Comment—Thank you!
I’ve listened to the podcast since its first episode and I’m a big fan. I’ve been saving up questions to ask and will submit them separately, but first—I am so grateful for the extraordinary information you continue to publish. Peter Attia is the face of the effort, but obviously this is an incredible team. I have learned SO much, which I have used to materially improve my own health and also shared with loved ones. I will have gifted almost 2 dozen copies of the book by the time I’m done sending them, plus I have my own hard copy and audiobook. In future please do not shy away from the more technical and scientific episodes. Lots of podcasters and authors can talk about “wellness”. Your comparative advantage as a team is the research and rigorous analysis, plus Peter’s interviewing skills. If the information is technical, let the layperson catch up and self-educate to the extent (s)he chooses. Doing so ignites curiosity, wonderment and a sense of discovery in at least some of your audience. I never thought I’d utter the words “I wish I’d taken biochemistry”, but that was my reaction after several of your episodes— and that’s a good thing! Not that you can’t create high-level “takeaways”—I’m sure that’s helpful—but superficiality is the enemy. Thanks again--
Deep Dive on Kidney Function?
I submitted a question perhaps a year ago about the kidney and preserving kidney function, which I reiterate here. Basically how the kidney works, how function is measured (e.g. how does creatinine mislead us vs cystatin-C), what besides high blood pressure damages function (e.g. “normal wear and tear”, specific medicines like NSAIDs, behaviors, genetic or epigenetic predispositions, etc.)… What targets for function does your practice have, and if function is low, can it be improved?
Deep Dive on Stroke and TIA?
In podcast interviews you’ve begun to discuss stroke and TIA, which is wonderful because I’ve been curious as to whether this is a “cardiovascular” disease and how its development differs from heart issues/ atherosclerosis and from blood clots elsewhere in the body. Can you discuss risk factors besides blood pressure (e.g. behaviours, medicines or molecules that may increase the chance), plus prevention? Are there genetic factors that increase the risk, like APOE-4 in Alzheimers or LP(a) in heart disease? Are there biomarkers, blood tests or imaging tests that give an indication of risk? In real time, what are the indications that someone is having a stroke or a TIA and what should one do in that scenario? Obviously you should get them to the hospital ASAP, but if you call 911 it can take hours for the ambulance to arrive—so should you take the person yourself in the car? Once you get there it can be hard to get the ER receptionist to even take you seriously. A friend recently took his husband to the ER with a massive stroke and the ER receptionist told them to take a seat in the waiting room. It was only when our friend screamed “My husband is going to fall down DEAD on your desk unless you get a doctor right now!” that the receptionist did anything. I had a similar experience when my father had a TIA. Realizing there’s no substitute for medical attention, would taking an aspirin or blood thinner would help until you can get to a doctor? Is there anything else that might be helpful?
Regaining muscle after 70?
You’ve spoken about the challenge of recovering muscle after a period of being sedentary and your advice is to not get injured or have an illness that sidelines you. That’s great but it can’t always be avoided—especially beginning at age 70, which also corresponds to the period when you start really losing muscle anyway. Do you have advice specifically aimed at a person in that age range to recover muscle and movement after illness or surgery? What are reasonable expectations in terms of how much can be regained, how long it may take, how to know if it’s working (short of doing a DEXA). Are your recommendations of protein, recovery time, etc. the same for the older set? Low-risk ways for a 70-80 year old to work on fast twitch muscle and e-centric strength?