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Andrew Huberman · 2023-03-20 · 3h 29m

Improve Vitality, Emotional & Physical Health & Lifespan | Dr. Peter Attia

Longevity physician Peter Attia walks Andrew Huberman through the major causes of death and the levers to extend both lifespan and emotional health.

Improve Vitality, Emotional & Physical Health & Lifespan | Dr. Peter Attia
The guest

Dr. Peter Attia — Physician trained at Stanford, Johns Hopkins and the NIH, and a leading expert on healthspan, vitality and longevity. Author of the book Outlive and host of his own health podcast.

The gist

Attia frames longevity as both lifespan and healthspan (physical, cognitive, and emotional), then systematically works through the leading causes of death. He details atherosclerosis (blood pressure, smoking, and apoB), cancer (screening, insulin resistance, obesity), neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's, the apoE gene), and accidental death (now driven heavily by fentanyl, plus falls in the elderly). For each he lays out behavioral, nutritional, supplement, and drug-based levers. The final third turns to emotional health, where Attia openly shares his own rock-bottom experiences, rehab stays, rage and self-talk, and the relationship-repair practices that changed his life.

Big reveals

  • Attia reveals he has taken an injectable PCSK9 inhibitor every two weeks since about 2015 to lower his apoB.
  • Claims obesity is now the second most prevalent environmental driver of cancer, though he argues the real culprits are insulin resistance and inflammation.
  • Reports deaths of despair (overdose, suicide, alcohol) rose nearly 20% per year since 2019, reaching about 210,000 Americans in 2021.
  • Discloses he spent two weeks in a Kentucky facility in 2017 and three weeks in Arizona in 2020 at total rock-bottom moments in his life.
  • Describes lifelong rage and punching holes in walls, saying he can't remember a time without it.
  • Recounts a therapist exercise that erased his brutal inner self-talk ('Bobby Knight') in about four months at age 47.
  • States any visible calcification or soft plaque on a CT scan means a decade-plus of bad arterial histology already built up.

Things worth remembering

  • The single most common presentation of a heart attack is death, a med-school professor told Attia.
  • Most species don't even have apoB, making them chemically incapable of atherosclerosis.
  • The cholesterol measured in your blood is only about 10% of your total body cholesterol.
  • A JAMA analysis with genetic studies concluded there is no dose of ethanol that is healthy; the old 'J curve' is an artifact.
  • The kidney receives 20-25% of your blood on every heartbeat, making it acutely sensitive to high blood pressure.
  • Stage-three colon cancer hit with the same chemo as stage-four yields 80% five-year survival versus near-zero for metastatic disease.
  • For someone over 65, breaking a hip or femur carries a 15-30% chance of death within 12 months.
  • Loss of fast-twitch type-two muscle fibers, not size, is the hallmark of aging and the key to preventing falls.
  • The four unequivocal levers for brain health are sleep, low apoB/LDL, insulin sensitivity, and exercise.
  • An off-the-shelf coronary CT angiogram delivers about 20 mSv of radiation, roughly 40% of the annual safe limit.

Recommended in this episode

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Guest’s ownBook

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Peter Attia

“we also discussed Dr aa's newly released book which is entitled outlive the science and art of longevity this is a phenomenal book I've read it cover to cover now three times” — Andrew Huberman 00:02:03
Find it on Amazon
RecommendedBook

The Road to Character

David Brooks

“you recommended the road to character to me I do an annual solo Wilderness trip and I listen to it... it's a truly important book for everyone to listen to” — Andrew Huberman 02:56:09
Find it on Amazon