Category

Preventing Chronic Disease

One of the foundational lessons we can take away from studying centenarians — those who have lived to the age of 100+ — is that if you want to live longer, you have to live longer without chronic disease, not live longer with chronic disease. Unfortunately, our current healthcare system is primarily geared toward helping you live longer once you develop chronic disease. This, of course, is the opposite of the approach I take with my patients. 

Over 80% of deaths in people over 50 who do not smoke can be grouped into 4 main categories, what I like to call the four horsemen of chronic disease. These are: (1) atherosclerotic disease (comprised of cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease), (2) cancer, (3) neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer’s disease being the most common), and (4) metabolic disease (a spectrum of everything from hyperinsulinemia to insulin resistance to fatty liver disease to type 2 diabetes).

We have five main longevity tactics at our disposal to affect our longevity: (1) exercise, (2) sleep, (3) nutrition, (4) medications & supplements, and (5) distress tolerance. Below is a collection of podcasts and articles discussing how we can use these tactics to mitigate, prevent, and reverse chronic disease.

Improving memory with transcranial neuromodulation

Research shows that noninvasive neuromodulation can improve performance in memory tasks. Is this technique simply a research tool, or is it a therapy of the future?

#267 ‒ The latest in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and early detection | Keith Flaherty, M.D.

Early detection is going to allow our same toolbox of drugs to be massively more effective.” —Keith Flaherty

Successful, early results using CAR T cells to treat an autoimmune disease

Engineered T cells “reboot”  the immune system by depleting B cells and autoantibodies

Silencing the alarm on aspartame and cancer

Last month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer designated the low-calorie sweetener aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic,” quickly leading to concern, confusion, and criticism.

Can treating hearing loss improve cognitive trajectories and reduce dementia risk?

Age-related hearing loss is very common and has long been known to correlate strongly with cognitive decline. A just-published randomized trial sought to evaluate causality in this association. What do we know now?

#262 – AMA #49: Heart rate recovery, strength training, rucking, kidney function, and brain health

[Heart rate recovery] is one of the metrics that we should care about just as we care about VO2 max and just as we care about resting heart rate.” —Peter Attia

A case study on the importance of taking charge of one’s own health

The personal story of a podcast listener who sought to gain a better picture of his cardiovascular health – and who saved his own life as a result.

#259 – Women’s sexual health: Why it matters, what can go wrong, and how to fix it | Sharon Parish, M.D.

I can’t tell you how many women soldier on either avoiding sex or in pain because they don’t either know or feel validated to seek treatment.” —Sharon Parish

#258 – AMA #48: Blood pressure—how to measure, manage, and treat high blood pressure

If you care about your brain, if you care about your heart and if you care about your kidneys, you need low blood pressure. I think we can say that as confidently as we can say almost anything in medicine.” —Peter Attia

#257 ‒ Cognitive decline, neurodegeneration, and head injuries: mitigation and prevention strategies, supplements, and more | Tommy Wood, M.D., Ph.D.

If you’re trying to maintain a basic set of cognitive functions, [it is important] to actively work on ways to increase headroom, increase absolute capacity throughout the lifespan. Because at some point capacity will decrease, but you want to push that out as far as you can.” —Tommy Wood

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