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Huberman Lab

Journal Club with Dr. Peter Attia | Effects of Light & Dark on Mental Health & Treatments for Cancer

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.826.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2024

⏱️ 189 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this journal club episode, my guest is Dr. Peter Attia, M.D., a Stanford and Johns Hopkins-trained physician focusing on healthspan and lifespan and the host of The Drive podcast. We each present a peer-reviewed scientific paper chosen because it contains novel, interesting, and actionable data. First, we discuss a paper on how bright light exposure at sunrise and throughout the day and dark exposure at night independently improve mental health and can offset some of the major symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Then, we discuss an article that explores a novel class of immunotherapy treatments to combat cancer. We also discuss some of the new data on low-calorie sweeteners and if they are safe. This episode should be of interest to listeners curious about maximizing their vitality and longevity and to anyone seeking science-supported ways to improve mental health and lifespan. Read the full shotes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Peter Attia, Journal Club 00:02:56 Sponsors: LMNT & Waking Up 00:07:14 Light, Dark & Mental Health; Retina 00:11:16 Outdoor vs. Indoor Light, Cataracts, Sunglasses 00:16:17 Tools: Sunrise & Sunsets, Circadian Rhythm; Midday Light 00:24:55 Tools: Night & Light Exposure; Waking Before Sunrise 00:31:05 Article #1, Light/Dark Exposure & Mental Health 00:32:36 Sponsor: AG1 00:38:18 Odds Ratio, Hazard Ratio 00:45:43 Night vs. Daylight Exposure, Mental Health Disorders 00:51:35 Major Depression & Light Exposure; Error Bars & Significance 01:00:39 Prescriptions; Environmental & Artificial Light; Red Lights 01:08:14 Nighttime Light Exposure; Sleep Trackers & Belief Effects 01:13:54 Light Directionality, Phone, Night 01:17:21 Light Wavelengths & Sensors; Sunglasses 01:20:58 Hawthorne Effect, Reverse Causality, Genetics 01:26:26 Artificial Sweeteners, Appetite 01:31:16 Natural Light Cycles, Circadian Rhythm & Mental Health 01:39:53 Article #2, Immune System & Cancer 01:43:18 T-Cell Activation; Viruses 01:50:41 Autoimmunity; Cancer & Immune System Evasion 02:00:09 Checkpoint Inhibitors, CTLA-4 02:06:45 Anti-CTLA-4 Study Drug Ipilimumab, Melanoma 02:12:07 Patient Population, Randomization, GP100 02:18:09 Response Rate 02:22:52 Overall Survival & Response 02:28:38 Median Survival vs. Overall Survival, Drug Development 02:35:45 Gender & Dose 02:40:32 Adverse Events; Autoimmunity 02:46:42 Pancreatic Cancer; Aging & Immune System Health 02:53:57 Melanoma; Lynch Syndrome, Keytruda 02:58:43 Immunotherapy & Cancer Treatment; Melanoma Risk 03:06:26 Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, YouTube Feedback, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.

0:06.0

I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

0:15.0

Today marks the second episode in our Journal Club series with myself and Dr. Peter Attia.

0:21.0

Dr. Peter Attia, as many of you know, is a medical doctor who is a world expert in all things health span and lifespan.

0:29.0

He is the author of the best-selling book Outlive, as well as the host of his own terrific

0:33.8

podcast, The Drive. For today's episode, Peter and I each select a different

0:38.1

paper to share with you. We selected these papers because we feel they are both extremely interesting and extremely

0:44.9

actionable.

0:45.9

First, I present a paper that is about how light exposure during the morning and daytime

0:51.5

as well as dark exposure at night, each have independent

0:55.8

and positive effects on mental health, as well as the ability to reduce the symptoms of many

1:01.2

different mental health disorders.

1:03.0

Now I've talked before on this podcast and elsewhere about the key importance of seeing

1:07.6

morning sunlight as well as trying to be in dim light at night.

1:11.3

However, the data presented in the paper today

1:14.1

really expands on that by identifying

1:16.7

the key importance of not just morning sunlight,

1:19.4

but getting bright light in one's eyes

1:21.4

as much as is safely possible throughout the entire day and a

1:24.7

separate additive effect of being in as much darkness at night as possible.

1:30.6

I describe the data in a lot of detail although you do not need a background in biology in order to understand that discussion and there's a key takeaway which is that if you can't get enough light in your eyes during the daytime, you would be well advised to get as much darkness

1:46.1

exposure at night. In other words, light and dark have independent and additive effects on mental health.

...

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