The 47-year-old Bryan Johnson is an anti-aging admirer and American entrepreneur, who spent millions to evade death and improve the quality of his life. He stopped consuming the longevity drug rapamycin, which he has been taking once every 2 weeks for the past 5 years from now on. "I stopped taking the drug because I felt it has done more harm to my body than good," Johnson told the New York Times.
In his quest to live long and to avoid death, Johnson subjects himself to several tests, experiments, blood plasma transfusions, full-body LED exposure treatments, and strict diet patterns; he takes more than 100 supplements a day. Every two weeks he consumes 13 milligrams of the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin, which reportedly expanded the life span in mice.
A few months ago Johnson revealed that he had undergone a total plasma exchange to rejuvenate himself. He has even swapped blood with his son Richard, for which he humorously called him blood boy, in 2023. He reported to the sources that he even gave his father his blood plasma, which surprisingly increased life expectancy.
Rapamycin is a drug prescribed to organ transplant patients to suppress their immune systems to prevent organ rejection. It is an immunosuppressant drug. Reports suggest that rapamycin slows the aging process and increases longevity by improving physiological parameters associated with aging in the immune, cardiovascular, and integumentary systems of healthy individuals or individuals with aging-related diseases. The anti-aging result is shown to be because of the anti-inflammatory effects shown by the drug. It is proven to be used as an anticancer drug.
There has been an increased popularity for the drug rapamycin as a potential anti-aging drug, gained from anti-aging explorers like Bryan Johnson. But the drug can only be proven effective once it is proven in human trials.
Though the results of using rapamycin in slowing down the aging process seem promising, it comes with a couple of side effects. The side effects include an increased risk of infections, hyperglycemia, mouth ulcers, anemia, thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), changes in lipid levels, and poor wound healing.
The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved rapamycin to be an anti-aging drug, but physicians are prescribing it off the label owing to its longevity effects because it has been shown to extend the lifespan in mice.
While escaping death might seem fanatic, being healthy and living long is on a wish list for many. People follow healthy lifestyles, strict and balanced diets, timely health visits, and exercise and meditate to achieve a stress-free life, which is essential to living a long and healthy life. The efficacy of rapamycin, in achieving longevity may sound promising for many who wish to see their loved ones live a long and healthy life, the drug would be proven effective only when proven in human trials.
Bryan Johnson decided to quit the longevity drug rapamycin as the risks from consuming the drug outweigh the longevity results achieved from consuming the drug.
Bryan Johnson is featured in a Netflix documentary titled, " Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever", through which his journey through anti-aging and his experimentation with different drugs like rapamycin has been explained in detail.
References:
1) Targeting ageing with rapamycin and its derivatives in humans: a systematic review. Lee, Deborah J W et al. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, Volume 5, Issue 2, e152 - e162. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhl/article/PIIS2666-7568(23)00258-1/fulltext#:~:text=Rapamycin%20and%20its%20derivatives%20improved
2) "‘Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever’ Review." The New York Times, January 1, 2025. Accessed December 28, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/01/movies/dont-die-the-man-who-wants-to-live-forever-review.html.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Yagna Prasanna Kondadadi/MSM)