.
Priyanka Jain, CEO of Evvy, said the company’s test kits should be used to manage individual symptoms and health goals, not to compare scores.
“Ranking people against each other as a health outcome doesn’t mean much to me, especially as it relates to vaginal health,” Jain says.
Dr. Green advises people with symptoms, whether it’s vaginal itching or a recurrent infection such as bacterial vaginosis, yeast, or a urinary tract infection (UTI), to see a doctor they trust.
But swab tests that can be done in a doctor’s office can be “very expensive,” and some insurance companies won’t cover them or only partially reimburse patients, Green said.
If medical treatment is not available, over-the-counter antifungal treatments such as Monistat 7 are safe alternatives to alleviate yeast infections, says Green. Additionally, patients can take an at-home pH test to learn if they need additional care for bacterial infections or urinary tract infections.
For asymptomatic women, vaginal microbiome testing is rarely necessary, she says. Even if bad bacteria develop, there is a chance that the balance will be restored naturally. She advises against rushing to buy oral or vaginal probiotics to treat a “low score” before consulting your doctor.
“If you told me that my vagina was a 25 out of 100, I would freak out and lose sleep, and I would want to buy everything you told me to improve my vagina,” says Green. “[But]if there are no symptoms, what’s the purpose?”
