May 05, 2025

#347 – Peter’s takeaways on mastering sleep, dealing with chronic pain, developing breakthrough cancer drugs, transforming healthcare with AI, advancing radiation therapy, and healing trauma | Quarterly Podcast Summary #5

33 minutes

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In this quarterly podcast summary (QPS) episode, Peter summarizes his biggest takeaways from the last three months of guest interviews on the podcast. Peter shares key insights from his discussions with Jeff English on the journey to healing from trauma; Ashley Mason on improving sleep and CBT-I; Sanjay Mehta on misconceptions around radiation and its use in cancer therapy and treating inflammatory conditions (such as arthritis and tendonitis); Sean Mackey on understanding and treating acute and chronic pain; and Susan Desmond-Hellmann on insights from her extraordinary career that pertain to the use of AI in medicine, understanding cancer, and the development of cancer therapeutics. Additionally, Peter shares any behavioral changes he’s made for himself or his patients as a result of these fascinating discussions.

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We discuss:

Summary of episode topics [1:45];
Jeff English episode: how trauma shapes behavior and identity, and the value of understanding personal adaptations and working through unresolved emotional wounds [3:45];
Practical behavioral changes and emotional tools Peter has applied since the Jeff English episode [13:00];
Ashley Mason episode: treating insomnia using CBT-I and practical behavioral techniques for improving sleep quality [19:15];
When to seek professional care for sleep issues [30:30];
Sanjay Mehta episode: radiation therapy’s evolution, its underused potential in treating inflammatory conditions, and the cultural misconceptions surrounding radiation exposure [33:45];
Peter’s predictions and insights for the upcoming Formula 1 season [43:15];
Sean Mackey episode: the neuroscience, classifications, and treatment strategies for chronic pain, and the importance of personalized care [57:45];
Susan Desmond-Hellmann episode: how AI is revolutionizing medicine through advancements in drug development, biomarker discovery, and the potential of training models on private clinical data [1:05:45];
More from Susan Desmond-Hellmann: why cancer is so difficult to treat with drugs, the promise of immunotherapy, and the long-term hope for systemic treatments [1:14:00]; and
More.

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By Peter Attia, MD

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