The Longevity Market

When extra years become a luxury product

Paradise is a 2023 dystopian movie on Netflix showing the dark side of the quest for living longer. The movie is about a man who works for a biotech company that gives young people money in exchange for years of their life. The company transforms what they extract from the young donors into a process for providing extra years for their extremely wealthy customers. Due to crushing debt, the man’s wife must give up 40 years of her own life. Suddenly, two people who were the same age when they got married, now have a 40 year age difference. Here’s a link to Netflix where you can watch the trailers. I watched this recently and it was dark and disturbing on multiple levels, especially how differently the husband and wife responded.

Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever is also on Netflix. In this documentary, wealthy entrepreneur Bryan Johnson puts his body and fortune on the line to defy aging and extend his life beyond all known limits. Here’s the Netflix trailer. This link provides additional background material on Bryan Johnson. In the documentary, Johnson pulled both his son and his father into his quest for a longer lifespan.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a 2008 romantic fantasy drama movie. The film stars Brad Pitt as a man who ages in reverse and Cate Blanchett as his love interest throughout his life. Imagine if you were born as an extremely old person and got younger throughout your life. The one unknown for all of us is when we’ll eventually die. In this scenario, death can be more precisely predicted. While the movie shows the beginning of his life, it stops short of the end, letting the audience imagine it for themselves.

Below is an article from the Washington Post on the quest to live longer.

These are the treatments dominating the business of living longer

The big money, big promises and uncertain evidence behind the booming longevity business.

“LAS VEGAS — Just beyond the flashing slot machines and cigarette-saturated casino air, thousands of the health obsessed gathered in a convention hall here to demonstrate their hacks for living longer lives. They infused ozone into their blood streams, stood on vibrating mats, swallowed samples of supplements and took scans of their livers.”

“The gathering of wellness clinic operators, doctors and antiaging enthusiasts last month offered a vivid snapshot of a booming industry built upon the promise of longer, healthier and more vibrant lives. At the center are customers, fed up with or skeptical of the current health care system, who are willing to take risks with unproven treatments and spend extraordinary sums of money to extend their lives.”

The above article covers Longevity Fest 2025 which was held in December in Las Vegas. The image above is from advertising for the 2026 gathering. The group behind this is the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.

While there are some medical professionals involved, many are health influencers.

“Longevity medicine has exploded into the mainstream in recent years, fueled by billions of dollars in private investment, influential allies in the federal government and lobbyists promoting it at both the state and national levels. But the fervor around the industry has also outpaced rigorous scientific evidence and federal regulations that would ensure basic standards throughout the sector.”

If you have LOTS of money to spend on these treatments, they may or may not help you live longer. The more important question for me, however, is what is the quality of life that goes with the potentially extra years?

Lifespan vs. Healthspan is a critical distinction.

The photo and link are from the Mayo Clinic website. The short answer is Healthspan is how much of our life is healthy without debilitating illnesses or conditions. Lifespan is simply how long we live, no matter what condition we are in. Unfortunately, people can be in terrible health, yet continue to live on.

Having watched my father and two uncles age, have multiple debilitating conditions, and eventually die, I’ve gained some insights for myself. My wife’s father lived with us from the time he was 65 and just retired until he passed away at age 90. For most of that time he was in overall good health and lived a pleasant life. The last five years were quite different. There’s a HUGE difference between 65 and 85.

I live in an independent living retirement community. Everyday I see what’s coming as many of my neighbors are quite a bit older than me. Some are quite elderly and are in surprisingly good shape, though that’s not the case for the majority. I’m focusing on taking good care of myself and enjoying life. None of us truly know what’s coming.

How long do you want to live?

What extremes are you willing to go through to get that extra time?

Please leave a comment.

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My upcoming novel, Electromagnetic Assault, is getting closer. The launch date is April 7, 2026. The book will be available as an Ebook, print on demand, and audiobook. You can preorder the Ebook now from Amazon.

I was a guest on the Rabbit Hole of Research Podcast Episode 55. This episode was originally supposed to air in April closer to my book launch, but world events caught up with the episodes topic, Directed Energy Weapons. The El Paso airport was shut down while Homeland Security tested a laser weapon against a Mexican drone incursion, so this episode was released on February 18th.

On Saturday, April 18th at 2:00 PM I’ll present an author talk and book signing at the Fitchburg, WI public library.

On May 1st I’ll be a speaker at the Lakefly Writers Conference and Book Fair in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. For writers my conference session is why new writers should start a Substack Email Newsletter prior to publication. For readers I’ll be selling my new book, Electromagnetic Assault at the Book Fair.