Can you buy health with wealth? 

Not always, American tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson's latest diagnosis suggests. 

On June 30, the 48-year-old biohacker — who has spent over $2 million annually on longevity treatments — revealed that he has autoimmune gastritis (AIG). 

"My stomach is eating itself," he said on social media. 

Bryan received the diagnosis in May after his medical team ordered a series of tests to investigate his persistently low ferritin (an iron-binding protein) levels. 

He has had chronically low levels of ferritin for the past 11 years despite not having anaemia, which were "explained away" with his lifestyle, such as his plant-based diet and training habits. 

Despite trying to raise his iron levels with food and supplements, "nothing would work". 

"None of them explained the core failure. Despite me taking iron orally, trialing every formulation, and using every timing trick, none of the iron would stick," he said. 

Looking back on his health, Bryan shared that he had an unhealthy diet growing up, consuming sugar cereal, sugary soda and "gobbling down fast food". While he had a few "healthy years" in his early 20s, becoming a young father of three and building a business caused him to "let his health slip" again. 

He gained 18kg, and developed chronic depression. 

"Somewhere in that timeline, my body began developing an autoimmune process affecting my thyroid and then my stomach lining," he explained, referring to AIG. 

Millionaire biohacker

Just last year, Bryan's quest to defy ageing and extend his life was featured in a Netflix documentary titled Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever. 

In 2021, he started Project Blueprint in an attempt to reverse ageing of all the organs in his body. 

Two years later, Bryan made headlines two years later after he exchanged plasma with his 17-year-old son and 70-year-old father in a bid to treat age-related cognitive decline. 

"My son, father and I completed the world's first multi-generational plasma exchange. Once divided by the mind, now united by biology," he wrote then.

Autoimmune gastritis 

But what exactly is autoimmune gastritis? 

According to the Global Autoimmune Institute, AIG is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the body's immune system attacks the acid-producing cells that make up the stomach lining. 

AIG can lead to deficiencies in iron and vitamin B-12, and it is associated with a higher risk of gastric cancer if it left untreated.

The condition is estimated to affect approximately 0.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent of adults worldwide.

While both AIG and "regular" gastritis can lead to the thinning of the stomach lining, the two conditions are not the same, according to a 2016 article published in medical journal Wiener Medizinische Wochensschrift.

AIG targets the corpus and fundus sections of the stomach, where the acid-producing cells it attacks are concentrated. 

This was what happened in Bryan's case, as biopsies of his stomach reportedly found early atrophy confined to the acid-producing lining, "with the rest of the stomach still spared".

On the other hand, chronic or acute gastritis, which are usually caused by infections such as the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori), stress or certain medications, can occur anywhere in the stomach. 

While symptoms of AIG are often non-specific, the Global Autoimmune Institute says some early signs include upper abdominal pain, heartburn, bloating and feeling full quickly.

As the condition progresses, other symptoms may also show up due to factors as vitamin deficiencies and pernicious anemia, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, weakness, problems with cognitive and physical functioning, sensory changes, balance issues, as well as depression and anxiety.

High risk groups — including those with unexplained iron deficiency anaemia, pernicious anaemia, first-degree family history of AIG, other autoimmune diseases, blood cell abnormalities, unexplained stomach complaints, unexplained neuropsychiatric changes and infertility or recurrent miscarriages — may warrant screening for AIG. 

carol.ong@asiaone.com