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The industry that promises a cure for ageing

Selling the Fountain of Youth by Arlene Weintraub exposes the pseudoscientific claims of the anti-ageing industry

DON’T get sick, don’t get old and don’t die. These three maxims, as stated by Robert Goldman, a founding father of the anti-ageing industry, might sound a tad absurd, but they are nothing compared to many of the industry’s claims which Arlene Weintraub explores.

By medicalising the process of growing old, sellers of anti-ageing “medicine” have made fortunes based on unfounded claims, she argues. Time and again, vulnerable people are spun a yarn and relieved of their cash. Some of the stories are shocking: the case of the anti-ageing doctor who prescribed hormone supplements way above approved doses, for example.

While Weintraub has done her homework, her often dogmatic style leaves little room for intrigue. Still, her scepticism will be food for thought for anyone tempted by promises to turn back the clock.

Selling the Fountain of Youth: How the anti-aging industry made a disease out of getting old – and made billions

Arlene Weintraub

Basic Books

Topics: Books and art

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