U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy: Efforts & Challenges in Promoting Public Health

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2023

⏱️ 154 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Vivek Murthy, M.D., the acting U.S. Surgeon General who earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine. We discuss nutrition, food additives, social media and mental health, public health initiatives to combat the crisis of social isolation, the obesity crisis, addiction and other pressing issues in public health. Dr. Murthy explains the role of the U.S. government in promoting specific public health issues and the steps needed to rebuild public trust in scientific and medical information. We also discuss health care accessibility, insurance barriers and individual versus team-based medical care. We also discuss topics gleaned from listener questions, such as the facts and myths about “Big Pharma” and “Big Food” industries, scientific research and public health policies. For show notes, including referenced articles and additional resources, please visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Maui Nui Venison: https://mauinuivenison.com/huberman ROKA: https://roka.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Vivek Murthy (00:01:53) Sponsors: Maui Nui & ROKA (00:04:35) Surgeon General Roles (00:07:44) Illness Framework, Enhancing Wellbeing (00:12:42) Priorities as Surgeon General (00:19:50) Public Health Message Distribution (00:28:24) Diagnosis vs. Optimizing Health (00:33:04) Sponsor: AG1 (00:34:01) Food Additives, Highly Processed Foods, Food Availability (00:39:11) Difficulties Addressing Health Issues & Highly Processed Foods (00:49:53) Retribution, Integrity & Public Trust (00:54:41) Company Opposition (00:58:32) Sponsor: LMNT (00:59:50) Public Health Communication, Masks & COVID-19, Public Trust (01:07:01) Masks, Humility; Building Public Trust (01:10:45) Rebuilding Relationship to Public, Vaccines (01:17:41) Community Core & Diversity; Federal Funding (01:24:55) Big Pharma, “Pill for Every Problem” Society (01:31:48) Interdisciplinary Medical Teams, Individualized & Value-Based Medical Models (01:38:44) Insurance Barriers, Mental Health Care, Drug Prices (01:44:40) Isolation Crisis, Social Disconnection, Health Risks (01:49:15) Community Organizations & Modern Life, Social Media (01:56:36) Youth & Social Media, Parents, Policy Change (02:06:45) Real Life vs. Social Media, Kids & Playtime (02:11:56) Social Media Advice for Parents (02:20:43) Society & Disconnection, Human Connection & Service (02:31:20) Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

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.
0:09.0	I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
0:15.0	Today, my guest is Dr. Vivek Murthy.
0:17.5	Dr. Vivek Murthy is a medical doctor and acting surgeon general of the United States.
0:23.0	As surgeon general of the United States, Dr. Murthy oversees more than 6,000 dedicated public health officers
0:29.0	whose job is to protect, promote, and advance our nation's public health.
0:33.0	Dr. Murthy received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine.
0:40.0	Today's discussion covers some of the most important issues in public health,
0:44.0	not just within the United States, but worldwide, including nutrition and the obesity crisis,
0:50.0	as well as food additives and why certain food chemicals and additives are allowed in the United States versus in other countries.
0:57.0	We also discuss mental health, the youth mental health crisis, the adult mental health crisis, and the global crisis of loneliness and isolation.
1:06.0	We also talk about corporate interests, that is whether or not big food and big pharma industries,
1:11.0	actually impact the research and or decisions that the US surgeon general takes in his directives toward public health.
1:18.0	And of course, we discussed some of the major public health events that occurred over the last five years,
1:23.0	and the current and future landscape of how to restore faith both in public health officials, in public health policy, and science more generally.
1:32.0	By the end of today's episode, you not only will have learned a tremendous amount about public health and why you hear the particular public health directives that you do,
1:40.0	but also how to better interpret future public health directives.
1:44.0	You will also come to learn that as surgeon general, Dr. Murthy has both an extremely challenging job,
1:49.0	but one that he meets with a tremendous amount of both rigor and compassion.
1:53.0	Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford.
1:59.0	It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public.
2:06.0	In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast.
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