Episode 5
Dr Brendan Khong on Inflammaging, Regenerative Aesthetics and Skin Health
In this episode, I sit down with Dr Brendan Khong, a London-based aesthetic physician and regenerative medicine advocate, for a practical conversation about what it really means to age well, starting with the skin, but quickly expanding into whole-body biology.
The central theme is a shift now reshaping aesthetic medicine: moving away from surface-level fixes and toward addressing the underlying drivers of visible ageing. A key driver, Dr Brendan explains, is inflammaging, a chronic, low-grade inflammation that builds over time and accelerates both skin ageing and broader physiological decline.
He breaks down why some conventional aesthetic approaches can backfire, particularly repeated high-heat energy treatments, which may contribute to fibrosis, uneven pigmentation, and a dull, “waxy” skin texture over time. His approach favours smarter, gentler interventions, including an anti-inflammatory 1064nm Nd:YAG laser, targeted resurfacing that can be safer across a wider range of skin types, and calming injectables such as Meso-Wharton (a peptide product derived from Wharton’s jelly) used in practice to support skin quality, texture and fine lines.
But this is not just a conversation about devices and injectables. Dr Brendan argues that better results start with better assessment and the need to factor in gut health, supplement use, stress load, and cortisol patterns before reaching for a needle or a laser. He is also candid about timelines: collagen remodelling takes time, and unrealistic expectations are one of the biggest problems in aesthetics.
For day-to-day longevity habits that support skin health, he highlights fundamentals that are often overlooked: exercise, stress management, avoiding very hot showers, and finding a retinoid your skin can consistently tolerate.
Dr Brendan Khong | London's Most Sought-after Aesthetic Doctor
Dr Brendan Khong (@drbrendankhong) • Instagram profile
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
02:06 Brandon’s Medical Journey
03:36 Skin as an Inflammation Mirror
07:19 Supplements and Gut Health
10:15 Overtreatment and Inflammaging
14:47 Anti-Inflammatory Laser Approach
17:39 Regenerative Injectables Peptides
21:36 Personalised Protocols and Expectations
25:18 Why Glanine Stands Out
25:57 Microspheres Not Clumps
26:55 Anti-Inflammatory Collagen
27:47 Safety Profile Focus
28:45 Building Patient Protocols
30:25 Longevity Over Quick Fixes
32:17 Future Of Aesthetics
33:41 Gentler Treatment Philosophy
34:49 Quantum Magnetic Resonance
36:18 Healthy Beauty Trends
37:25 Daily Longevity Skin Tips
40:10 Rapid Fire Longevity Qs
45:14 Final Takeaways And Wrap
Transcript
Welcome to Beyond Longevity, the podcast that explores not just how we age, but how we can build a longer, healthier future for ourselves.
Speaker A:Joining me today on beyond longevity is Dr. Brandon Kong, an aesthetic physician, regenerative medicine advocate, and someone who approaches aging through the lens of inflammation, cellular health and Rep. Dr. Brandon holds membership of the Royal College of Physicians and is also a member of the British College of Aesthetic Medicine.
Speaker A:He has published peer reviewed research and now runs a clinic in London where he focuses on regenerative aesthetics.
Speaker A:He specializes in integrating treatments such as polynucleotides, exosomes, advanced laser technology and NAD based optimization strategies.
Speaker A:What makes his work particularly relevant is his focus on what is increasingly referred to as inflammaging, the chronic low grade inflammation that underpins not only visible skin aging, but many systemic aging processes as well.
Speaker A:In this conversation, we explore how modern aesthetic medicine is shifting from simply correcting and enhancing appearance to addressing the biology beneath it.
Speaker A:Discuss where innovations in peptides and other regenerative therapies fit within the broader longevity landscape.
Speaker B:Hi Dr. Brandon.
Speaker C:Hi Daphne.
Speaker B:Thank you for coming on Beyond Longevity.
Speaker B:I don't know how you manage it in between your research, your educating and teaching of your colleagues, traveling the world for conferences and running your clinic, but I'm very grateful that you did make it and welcome.
Speaker C:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker B:Let's start with your background a little bit.
Speaker B:You're originally from Singapore.
Speaker B:You came to the UK for your medical studies.
Speaker B:I understand you studied internal medicine and did rotations at surgery departments, emergency medicine, dermatology.
Speaker B:And then something happened and you pivoted.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I came to the UK many, many, many moons ago and did my A levels here.
Speaker C:I did a first degree in biomedical sciences, this was at the University of Warwick and then went to University of Sheffield for my medical school and then did my foundation training in the Bristol region in Severn Deanery.
Speaker C:Moved to London after to do my internal medical physician training.
Speaker C:And yeah, I've never really looked back.
Speaker C:I think when it comes to aesthetic medicine, I've always been very interested in it.
Speaker C:People always ask me, you know, what's the reason why you got into aesthetics?
Speaker C:And what a funny reason is vanity.
Speaker C:The actual reason is I've seen how skin affects confidence in a lot of people and mental health and you know, it was something that I really wanted to get into to not only make people look better but also feel better about themselves.
Speaker C:You know, this kind of self confidence that I can instill in people, make them feel great about themselves, is something that's not Very often found, I think, in a lot of medicine.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I think you said one's skin is a mirror of your internal health.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I think a lot of times the skin mirrors how we really are inside.
Speaker C:So, for example, I talk a lot about inflammation on my social media pages, and a lot of conditions are driven by inflammation.
Speaker C:You think about things like acne, melasma, rosacea, psoriasis, for example.
Speaker C:These are all things that are driven a lot by inflammation.
Speaker C:And a lot of the kind of treatments that we end up doing in aesthetic medicine tend to drive a lot of inflammation as well.
Speaker C:So, yes, it looks great on the surface, but what are we doing to the inside of our.
Speaker C:Of our skin?
Speaker C:We know low level chronic inflammation can cause and exacerbate conditions, not only skin conditions, but also things like heart disease, liver problems.
Speaker C:So I'm very big on educating my patients on not only taking care of their outside, also taking care of inside.
Speaker B:Was there sort of a light bulb moment that made you alter careers, or was it a slow process of realizing that the general medicine is sort of more reactive rather than active?
Speaker C:I've always loved beauty.
Speaker C:You know, growing up, I used to read all these beauty magazines, or, you know, the first page I would turn to is all about beauty and skin and hair.
Speaker C:So that was always very innate for me.
Speaker C:And it was a very natural kind of progression for me studying medicine.
Speaker C:I always do.
Speaker C:I wanted to go into aesthetics, which is a matter of when, really.
Speaker C:And doing my internal medical training with some incredible colleagues of mine, I just noticed there was this common thread throughout a lot of the conditions.
Speaker C:You know, you think about things like heart disease, liver failure, you know, lung problems.
Speaker C:What was the underlying cause?
Speaker C:It's a lot of inflammation.
Speaker C:And I just knew that, you know, when it came to the skin, was there going to be a common threat with all these medical issues?
Speaker C:And the answer was yes, a lot of it is due to inflammation.
Speaker C:And where, when there is a disharmony of things in the body is when you get issues.
Speaker C:So, you know, going into aesthetic medicine, it wasn't for me, wasn't just about the botox, wasn't just about the filler.
Speaker C:It was also about, you know, looking at treating the skin with kindness, importantly, and to ensure that people look the best at whatever age they are at.
Speaker B:Do you feel, having studied internal medicine and having worked as a doctor in internal medicine, do you think that that helps you a lot in the work you do now, your understanding of how the body works?
Speaker B:Do you maybe even feel that your patients feel more comforted and comfortable with you because you are an all round doctor.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I think like I said, like the skin is a mirror of how we are really on inside.
Speaker C:So I talk about a lot about nutrition and giving like supplementations with patients.
Speaker C:And I think people feel that because it's not just about the skin for me, it's about the whole holistic person.
Speaker C:We are treating people, not treating just the line, the pores, the scars.
Speaker C:I think something that's very important for all aesthetic doctors out there, especially those who are starting out.
Speaker C:It's not just about chasing the look, it's about helping the person.
Speaker B:You mentioned supplements.
Speaker B:Do you feel that supplements have a part to play in the field of longevity?
Speaker B:Skin health, skin rejuvenation, the glow of it, or is it more of an add on?
Speaker B:That may or may not really how I think it's.
Speaker C:It plays a huge part, really.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:For example, like acne.
Speaker C:Let's take acne for an example.
Speaker C:There isn't a lot of good concrete evidence that, for example, chocolate, you know, we hear this a lot, you know, don't eat chocolate, it's going to make your acne worse.
Speaker C:Don't drink milk.
Speaker C:There isn't like a complete total evidence, but the anecdotal kind of evidence from patients in their experience is that it suggests that, yeah, when I stop eating chocolate, when I stop drinking milk, it gets better.
Speaker C:Who are we to say, you know what, it's not completely written down in stone, that it's not real.
Speaker C:Personally, I'm very much into gut health.
Speaker C:One of my really good friends is a gastroenterologist and we often have like chats about this sounds really boring.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:We talk for a while about pre and probiotics and you know, how it reflects not only just in the gut and your bowel movements, but also on your skin as well.
Speaker C:And I'm a big believer in taking probiotics every day, especially when you're on things like antibiotics.
Speaker C:For example, if you've just had a cold and you needed antibiotics, it's going to screw up your internal gut flora.
Speaker C:So we need to replenish it.
Speaker C:Our diets these days are not perfect.
Speaker C:Fiber supplementation for me is also very important.
Speaker C:I personally take that every day.
Speaker C:I take a vitamin C every day, thousand milligrams.
Speaker C:It's not only for immune health, it's also helping with your, with the skin.
Speaker B:But it's very interesting what you say because again, it links it all back to longevity because all the facts that you mentioned, gut issues, leaky gut, that's an inflammation.
Speaker B:You know, dairy causes a lot of inflammation.
Speaker C:Inflammatory bowel disease.
Speaker C:It's in the names on the 10.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:So it's funny how all the different systems and discipline of medicine come together and realize what I think they should have realized hundreds of years ago, that the body is not compartments.
Speaker B:And you have a headache, you go to a neurologist, you have a, you know, stomach issue, you got to go to a gastroenterologist, you have a problem with your skin, you go to the dermatologist.
Speaker B:No, you might have a problem with your skin, but the origin lies in the gut.
Speaker B:So, again, I think it's very, very beneficial what you offer your patients, which is the holistic and overall view of the whole body, which I think is the way forward in longevity.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I mean, even things like piping.
Speaker C:I mean, I see a lot of hair loss patients in Queen Lake as well.
Speaker C:One of the first things I would say is get a blood test.
Speaker C:Your hair fall might be because of low iron, for example, or low folic acid.
Speaker C:Fix that, we can do something about it.
Speaker B:So you've mentioned that this inflammating is a big driver in the aging process.
Speaker B:Can you explain why and how you can tell?
Speaker C:Of course.
Speaker C:So one of the case studies I can actually share with you.
Speaker C:A couple of months ago, I had seen a patient who came to see me because of a bit of hyperpigmentation.
Speaker C:And the first question I asked her was, how many treatments have you done in the past 12 to 24 months that has caused this issue?
Speaker C:And she told me she's done probably about 25 to 30 treatments in the past two years.
Speaker C:And I said, I can tell because the skin took this almost quite waxy, a bit of a doughy consistency, that's not healthy collagen.
Speaker C:And I could see a lot of hyperpigmentation just on the surface of the skin, which is all driven by a lot of inflammation.
Speaker C:And I had seen a couple of photos prior to two years ago when she wanted to fix a little bit of the acne scarring.
Speaker C:And I told her, like, what's happening now is just because there's been so much inflammation within your skin.
Speaker C:Even touching her skin when I was examining her, I could feel the heat from within.
Speaker C:She had told me she had multiple causes of hot lasers, CO2 resurfacing, radio frequency microneedling, the RF microneedling, even things like high intensity focused ultrasound.
Speaker C:Just all these way too much, way too often.
Speaker C:And she was in her early 30s.
Speaker C:This is something we don't really see much in such a young demographic.
Speaker C:Sadly, it's manifested in such a way that the skin takes on this very odd appearance.
Speaker C:A lot of these treatments that we do in clinic are so pro inflammatory and the hope is that you're causing all this trauma to create collagen and elastin.
Speaker C:But is the collagen healthy collagen?
Speaker C:One might argue not.
Speaker C:Because in a pro inflammatory way of stimulating collagen, it's almost a very quick reaction.
Speaker C:You get the quick skin tightening, you get this amazing collagen stimulation, but it's not healthy collagen that's being laid down.
Speaker C:So you end up getting things like nodules and scar tissue, a bit of fibrosis, which is obviously not what we want.
Speaker C:Also, the extracellular matrix, which your collagen and your elastin fibers sit in, becomes very sticky and that's why the skin doesn't take on a healthy, glowy look.
Speaker C:It becomes doughy, it becomes a bit waxy and that's never something that we want.
Speaker C:Melanocytes, which sit in our skin as well, the pigment producing cells become very upset if we overstimulate them, if we over agitate them.
Speaker C:And that manifests in things like hyperpigmentation, broken capillaries, things like rosacea, for example.
Speaker C:It can be induced by a lot of these super hot lasers.
Speaker C:So I don't offer a lot of them in clinic, really.
Speaker C:A lot of these chronic inflammation can end up breaking down your collagen fibres as well, which is something that we never, ever want to do.
Speaker C:I always talk with my patients, even about levelling out their cortisol levels.
Speaker C:If you're going to the gym, are you going for more than two hours a day?
Speaker C:Are you doing lots of high intensity training multiple times a week?
Speaker C:All this is going to just drive a lot of cortisol in the body, which is going to help accelerate your aging process.
Speaker C:So balance is everything.
Speaker C:I love to go to the gym.
Speaker C:I lift about four or five times a week.
Speaker C:I go to Barry's bootcamp about twice a week.
Speaker C:But if I go too much, I know that's going to cause a bit too much inflammation in my body.
Speaker C:So I've got to keep it balanced.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker B:Yes, that's very important balance.
Speaker B:And I think that's also your philosophy in your clinic when you see patients.
Speaker B:It's the balance, the balance of looking young but not unnatural.
Speaker B:Absolutely stimulating the body's own sort of regenerative process.
Speaker B:Now, in a case that you've just described, where somebody is so over inflamed.
Speaker B:And I mean that is an extreme.
Speaker B:But most of us do have chronic inflammation.
Speaker B:Is there a solution and is there a solution that is adaptable to all patients or are some just beyond repair, so to speak?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:So with this patient in particular, the first thing I said to her and what I say to a lot of people is stopped, stop all treatments coming to see me once every four to eight weeks.
Speaker C:I have something called the arrow laser in my clinic which is an anti inflammatory laser.
Speaker C: Essentially this is a: Speaker C:So it targets water, so it helps with a bit of collagen stimulation, a bit of skin tightening.
Speaker C:It targets melanin, so it helps with hyperpigmentation.
Speaker C:Fantastic for things like melasma and sun damage.
Speaker C:And also importantly hemoglobin, so it targets blood vessels, which is your inflammation, so it really, really calms it down quickly.
Speaker C:And most patients with a very pro inflammatory condition like rosacea or even acne can actually see results after just one session.
Speaker C:The arrow lace, although it's not FDA approved for a condition, for example like eczema, I've used it a couple of times on patients with eczema on their face and it has really just taken the inflammation away.
Speaker C:It totally changed the skin texture, which patients love, because you can't be on steroid creams for the rest of your life.
Speaker B:So do you think the error laser that you use, and you're one of the very few practitioners in the UK that use it, do you think that that can take the place of lasers that are very popular at the moment, ablative lasers?
Speaker C:And so I think ablative lasers have their place in the market as well.
Speaker C:For sure.
Speaker C:I have an ablative laser by arylase as well, but it's quite unique in the sense that it's very, very precise.
Speaker C:So you get almost a CO2 laser effect without the 3 week downtime, without the bleeding, without the oozing.
Speaker C:And importantly, I can use it for all skin colors, skin Fitzpatrick 1 through 6, which a lot of lasers you cannot use on darker skin types because of the heightened risk of hyper and hypopigmentation.
Speaker C: erolase Era Elite, which is a: Speaker C:The recovery takes about five to seven days or so for a superficial ablation and it's, it's safe.
Speaker C:The resurfacing lasers are fantastic for patients who have, for example, enlarged pores.
Speaker C:A lot of Textural issues, even superficial pigmentation from sun damage can easily be treated with that.
Speaker B:That's really great to know.
Speaker B:You use the air laser to treat inflammation as well as regenerate the skin and by doing so make the patient look younger, healthier.
Speaker B:Exactly, that sort of thing.
Speaker B:Inflammation also disrupts stem cell signaling.
Speaker B:The regeneration is blocked and the skin cannot rejuvenate itself.
Speaker B:What other treatments do you offer other than the aerolase to combat this?
Speaker C:It's funny you say that because I had a discussion with a colleague about medium depth or even deep chemical peels and how I no longer really offer deep peels chemical peels anymore because of how it upsets the stem cells.
Speaker C:So in clinic I use a lot of very calming kind of injectables.
Speaker C:There is a something called meso water and also mesoxanthin which I offer in clinic.
Speaker C:Meso water comes from a peptide which is a clone of the umbilical cord lining called Wharton jelly.
Speaker C:And this is an amazing peptide which helps calm inflammation.
Speaker C:It helps to provide the stem cells ingredients to regenerate itself again, to regenerate skin.
Speaker C:And for my patient, which I mentioned earlier, actually this was one of the treatments that we started doing because it helps to reduce inflammation, importantly really to bring back the stem cell from being so over frazzled to its normal state again.
Speaker C:So that's one of the big treatments that I'm currently doing in clinic as well.
Speaker B:And I think you're a pioneer in using the mesomorton P199.
Speaker B:I know in Korea it's very popular and as we all know, they're sort of well advanced in skin and glow and all that.
Speaker B:How did you first come into contact with it and what actual results convinced you to use it in your clinic and how often do you use it percentage wise on your patients?
Speaker C:I think the metal Wharton is quite a unique product in the sense that it can be basically offered to almost everybody.
Speaker C:But I use it mostly for patients who I think who has a lot of inflammation in the body.
Speaker C:For example, patients who have a lot of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation or erythema, especially post acne patients because the body is in such a heightened inflammatory state.
Speaker C:That's when I tend to use it a lot.
Speaker C:Even for my slightly older patients with very crepey skin.
Speaker C:I'm so convinced that it has done so much for this cohort of patients.
Speaker C:It helps treat the crepey skin, it helps to reduce fine lines, reduce the depth of wrinkles, even if it's just a couple of sessions.
Speaker C:About two sessions, three sessions.
Speaker C:A big difference can be seen.
Speaker B:And it's a relatively easy product to use.
Speaker B:You don't need to come back every four to six weeks like with some treatments.
Speaker B:So once you've injected it, it sort of helps the skin regenerate itself.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:It drives the stem cells to become active again and do its work.
Speaker C:Exactly, yeah.
Speaker C:So for most patients, I would say probably about three or four sessions space about three, four weeks apart.
Speaker C:And then after that course, you can do it literally once every six to nine months, just for maintenance, just to keep things healthy.
Speaker C:There's a little bit of hyaluronic acid in there as well, so it's good for a bit of hydration, a bit of a nice glow as well.
Speaker C:I first noticed the meso water probably about a year and a half ago, saw it being advertised and I thought, this sounds really interesting.
Speaker C:So bought a couple of boxes and I thought, you know what, I'm going to test it on myself as I often do with a lot of my treatments, and did half of my face and realized that it actually looked a lot better.
Speaker C:I wasn't getting as many breakouts.
Speaker C:It helped straighten my pores a bit more, got a nice glow from it.
Speaker C:And after my three rounds, I thought, you know what, this is actually really remarkable, and then brought it into clinic.
Speaker B:Well, you are your own best advertisement.
Speaker B:I'm sure everybody that comes to clinic just says, I want to look like you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:How do you go about making people not look like you?
Speaker B:Because that is, you know, very high level, but at least getting there step by step.
Speaker B:And what's your protocol?
Speaker B:Do you have sort of a startup protocol that you use for everyone, or is it very, very individualized?
Speaker C:It's all very, very individualized.
Speaker C:My skin type is very, very different from a lot of other people's skin types.
Speaker C:So for myself, for example, I had, you know, growing up, I had really, really oily skin.
Speaker C:I had really bad acne growing up.
Speaker C:I've been on roacutane three times in my life and the last time was about five years ago.
Speaker C:So, you know, the way I treat my skin is going to be very different from the way I treat every single patient.
Speaker C:Every single patient who comes into clinic.
Speaker C:You know, I talk about concerns, their goals, what they use at home, and I come up with a treatment plan for them to look their best at whatever age they're at.
Speaker C:Really.
Speaker C:It's not about hazing a certain glass skin look, it's about skin health, which is a priority so many times.
Speaker C:It's about right.
Speaker C:If you are suffering from a medical dermatological problem, let's fix that first and then let's go for skin health, getting the skin to its optimal state before we think about skin tightening or anything like that.
Speaker B:If it's true what I read about you, then you've looked after your skin from a very young age.
Speaker B:I understand when you were a junior doctor, your colleagues said you had dolphin skin because it was so shiny and lovely and everything.
Speaker B:So skin has always been very important to you, as you've mentioned.
Speaker B:Going on to the longevity topic again, a little bit.
Speaker B:Skin is very, very important with regards to longevity.
Speaker B:I think the way you have your clinic arranged and the protocols you prescribe, I understand you don't see that there's a shortcut to longevity.
Speaker B:It's step by step, slowly, slowly, skin quality, skin structure, regeneration, all these things.
Speaker B:Is it fair to say that longevity interventions are not a quick fix?
Speaker C:100%.
Speaker C:And this is a conversation I have with patients every single day when I treat patients, when we are doing things like Gillaine, for example, Zwarten laser.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:You might see a little bit in the first couple of days, but you need to not only give me a chance to get your skin better, you need to give the product a chance to work as measured as well.
Speaker C:A lot of these collagen stimulators, they take time.
Speaker C:Your body needs time to produce the collagen, it needs time for it to show in your skin.
Speaker C:So sometimes, and I get it, you're paying so much money in two weeks, you're like, where are the results?
Speaker C:And it's normal to feel that way.
Speaker C:I always tell patients you need to give it time.
Speaker C:So setting expectations, realistic expectations, is incredibly important.
Speaker C:Is any of my treatments going to make you look like you had a facelift?
Speaker C:Probably not.
Speaker C:I will refer you on to a plastic surgeon.
Speaker C:Rupee Eyes, for example, is a very big complaint for a lot of people.
Speaker C:Realistically, am I going to get your eyes lifted?
Speaker C:I can do as much as I can, but am I going to open up the eyes to how they were 20 years ago?
Speaker C:Probably not.
Speaker C:But again, it's a facelift, is a facelift.
Speaker C:It's not treating the quality of the skin, but we can do things to really strengthen the skin, get it to the best quality before you go for that facelift, before you go for the neck lift, before you have your blepharoplasties.
Speaker C:And it's about managing all of that together.
Speaker B:You mentioned Julain, which is a polylactic acid.
Speaker B:Tell us, why is julane different to other biostimulators?
Speaker C:So we've heard about polyolytic acid in the market, PLLA biostimulators for years and years and years.
Speaker C:One of my issues with it is the kind of risk of getting nodules and scar tissue and fibrosis.
Speaker C:And as someone who has a lot of anxiety, you know, it is my worst nightmare because I can't do a treatment and then two years down think, oh my God, the treatment I did for that patient is going to cause an ordeal.
Speaker C:I can't sleep like that.
Speaker C:I don't work like that.
Speaker C:So when I first found out about Julian and how it works on a molecular level, I was so fascinated about it.
Speaker C:Polyamolytic acid comes in many different forms.
Speaker C:So looking at it in under the microscope in the past for other products, it might appear almost like a little jagged kind of particle.
Speaker C:And these particles tend to like to clump together, which therein lies a problem because when the body recognizes that it's a big clump of plla, it's going to create collagen around that and cause your scar tissue.
Speaker C:And also a lot of these PLA products are very pro inflammatory, which again coming back to my point where it's very, very pro inflammatory, which is going to cause a lot of collagen stimulation but then cause scar tissue.
Speaker C:Julian has revolutionized that altogether.
Speaker C:They've taken the PLLA molecule, made it into a perfect microsphere which is low density and high porosity, which means when the body breaks it down, it breaks it down in a uniform manner.
Speaker C:They've also very cleverly put a charge around it, much like a magnet, so all of them stay away from each other.
Speaker C:The collagen stimulation in Julaine has been shown to take an anti inflammatory route.
Speaker C:So it Instead of the M1 pathway, it goes down the M2 pathway.
Speaker C:So you're laying down the collagen in a much slower way but much healthier way.
Speaker C:I don't know if you've seen some of my socials, I talk about inflammatory way of creating collagen much being like, you know, making a tiramisu.
Speaker C:And imagine your collagen fibres are the lady fingers.
Speaker C:A pro inflammatory way of creating collagen is basically taking these lady fingers and throwing it in the dish and, and hoping for the best.
Speaker C:It's quick, it's fine and it's still delicious but you get the scar tissue.
Speaker C:An anti inflammatory way is basically being like a nice little housewife or house husband taking the lady Fingers and really just arranging it slowly and neatly.
Speaker C:I know which I would choose.
Speaker C:I don't want to risk scar tissue or fibrosis when I'm much older.
Speaker C:So, Julain, for me, it's safety profile with no nodules, no vascular occlusions.
Speaker C:That was a no brainer for me.
Speaker B:It's a no brainer.
Speaker B:The fact that you have all these latest product, latest modalities at hand.
Speaker B:It's because you really spend time doing your research, analyzing things, questioning.
Speaker B:And I think that is the future for the aesthetic market in general, but especially for the longevity market.
Speaker B:Because currently a lot of aesthetic doctors, they work like you said, they work
Speaker A:for the short term.
Speaker B:You look great now.
Speaker B:It's a quick fix, but there are a lot of treatments that the general public already knows in the long term is more detrimental and doesn't help skin health or the regeneration of the skin or any of it.
Speaker B:If somebody comes to you, middle aged, has had a few treatments, the odd laser here and there, a few fillers.
Speaker B:How do you start a protocol?
Speaker B:Is there a certain set way that you say first the lasers, then the peptides, then the PLLs, or does it really depend on the person?
Speaker C:It totally depends on a person.
Speaker C:Whenever a patient comes to me and I understand because I have been a consumer, I've gone to doctors with my own skin problems.
Speaker C:You're in a very vulnerable state.
Speaker C:You've come to see me because you're not happy about something.
Speaker C:I will never point out things that people are not concerned about.
Speaker C:So if a patient comes to me saying, you know what I'm not happy about my nasolabial lines, I'm not going to say, actually, you need to fix your eyes.
Speaker C:And that's basically bullying patients into getting treatments.
Speaker C:And I just think that's incredibly unfair.
Speaker C:Obviously, there will be some people who will say, you know what, tell me what I need to do.
Speaker C:Look at my face and tell me what I need.
Speaker C:Again, I don't operate like that.
Speaker C:You tell me what concerns you the most.
Speaker C:Let's tackle the first thing and then we work our way down slowly.
Speaker C:So when it comes to, say, a set protocol, it's all very varied for me is what am I going to target first on your list of concerns and then we take it from there slowly.
Speaker B:So it's not better to use lasers
Speaker C:before PLLs, very dependent on, again, you know, the skin condition and the concerns.
Speaker B:So all the treatments you offer, they all harmonize and they all form sort of a protocol for success.
Speaker B:How many of your patients these days come to you and are concerned with longevity rather than a quick fix.
Speaker C:I would probably say about 90% of my patients, there is a small little cohort who say, you know, I want a bit of lip filler.
Speaker C:Which I. I love doing lip filler.
Speaker C:I think it's.
Speaker C:I feel like a little architect, even playing with the lips with a bit of filler.
Speaker C:And I absolutely love it.
Speaker C:But I think patients who tend to come to me are more concerned about the longevity of skin and skin health and skin quality, and I think that's what I'm probably known for as well.
Speaker B:That is most definitely what you're known for.
Speaker B:I am just really amazed that the general public is already so aware of.
Speaker B:Of how important the idea of longevity is, especially with regards to skin.
Speaker B:So while people that listen to this podcast or people in the field are obviously aware of it, I think there's still a long way to go for the general public to learn about the importance of treating the body as a whole in terms of longevity.
Speaker B:You're in a great position because you're a physician that had studied internal medicine and now have pivoted to being an aesthetic doctor.
Speaker B:So somebody coming to you really gets the best of both worlds.
Speaker B:You really understand the structure and the foundation of the body, the organs, how things work, and not just the superficial way we look, which I think is how all aesthetic doctors need to function in the future if they want to have a future in the field of aesthetics.
Speaker C:That said, I still think there is a cohort of patients who just want a quick fix, which, fair enough.
Speaker C:Market is big enough for everyone, I guess.
Speaker B:No, no, absolutely.
Speaker B:There's a place for everybody, absolutely.
Speaker B:But I do know also that you go around educating your colleagues, and I understand that has sort of taken off quite a bit, which shows sort of where the market is heading.
Speaker B:How do you see the future for aesthetic doctors?
Speaker B:Are they interested in the field of longevity and not just the quick fix?
Speaker C:I definitely do think so.
Speaker C:If you go to conferences, for example, like where we met, a lot of these big brands would just stick the word longevity onto their pamphlet.
Speaker C:Even though that has been there for years.
Speaker C:You know, it is the same machine for years and years and years.
Speaker C:Everyone's jumping on that bandwagon now, but for me, it's not about trends.
Speaker C:It's not about just the latest and greatest.
Speaker C:It's about what's a, safe and B, effective.
Speaker C:You can have something that's totally safe but completely useless, and you can have something that is totally effective but then has a big risk profile.
Speaker C:So for me, I think more and more people are going to jump onto the bandwagon for sure, which is going to be great for patients and the general public.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So do you see the future of longevity aesthetics?
Speaker B:Do you see it more in senolytics, peptides, nad lasers, everything all together?
Speaker C:Probably a mixture of everything really.
Speaker C:There's so many lasers out there, RF microneedling.
Speaker C:I don't know what's happening to the sales about it with it, but a lot of my patients have kind of taken a step back from doing a lot of those treatments and wanting things that are a bit more gentle on the skin.
Speaker C:I tell our patients, you know, if you are doing something that's causing so much trauma in the hope that it repairs itself, why don't you do something that's a bit kinder to yourself, that doesn't hurt as much to get better result?
Speaker C:I know what I would choose.
Speaker B:Yes, you're right.
Speaker B:And I think people realize nowadays, I think in the olden days, in order to have success, it was always you needed to suffer.
Speaker B:Beauty is pain, the old thing.
Speaker B:And I agree with you.
Speaker B:I don't think that really applies anymore.
Speaker B:And as we said in the beginning, I think it's actually counterproductive because the pain raises the cortisol, raises the inflammation markers.
Speaker B:Inflammation to a certain extent is healthy, is good.
Speaker B:It's not that all inflammation is bad.
Speaker B:We need inflammation to survive.
Speaker B:It's just that I think people have taken it to excess.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:What in the field of this longevity aesthetics excites you the most?
Speaker C:Oh, it's funny you asked that question because I went to see a new machine yesterday actually and I've known about this machine for the past couple of months.
Speaker C:I was reading a lot of their clinical studies and papers about it.
Speaker C:I'm not going to reveal the name of the machine because I'm in talks to actually purchasing it, but it uses a fantastic new technology called Quantum magnetic resonance QMR, which basically fires out frequency to switch the M1 to M2 pathway.
Speaker C:So it literally switches off your inflammation.
Speaker C:It can thicken the dermis of the of the skin by up to 20% after a course of, I think six or eight treatments.
Speaker C:And there's no heat involved and it's very gentle, it doesn't hurt.
Speaker C:And I think this is going to change a lot of the way we view machine based treatments.
Speaker C:So that's something I'm very interested in getting.
Speaker C:I've seen the amazing before and afters for things like hair, for rosacea, for acne, for Melasma.
Speaker C:And yeah, something definitely I'm very excited about in Q1 of next year.
Speaker C:So keep your eyes peeled.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:You better got to tell me the name of that machine when we're offline.
Speaker B:And I can't wait to hear about that.
Speaker B:But that's fantastic.
Speaker B:This is great.
Speaker B:So is the market coming out with a lot of new products or is it a bit stagnant?
Speaker B:Is it a bit slow?
Speaker B:Is it sort of just in a finding itself and going down this new road of healthy beauty rather than just beauty at any price?
Speaker C:I think we're still at its infancy, really.
Speaker C:You know, if we look to the Far east and like South Korea, for example, I mean, this is not allowed in the UK or eu, but you know, they're doing things like stem cell infusions.
Speaker C:You go onto Instagram and you can you see Kim Kardashian going to Mexico getting stem cell treatments and everything.
Speaker C:And the science behind it is remarkable.
Speaker C:So I think we're still at its infancy, especially here in the uk.
Speaker C:A lot of things are not really allowed yet.
Speaker C:Let's see how things change in the next couple of years.
Speaker C:But I think it's very exciting.
Speaker C:It's an exciting time to be an aesthetic medicine moving away from just rejuvenation, but also thinking about prejuvenation.
Speaker C:So trying to extend youthful skin before the aging process takes over and before you see the signs of aging, are
Speaker B:there any simple things people can do to aid their longevity, to aid their healthier, longer living, to aid their rejuvenation of the skin or the at least not causing inflammation to the skin in their daily lives?
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I think one of the biggest things, especially living in the uk, we live in such a cold climate, you know, everyone loves a good hot shower.
Speaker C:We love a good hot bath.
Speaker C:Heat equals inflammation.
Speaker C:Inflammation equals not good for your skin.
Speaker C:So one of the things that I talked a lot with patients, unfortunately, is that you we have to stop things like super hot showers.
Speaker C:Especially getting your face into hot showers is a complete.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:I always tell patients, you need to stand in the shower looking highly offended, nose all the way up and not getting the steam and heat onto your skin.
Speaker C:People suffering with things like melasma, rosacea, led home masks are huge these days.
Speaker C:I tell my patients with rosacea with melasma not to do any of those at all.
Speaker C:Infrared, unfortunately, is very stimulatory and can actually make things a lot worse.
Speaker C:Things like a good skincare routine.
Speaker C:I talk about making and prescribing almost a skincare routine with all my patients who come to clinic and it's not just about, you know, how much actives are we using?
Speaker C:I'm not a huge fan of prescription tretinoin, to be honest with you.
Speaker C:I much prefer people using an over the counter retinol that you can use on a daily basis that is stimulating the fibroblast cells but not causing that retinization, not causing the peeling.
Speaker C:It obviously has its place.
Speaker C:You know, people with severe acne, for example, you have to have it, please go ahead.
Speaker C:But for most people, you don't need that prescription strength retinoin or retinoid into your skin.
Speaker C:A lot of times the over the counter formulations have many other benefits as well.
Speaker C:Like, you know, they put peptides in there, they can put vitamins and amino acids into the formulation, which helps support the skin in its own different way.
Speaker C:So, yeah, skincare for me is a big thing that people can kind of do at home to improve the skin, calm inflammation down a little bit and ensure skin longevity.
Speaker B:That's what people I think are coming back to, is sort of the simpler but more effective treatments and things they can do.
Speaker B:And all this rather than the all out aggressive frax laser that we had,
Speaker A:I don't know, 10, 20 years ago
Speaker B:where they would take the whole skin off.
Speaker B:I always ask my guests five rapid fire questions.
Speaker B:At the end they're called rapid fire, but you know, feel free to elaborate if you want.
Speaker B:So what's the single best piece of advice you would give your younger self?
Speaker C:Be kind to yourself.
Speaker C:Growing up in an Asian household, if you're not a lawyer, you're a doctor.
Speaker C:So unfortunately one of the stereotypes is ingrained in you to put a lot of pressure on yourself.
Speaker C:And if I could go back even five years ago, even a year ago, I would have said, you know what, it will all be fine, be kind yourself.
Speaker C:And I tell a lot of doctors starting out in the field the same thing.
Speaker C:You know, there's that pressure of doing everything.
Speaker C:You see these big names and you know you want to be like them, but you are you for a reason.
Speaker C:And if you start comparing with other people, you will A, never be happy and B, you will never be able to compete with everyone.
Speaker C:So for me, like this is not a competition.
Speaker C:Keep my head down, I hustle in silence.
Speaker C:And if it works, it works.
Speaker C:It's great, you know.
Speaker C:So, yeah, being kind to yourself I think is the biggest thing I would say to myself.
Speaker B:Name one habit everyone should adopt for a longer, healthier life.
Speaker C:Exercise.
Speaker C:Exercise, exercise.
Speaker C:Movement is medicine.
Speaker C:Lifting Weights, for example, is going to prevent you from.
Speaker C:From losing muscle mass.
Speaker C:It's going to prevent osteoporosis.
Speaker C:And there's good evidence behind all this.
Speaker C:Also.
Speaker C:It makes you feel really great about yourself.
Speaker C:You get that endorphin release, you feel better, you look better instantly.
Speaker C:And who doesn't want to look good naked?
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:But you know what?
Speaker B:You're going to love every single person that I've asked that question.
Speaker B:And, you know, I speak to people in all different fields.
Speaker B:Medics, researchers, investors.
Speaker B:I think 99% have given me the same answer.
Speaker B:It says a lot for our society in that sense, at least that it's moving in the right direction and people notice how important movement is and, you know, lifting weights and all these things.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:And it's even little things, you know, like, don't take the lift, walk the stairs.
Speaker C:Probably gets you there quicker.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:If you take the tube, get up one stop earlier and exhort the rest.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:It's the little.
Speaker C:Only if it doesn't rain, though.
Speaker B:If you weren't in the longevity science field, what field would you have chosen?
Speaker C:So a completely different feel from medicine.
Speaker C:I would have been in fashion.
Speaker C:I love fashion, so.
Speaker C:But it's not part of the list for Asian families.
Speaker C:As an Asian child, you're not allowed to be in fashion.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker C:Either a teacher, lawyer, or doctor.
Speaker B:You look like you are in fashion, is the truth.
Speaker B:If people would see you, they'd think, oh, who is this glowing person with this impeccable sense of style?
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Microdose habit sort of five minute routine yields outsized longevity benefits.
Speaker C:Meditation.
Speaker C:Everybody has a lot going on all the time.
Speaker C:But I think that little five minutes, whether you are closing your eyes, reflect on the day, whether it's taking that five minutes to do a skincare routine, all that really, really counts.
Speaker C:Even if it's to just unpack the day.
Speaker C:And you know what?
Speaker C:Today was a bad day effort.
Speaker C:I'm done with today.
Speaker C:Or you know what?
Speaker C:Today was a great day.
Speaker C:I did something great.
Speaker C:I changed someone's skin.
Speaker C:I made someone smile, I made someone laugh.
Speaker C:Even if it's walking down the street and he's saying to someone, you know what?
Speaker C:I love that jacket.
Speaker C:I love your dog.
Speaker C:Take that five minutes for yourself.
Speaker C:I think it's incredibly important.
Speaker B:Very true.
Speaker B:I don't know how you manage the five minutes in your busy life, but if you can do it, I think we all can do it.
Speaker C:I do it when I'm applying the creams under skin.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:Last question.
Speaker B:What's the craziest longevity myth you've encountered and is there any truth to it?
Speaker C:Ooh, craziest longevity myth.
Speaker C:I think there's a lot of companies or people promoting superfoods, which, I mean, in essence, like, yes, if blueberries are great, are you going to eat a whole kilo of it a day?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:I think a couple of years ago, kale was everywhere.
Speaker C:You couldn't escape a restaurant serving bloody kale.
Speaker C:And I was all K out, actually.
Speaker C:Glad that now people are a little bit more balanced and it's a bit more of an awareness of these.
Speaker C:Superfoods are not a thing.
Speaker C:Yes, variety is the spice of life, in my opinion.
Speaker C:So having a little bit of everything, like, you know, come on, I like fried chicken.
Speaker C:I'm going to eat fried chicken.
Speaker C:I don't have every day at the same time.
Speaker C:Yeah, I like berries, but how much berries can you eat a day?
Speaker B:Very true, very true.
Speaker B:Well, Dr. Brandon, thank you so much for coming on Beyond Long vein.
Speaker C:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker B:It was such a pleasure.
Speaker B:It was such a joy.
Speaker B:Could have talked to you for hours on end.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Same here.
Speaker B:And I loved looking at you.
Speaker B:It was a joy.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:What I appreciate in this discussion is that it may moves aesthetic medicine beyond surface level intervention and into a more biologically informed conversation.
Speaker A:We talked about inflammaging this persistent low grade inflammatory state that quietly accelerates aging and how regenerative treatments and lasers are being positioned not simply as cosmetic tools, but as ways of supporting cellular repair and resilience.
Speaker A:Thank you, Dr. Brandon, for sharing your perspective and for helping us think about how appearance, inflammation and systemic health may be more interconnected than we once assumed.
Speaker A:Subscribe to Beyond Longevity on your preferred podcast platform and join us in advancing the conversation around aging.
Speaker A:Let's redefine what it means to live longer, to live healthier.
Speaker A:This is your invitation to understand the future.
Speaker A:One discovery, one insight, and one conversation at a time.
