When Bryan Johnson recently announced his autoimmune gastritis (AIG) diagnosis, Lori Taylor’s friends and colleagues immediately texted her.
It’s the same chronic inflammatory condition that Taylor, 60, was diagnosed with in 2018, in which the immune system attacks cells that create stomach acid, affecting the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals.
Looking back, she could see the effects of this disease in her 20s. “I’ve been struggling with some low-grade stomach issues my whole life, as well as an unexplained iron deficiency,” Taylor, a registered dietitian and an adjunct professor at Saybrook University who lives in Whidbey Island, Washington, told Business Insider.
The symptoms began to creep into her life more in her late 40s. Around 2016, she was working at a hospital as a clinical dietitian in the oncology unit. “My hair was breaking and falling out so much that I felt like I was one of my chemo patients,” she said.
One day, after she moved back to private practice, she parked the car and needed to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the second floor. “Suddenly, I thought, ‘how am I going to get up there?'” she said. “I was talking myself out of doing anything that really required energy.”
One of the most frightening symptoms for her was brain fog. It was sometimes difficult to hold onto complex thoughts or remember simple words. When ordering Christmas gifts, she made mistakes, such as sending the presents to her own address. She also developed dysgraphia, unable to read her own handwriting past the first sentence.
Three months before her diagnosis, she was at a boba tea shop where they ran out of the flavor she planned on ordering. When she got to the counter, “It was like my brain was wiped clean,” she said. She broke down in tears. “I thought I was literally losing my mind.”
When she was diagnosed with AIG, she said everything fell into place.
AIG can be tricky to diagnose
Lori Taylor
AIG causes the immune system to attack parietal cells, which produce stomach acid. Not having enough stomach acid makes it harder to absorb the vitamins and minerals we consume.
According to a 2024 study, AIG doesn’t just increase the risk of vitamin B12 and iron deficiencies; it has also been associated with deficiencies in vitamin C and calcium. Symptoms can’t really be completely attributed to one specific cause. That’s partly why it’s so hard to diagnose.
When Taylor first started looking for answers, her B12 levels were in the lower range of normal, and her iron levels were low. Because she had IBS and was going through perimenopause with “periods from hell,” she attributed her iron deficiency to those causes (one 2016 study found that iron deficiency could be attributed to heavy menstrual bleeding). In his X post, Johnson said that his low iron levels were initially dismissed because he didn’t have other markers of anemia.
Taylor’s care team ran a lot of tests and “were going down all sorts of rabbit holes.” Finally, one of her colleagues suggested looking into additional testing for AIG.
Like Johnson, she took a blood test and learned she had elevated levels of parietal cell antibodies — present in many AIG cases. She also got an endoscopy, which revealed inflammation consistent with early AIG. She had an answer.
Her treatment includes supplements, iron infusions, and frequent B12 shots
Mechelle Brooks/Getty Images
Leading up to her diagnosis, she tried a number of interventions such as elimination, FODMAP, and carbohydrate-restricted diets. Some worked, but for only a short period of time. “I struggled with painful, severe bloating that made me look pregnant,” she said.
Once diagnosed, it took her a while to figure out her treatment plan.
The first thing she did was supplement every meal and snack with betaine hydrochloride, which can temporarily increase stomach acid. While there are very few clinical studies looking into the effects of betaine hydrochloride on AIG, and it’s not recommended to take it if you have stomach ulcers, it worked for her. “In the span of three days, 10 years of IBS symptoms disappeared,” she said. She’s been doing this since 2018.
Bryan Johnson shared that oral iron supplements didn’t work for him. Some people with AIG need iron infusions in order for it to be absorbed in the body. Taylor received her first iron infusion in 2018 and has had four sets of infusions over the past eight years. “They’ve been life-changing,” she said.
Taylor also started getting B12 shots. Once she figured out the right dosing for her, a lot changed, she said. “I got my cognitive functioning back,” she said. The neuropathy she’d developed, which felt like “stepping on hot Legos,” also went away, she said.
She’s glad Bryan Johnson is using his platform
Business Insider
Taylor wasn’t surprised that Johnson’s care team didn’t find AIG right away. It’s a complex disease, and many clinicians aren’t trained to look for it.
After being diagnosed with AIG, Taylor said she fell in love with trying to figure out how to better treat AIG, which a recent review estimated to affect about 3.85% of people worldwide.
There are really very few, if any, clinical trials on this. In 2024, Taylor co-authored a review paper proposing that replacing lost stomach acid should be investigated as an AIG treatment. In the fall, she plans to start her doctorate in clinical nutrition at Rutgers University, where AIG will be her focus.
“I’m really hoping that Johnson uses his platform to increase awareness,” she said. She was interested to hear him speak about stem cells as being one potential solution, as parietal cells generally don’t grow back once they’re destroyed. She also hopes more accessible treatment options will emerge. “Not everyone can afford to engage in vitamin infusions,” she said.
Taylor knows it’ll take some time to get there. She believes the revolution in AIG treatment will be driven by patients like herself — and Bryan Johnson.
