Putin's longevity guru dead at 77

But do his therapies actually work?

Russian gerontologist Vladimir Khavinson (right) with Russian president Vladimir Putin, after being awarded the Order of Friendship

Who we're talking about: Vladimir Khavinson, the director of the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology, the discoverer of new classes of peptide bioregulators, and the developer of peptide therapy. Among many distinctions throughout Khavinson's career, the biggest was that he served as longevity guru to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

And the news is: Khavinson died on January 6 at age 77, from causes not yet made public. I normally dance away from the topic of death in this longevity newsletter. But I thought the present story was important enough to change my usual approach.

The reason I'm writing about Khavinson now, a month after he died, is that I simply didn't know. The man was part of a different strain of longevity research that hasn't had much contact with US companies and universities. His death was in no way publicized on the many blogs, Twitter accounts, or YouTube channels that cover longevity.

Great hype or great hope? Peptide therapy is a popular topic in a cousin community to longevity, biohacking. It also makes for a major topic of Tony Robbins's and Peter Diamandis's longevity book, Life Force. It's offered in many longevity clinics for injury repair, pain relief, and weight loss. And yet, top longevity researchers rarely talk about it, and many longevity enthusiasts haven't even heard of it.

Peptides clearly didn't help Khavinson live a particularly long life. So is peptide therapy hype or the shape of things to come? Let me know your opinion in the poll below.

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