Thanks for asking and sharing, Bob.
There are two Withings scales that capture PWV (for their calculation of vascular age). The current models are: (1) Body Scan (here in EU @ 400 Euros), and (2) the Body Comp (200 Euro). You might get the latter’s predecessor Body Cardio at a reduced price from some sellers. It’s the one I have been using at home for the past 2 years. The extra costs for the high-end model Body Scan are only justified if you are keen on getting the scale’s feedback on heart rate analysis. The body composition feature does not justify it at all. These bioimpedance measurements are notoriously unreliable. In the past during one of my research projects I investigated their utility, and found them absolutely useless. So, don’t fall for the glossy brochures, neither from Withings nor any other manufacturer. The only true body composition values you can get are from a DEXA scan.
Outside Europe, the Withings app does not display the PWV metric as such, only the derived vascular age, which is too insensitive to use as a feedback biomarker for the effectiveness of your self-experimental intervention. The reason is that the FDA requires PWV devices to be registered medical devices. The EMA here in EU takes a more relaxed view on that.
But there are two ways for you to get around this issue (if you reside outside the EU). Since the scale requires the PWV measurement to arrive at its age-estimation, the data are on your file on the Withings server. If you download the data as a spreadsheet file, you see the PWV values. The second option is via our LiLo application. I have written about it in an earlier post (https://medium.com/read-or-die-hq/wanna-reverse-aging-how-scientists-help-you-sidestep-the-fdas-taboo-7dd23d184457) and you can take a look at it on our website (https://www.adiphea.com/en/home/).
If you are serious about conducting some self-experiment, I invite you to use it as beta-tester (no charges involved). Just contact me via our contact page (https://www.adiphea.com/en/solutions/contact/) and give me some background on your health status and your health objectives (your mail will come directly to me and won’t be seen by anybody else).
