This man wants the brain, heart of an 18-year-old; his fight against ageing explained

This man wants the brain, heart of an 18-year-old; his fight against ageing explained

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

May 27, 2023: His is 45 years old, but his organs would ‘argue otherwise’. Bryan Johnson, a rich software entrepreneur is on a mission to defy his body’s ageing process and 18 - the prime age, is his goal.

As detailed in a report by Bloomberg, Johnson has employed more than 30 medical professionals keeping an eye on every aspect of his health.

 

Oliver Zolman, a specialist specialising in regenerative medicine, and his group have pledged to work to slow down the ageing process in each of Johnson’s organs.

In addition to using Johnson as a test subject for the most promising therapies, Zolman and Johnson avidly research the scientific literature on ageing and longevity, the report says.

 

 

They keep track of Johnson’s progress in every way possible. The cost of a medical suite at Johnson’s residence in Venice, California, as well as other startup expenses was several million dollars. He plans to spend at least $2 million on his body this year.

He desires the organs of an 18-year-old, including the bladder, penis, rectum, bladder, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, tendons, skin, and teeth.

He Doesn’t Care if People Judge Him

Addressing the criticism he receives, Johnson tells Bloomberg - “It is expected and fine."

“The body delivers a certain configuration at age 18. This really is an impassioned approach to achieve age 18 everywhere,” he says.

What is His Routine?

Over the course of more than a year, Johnson, Zolman, and the rest of the team have been conducting the experiments they call Project Blueprint.

Johnson must adhere to rigorous requirements for his diet (1,977 calories per day), exercise (one hour per day, high intensity three times per week), and rest (eight hours each night) (at the same time every night, after two hours wearing glasses that block blue light).

Johnson continually monitors his vital indicators for the purpose of fine-tuning this approach, the report says. He has a battery of tests and procedures every month, including blood draws, magnetic resonance imaging scans, ultrasounds, and colonoscopies, some of which are highly invasive and painful.

Team internist Jeff Toll tells Bloomberg, “I treat athletes and Hollywood superstars, and no one is pushing the envelope as much as Bryan."

Is It Working?

Doctors say Johnson’s hard effort is paying off, and that he is starting to get younger in medical terms.

The report says Johnson appears to be in better health than the average 45-year-old in a number of ways:

He is very muscular.

His body fat percentage rarely rises above 6%, exposing his lean muscle and spider veins.

But the most fascinating development to his doctors is what has occurred within his own body, says the report: He reportedly shaved off at least five years from his biological age, according to the results of the examinations he had.

According to their findings, he has the body of a 28-year-old, the lungs of a young adult, and the cardiovascular fitness of a middle-aged man.

But Why Is He Doing This?

According to the report, he is seeking the pinnacle of what some in his field refer to as the “quantified-self" trend.

Over the past decade or two, workout and diet fads like intermittent fasting and Soylent have largely represented Silicon Valley’s concept of maximising internals.

But Johnson says tracking only your steps won’t provide you an accurate picture of your health. I know what I’m doing may seem excessive, but I’m on a mission to disprove the idea that a downward spiral into self-harm and degradation is inevitable, he tells Bloomberg.

In teaching us all the lessons he’s learned from his unconventional way of life, he’s also depending on a tried-and-true technique from the software industry: making it feel as much as possible like a game, the report says.

But Who is Johnson?

Bryan Johnson is an American entrepreneur, venture investor, novelist, and writer. He started the brain-monitoring corporation Kernel, as well as the venture capital firm OS Fund, which backs up startups in the fields of science and technology.

He also founded the company Braintree, where he served as chairman and CEO, and develops and manages mobile and web payment systems for online retailers. In 2012, Braintree paid $26.2 million to purchase Venmo; PayPal paid $800 million to acquire the merged company in 2013.