The only thing money can't buy is time. But America's super-wealthy are now doing everything they can to change that, pouring money into research and expensive treatments to slow or reverse the process of aging.
Look at tech billionaire Brian Johnson, 46. He spends about $2 million a year on his quest to turn back time.
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Johnson's administration included treatments that included taking dozens of supplements, a vegan diet, gene injections, and infamously received a plasma transfusion from his teenage son (which later proved ineffective). ).
Some clinics and practitioners offer experimental treatments, while others claim that their methods are based on science and proven to be effective. However, access to quality often comes at a price.
And as Matt Fellowes, an advisory board member at the Stanford Longevity Center and co-founder of health insights platform Versant, points out, that creates a huge opportunity for predatory and fraudulent products.
“The reality is that our health care system is designed to keep people alive, not to keep them healthy,” Fellows told Moneywise via email. “And the lack of health-focused professionals has led to the rise of a $400 billion wellness economy that is largely unregulated and often filled with ineffective products. .”
Interest in the field of longevity is increasing
The coronavirus pandemic may have sparked a surge of interest in the wellness field, but humans have always been intrigued by the possibility of extending lifespans.
However, as advances in science and technology have led Americans to live longer lives, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes has also increased.
Meanwhile, a group of ultra-wealthy individuals interested in extending lifespans and promoting healthy aging is emerging, Fellows said. And, in turn, this elite group is driving even more media coverage, research, and interest in longevity medicine.
“Despite the fact that we still have the evidence needed to verify many things, [longevity medicine]”Wealthy people have the luxury of trying a lot to find out what works,” he explains.
According to the Wall Street Journal, there is no official number of longevity clinics in the United States, but industry estimates range from 50 to 800. The publication reports that an analysis by longevity research and media company Longevity.Technology found that venture capital investment in clinics more than doubled from $27 million to $57 million worldwide from 2021 to 2022. It has also been reported that it has been found.
But drinking the fountain of youth comes at a high price. Many clinics are science-based and have teams of specialists such as internists, cardiologists, dermatologists, nutritionists, and even geneticists and epidemiologists. They are more likely to cost more and have higher goals. It's a household with an income, Fellows said.
Additionally, clinic admission fees can reach $100,000 per year in the United States, and many of these services are not covered by standard health insurance.
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How do you measure the effectiveness of longevity medicine?
However, it is not only the ultra-wealthy who are interested in extending and improving the quality of their lives. Dr. Andrea Meyer is Professor of Medicine and Health Aging and Co-Director of the Center for Healthy Longevity in Singapore, where she works with patients of all ages and income groups.
Meyer has her own private longevity clinic, but she also works at a publicly funded hospital longevity clinic where patients can receive some of their treatment through their health insurance.
However, the majority of her clients are people between the ages of 45 and 65 who are concerned about developing age-related diseases and have disposable income to invest in themselves.
Through procedures such as blood tests, cognitive tasks, and physical performance, evidence-based clinics like Meyer's may test for “biomarkers” that can cause people to age differently than their chronological age.
Treatment should be tailored specifically to the patient's biology and needs, not just recommending specific supplements, dietary, or lifestyle changes (such as cutting back on sugar in coffee or quitting smoking).
While she said that, Possible For patients who do not want to completely change their lives, it is often more practical to turn back the clock by 3 to 5 years to bring back up to 20 years of biological age. Meyer said patients often see results within four to six months, but because humans are constantly aging, patients must maintain lifestyle changes to maintain those results. It is said that it is necessary.
But Meyer says another important indicator to consider is the degree to which people contribute to society (before and after receiving treatment), such as their productivity at work and their mental health, through their relationships and outlook on life. It states that.
Problems with longevity clinics
While accessibility is important, there are also issues of safety and efficacy for longevity products.
“The challenge is that our field is unregulated at the moment,” Meyer admits. “Every doctor can say: 'I am.' [practice] Although it is advertised as “healthy and long life,'' it does not mean that you will get something of high quality. ”
Mr. Meyer helps manage the Society for Health and Geriatric Medicine, an international organization founded in 2022. The association works to set and promote professional standards for longevity medicine and to promote accreditation and qualifications for medical practitioners.
She believes that increased demand and research will make the treatment even more cost-effective and available to the general public. She compares the Longevity Clinic to a cell phone. Although mobile phones were initially considered a luxury item, they have now become commonplace across income groups around the world.
Of course, we still have a long way to go before longevity treatments become as popular as cell phones. Like other conventional drugs and treatments in development, longevity treatments need to be tested in controlled environments to determine what works and what can be invested in, Meyer says. .
But she points out that there are some clinics where patients like Johnson, for example, may be willing to try experimental procedures to reverse their biological age.
Meyer emphasizes that when it comes to their bodies, it's important for clients to do their research and compare what different clinics have to offer.
“If someone tells you that one infusion will make you 10 years younger and more beautiful, that may not be the case in many cases, because it takes time to change your biology,” she warns.
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