Plasma exchange sounds like it would be the best option because you would be receiving all of the chemical messengers the body needs from a young healthy donor (or a pig, I guess). But, young healthy donors aren’t readily available and as for pigs, I don’t know. Then, there must be some type of clean medical facility. And, the potential cost? Whoa, sounds expensive. So, no, this won’t be on my list any time soon.
Well, GDF11 based on the Steve Perry website sounds great, but his credentials don’t sound great So, is he a medical professional or a marketer. From the price he charges ($15,000) it sounds like he is a marketer. And, he doesn’t appear to be the healthiest guy. So, is the GDF11 affecting his weight? I wonder.
The klotho gene and the klotho protein appear to be a good choice since Bucky Labs has klotho available, though it’s only 90% pure! Since klotho is the gene connected with lifespan this is sounding like a decent and viable possibility. And, the cost is not out of range. It’s just a matter of getting the right ingredients for creating a sterile solution of the proper strength, then doing an injection once every week or so. This is something I will consider. It’s just a matter of working out the details and getting past the self-injection resistance.
Feel free to correct any possible errors in my thoughts here.
Some factors to consider… how old and how fit are you right now?
What is your risk profile?
What is the expected cost/benefit of each for your profile?
Plasmapheresis has been around for many decades, so its the lowest risk treatment. But in terms of aging effects, its still unproven. I went through a series of 6 plasmapheresis treatments as part of the Kiprov clinical trial and I didn’t notice any benefits (blood tests may reveal something else, but if anything I felt worse because I had stopped my rapamycin prior to the clinical trial). This series of 6 treatments would typically cost about $30,000 from what I’ve read (free as part of the clinical trial). I suspect that if you’re under 65 or so, in reasonably good shape you may not notice much benefit (just my experience). See details here: Plasmapheresis Startup Looking for Clinical Trial Participants SF Bay Area
GDF11… yes, I wish Steve Perry had more of a background in medicine/biology. He seems to be more biohacker than anything else, which is fine, but doesn’t give me a ton of confidence in his protocols. The research on GDF11 seems a little mixed, and obviously very early in is lifecycle. Ideally we’d want to wait until Elevian clinical trials are completed and published: GDF11, Elevian News Story - NYTimes
Klotho is of course very interesting. Of the three, it seems to be the least well-validated and the earliest in the research/clinical cycle for human use. Are there any clinical trials going on at all? It seems to be the lowest cost action you could take, and possibly the riskiest.
I saw plasma exchange (TPE / Plasmapheresis) as the best option, low risk, reasonable upside. The experience of getting plasmapheresis was non-eventful, just 3 hours of listening to audiobooks while they cycle your plasma/blood. Since it was free to me, it seemed worth a try. Now that I’ve done it I can’t say I recommend it right now, until more data comes out on if the clinical trial was at all successful.
Are you asking because you can only afford one of these or are you trying to figure out which is the best?
If it is cost, then go with DIY for the gdf11 and klotho, then its dirt cheap. You can also do plasma donation for free.
If you are trying to figure out which is the best, then I would say there is no way to tell, I have done many things and have often been surprised by the results. I would spend about a year researching and deciding what thing to do and then I would try it and be disappointed or be surprised.
So it seems the response is highly individual and is something you just need to try and see if it applies to you. I have such regret spending a year of research on each item only to realize all that research and expectations and assumptions did not match real life experience.
This is where there is a mechanistic question. What impact is there on the aging mechanism (s) of each intervention. I think Plasma can impact on mitochondrial quality and in a limited manner IL-10 levels.
The other two interventions appear to be crutches to support part of a failing system. Not necessarily bad, but not that good either.
Just did my first 700 ml plasma donation at the Red Cross. It was uneventful and took about 2 hours. I plan on doing 6 to 10 donations in the coming months. (1 every 2weeks). Wish me luck!
Interesting question. I don’t have a definitive answer but here are some musings:
Assuming you are an elderly person, I would think you would already be low on klotho. If you then donate plasma you will be depleting what you have.
Perhaps young people can quickly replace it but I think the elderly won’t be able to do that.
FWIW
Interesting things that have occured since donating plasma 3 days ago. Subjectively, I think I feel a little more energetic. Objectively, I normally have to take Lisinopril for moderately high blood pressure, but my blood pressure has dropped to normal without medication. I suspect that may be only temporary. But I’ll monitor it daily and we’ll see if it continues associated with the plasma donations.
If you’ve seen the newer posts, and references to work by scientists like Tara Walker and Dena Dubal, you’ll know that exercise will significantly increase PF4 and Klotho (they are related). Exercise may also alter the proteome of plasma based on experiments where plasma from exercised animals was transferred to non-exercised animals to their benefit. The single intervention with most positive data, in my view, is exercise. As for GDF-11, if you look in PubMed you’ll see references to exercise increasing GDF-11.
I would add on simple plasma donation, which is free, as there is not enough data, and the cost is too great for me, to warrant TPE.
There’re also studies indicating thymus preservation (immune function) and increased NAD+ from exercise. In the case of the thymus, it’s long term relatively vigorous exercise.
Yea, I think we’re all waiting for that pill! Wow, that would free up some time to let me do a few other things. Not that I don’t like exercise, but it takes up most of my mornings 6 and 1/2 days every week?
I’m getting ready for my 5th plasma donation at the red cross this week. I’ve noted that my blood pressure drops after a donation for 4 or 5 days, to the point that I don’t need blood pressure meds. After that it gradually creeps back up. At the time just before the next donation (2weeks later), my blood pressure medicine requirement is back to where it was before I started plasmapheresis. My total cholesterol has dropped 25 points according to the Red Cross’ numbers.
I’ve also been doing routine plasma donation, monthly for about 2 years. They remove about 850 mls (800 mls plasma and 50 mls whole blood for testing) but only put about 500 mls of saline back in. So, overall blood volume of about 6 liters for me, drops by about 300 mls or about 5%. Maybe this is enough to make a slight change in BP. Aside from plasma donation, I also mix in platelet donation which is usually in great need. Platelet donation will take out about 300 mls.
According to researcher Dena Dubal, exercise increases alpha Klotho quite a lot. Using exercise to increase Klotho has the benefit have many other benefits related to health and longevity. Will have to go back and check, but I think some level of fasting (like time restricted eating) and glucose control might also increase or maintain klotho. As discussed elsewhere maintaining good kidney health also helps maintain klotho.
