Nash: ‘Super agers’ don’t need a fountain of youth, just healthy habits and enough sleep

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Hope in a jar. Suspended animation. From the immortal man in “Star Trek” (“Requiem for Methuselah”) to a blood transfusion from a young hunk to an old guy in “Silicon Valley” (“The Blood Boy”), people have imagined living forever.

Some are trying to go beyond imagining. As the science of aging progresses, many people (mostly rich, often tech bros) are actively trying to stop themselves from getting old. Whether through experiments with drugs like rapamycin — originally developed to suppress immune systems in organ transplant patients — or those young-old mice blood transfusions that have never actually been tested on humans, tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson and others like him are convinced that they can stay forever young if they just come up with the right blueprint.

In his new book, “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity,” Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and molecular scientist, is trying to change the conversation. Topol, speaking recently to the Longevity Book Club, said that his work aims to prevent not aging but age-related diseases, especially what he calls the “Big Three” of cancer, heart disease and neurodegeneration, with obesity and diabetes close behind.