What is NAD+, the ‘anti-aging’ treatment connected to woman’s death

The death of a young woman injected with NAD+ by an unlicensed doctor in the Bronx to which she’d entrusted her care is shining a light on the celebrity-favored boosting therapy.

Assistant District Attorney Ethan Reisbaum said in Bronx Criminal Court early Tuesday that Elizabeth Baron, 27, “immediately went into cardiac arrest and later was pronounced dead” Sunday after receiving an injection of Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at Luis Rojas Cabrera’s Bereshit Lifestyle Center in Riverdale.

It is unclear at this time whether NAD+ caused Baron’s death, as autopsy and toxicology results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are pending.

Cabrera, 55, who billed himself as a “M.D., Surgeon, Naturopath,” is facing charges of reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession. He’s been released without bail.

So what is NAD+, and who buys into the youthful glow it claims to promise?

What is NAD or NAD+?

NAD, or NAD+ stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a molecule that is naturally present in the human body and is involved in hundreds of cellular processes, including energy production, muscle metabolism and DNA regeneration. Some researchers have found older people to have lower levels of NAD, suggesting the molecule plays a role in aging.

However, two studies from earlier this year, including one not yet peer reviewed, found that NAD+ levels do not decrease with age in healthy individuals.

While some studies have found that boosting NAD can give renewed vigor to elderly mice, there is little evidence supporting its use in humans. In a 2022 review of clinical trials testing NAD boosting therapies in humans, about 90 percent of the studies found no difference between NAD therapies and a placebo, according to researchers at Newcastle University in the U.K. The review also found a high level of bias in the studies reporting positive results. A 2025 review published in Nature reported a similar lack of scientific support.

“I haven’t seen convincing evidence that they prolong lifespan in animal models, and I certainly wouldn’t take any myself until they’d been proven to work, be safe and efficacious in a properly run, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trial,” David Vaux, a professor and molecular biologist, told the Guardian in 2025.

“Giving these supplements to already healthy or relatively healthy people is not going to do too much because your body’s already got enough,” Nigel Turner, a professor who heads up the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute’s Cellular Bioenergetics Laboratory, told the outlet.

Despite the lack of evidence, NAD+ boosters, which come in the form of pills, injections and IV drips, have become popular among the celebrity set. The boosters work by upping the chemical precursors to NAD — Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) and Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) — stimulating the production of NAD in the body.

Which famous faces have bought in, or at least claimed to?

Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber extolled NAD boosters in a May 2022 episode of Hulu’s “The Kardashians,” during the show’s inaugural season. The supermodels received the substance through IV drips, though they’re also available in pill-form and injections, with self-proclaimed hypochondriac Jenner, now 30, saying IV therapy “comfort[s] me.”

Bieber, now 29, joked at the time she intended to continue NAD for the rest of her days. “And I’m never going to age.”

Jennifer Aniston discussed NAD with the Los Angeles Times in late 2019, claiming at the time that it “starts to decrease as we get older,” at which point, “Our bodies start to break down.”

Gwyneth Paltrow is a longtime NAD+ adherent, and her long controversial wellness company Goop is using it in a new cream.

In addition to the drips, Paltrow told Elle earlier this year that she has “a great little nAD+ pen where you can give yourself a shot when you need a boost. It’s fantastic.”

Also in the bag for NAD+ are neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman, as well as “biohackers” Bryan Johnson and Gary Brecka.

The concept of biohacking, functional medicine specialist Dr. Melissa Young explains, is “maximizing a human performance by hacking our biology,” whether through lifestyle, environmental, or physical changes.

How to find a reputable med spa — it’s not as simple as you think

There’s more to finding a reputable and licensed med spa than a simple Google search, per the New York Department of State.

Because Botox and filler must be administered by a needle or pressure pen, it is a medical procedure that must be performed by someone with a medical license. That extends to seemingly low-risk offerings like microneedling, dermal peels, plasma treatments, Ozempic and other GLP-1s, or IV therapy.

Any business offering or promoting “med spa” services must be licensed as either a medical facility or medical practice and employ licensed physicians and nurse practitioners, per DOS.

The department advises potential consumers to verify licensing on their website.