It isn’t forgetting where you left your keys or not being able to lift heavy weights that indicate you’re aging.
A major sign your health is declining is actually how erect a man’s penis is or how engorged a woman’s clitoris is as people sleep.
Controversial biohacker Bryan Johnson is striving to live forever – and one way he’s doing that is by competing with his 19-year-old son to see who has the best nighttime erections.
Sitting down exclusively with DailyMail.com, Mr Johnson, who is 47 but has the penile health of a 22 year old, admitted talking about his erections ‘kicks up some giggles,’ but nighttime erections are ‘one of the most important things for all of us to know about our bodies.’
Mr Johnson told this website: ‘When I first started measuring [nighttime erections], I didn’t know if it was a good idea. Is it lowbrow? Is it like a little off?
‘It turns out that – this is true for both men and women – that a man’s nighttime erections and a woman’s nighttime erections – the clitoris engorging – is one of the most important biomarkers of anything about our entire body.
‘So while it kicks up some giggles, it really is one of the most important things for all of us to know about our bodies and it’s just not talked about.’
Mr Johnson said men who don’t have nighttime erections have a 70 percent greater likelihood of premature death, echoing results from a 2015 study that found men with erectile dysfunction have a 70 percent increased risk of an early death.
Bryan Johnson has compared his nighttime erections with those of his son (pictured here) to measure his AndroAge – erection health age
In the morning, the Adam Sensor provides details of nighttime erections, including frequency and duration. Pictured above is the data of Mr Johnson (left) and his 18-year-old son (right)
A lack of or poor quality of erections could signal circulation and blood flow problems, hormone imbalance or nerve damage, which could hint at a myriad of illnesses, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or neurological disorders.
Last month, Mr Johnson tweeted data on his nighttime erections alongside data on his son, Talmage’s, nighttime erections, comparing the two.
While Talmage had two more minutes of erections than Mr Johnson, their AndroAge – health and age of their erections – are the same at 22 years old.
Mr Johnson said: ‘Raise children to stand tall, be firm, and be upright.’
But he was quickly criticized for publishing such intimate information about his son.
However, Talmage retweeted his father’s post, saying: ‘I’m grateful for the way my dad has raised me.’
Mr Johnson told DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t ask my son to do anything. I mean, this is all his own curiosity.
‘If you give kids these toys, they will play with them, and so I’ve just given him all these different things he can play with.’
Mr Johnson uses the Adam Sensor erection tracker, a compact device with a band that goes around the base of the penis and monitors erections by measuring penis size throughout the night.
The Adam Sensor records the frequency, duration and ‘quality’ of each erection and transmits the information to an app on a person’s phone, which analyzes the data and gives an AndroAge.
The device is available online for about $190 (£149.00). Due to high demand, the company says there is currently a waiting list.
There is currently no device to measure female erections, which occur when a woman becomes aroused.
When this happens, blood rushes to the erectile tissue that makes up the clitoris, causing it to become engorged similar to the way a man’s penis becomes erect.
Johnson continued: ‘No one spoke about this until I started talking about it. So it’s good for the headlines, but it’s also really good practically for people’s lives.
‘For example, men who do not have nighttime erections are at risk of 70 percent greater likelihood of premature death. So it’s a really significant health marker.’
There is research to support Mr Johnson’s claims.
A 2015 study found men with erectile dysfunction have a 70 percent increased risk of an early death from any cause.
Another study found men with ED were up to 2.5 times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death globally.
ED can also lead to anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, infertility and relationship problems.
Mr Johnson demonstrates how the Adam Sensor works to measure nighttime erections
It also becomes more common as men age. A 2017 study estimated by the time a man is in his 40s, he has about a 40 percent chance of having some form of ED and this increases by about 10 percent per decade thereafter.
So, by tracking how healthy his penis is, Mr Johnson can measure his overall health.
Regardless of a man’s age, however, the most common cause is a dysfunction with the vascular system of the penis, which can be treated with drugs, injections or penile implants.
In a Valentine’s Day video on X, Mr Johnson calls nighttime erections a workout for the penis and clitoris and said prioritizing sleep is one of the most important things to improve nighttime erections.
He said: ‘If you’re not sleeping well, you’re grinding or you’re otherwise just not prioritizing sleep, you’re probably flaccid. Now this is very problematic because it’s an indicator of bad health and bad things to come.’
In addition to monitoring his nighttime erections, Mr Johnson also undergoes testing of his semen to see how healthy it is, measures blood flow to his flaccid and erect penis using ultrasound and measures how fast and strong he can urinate.
He also fills out questionnaires on erectile function and scored a perfect 25 out of 25.
Mr Johnson sat down for an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com to talk about his longevity routine and desire to live forever
When Mr Johnson first began measuring his penile health, he was maintaining about two hours of erections. Then he underwent two therapies to improve the quality and duration of his nighttime erections.
The first was focused shockwave therapy, which is typically used to accelerate healing in injuries like ligament tears or sprained bones. It uses high-energy sound waves to stimulate healing in damaged tissues.
When applied to the penis, Mr Johnson said in the video it has ‘rejuvenation effects,’ but it it was a painful process.
Second, Mr Johnson received Botox injections into his penis, which can improve penile function by improving blood flow to the penis.
Following the treatments, his nighttime erections went from just over two hours to just over three hours.
Mr Johnson said: ‘Nighttime boners are the missing piece of your sex education you never knew. They’re really important.’
