1mo ago

Longevity-obsessed tech millionaire discontinues de-aging drug out of concerns that it aged him

gizmodo.com Longevity-Obsessed Tech Millionaire Discontinues De-Aging Drug Out of Concerns That It Aged Him

The tech centimillionaire, who is known for taking droves of wellness supplements, has backtracked on one of his special pills.

Summary

Bryan Johnson, a 46-year-old tech multimillionaire focused on anti-aging, stopped using rapamycin—a supplement he took for five years—after research suggested it might accelerate aging.

Johnson cited side effects like skin infections and glucose issues, as well as findings from a recent study showing rapamycin could worsen epigenetic aging.

Known for extreme anti-aging experiments, Johnson also created the health startup Blueprint, which markets pricey supplements.

His controversial methods, including teenage blood transfusions and genital shock treatments, have raised skepticism about their effectiveness and safety.

Not The Onion @lemmy.world

Gregor @gregtech.eu

1mo ago

Longevity-Obsessed Tech Millionaire Discontinues De-Aging Drug Out of Concerns That It Aged Him

gizmodo.com /longevity-obsessed-tech-millionaire-discontinues-de-aging-drug-out-of-concerns-that-it-aged-him-2000549377

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105 comments

It's an unpopular opinion, but I actually appreciate this guy and what he is doing. He has opted to open his entire research and data to anyone that wants to look at it. So, even though he is definitely a weirdo, the data he is providing might be of some use.
I don't want to look like a vampire, but if his research leads to the discovery of some protein that allows my heart to beat at full strength for a little longer, or slows down the onset of dementia, etc., then I'm all for him wasting his money trying to look like a Twilight cast member.
- I like that he's willing to really fuck up his own body to see what happens. I don’t like that he's peddling supplements.
  
  Notice I used the word "appreciate" instead of "like".
- But he's involving so many variables, is his data even useful? I don't understand how you could extrapolate anything from a guy who takes so many supplements that may cause conflicting outcomes.
  
  Someone who has a background in science would know that testing on a single person is not very useful for what other posters are wishing for (new proteins, new anti aging treatments).
  This billionaire has age dysmorphia and is using his wealth to experiment around. It’s unfortunate really.
  
  Yes, because anything that looks promising can be pulled out as a hypothesis to be tested properly.
- This isn't real research ... it's just a millionaire spending money on trying to live longer for themselves while selling and marketing products on the side.
  If it were real research, it would involve a group of recognized researchers and scientists testing products and activities on a small group of volunteers who are fully aware of what they are participating in. And the research has to last for several years using multiple controls.
  Watching one guy testing and trying out a few things whenever he feels like it and done at his own whim and under only his opinion and likes and dislikes is not research.
  The biggest contribution he has to longevity is in promoting and advertising the fact that one of the ways to extend your lifespan is to become a millionaire.
  
  Someone testing on themselves is how we learned what causes and how to treat ulcers (the researcher earned a Nobel prize for giving himself an ulcer, and then treating it), among other things.
  Controlled trials are great, but research has to start somewhere.
  
  You're telling me that shocking one's nards on a hunch and writing it down isn't real research?
  I'm starting to think I know nothing about science. What have I been doing?
  
  If it were real research, it would involve a group of recognized researchers and scientists testing products and activities on a small group of volunteers who are fully aware of what they are participating in. And the research has to last for several years using multiple controls.
  For most of the time since the start of the Scientific Revolution, the way this guy does research was the standard way that research was done. Controlled clinical trials certainly have an important role in the development of new medicines, but they're slow and expensive. They aren't good tools for quickly trying out a lot of very speculative ideas. I expect that if a powerful anti-aging technique is discovered, it will be used for self-experimentation years before a clinical trial.
  A couple of caveats: first, I think that a powerful anti-aging technique is probably not possible with today's technology or the technology of the near future. Second, I think the self-experimentation is more likely to be done by a scientist in an academic lab studying senescence than by someone doing research outside of academia.
- A sample size of one is pretty much useless. The only good thing to come out of his work is the publicity and public interest in anti aging imo.
  
  Single case design is a field of a research that can provide a great deal of value on efficacy for worth of larger trials but the way he’s approaching it, as others have said, is functionally useless. The data is likely pointless if you’ve thrown 100 confounding variables at the wall to see what sticks
- It's one guy who is going through like a million treatments.
  It's cool that the data is available but what helpful information can be gained from it other than "what happens if you do jackass but healthy?"

- I just watched this movie again today, wasn’t expecting a meme of it so quickly!
  
  I know it's not the popular choice, but Last Crusade is by far my favorite of the Franchise. I re-watch it way more than Raiders.

Hah, sounds like his "research" is trying it out on himself and deciding he didn't like it. And now that he doesn't like it, all of a sudden he finds the research valid. He's still only listening to opinions he agrees with. What a shallow twat.

Watched the documentary with a friend; we were trying to guess his age. We agreed on "decent looking for 55". He's 47 lol.
- People who are obsessed with some physical quality about themselves always make whatever the issue is, like 1000% worse than if they just left it alone and lived normally.
- His face looks old enough to make his hair look unnatural.
  
  It looks like a wig.

Rapamycin
It's not just "one of many" it was the big one that has a large online following swearing by it, and lots of idiots taking it.
Also I can't see a pic of this guy without thinking of Dennis Reynolds asking if he should wear a mask of his own face.
- Every time I think of Dennis Reynolds, I'm reminded of the episode where he tries to sell his car that got stuck in water, and he berates the guy for mentioning how the car isn't even runnable.
- Lol he even has "big hair". I bet this guy is a blast to be around. Yikes.
  
  Is he buddy's with Peter thiel and all the vampires that support trump and want to live forever

"genital shock treatments"
Ok..... how did someone sell that as an anti-aging treatment?
- The salesman: "anti-what?"
  
  The passing of time must be stored in the balls.
- I don't usually like salespeople, but this one I like a lot.
- My guess would be Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.
- I'm choosing to read that as someone is screwing with him.

this guy sucks. He's conducting essentially a thousand uncontrolled trials on himself making them all useless unless he dies of a new contraindiction
- Why does he suck though? Aren't we all conducting uncontrolled trials on ourselves? Better that, than doing it on other people, right?
  
  I think what they meant is even if he finds something that works, the data can't be trusted, which will heavily delay things like doing it properly.
  
  He'll probably kill a multimillionaire and will not even be a crime
  
  He's doing what all of us are doing which is why the whole article is just ego fellatio for a rich dullard.

I watched his video describing a day in his life, sleep at 8pm and wake up at 5am, then take 50 pills, his whole day revolved around preparing for sleep, which he said was the most important thing, so I guess he's right about that. But just thinking a tiny change in his life, even travelling, will upset this routine, then what, the stress from that routine is probably aging him the most.
- That’s the thing, he might live a bit longer but at what cost? I would much rather enjoy my life than by a slave to a miserable routine dedicated to promoting longevity that will potentially buy me an extra decade. Like I can just eat a somewhat reasonable diet, exercise, sleep okay and with decent genetics based on my parents and grandparents I will probably make it to at least mid to late 80s, maybe longer if medicine advances. If I had genetics that suggested a strong likelihood that I would die in my 60s I would maybe be more interested
  With this guys routine I could maybe push that to 100ish? I would certainly love to extend my life but not at the cost of it consuming my life. I assume he’s banking on getting to the theoretical max though, which is probably closer to 120ish, and that is substantial but then it’s like a few decades of extremely decreased mobility and mental acuity? Eh
  And of course this all disregards the potential that you get cancer, murdered, car accident, etc.
  
  I truly believe he loves doing this so no cost to him as far as mental health/stress goes. Sounds like you are doing most things right so that pretty much covers the 80/20 rule. Johnson is trying to live indefinitely without losing mobility or mental faculties. It's great that we have someone testing things out and adjusting when things don't work.

I'm in my forties and he doesn't look noticeably younger than I do except for my hair being salt and pepper. I don't look exceptionally young or anything, it just doesn't seem like his regimen is really doing anything that diet, exercise, and sunscreen can't also accomplish.
- I can imagine that having a hyperfocus on anti-aging and unstoppably aging at the same time, must be really stressful and at the end of the day, ends up contributing to a faster aging overall.
- Yeah I remember seeing some stupid post somewhere about this guy saying "can you believe this man is only 45" and everyone in the comments saying "um yes that is what 45 year olds look like."
- I think to be fair, you've got to compare his before and after, rather than comparing him to anyone else.
  I certainly wouldn't say he looks young, but I think he's on a better trajectory.

I bet I live longer than him, and on a shoestring budget

This dude is just going to spend a bunch of money on shit that will eventually kill him. What a waste.
- What an efficient allocation of capital!
- That's what we all do every day, this guy just has more to spend
  
  Nah some of the shit we buy sustains us, and some of the killer shit we buy at least provides joy. This guy is just a miserable, wasteful asshole.
  
  You have to see this guy's routine. His life is built around attempting to extend his longevity. He lives like a luxurious lab rat being pocked, prodded, measured and eats/drinks/sleeps/exercises on a ultra-strick program.
  It seems miserable.

The Dennis System for Aging
- He just hit the final S in that system
  He probably should have taken this medication under the supervision of Dr. Toboggan.
- If I was old I'd simply say: Old age begone!

This guy looks like he's 60 cosplaying as a 20 year old
- If it kills him sooner, that’s one less oligarchs billionaire to worry about.

The guy looks like one of those Kraftwerk robots.

Had to check this wasn’t nottheonion

Lmao the picture of this dude is like Paul Rudd on Star Trek

Is this the trickle down economics everyone is talking about? shall we again start selling uranium, platinum etc beverages to the rich?
He has a team for this?
“Despite the immense potential from pre-clinical trials, my team and I came to the conclusion..."
Forget trickle down economics, this is insane just bring the guillotines.
- It's so completely unfair that idiots like this guy make millions of snake oil "experiments" that don't even work, but people who dedicate all their time and energy into a labor of love are left to rot

When you’ve got everything in life and all you want to do is live longer.
instead of helping the billions living in squalor and dying premature deaths.
- If he hits on an effective anti-aging treatment from his efforts then he'll help billions that way instead. Pretty much everyone eventually suffers from aging if they live long enough.
  
  I applaud your otimism in thinking it will be democratised and not a luxury for wealthy classes.
- At this rate, he can likely claim solitude regarding the premature deaths
  Edit: solidarity not solitude. My brain broke this morning.

I still can’t believe he took his kid’s blood to try to live longer.
Is it wrong to wish him success in his quest for longevity with a side of quadriplegia?

I see the proud tradition of drinking mercury concoctions is alive and well. I mean, not well, but...
- Would be nice if the dude just went ahead and dove into taoist alchemy instead of trying to create a veneer of actual science.

I ran across a YouTube video of this guy a couple months ago because a popular YT fitness guy (rock climber) I watch went and interviewed him and did some physical 'age tests' with him as well as just talk about his daily routines.
He doesn't come across as batshit crazy in the video, but obviously he's a bit obsessive over this whole thing.
The funniest part about it was that Magnus (Climber) matched or exceeded him in almost all the physical 'age tests' they performed. Of course, Magnus would also outperform most other people in most physical tests but that didn't make it any less humorous. On the "not as batshit as I imagined" list, he also seemed fairly supportive/genuine of Magnus' results/abilities during the video.
https://youtu.be/G7b28Vm9-O0
- Regular physical activity and spending some time outdoors is more beneficial than injecting weird shit, who knew?
  You can't fight bad habits with supplements.
  
  I don't believe this guy (Bryan) has a lot of bad habits, his whole life seems to revolve around this life extending plan. I'm not at all defending/justifying him, but he had a pretty good answer regarding what supplements are best when Magnus asked. His response was "The ones you are deficient in"
  Again, as I said above, in the linked video he doesn't scream "batshit crazy" but just really eccentric!
  
  He also exercises and eating healthy though. He isn’t just popping pills and pray for the best.

genital shock treatments
We're going on a Holiday...
It's pretty wild someone like this is so high on his own supply that he bought into his own bullshit.
- so high on his own supply
  I'm out of the loop, I don't know who he is and I'm not sure I've heard about the drug earlier. But IMO, at least he did that. Instead of only peddling dreams to others for a hefty price
  
  hefty price
  If this is the guy I'm thinking of, he's doing both.
  Extreme workouts, diets, medical interventions (blood transfusions, etc.), general body weirdness that would be classed as some variety of anorexia nervosa if he were younger and poorer, and a regimen of pills. He's selling the pills.
  Oh, and ladies? He's looking to to reenter the dating market. I guess that's neither here nor there, but for some reason he's available!!!

It would be hilarious if the societal collapse caused by wealth inequality resulted in him getting murdered. I would laugh and laugh.
- To think that a societal collapse would stop a billionaire from hiring armed guards is absurd. By the time that guy is murdered, you'll be so long dead.
  
  Who cares at that point?

Dude looks like he's in his late 50's

Well, aren't things peculiar in the Delusionland™️?

It would be hilarious if the accelerated aging from the supplement undid all the progress he made from all the other stuff lol.

Every fiction writer who described dystopian futures in which the wealthy sought life extension in order to continue amassing control and wealth should pat themselves on the back. Yeah, people and the rulers have always wished for life extending magic, but the dystopia factor is spot on.

You can't cheat life. We must all age..
- He seems to actually believe there is a way to live forever. And he's spending millions per year to get there. He said he wants to show the world how to stop ageing. When asked how everybody should be able to spend as much resources as he does, he said society has to figure that out. Besides the fact that cost-intense trestments will only benefit the wealthy there wasn't one word about overall resource management, when people will die much later, but babies are born continuously. And the sentence about society has to figure it out really made me angry. Society already figured out billionairs are an issue and often enough the cause for many poor people suffering. But this doesn't change anything, cause the rich make the rules.

This is one of the biggest wastes of time I could imagine.

I'm glad someone other than me is trying this sort of thing. He bears the risks, but if he succeeds then I share in the benefits.
- Same here. It bothers me how many people have come to worship the Dragon-Tyrant and consider this guy to be somehow "selfish" for attempting this.

He wants to be Bob page so bad

He needs to go on a whole foods plant-based diet. It’s good for your skin and health.
- IIRC, he already is.

105 comments