Althouse: "There is a booming market in tests of biological age.. Partly they are for people who want to study ageing. Mainly they are for curious consumers."

April 12, 2024

"There is a booming market in tests of biological age.. Partly they are for people who want to study ageing. Mainly they are for curious consumers."

"Perhaps the most famous adherent is Bryan Johnson, a 46-year-old tech entrepreneur with the sheeny face of a shop mannequin, who is spending millions to reverse his ageing clock to 18.... GlycanAge looks at a process known as glycosylation... Studies of population levels have shown an association between glycosylation patterns and disease ― often before other signs of illness appear.... On its website, GlycanAge identifies this as a root cause of ageing.... The test was just meant to be a bit of fun. In the days after receiving it, I oscillate between dismissing it and thinking I’m an idiot for dismissing it...."

I'm reading "What’s your biological age? We had a shock when we found out ours/What happened when the Times science editor Tom Whipple and two of his colleagues, James Marriott and Robert Crampton, took the ultimate age test (price, £289)?" (London Times).

Whipple is 42 and was told his "biological age" is 71.

He goes to a regular doctor who administers various tests and says, “You don’t seem to be 71.”

I just ran into this article while scanning the London Times, but I'm realizing that Bryan Johnson is the guy in a Tucker Carlson interview that Meade was nudging me to watch.

28 comments:

Howard said...: I'm taking the under on the likelihood that age and longevity influencers will die young.; 4/12/24, 1:42 PM
tim maguire said...: It's hard to imagine what "biological age" might mean. Certainly, there are people who appear young or old for their age, but to put a number on it--if your doctor said "you may be 45, but you have the body of a 35 year old," no one would think it was a precise measurement. They'd just be saying you're in good shape for your age.; 4/12/24, 1:49 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: "There is a booming market in tests of biological age"

If people were smart they'd meme this as the hip and trendy new thing for women. It would be banned in a month.; 4/12/24, 1:52 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: Whipple is 42 and was told his "biological age" is 71.

The number of centenarians is going to skyrocket. We might even see our first 150 year old human.; 4/12/24, 1:58 PM
Mr. O. Possum said...: What is the 42-year-old doing to test as being in his 70s????

Can't see story without subscription.

Is he smoking three packs a day?; 4/12/24, 2:05 PM
Larry J said...: 289 pounds, about $400, for a test to determine someone’s “biological age”. P. T. Barnum was right, there is a sucker born every minute.; 4/12/24, 2:12 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "What is the 42-year-old doing to test as being in his 70s????"

It's a blood test for glycosylation. Then there's a hypothesis that getting old is all about glycosylation and an "age" is assigned.

The guy isn't doing anything unhealthy.; 4/12/24, 2:19 PM
MadisonMan said...: Among whom is this test-demand booming?
Why do I think it's among people in big urban centers?; 4/12/24, 2:22 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: Not saying I want this stay-young freak to die, but if he got hit by a bus I would note the irony. Death will get him eventually.

May Bryan live long and prosper. He'll never know if the prolongation tactics now will have been effective as compared to simply eating right, exercising, and doing things in moderation. Can make it to 100 doing that if you're lucky, though I wouldn't call it lucky given what most people in their late 90's go through.; 4/12/24, 2:36 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Can make it to 100 doing that if you're lucky, though I wouldn't call it lucky given what most people in their late 90's go through."

Well, what if you're technically in your late 90s but in glycosylation years you're only in your late 50s?; 4/12/24, 2:40 PM
mikee said...: Oddly enough, it is still lotsa heredity and lotsa environment that determine extreme longevity, rather than anything a doctor can prescribe. And the many ways to be "hit by a bus," so to speak, are still a large factor for many demographics with low average age at death.

I never gave up butter for margarine, but regular Coke became just too sweet for me. I'm sure a lot of people, like me, floss more at 60 than at 20. And I drive more kindly than I did a decade ago. Still gonna die.; 4/12/24, 3:07 PM
JAORE said...: I'm satisfied being in my (rather elderly) body so long as that 13 year old boy still dwells in my skull. He's a lot of fun.; 4/12/24, 3:42 PM
Rabel said...: "The guy isn't doing anything unhealthy."

Something is causing an abnormal degree of inflammation in his system. The tests detect indicators of the effects of that inflammation.

I can't hack into the article. Does he cite any specific condition which could be the cause, i.e., diabetes, injury, infection?; 4/12/24, 3:51 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Johnson looks like a fit guy his actual age.; 4/12/24, 4:16 PM
Howard said...: IgG glycosylation is an indicator of gut disbiosis. If you eat a lot of sugar, pasta, bread, drink alcohol and regularly take antibiotics, you might set off the age detector.

I wouldn't discount it it might be a good early warning system. Although it looks like lifestyle is just a small fraction of the influence. Most of your number is from your chronological age and your specific genetic makeup.; 4/12/24, 4:49 PM
Mikey NTH said...: I thought the biological cause of aging was getting older. Silly me, the snake oil* salesmen just changed their pitch.

*Still don't know why anyone would oil a snake.; 4/12/24, 4:50 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: Re: glycosylation years -- he better hope it works on gravity and sun-exposed skin, makes bones stronger, tightens bladders, and prevents sphincters from wearing out. Maybe AI will have created new spare parts by then.; 4/12/24, 5:00 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: And will no one think of the poor actuaries at the Social Security Administration? Talk about insolvent.; 4/12/24, 5:03 PM
Kevin said...: Well Brian Johnson of AC/DC is 76 with a biological age of 237.; 4/12/24, 6:01 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I am going to predict, not that I will ever be held to account for it since I will be long dead, that every single person alive on the Earth right now as I write this will be dead by April 12, 2150.

It is possible that the first humans without a roughly known expiration date will be born sometime in the next 50 years, but it won't do anyone who wasn't born without those genetic improvements any real good.; 4/12/24, 6:11 PM
Aggie said...: At least when he finally kicks off, his family can say he died young.; 4/12/24, 6:24 PM
Kathryn51 said...: When I go to my annual checkup, my doctor doesn't just say I'm in great health "for my age". He says I'm in great health - low blood pressure, no indications of diabetes, cholesterol a bit high, but within healthy range, zero indications of heart disease. All I know is that it's great genes and when I eventually die, it will be something like cancer that gets me - as it did my mother (at age 80) and my great aunt (age 84).

Meanwhile, when I looked up the word "sheeny", the first thing that appeared was "a derogatory word for Jew".

WTF?; 4/12/24, 9:15 PM
Aggie said...: Keith Richard's body clock has filed an application for additional decimal places.; 4/12/24, 9:17 PM
Rabel said...: "Meanwhile, when I looked up the word "sheeny", the first thing that appeared was "a derogatory word for 'Jew'."

I've never heard the usage but this was an interesting read on its origin.; 4/12/24, 10:10 PM
GrapeApe said...: Good grief. Grow up. You’re going to age and amazingly for the obtuse, you are going to die. At 59 I am on the downhill side. All good. Ride out what you have left. Once upon a time people knew how this works. Botox isn’t gonna give another year.; 4/13/24, 2:09 AM
Narayanan said...: Worth a read : Cryoburn by lois mcmaster bujold

ageing and rejuvenating; 4/13/24, 4:03 AM
NKP said...: "Bring out yer dead! Bring out yer dead!"

"I'm not dead yet."

"Oh, yes you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!"; 4/14/24, 8:41 AM
NKP said...: I'm satisfied being in my (rather elderly) body so long as that 13 year old boy still dwells in my skull. He's a lot of fun.

It's the ONLY way but don't lose sight of the fact that many people find 13-year-old boys extremely annoying; especially those who believe the appropriate strategy for aging is having back-up batteries for the remote.

Can make it to 100 doing that if you're lucky, though I wouldn't call it lucky given what most people in their late 90's go through.

Au Contraire! If you're in your 90s, all your friends are probably dead and you have become invisible to just about everyone not dead. Medical intervention provides opportunities to talk with other intelligent, younger and, often, attractive and seemingly caring individuals. Not being ignored trumps a good amount of personal indignity and discomfort.; 4/14/24, 9:37 AM