Billionaire who spends millions trying to stay young diagnosed with incurable disease

Bryan Johnson's quest for eternal youth has hit a major setback

Last week, the longevity-focused tech investor revealed he had been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease in which, as he described it, his "stomach is eating itself."

Still, Johnson believes he can biohack his way through the condition.

"I'm going to try and solve it," he wrote on X. "Will share all."

Johnson said he was diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis, a condition in which the immune system attacks stomach cells. "It often develops without noticeable symptoms and can eventually lead to cancer."

Johnson has long claimed to spend millions of dollars a year on his health, with a team of doctors constantly monitoring his biomarkers and overseeing unconventional interventions, including exchanging blood with his younger son and tracking his nighttime erections, although he appears to have scaled back some of those practices.

Given that level of medical oversight, it is striking that the condition went undetected until now.

He attributed part of the illness to unhealthy habits earlier in life, including consuming too much sugar as a child and experiencing high levels of stress in his 20s, which led to weight gain.

He also said he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 21, a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones.

The issue surfaced after his medical team found he had persistent iron deficiency despite showing no signs of anemia. Johnson, 48, then underwent an "overdue" colonoscopy, which ruled out cancer and hidden blood loss.

"An endoscopy and multiple biopsies later confirmed early-stage autoimmune gastritis, with the damage limited to the stomach lining."

By Johnson's own admission, the outlook is not encouraging.

"When AIG is discovered today, standard medical care concedes defeat, stating that nothing can be done except manage the condition, no matter how awful or lethal the effects," he wrote.

The diagnosis is likely to raise questions about the effectiveness of Johnson's biohacking efforts and whether his longevity-focused lifestyle, including extreme avoidance of sunlight, may have contributed to it. Johnson, however, defended his health regimen.

"This is a diagnosis of a condition that started in my body over 20 years ago. Had I not taken care of my body during the past few years, it would be a lot worse," he wrote in response to one critic.

"Health issues will always pop up, no matter how healthy one is," he said.