You’ve heard of biohacking buff Bryan Johnson. Now meet this recent face.
Dr. Jonathann Kuo runs Extension Well being, a Manhattan longevity clinic specializing in expensive age-defying therapies, resembling $12,000 plasma alternate periods and $5,000 sex-enhancing remedies.
Followers embody biohackers, CEOs, stars like Justin Baldoni, athletes like Troy Aikman, and even royalty who’ve money to spare for cutting-edge care.
Kuo, 46, began the ache clinic Hudson Well being and ultimately shifted his focus from ache administration to regenerative medication and mobile well being after having a detailed encounter with Father Time.
“Despite being a doctor, I was overweight. I was pre-diabetic, I had brain fog. I couldn’t focus,” Kuo advised The Put up. “I was really sluggish, and this was, like, in my late 30s. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
The daddy of two traveled the world, consulted different docs, examined novel expertise and devised a biohacking plan about six years in the past.
Now trim with chiseled options and a boyish face, Kuo practices what he preaches at Extension Well being, 160 seventh Ave S, which formally rebranded final summer season as a rejuvenation vacation spot.
“There’s no other place in New York City, or honestly, even around the world that I know of that has all of these newest therapeutics,” Kuo stated.
He plans to roll out a $250,000 annual membership masking the “most advanced testing and therapeutics available.” Two “affordable” tiers will begin round $10,000 a yr. Companies now are à la carte.
“You can spend anywhere from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. There’s a price point for everyone,” Kuo stated. “My goal is to make this accessible for as many people as I can.”
Frequent flyers
The comfortable and plush West Village house, that includes a lush wall of greenery that symbolizes development and vitality, sometimes attracts two forms of sufferers.
There are these with persistent sickness — folks affected by Lyme illness or longtime mildew publicity who’ve been “failed [by] the traditional medical system,” Kuo stated.
And the opposite half are biohackers, millennial celebrities and mid-life CEOs trying to reboot their our bodies, even jetting the world over for days or even weeks of therapy.
Latest acolytes embody multi-hyphenate La La Anthony, 45, “It Ends with Us” filmmaker Justin Baldoni, 41, Tesla director (and brother of Elon Musk) Kimbal Musk, 52, and soccer nice Troy Aikman, 58.
“Some of these are very healthy 50-year-olds, 60-year-olds with nothing wrong,” Kuo stated of his sufferers. “But they’re just very interested in what’s out there, what’s next?”
New beginnings
New sufferers endure an intensive analysis and share their well being objectives. Consultations begin at $400.
“Most patients these days, they complain about anxiety issues, sleep issues, brain fog issues, energy issues — and traditional medicine really does not have great ways of addressing that,” Kuo stated. “And so I’ve come up with all these little protocols and peptide therapies and procedures that can help with that.”
The US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t accepted any medication to deal with growing old as a result of the company doesn’t take into account growing old a illness, however docs can nonetheless prescribe drugs “off-label.”
Kuo goals to optimize three key physique operate indicators — metabolism, hormones and irritation.
His $999 complete diagnostic package deal features a DEXA scan to disclose physique composition and bone density; a VO2 max check to focus on cardio endurance and cardiovascular health; a 3D postural alignment scan; a check to find out the variety of energy burned at relaxation; bloodwork to evaluate biomarkers, hormone ranges, irritation and metabolic markers; and a session.
“That’s a really good deal because you are really getting all of the basic information that you would need to make a plan,” Kuo stated.
The fundamental diagnostic package deal, which doesn’t embody the bloodwork, prices $699. Affected person insurance coverage could cowl some lab work, however not a lot else.
‘Pep’ within the step
On the base stage, Kuo targets eating regimen, sleep and train for enchancment.
“Without those three fundamental pillars, you’re really not going to get anywhere,” he stated.
Stage 2 therapeutics are peptides, dietary supplements and drugs. Peptides are brief chains of amino acids that affect a cell’s operate by binding to receptors on its membrane.
In anti-aging remedies, peptides can stimulate collagen manufacturing to cut back the looks of wrinkles, shield the pores and skin from environmental stressors and performance as antioxidants. They are often administered by way of injections, capsules or topical lotions.
Peptides can price over $300 a month — some sufferers take a number of of them.
“You can do so much with peptides and hormones,” Kuo stated. “You just can really optimize someone metabolically, hormonally, get their inflammation levels down, get their weight down, get their insulin resistance nice and high, just make their systems function better. At the end of the day, it comes down to cellular health.”
Retired hairdresser Craig Linsley, a affected person of Kuo’s for greater than a decade, stated he takes three peptides to maintain his arthritis at bay. He estimates they collectively price round $5,000 a yr.
“I just feel stronger and more sturdy,” Linsley, 67, advised The Put up.
Haven’t any worry
Stage 3 is the extra superior regenerative medication — gene remedy, plasmapheresis (eradicating, treating and returning blood plasma to the physique) and resets of the autonomic nervous system.
Kuo is understood for these “neuro resets,” that are alleged to recalibrate the fight-or-flight response, boosting focus, reminiscence, mind operate, sleep, digestion and immunity. The ten-minute process is supposed to alleviate anxiousness, stress and PTSD.
Kuo injects an area anesthetic into nerves within the neck to quickly block alerts to the mind’s worry heart and injects fluid across the vagus nerve to alleviate stress and promote leisure.
“I’ve done thousands of these cases,” Kuo stated of the neuro reset. “Not to brag, but I see several heads of state in the Middle East and royal families [who come to] New York for this kind of treatment.”
The neuro reset is $1,500. The “complete neuro reset” with ketamine remedy is $2,000 — some folks do 4 neuro resets a yr.
In reality, Kuo tends to see sufferers quarterly to repeat scans and blood checks to trace their progress.
Luke Morong, 37, stated he visits Extension Well being about as soon as a month.
He was initially attempting to keep away from surgical procedure for a herniated disc in his neck — and he discovered reduction with peptides, exosomes (tiny packets of RNAs) and platelet-rich plasma remedy (utilizing his personal blood to advertise therapeutic) to the tune of $20,000 to $30,000.
He’s since “gone down the rabbit hole” by experimenting with different remedies.
“The balancing act is a lot of it gets expensive pretty quickly,” Morong, who works in actual property non-public fairness, advised The Put up.
What’s subsequent
Apart from launching membership packages, Kuo is inquisitive about organising a web-based vacation spot for longevity drugs like metformin and rapamycin, a controversial immunosuppressant the death-delaying evangelist Bryan Johnson, 47, not too long ago dropped from his routine.
Kuo, who collaborates with Johnson, has been taking rapamycin for practically a decade for its anti-aging powers. He famous that there’s no “one size fits all” path to an extended life.
As Extension Well being’s lead guinea pig, Kuo is continually exploring new medication and approaches — he’ll quickly check a blood filtration therapy within the clinic — and brainstorming with fellow youth chasers.
He’s in a “very active group chat” with 200 longevity docs from throughout the US.
“I want to separate out the noise from what’s real and be able to offer that to our clients,” Kuo stated.
