Given the long list of major catastrophes in the world (melting polar ice, devastating wars, the disappearance of early bird specials, etc.), I'm not sure why so many people want to live forever. But they do, and the multibillion-dollar longevity industry is booming.
Supplements, skin care products, cosmetic surgery, books, diets, podcasts, exercise routines – all of this is available to anyone who wants to stop or reverse the aging process, or at least try.
David Sinclair, a 54-year-old Harvard geneticist, told Fortune magazine that he is reverting to his 20-year-old brain. He follows a plant-based diet with supplements designed to jump-start his longevity genes. He also managed to boost his bank account with a best-selling book called “Life Span: Why We Age and Why We Don't Have to.”
California is about to be hit by a wave of aging populations, and Steve Lopez is taking advantage of it. His column focuses on the blessings and burdens of old age and how some people are challenging the stigma associated with older adults.
Los Angeles-based tech entrepreneur and anti-aging guru Bryan Johnson takes it a step further. He's 46 in real time, but he's trying to get back to 18. He says death is optional and presumably less likely if you sign up for his $333 monthly line of add-on products. Johnson takes approximately 100 supplements daily and performs about two dozen exercises. He wears a T-shirt that says “Don't Die,” eats something he calls “pecan pudding,” and sleeps with a penis monitor to count nighttime erections.
A routine like that would actually shorten my life, because after about a week, I would throw myself in front of a bus.
Fortunately, not everyone is easily fooled by claims of immortality. Charles Brenner, an acclaimed authority on metabolism and disease, first contacted me a year ago to say, “I'm very bothered by the nonsense…claims of longevity science.”
The City of Hope biochemist has used science to find holes in claim after claim about life extension, including those of Sinclair and Johnson, and has become known as the longevity skeptic and the great debunker.
When we met for a cup of coffee one recent morning in the Sierra Madre, he began the conversation with a reference to the Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote about soaking in magical waters that can keep you forever young. But there was no fountain of youth back then, Brenner noted, and the latest claims about its existence are sure to ultimately disappoint the long lines of lemmings.
“Partly, it's the media and a cult of youth as opposed to respect for aging and wisdom,” Brenner said. “We all want to preserve our facilities and our ability to help others, so I think that's normal and healthy. But there is a lot of anxiety that is driving the anti-aging obsession, and I think there has been some false promises and confusion from some figures at the interface of academia and investment.”
That's not to say there aren't paths to a healthier life, or that there isn't promising research on the detection, prevention, and treatment of life-shortening diseases. Brenner discovered in his own research that a vitamin called nicotinamide riboside is useful “in promoting resilience and repair in aging. “We are conducting randomized clinical trials to test its effectiveness in a variety of age-related conditions,” including Parkinson's disease. “I don't think it's going to prolong lifespan,” he said, “but I do think … it's something that can help people maintain their resilience.”
This raises an important distinction: that medical advances and healthier lifestyles can help us extend our health, if not our life. We all have to eventually “leave the party of life,” as Brenner says, but there is hope that we can enjoy healthier, more active years while we are on our feet.
Psychology professor Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Longevity Center, said she knows of no evidence that we can live forever, or what kind of nightmare that might be.
“People are benefiting greatly from what could be a scam,” he said. “But the scientific community doesn't know what the best measures are right now, and we don't want to stop people from looking for them.”
In Carstensen's view, we have an astronomically expensive disease-care system instead of a health system, and she wouldn't bet a dime on reform by the federal government. She therefore remains hopeful that the private sector will make legitimate forays into early detection and intervention. As an example, she points out that preventing diabetes is much less expensive than treating it.
“Geroscience is often misrepresented as helping people live forever. It's not. “It’s about health duration and altering the processes that put us at risk for virtually all diseases,” Carstensen said.
Just before meeting with Brenner, a public relations firm offered me an interview with Irina Conboy, a UC Berkeley professor who co-founded a company called Generation Lab. I was skeptical at first because the pitch said Conboy was responsible for a series of ” advances in research…on the discovery that aging is malleable and can be rapidly reversed by rejuvenating blood circulation.”
Another fountain of youth proposal?
But the same speech said Generation Lab's process involves peer-reviewed science and employs a series of mouth swab tests “to measure clinically relevant biological 'red flags' that inform biological age and disease risk.” Clients would receive an assessment of the status of their cardiac, respiratory, urinary and other body systems and, through collaboration with a physician, interventions could be prescribed to “address the conditions that rob people of their quality of life and independence.” as they age, extending the span of human health.”
Conboy told Fortune that he was trying to steer people away “from the dangers of pseudolongevity.” He said that “aging is not something set in stone like a train moving on the tracks” and that “the overall goal is to delay or perhaps reverse or even prevent disease.”
Can Generation Lab deliver on its promises? That remains to be seen, but more than 1,000 people are already on the waiting list for the cheek swab procedure, which costs $400. And that raises a question of medical ethics.
We already have an inequity crisis when it comes to access to quality diagnostics and healthcare. As the world's unprecedented age wave accelerates and the percentage of older people grows, are we setting up new barriers between those who can and cannot afford the latest trials and interventions?
“We're trying to make this as accessible as possible” and make Generation Lab cheaper after March testing begins, said CEO Alina Rui Su, who told me one goal is to eventually lower the price of admission. .
I told Conboy that the thought of wiping my cheek and waiting for the results, which could be alarming, might keep me awake at night. And what's wrong with getting regular checkups with my doctor, the old-fashioned way?
Those checks won't necessarily identify early signs of problems, he said, but the Generation Lab's diagnostics might.
“Would you like to know that within three or five years you could develop a serious cancer and knowing this could allow you to” begin interventions? she asked.
Good question. I guess so, although I think I'll wait until the price drops.
Without a doubt, getting more out of our limited time is a worthwhile effort. But at the risk of being a spoilsport, let's not forget that we are all dying. Despite the claims of some, it is the natural order. And there is an aspect of the longevity boom that sees aging and old age as a miserable disease to be avoided at all costs. If that's your perspective, stress alone could kill you, no matter how many pills you take.
My free amateur geroscience prescription is to avoid buying snake oil, skip penis monitors, eat well and sleep well, get some exercise, and do things that give you a sense of purpose and pleasure.
If that helps you today, try again tomorrow.
