The Longevity Delusion

The search for a world in which old age is a curable disease, and death is optional, unites billionaires, politicians and celebrities. The longevity industry is a vast, pseudo-medical enterprise that has spawned countless bestselling books, social media frenzies and a huge network of conferences and pharmacological research.

Seamus O'Mahony casts his sceptical and acerbic eye over this landscape in his brilliant quest to uncover the truth behind an industry - largely funded by Silicon Valley billionaires - which feeds off the gullibility of rich investors and death-phobic consumers. The antidotes: expensive drugs, stem cell therapy, gene therapy and intermittent fasting. He draws upon real scientific evidence to cut through the nonsense and to make a serious case for why longevity is a delusion, and why this industry is unlikely to find a real solution to the inevitability of ageing.

This narrative takes O'Mahony's investigation deep into the world of longevity 'experts' as he attends their conferences and meets these infamous figures in their natural habitats. He has a gift for witty caricatures, stunning anecdotes and countering misinformation with clarity, reason and research. This is investigative writing at its best.

About the Author

Seamus O'Mahony spent many years working for the National Health Service in Britain. He now lives in his native Cork, in the south of Ireland. He is the author of The Way We Die Now, which won a BMA Book Award in 2017, Can Medicine Be Cured? and The Ministry of Bodies.