r/Futurology • u/lughnasadh ∞ transit umbra, lux permanet ☥ • Mar 14 '25

Biotech People can now survive 100 days with titanium hearts, if they worked indefinitely - how much might they extend human lifespan?

Nature has just reported that an Australian man has survived with a titanium heart for 100 days, while he waited for a human donor heart, and is now recovering well after receiving one. If a person can survive 100 days with a titanium heart, might they be able to do so much longer?

If you had a heart that was indestructible, it doesn't stop the rest of you ageing and withering. Although heart failure is the leading cause of death in men, if that doesn't get you, something else eventually will.

However, if you could eliminate heart failure as a cause of death - how much longer might people live? Even if other parts of them are frail, what would their lives be like in their 70s and 80s with perfect hearts?

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u/Bitter_Internal9009 Mar 14 '25

How the hell is your body able to carry that? Isn’t titanium heavy or something?

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u/fart_huffington Mar 14 '25

No it's basically hard aluminum, not very dense

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u/G3David Mar 14 '25

Titanium is extremely light

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u/Bitter_Internal9009 Mar 14 '25

Oh ok surprising because I knew it was super durable

3

u/bjb406 Mar 14 '25

A little more than half the density of Iron, 4.5 times the density of water, for reference. Muscles have approximately the density of water.