Dr. Daniel Stickler speaks about Healthy Biological Aging with Dr. Ben Weitz.

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Podcast Highlights

4:10  The difference between biological age and chronological age is that biological age or epigenetic age reflects the overall health of the system.  We are talking about health span as compared with life span. One way to think about biological age is that lower biological age is associated with greater levels of function–physiological, physical, and cognitive. 

9:50  We know that as we age, we tend to accumulate damage to our DNA. The telomere test is one way to measure damage to our DNA as a measure of biological age.  Telomeres are the ends of our chromosomes that tend to shorten with age, though we are not sure if telomere length is a result of aging or a cause of aging. Another marker of aging is GlycanAge, which measures glycans that build up in your bloodstream. 

12:25  Dr. Stickler said that when he is looking at markers of aging he will do DEXA scans of patients to look at lean body mass and bone density testing.  EEG studies can be helpful, since certain brain wave patterns are indicative of aging. He will perform skin glycation scanning with immunofluoresence. He will also measure senescent T-cell levels to look at naive (young) vs aged T cells in the blood.

13:05  Dr. Stickler looks at functional mobility and balance. He will look at a bunch of blood metrics like albumin and uric acid levels.  He also looks at hormone levels. They are trying to figure out a way to test intracellular NAD levels.

15:02  The methylation clock was first developed by Dr. Steve Horvath of UCLA and it looks at specific methylation patterns on our DNA.  The Horvath Clock was developed in 2013 by looking at a constellation of epigenetic marks on the DNA that correspond to chronological or physiological age.  Dr. Horvath now has the GrimAge Clock, which is an updated version, which looks at a couple of hundred methylation points on the DNA.  Last September we saw the first study published that showed an epigenetic age reversal, the TRIIM Trial by Fahy, et al, which stands for the Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation trial.  [Reversal of epigenetic aging and immunosenescent trends in Humans]  Gregory Fahy, Steve Horvath and the other authors showed that their intervention resulted in a reversal of aging of 2.5 years, the first time this has ever been proven. The intervention used a combination of growth hormone, DHEA, metformin, 50 milligrams of zinc, and 3000 milligrams of vitamin D.

24:32  There are a lot of products on the market now that have anti-aging benefits, including Rejuvant, which was developed by Stanford’s Buck Institute on Aging that contains calcium AKG.  Also, there is NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide), an NAD precursor, and there are also senolytics like quercetin and fisetin.  Disatinib is a prescription medication that induces apoptosis in senescent cells. 

45:03  Dr. Stickler does recommend resveratrol for anti-aging, though it is probably not a powerful stimulator of NAD. He recommends a multivitamin, 5000 IU vitamin D, 2 gm of fish oil, and sublingual or injections of B12.

 

 

Dr. Daniel Stickler is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer at Apeiron ZOH, Inc.  He is a physician for high-performing executives, entrepreneurs, and elite athletes. He consults with Google for wearable technology, epigenetics, and AI in healthcare. He is on the faculty of the Age Management Medical Group and is also a gu...

Reed Davis discusses the Facts and Myths with Adrenal Fatigue with Dr. Ben Weitz.

[If you enjoy this podcast, please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, so more people will find The Rational Wellness Podcast. Also check out the video version on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/weitzchiro/]

 

Podcast Highlights

0:30  This discussion is about a condition that exists in patients who have been suffering with fatigue and other symptoms related to dealing with chronic levels of stress.  This condition has been called Adrenal Fatigue and the concept is that over time, after dealing with high levels of stress and having to respond repeatedly by producing higher levels of adrenaline and cortisol, the adrenal glands become unable to produce optimal levels of cortisol, much like the pancreas becomes unable to produce adequate levels of insulin in diabetics.  But this condition was never sufficiently proven in scientific studies and most of the conventional endocrinological medical establishment never accepted this concept and it has become increasingly accepted by the Functional Medicine world that adrenal fatigue, per se, does not exist as we have thought about it. However, we also know that a large number of patients have been successfully treated by Functional Medicine practitioners for fatigue and other conditions believed to be related to adrenal problems with herbs and other very safe nutritional supplements, so something positive must be going on.  Check out Ari Whitten’s detailed analysis on adrenal fatigue from his Energy Blueprint podcast: Is Adrenal Fatigue Real? 

6:23  The construct of adrenal fatigue has been useful, even though the science has come to show that it may not be exactly what is happening. When we are under stress, out flight or fight sympathetic nervous system takes over and that kicks off an endocrine response from the adrenals and some other organs.  Both adrenaline and cortisol are released, both of which are produced by the adrenal glands.  Such patients are often stressed out, have extra weight gain, low energy, poor sleep, don’t like to exercise, they might get dizzy when standing, they may have sensitivity to light, irritability, etc.  These patients may be self-medicating. They may rely on coffee in the morning and alcohol at night to sleep. We still see the same patients with the same symptoms and they still have low cortisol, it’s just that we can’t place all the blame on the adrenals.  The adrenals never lose their ability to produce cortisol, so it is the signalling coming from the brain and the sensitivity of the receptors that are more to blame than the ability of the adrenal glands.

 

 

 

Reed Davis is the Founder of the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) Certification Course and the D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success Protocol.  He is an Environmental Paralegal, a Certified Nutritional Therapist and Fitness Coach and he served as the Health Director and Case Manager at the Better Health & Wellness Center in Poway, California for over 10 years.  One of his specialities, beside training Functional Medicine practitioners, is teaching how to interpret lab tests.  Reed teaches a certification course for Functional Medicine practitioners, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, which you can access by going to FDN.today/drweitz.   

Dr. Ben Weitz is available for nutrition consultations, including remote consults via video or phone, specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also specializing in Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar,