Biohacker Bryan Johnson reveals he has been diagnosed with an incurable stomach disease
Biohacker Bryan Johnson has revealed he has been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease that means his ‘stomach is eating itself’.
The 48-year-old has spent the last few years going to extreme lengths to try and ‘de-age’, including injecting himself with his son’s blood and sticking to a strict hours-long morning routine that involves shockwave therapy, exercise and daily time in a sauna.
In a new update, Johnson has revealed that he has autoimmune gastritis (AIG) and opened up about the long road he took to get a diagnosis.
Although these days, Johnson is known for his ultra-healthy lifestyle, that wasn’t always the case.
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“As a kid, I ate sugar cereal, drank sugary soda, and gobbled down fast food. I had a few healthy years in my early 20s but then became a young father of three and began building a business,” he wrote on X.
“Juggling that stress and grind, I let my health slip and gained 40 lbs. Within a few years I’d fallen into a deep, chronic depression.
“Somewhere in that timeline, my body began developing an autoimmune process affecting my thyroid and then my stomach lining.
“It’s called Autoimmune Gastritis (AIG).”
'Challenging to diagnose'
Despite the condition likely developing a while back, Johnson was only diagnosed in May.
He explained that he had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, when the thyroid is underactive and fails to produce enough hormones, in his early 20s but took medication so that it functioned properly.
Despite not being aware of his AIG, Johnson says there were early signs, such as having low ferritin - a protein that stores iron in the body - without anaemia.
Even after taking iron supplements, Johnson’s ferritin levels would still fall below the normal range.
So, he decided to undergo tests to get to the bottom of why his ‘iron kept disappearing’.
He ruled out colon cancer with a colonoscopy, and went on to have an endoscopy and biopsies taken from three parts of his stomach.
These biopsies were the ‘critical piece’ of the puzzle, as they came back ‘showing clear signs of early autoimmune gastritis: early atrophy confined to the acid-producing lining, with the rest of the stomach still spared’.
“We now had a formal diagnosis. I have autoimmune gastritis AIG. My stomach is eating itself,” he said.
Johnson explained that the condition is relatively rare and tricky to diagnose.
"Autoimmune gastritis affects an estimated 2–5% of people, and likely more, because it hides and is challenging to diagnose," he said.
"It's usually silent for years, surfacing only once the stomach has atrophied enough to do real damage."
'Standard medical care concedes defeat'
Johnson continued: “I just discovered it in May. I'm unsure how long I've had it. AIG causes irreversible damage: nutritional deficiency, anaemia, and over a long horizon, elevated cancer risk. When AIG is discovered today, standard medical care concedes defeat, stating that nothing can be done except managing the condition, no matter how awful or lethal the effects.”
According to the Global Autoimmune Institute, AIG can't be cured.
“Since there currently isn’t a cure for autoimmune gastritis, treatment approaches focus on symptom relief, treatment of anaemia, and lifestyle modifications," it states.
However, Johnson has vowed that he is ‘going to try and solve it’ and then will ‘share all’.
He laid out a detailed plan for what he and his team hope to do, and then put out a call out for anyone working in related fields to reach out.
Johnson ended the lengthy post on a ‘personal note’ telling his followers: “I wish all of you the very best. Care for yourself, care for others, care for the planet and care for our animal friends. Care for life as it’s the most precious gift there is.”
Topics: Health, Bryan Johnson
Claire Reid