Russian biohackers see themselves as special. Their Western comrades do not use sugar and relieve blood pressure, while their Russians study biochemical parameters and test drugs. Having become a biohacker, Denis, after six months of experiments on himself, brought his body into line with the health standards of masters of sports. This is how biohackers appeared in Russia, who revealed the secret of immortality.
“What is the difference for us between traditional medicine and car repair,” said 28-year-old Denis with a smile. "We are using more scientific methods to restore human health." By saying "we", Denis means biohackers. Now in Russia there are only 20 adherents of this trend.
Previously, these people called themselves followers of transhumanism and studied one question: "How to deceive old age?" At present, under the influence of their American associates, they have changed their terminology and began to be called "biohackers". However, the name is the only thing that connects them with their American colleagues.
Russian biohackers see themselves as special. Their Western comrades do not use sugar and relieve blood pressure, while their Russians study biochemical parameters and test drugs. Denis says: “Usually you need a doctor's prescription to buy medicine. But in Russia, in many pharmacies, medicines can be bought without it. Therefore, nothing is impossible for us."
Two years ago, Denis was a stay-at-home, did not go in for sports, except that sometimes he went for a run, he had some health problems, and there was no stable source of income. Having become a biohacker, after six months of experiments on himself, he brought his body in line with the health standards of masters of sports. This is how biohackers appeared in Russia.
Now Denis is a co-founder of a biohacker laboratory at a well-known Moscow fitness club. Their office occupies the top two floors of one of the skyscrapers of the Moscow City business center; more than 10 of its clients are on the Forbes list. All Denis's activities are based on the study and practical combination of sports and treatment.
In the Russian media, biohackers were presented in a negative light, saying that they are crazy, having nothing to do with medicine, wreaking havoc in the scientific environment, and their experiments on themselves - suicide. Biohackers themselves believe that they are immortal and will not die either in this century or in any other.
In the office of the CFO of their company, as in ordinary office space, certificates and diplomas are hung on the walls. They are not talking about outstanding successes in biohacking, but about achievements in the field of finance. The real occupation of the office owner can only be judged by a small jar of taurine and a certain amount of medicine in the corner near the printer.
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The 35-year-old biohacker Stanislav answered our question with all seriousness: "Will you die?" He replied: "I am not saying that I will not die if you stick a knife in me or run over by a car." He drank a glass of ascorbic acid and continued: "But I don't plan to die of old age."
It took Stanislav three and a half years to create what is arguably the world's largest digital laboratory, in which he studies the human body. During this time, Stanislav read 15 thousand scientific articles on biology and wrote down their main provisions. He has a huge table in Excel, which contains 760 physiological and about 8 thousand biological indicators (hemoglobin, cholesterol, etc.)
Now Stanislav takes more than 35 types of drugs every day, makes notes about improvements in the state of the body, combines drugs and tests their effect on himself. He says he is working on creating a "quantified self." This term was used in 2007 in the American magazine Wired. According to Stanislav, the body is a biochemical mechanism, the functioning of which can be improved by taking various medications.
“For example, I drink metformin, a drug used for diabetes,” says Stanislav and opens a list of biochemical parameters from lipids to proteins and trace elements on his computer. From the abundance of numbers, the eyes run up: some of them are located in the gray zone (the norm), some in the yellow zone (there is a threat), and very few in the red zone (a problem has arisen).
Despite the fact that Stanislav does not have diabetes, it is widely believed among biohackers that metformin prolongs life, which is why they drink it. Stanislav explained to us: “The average life expectancy of a diabetic taking metformin is seven years longer than that of a healthy person who does not take this medicine. This gave us reason to believe that metformin slows aging."
However, this medication also has side effects. When used in the treatment of diabetes, it increases the chances of developing senile dementia and even Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The reason is that the drug interferes with the normal metabolism of B vitamins in the brain. Stanislav fights side effects with the help of specially selected vitamins.
He says: “Metformin reduces the risk of cancer by lowering intracellular pressure. In my body, this indicator is at a low level, so I got rid of the side effect in the form of senile dementia. I consider this experiment successful. Thus, I preserve my morphological age and continue experiments, the ultimate goal of which will be immortality."
When asked how many years he wants to live, Stanislav replied: “It's not that important. If one day the day comes when I open my eyes and realize that I have lived for 5 thousand years, that life has bored me, then I will decide to stop it. What matters now is that I can live life to the fullest. The goal of biohackers is to fight death!"