Peter Thiel Is Taking Human Growth Hormone In Hopes Of Living To 120

[KamaAina]

http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-is-taking-human-growth-hormones-hgh-2014-12

The US tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel is taking human growth hormone pills as part of his quest to live until he is 120 years old. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, the PayPal cofounder and Facebook investor explained how he hoped the technology would dramatically increase his lifespan.

Thiel was asked about his thoughts on "the extension of human life" — something he thinks a lot about. Thiel is famous for his belief that human life could be extended dramatically if only we could figure out the medical science and technology required to achieve that. He said he took the pills on a daily basis and that HGH helped "maintain muscle mass, so it's less likely to get bone injuries and arthritis and stuff like that, as you get older."

At one point the venture capitalist did concede there was a worry that HGH increased his risk of getting cancer. HGH makes things — like cells — grow, after all. But he says: "I'm hopeful that we'll get cancer cured in the next decade."

Thiel, now 47 and with a net worth in excess of £2 billion, also mentioned other lifestyle choices he had made to reach an age riper than most. Thiel said he had invested in a lot of biotech companies, and he revealed he tried to follow a strict paleo diet. He was also in the sugar is the enemy camp; he has limited his intake.

[WhiteTara]

1. He who has the most toys and best drugs

still dies.

[randome]

2. Until we figure out why. Then it's a brand new ballgame.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers, it's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]

[WhiteTara]

3. ...

good luck with that. Life might be prolonged, but death comes to all.

[Cayenne]

4. HGH will likely backfire

Yes it will have a youthful effect initially; more muscle, less fat, better function. But it's because cells divide faster. More cell divisions promote faster aging. The number of times a cells divides is limited by the number of telemeres.

I suspect the best life extension technique might be fasting. That's hard to do lifelong.

[Hekate]

5. I'd rather figure out how to feed the people aready here & achieve ZPG, before endlessly prolonging

...individual lives.

Life is a mortal condition. So far we've mostly managed to overcome the stuff that used to kill so many infants and children. But everyone who lives past infancy still gets about the same number of years of childhood and youth; however those who live a very long time basically get to be very old for a long time, and in old age they use up more resources than they ever did in their youth.

[hunter]

6. Bet he doesn't make it to 70.

If I was pulling longevity theories out my ass I'd say our bodies slow down to preserve our lives long enough to pass our knowledge (and with any luck, wisdom) down to the grandkids: the children of our own children, the children of our nephews, our nieces.

The slower growth of old age is a way of dodging the genetic damage that accumulates in our youth and middle age that would otherwise develop into aggressive cancers and other deadly disorders in some older hormonally super-charged body still primed for growth and reproduction.

Better to be a skinny old person who hasn't reproduced for decades, has lots of good advice, tells awesome stories, and doesn't really eat much, than an over-stuffed older person with an aggressive cancer or other unpleasant and deadly high energy system failure.

Let the children and reproductive age adults eat first. As a middle aged or older human you'll live longer if you are always a little bit hungry but you know the children of your community and their parents are not.