Anti-ageing industry quiet on risk

Eternal youth and beauty promised, but new book exposes outrageous claims of the $120bn business. Photo / APN

The desire to defy age is as ancient as human history, but in the past 10 years a multibillion-dollar industry has sprung up in America promising decades of extra life and good health beyond your 100th birthday.

However, a new book has revealed a disturbing lack of safety regulation, outrageous unproved medical claims, risky products that could cause serious health problems, and a celebrity-dominated marketing machine promising an extended youth - much of it with little science to back it up.

Arlene Weintraub, who spent four years researching Selling the Fountain of Youth, says the anti-ageing industry has grown from virtually nothing to a staggering US$88 billion ($121.2 billion) in 10 years, with few products and procedures regulated in the same way as normal pharmaceuticals and medical cures.

Much of it is based on replacing the body's hormones as people grow older. But it also includes extensive use of products such as Botox, vitamin supplements and dietary fads. All have become hugely popular, but there is little proof that they work - or are 100 per cent safe.

Some female users of a popular hormone therapy called the Wiley Protocol have complained about their menstrual cycles starting again, with excessive bleeding and hair loss. The creator of the Wiley Protocol, a Californian called Susie Wiley, was found to have virtually no scientific or medical qualifications.

Such alarming reports have not slowed the huge expansion of the industry. The American Academy of Anti-Ageing Medicine (known by the acronym A4M) holds annual conferences that attract thousands of businessmen, chemists and physicians, all hawking their wares. Some critics of the organisation have dubbed it "all for the money" and say it has spearheaded the idea that getting old is basically a treatable condition.

Weintraub argues that the current demographics of America have made the country especially susceptible to an anti-ageing message. The baby boomer generation - about 77 million strong - is just hitting the retirement age and millions are looking for ways to prolong their health and lifespan.

"This generation, probably more than any before, wants to grow old in a different sort of way," Weintraub said.

She traces the birth of the anti-ageing industry to the discovery that human growth hormones used to treat stunted growth in children could also be used in adults, and in many cases appeared to have a rejuvenating impact.

The industry spread to include the use of Botox, derived from the deadly botulinum toxin and originally intended to treat muscle disorders.

But anti-ageing doctors also frequently prescribe hormones such as testosterone and oestrogen, derived from plants such as yams and soy beans. Weintraub has documented cases where people are using such large amounts of these hormones, sometimes as skin creams, that their partners are absorbing them when they lie next to them in bed at night.

She says the main problem is that government regulation is too light and safety rules not as tight as for normal drugs, which require extensive medical trials before they get federal approval.

She also points out that as ageing is not classified as a medical problem - and thus is not covered by insurance companies - the anti-ageing industry is largely founded on patients buying treatments from their doctors, which can easily lead to abuse and lax safety standards. The industry frequently has its products touted on such influential shows as Oprah and The View.

- Observer