If you were told you could live practically forever, would you do it? What if you were told that the treatment carried a high price tag? Would that stop you from trying it still? What if you were told that you were at a dramatically increased risk of cancer or other serious complications from any of these treatments you might be given? The anti-aging industry, booming with nearly eighty baby boomers who are all interested in living longer, looking younger and staying healthier for longer and longer, is counting on people not worrying about risks or cost for whatever treatment that they devise. That could spell trouble for many of those middle aged and senior people who are putting faith in a largely untested, unproven or outright unsafe part of the medical industry.

The American Board of Medical Specialties does not recognize anti-aging as a board certified specialty for a number of reasons. Aging is a natural process, something that happens to everyone, regardless of how they feel about it but many people treat it like a disease or an affliction, to be treated, prevented or "cured". The industry is so successful that there is a professional society, called the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, founded in 1992. Currently, there are over 24,000 members in that society around the world.

The anti-aging industry is big business and only getting bigger. Recent estimates put the gross sales at nearly $300 billion every year by the year 2015. That number includes more than just anti-wrinkle creams and lotions, however. People are taking unsafe medical treatments in hopes of feeling younger on the inside as well. According to the Food and Drug Administration, there are a number of unregulated, unapproved and unsafe treatments that are being used on willing patients, frequently at great personal expense to themselves. None of these anti-aging treatments are paid for by insurance and the doctors that prescribe them can set their own prices.

One common treatment given in hopes of extending life is recombinant human growth hormone, also called HGH, a synthetic version of a hormone excreted by the pituitary gland. It has been used, not only for anti-aging but for weight loss treatments despite the fact that the FDA warns of serious health risks with its use, including the risk of cancer.

Some members of the medical profession are also warning that these treatments are often given by doctors who are no better than the old carnival snake oil salesmen, selling dangerous "cures" that do nothing at best.