The search for lengthy, wholesome life—and even immortality—might be virtually as previous as people are, nevertheless it’s by no means been hotter than it’s proper now. In the present day my newsfeed is stuffed with claims about diets, train routines, and dietary supplements that can assist me stay longer.

A whole lot of it’s advertising and marketing fluff, after all. It must be pretty apparent {that a} wholesome, plant-rich food plan and reasonable train will assist preserve you in good condition. And no medication or dietary supplements have but been proved to increase human lifespan.

The rising subject of longevity medication is seemingly aiming for one thing in between these two ends of the wellness spectrum. By combining the established instruments of medical medication (assume blood assessments and scans) with some extra experimental ones (assessments that measure your organic age), these clinics promise to assist their shoppers enhance their well being and longevity.

However a survey of longevity clinics all over the world, carried out by a corporation that publishes updates and analysis on the trade, is revealing a messier image. In actuality, these clinics—most of which cater solely to the very rich—differ wildly of their choices.

In the present day, the variety of longevity clinics is considered someplace within the tons of. The proponents of those clinics say they symbolize the way forward for medication. “We are able to write new guidelines on how we deal with sufferers,” Eric Verdin, who directs the Buck Institute for Analysis on Getting older, stated at knowledgeable assembly final yr.

Phil Newman, who runs Longevity.Expertise, an organization that tracks the longevity trade, says he is aware of of 320 longevity clinics working all over the world. Some function a number of facilities on a global scale, whereas others contain a single “practitioner” incorporating some aspect of “longevity” into the therapies supplied, he says. To get a greater thought of what these choices is likely to be, Newman and his colleagues carried out a survey of 82 clinics all over the world, together with the US, Australia, Brazil, and a number of nations in Europe and Asia.

A number of the outcomes usually are not all that shocking. Three-quarters of the clinics stated that the majority of their shoppers have been Gen Xers, aged between 44 and 59. This is smart—anecdotally, it’s round this age that many individuals begin to really feel the results of getting older. And analysis means that waves of molecular adjustments related to getting older hit us in our 40s and once more in our 60s. (Longevity influencers Bryan Johnson, Andrew Huberman, and Peter Attia all fall into this age group too.)

And I wasn’t shocked to see that loads of clinics are providing aesthetic therapies, focusing extra on how previous their shoppers look. Of the clinics surveyed, 28% stated they supplied Botox injections, 35% supplied hair loss therapies, and 38% supplied “facial rejuvenation procedures.”  “The excellence between longevity medication and aesthetic medication stays blurred,” Andrea Maier of the Nationwide College of Singapore, and cofounder of a personal longevity clinic, wrote in a commentary on the report.

Maier can be former president of the Wholesome Longevity Medication Society, a corporation that was arrange with the intention of building medical requirements and credibility for longevity clinics. Different outcomes from the survey underline how a lot of a problem this will likely be; many clinics are nonetheless providing unproven therapies. Over a 3rd of the clinics stated they supplied stem-cell therapies, for instance. There isn’t any proof that these therapies will assist individuals stay longer—and they aren’t with out danger, both.

I used to be a bit shocked to see that a lot of the clinics are additionally providing prescription medicines off label. In different phrases, medication which have been accepted for particular medical points are apparently being prescribed for getting older as an alternative. That is additionally not with out dangers—all medicines have unwanted side effects. And, once more, none of them have been proved to sluggish or reverse human getting older.

And these prescriptions are coming from licensed medical docs. Greater than 80% of clinics reported that their follow was overseen by a medical physician with greater than 10 years of medical expertise.

It was additionally a bit shocking to study that regardless of their excessive charges, most of those clinics do not make a revenue. For shoppers, the annual prices of attending a long life clinic vary between $10,000 and $150,000, in keeping with Fountain Life, an organization with clinics in Florida and Prague. However solely 39% of the surveyed clinics stated they have been turning a revenue and 30% stated they have been “approaching breaking even,” whereas 16% stated they have been working at a loss.

Proponents of longevity clinics have excessive hopes for the sector. They see longevity medication as nothing wanting a revolution—a transfer away from reactive therapies and towards proactive well being upkeep. However these survey outcomes present simply how far they should go.

This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Expertise Evaluation’s weekly biotech publication. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and skim articles like this primary, enroll right here.