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Frequently asked questions

Honest answers to the questions we hear most.

If your question isn't answered here, contact our scientific team - we read everything.

Questions and answers

01

What does suPAR actually measure?#

suPAR stands for soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor. It is a protein released into your bloodstream by activated immune cells. When your immune system is in a state of chronic low-grade activation - which is the underlying biology of inflammaging - your suPAR level rises.

It is, in effect, a measure of how hard your immune system has been working over time. And because chronic immune activation is one of the major drivers of long-term health decline, your suPAR level turns out to be one of the strongest single blood markers we have of long-term health risk.

It is not measuring a specific disease. It is measuring the inflammatory state that contributes to many diseases - which is exactly why it tracks so well with healthspan and aging trajectory.

02

How is suPAR different from CRP?#

This is the question that matters most to clinicians and we want to answer it carefully.

CRP, or C-reactive protein, is the most widely used clinical marker of inflammation. It is excellent for detecting acute inflammation - an infection, an injury, a hard workout, a poor night's sleep. The problem with CRP for healthspan tracking is that it fluctuates substantially day to day. If you measure your CRP this Monday and again next Monday, the two numbers can be meaningfully different even if nothing about your long-term health has changed.

suPAR is stable. It captures the chronic, low-grade inflammatory load you are carrying, not the acute fluctuation of any given week. Its intra-individual coefficient of variation over short timeframes is substantially lower than CRP's, which means that when your suPAR changes, the change is meaningful.

A clinician we work with put it this way: CRP tells you whether you have a cold this week. suPAR tells you whether your body is aging faster than it should.

Both have a role. For chronic inflammation and healthspan tracking, suPAR is the more informative measurement.

03

How is suPAR different from a methylation or epigenetic clock?#

Methylation clocks measure patterns of DNA methylation at hundreds of thousands of sites across your genome, and translate those patterns into an estimated biological age or pace of aging. They are remarkable research tools and have advanced our understanding of cellular aging significantly.

suPAR is fundamentally different. It is a single, clinically validated protein measured by an established immunoassay. The underlying biology is direct rather than statistical: suPAR levels reflect a real, ongoing biological process (chronic immune activation) that has clear mechanistic links to aging.

The practical differences for someone trying to track their own trajectory:

  • Regulatory status. Supar® is based on a CE-IVD certified clinical assay used in hospitals worldwide. Methylation tests for biological age are wellness assays. This affects how much regulatory rigor sits behind the measurement.
  • Test-retest reliability at the individual level. Single-analyte immunoassays generally have higher individual reliability than methylation arrays.
  • Responsiveness to lifestyle change. suPAR has well-documented responsiveness to smoking cessation, weight loss, exercise, sleep, and dietary improvement in published studies. Most methylation clocks have shown limited responsiveness in intervention trials.
  • Turnaround. Days, not weeks.

We have a more detailed comparison on our comparison page.

04

Is suPAR a diagnostic test?#

No. This is an important distinction.

The Supar® test is based on a CE-IVD certified assay, Suparnostic®, a diagnostic biomarker - it has a regulatory pedigree as a clinical test. But the Supar® Health Trajectory Report, which translates your result into a healthspan and aging context, is a wellness assessment. It is intended to be used by a qualified healthcare professional as part of a broader clinical picture.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any specific disease. We are explicit about this throughout the platform.

If your result raises questions about your health, the answers come from your physician - not from a software output.

We are currently conducting the clinical performance evaluation required to submit our reporting layer for IVDR certification. That work is ongoing.

05

How often should I retest?#

The value of suPAR is in the trajectory, not the snapshot. We recommend a baseline test followed by repeat testing at three to six month intervals if you are actively working on health optimization, or annually for general healthspan monitoring.

The reason for this cadence is biological. Most lifestyle interventions that affect chronic inflammation take weeks to months to register their full effect on suPAR. Re-testing too soon can give you a noisy read of a change that has not yet stabilized. Re-testing too late means you miss the chance to course-correct.

Your physician or the clinician interpreting your results can recommend a specific cadence based on what you are doing and what your starting baseline looks like.

06

What can I do to lower my suPAR?#

The interventions that lower suPAR are, broadly, the same interventions that improve healthspan in the published literature. The biology is consistent.

  • Smoking cessation. Among the strongest single interventions; the effect is measurable within months.
  • Weight loss (specifically visceral fat reduction). Reduces inflammatory signaling broadly.
  • Regular structured exercise. Both aerobic and resistance training.
  • Reduced alcohol consumption. Heavy alcohol use is a substantial driver of chronic immune activation.
  • Improved sleep quality and quantity. Chronic sleep loss is a documented driver of inflammatory markers including suPAR.
  • Dietary improvement. Mediterranean-pattern diets, reduced ultra-processed food, adequate fiber and omega-3 intake.
  • Stress management. Chronic psychological stress drives inflammatory load.

These should not be a surprise. What suPAR offers is a way to actually verify that what you are doing is working - to see the trajectory bend.

Specific intervention protocols are something to develop with your clinician.

07

Who interprets my result?#

Every Supar® test through Supar Health is interpreted by a qualified clinician. This is non-negotiable in our model.

For consumers ordering a home kit, a partner clinician reviews your result and provides interpretation through the platform. For patients tested through a partner clinic, your treating physician interprets the result and discusses it with you directly.

We sell to clinics, not to consumers without clinical oversight. We do this because we believe a clinical-grade biomarker deserves a clinical-grade interpretation - and because the report you receive is a wellness assessment intended to be used within a doctor-patient relationship.

08

What if my result is high?#

A high suPAR result is information, not a diagnosis. It tells you that your underlying chronic inflammatory load is elevated relative to population norms for your age and sex. That signal is meaningful - but it is not a verdict on any specific disease.

The clinically appropriate response to a high suPAR result is a conversation with your physician about:

  • What might be driving the elevation (lifestyle factors, underlying conditions, medications, recent illness)
  • Whether further evaluation is warranted
  • What targeted interventions might be effective for you
  • When to retest

Many people with elevated suPAR are able to lower it substantially with lifestyle changes. Some elevations point to underlying conditions that benefit from medical attention. The interpretation is always individual, and always clinical.

09

What is the difference between the home kit and the clinic option?#

Both use the same clinically validated suPAR assay, analyzed in our own laboratory.

The home kit uses a capillary blood collection device that you use yourself, with prepaid postage back to our lab. You receive your result in your secure dashboard, with interpretation from a partner clinician. It is convenient, accessible, and well-suited for repeat tracking once you have an established relationship with our clinical partners.

The clinic option involves a standard venous draw at a partner clinic, alongside a full clinician-led consultation. This is the right entry point if you want suPAR testing integrated into a broader healthspan or optimization workup, or if you want to discuss your result face-to-face with a clinician who knows your full health picture.

Many of our users start with the clinic option to establish a clinical relationship, then use home kits for subsequent tracking.

10

Where is the test analyzed?#

In our own laboratory in Hellerup, Denmark. We do not outsource analysis to third parties. This is deliberate.

Running the assay in-house lets us maintain rigorous quality control, fast turnaround, and direct accountability for every result. It also lets us continuously refine our analytical processes as we accumulate clinical experience.

All sample handling complies with European data protection requirements under GDPR.

11

How accurate is the test?#

The Supar® test is based on a clinically validated assay CE-IVD certified in vitro diagnostic. Its analytical performance specifications - precision, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, linearity, interference profile - are formally documented and meet the requirements for clinical use under IVDR.

The intra-assay coefficient of variation is among the lowest of any biomarker in the biological age category, which is one of the reasons longitudinal tracking is so reliable with suPAR. When your number changes, you can trust the change.

For technical performance details, our scientific documentation is available on request.

12

How much does it cost?#

€195 per test

We are committed to keeping Supar® testing meaningfully accessible. One of the design principles of Supar Health is that a clinically validated measurement of long-term health should not require a private medical concierge to access. The pricing reflects that commitment.

For partner clinics, we offer tiered pricing structures based on volume - please see our partner clinic application page for details.

13

Can suPAR replace my annual physical?#

No - and we would not want it to. suPAR is one input into understanding your health. A complete picture also includes a thorough history, physical examination, conventional blood panels, age-appropriate screening, and the clinical judgment of a physician who knows you.

What suPAR adds is a clinically grounded, longitudinally trackable measure of chronic inflammatory load and long-term risk that conventional panels do not capture. Think of it as a complement to, not a replacement for, the rest of preventive care.

The right way to use suPAR is as part of a healthspan strategy developed with a clinician you trust.

14

Is suPAR right for people of all ages?#

suPAR is meaningful across the adult lifespan. Healthy reference ranges shift with age, sex, and ethnicity, and the published reference data accounts for this. We do not currently offer testing for children or adolescents.

For most people, the value of Supar® testing increases with age - partly because chronic inflammation accumulates over decades, and partly because the longer your healthspan-tracking timeline, the more useful a stable trackable signal becomes. That said, younger adults who are seriously invested in long-term health optimization often find suPAR informative as a baseline to track from.

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