I grew up in California, where wellness was a kind of civic religion—and, among my friends, a reliable source of jokes. Evian and fat-free frozen yogurt were frequent punch lines; crystals were inherently funny (still are). Yet beneath all that eye-rolling, I absorbed one idea almost without noticing: The choices we make each day—what we eat, how we move—shape how well we live. That belief seems almost quaint now. Today, the line between wellness and medicine is increasingly blurred—and nowhere more so than in the booming longevity industry, where one question drives all others: How much control can we exert over the way we age? That question is at the heart of the magazine you’re holding, Robb Report’s first wellness issue.
In his feature, editor at large Mark Ellwood offers one possible answer. It starts with a simple blood test—and an unexpected piece of good news. Instead of uncovering a hidden disease risk, he learns that he carries KL-VS, a genetic variant that helps the body produce higher levels of Klotho, a protein associated with healthier aging. While researchers study its potential to protect the brain and other organs as we grow older, the longevity sector has pounced. Experimental Klotho treatments are already available abroad, with prices reaching well into six figures. Armed with a genetic jackpot, Ellwood sets out to discover whether the protein might truly change the way we age—or whether the sector has simply found a new way to sell an old fantasy. You can decide for yourself here.
The pursuit of a longer life can also take a darker turn. Staff writer Tori Latham examines longevity-fixation syndrome, an unofficial diagnosis for a very real problem: people who become so consumed with living longer that their mental health and relationships begin to suffer. What starts as a reasonable desire to prevent disease can escalate into constant testing and rigid routines built around an ever-growing roster of supplements and experimental remedies. The warning signs can be easy to miss, because the behavior often looks like discipline. But once the regimen begins to crowd out the rest of a person’s life, the obsession can do real harm. As one physician tells Latham, it is possible to “optimize the life out of your life.”
Finally, we wanted to test the longevity sector’s promises firsthand. To that end, five Robb Report writers checked into leading wellness retreats and medical clinics around the world to see what they actually deliver. They submitted to everything from blood washing and cryotherapy in Germany to ozone infusions and a Human Regenerator machine in Mexico. Their mission? To report candidly on the experience, weighing any benefits against the hefty investment of time and money. Their accounts reveal how far people will go—and how much they will spend—in the hope of living better, longer. Some treatments made a noticeable difference; others raised more questions than answers. But one thing became clear: In a global wellness economy projected to reach nearly $8 trillion this year, longevity has become serious business—and no one is joking anymore.
Enjoy the issue.
Authors
John Vorwald
