What Is a DEXA?

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A DEXA scan is an X-ray. It's the same principle as just getting a chest X-ray where ionizing radiation is passed through the body and there's a plate behind the body that collects what comes through. The denser the medium that the electrons are trying to go through, the less of them that are collected. So when most people do a DEXA, they get the report back and the reports are horrible. We've yet to see one company that can do this in a way that isn't objectively horrible. And if you're anywhere off the pace, we have to ramp up our strategy and be super aggressive about how I prevent further decay.

My guest this episode is Dr. Peter Attia, M.D., who trained at Stanford University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Attia is host of The Drive podcast and is a world expert on behavioral approaches, nutritional interventions, supplementation and pharmacological techniques to improve lifespan, healthspan and athletic performance. We discuss how best to evaluate your health status using routine blood work, body scans and regular tests of physical strength and endurance. Dr. Attia explains what he uses with his patients to “back-cast” their health goals as a way to design their exercise and nutritional programs. We also discuss hormone modulation and replacement therapy for both men and women. We explain how cholesterol and related factors contribute to cardiovascular disease risk and how to monitor and mitigate that risk. Dr. Attia details various supplementation, nutrition, exercise and prescription approaches useful to people in every decade of life to improve vitality, reduce their risk of disease and increase the number of years sustaining peak cognitive and physical health.

For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Assessing Health Status & Improving Vitality

(00:03:07) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT

(00:07:29) Lifespan: Bloodwork & Biomarkers Testing, The “4 Horseman of Disease”

(00:11:51) Healthspan: Functional Testing, Cognitive & Emotional States

(00:13:59) Blood Testing: Best Frequency

(00:16:01) DEXA Scan: Lean Mass & Fat, Bone Mineral Density & Osteoporosis

(00:22:33) Bone Mineral Density & Age-Related Decline, Strength Training, Corticosteroids

(00:29:24) Osteopenia & Osteoporosis Diagnosis, Strength Training

(00:29:52) Sponsor: AG1

(00:32:16) Back-casting: Defining Your “Marginal Decade”

(00:38:31) All-Cause Mortality: Smoking, Strength, VO2 max

(00:44:43) Attia’s Rule of Supplementation, “Centenarian Decathlete” Physical Goals

(00:49:24) Importance of Exercise, Brain Health, MET hours

(00:55:23) Nicotine & Cognitive Focus

(01:03:12) Menstruation, PMS & Menopause

(01:10:10) Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause & Breast Cancer Risk

(01:22:06) Estrogen, Progesterone & Testosterone Therapies in Women

(01:26:35) Hormone Replacement Therapy in Men, SHBG & Testosterone, Insulin

(01:37:23) Clomid, Pituitary, Testosterone & Cholesterol, Anastrozole, HCG

(01:47:46) Fadogia Agrestis, Supplements, Rapamycin

(01:52:06) Testosterone Replacement Therapy & Fertility

(01:59:26) Total Testosterone vs. Free Testosterone

(02:02:51) Cholesterol & Dietary Cholesterol, Saturated Fat, LDL & HDL, Apolipoprotein B

(02:17:42) Apolipoprotein B, Diet, Statins & Other Cholesterol Prescriptions

(02:25:15) Cardiovascular Disease, Age & Disease Risk

(02:28:53) Peptides, Stem Cells, BPC157, PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma), Injury Rehabilitation

(02:37:40) Metabolomics & Exercise

(02:40:44) GLP-1 & Weight Loss

(02:47:06) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Instagram, Twitter, Neural Network Newsletter, Huberman Lab Clips

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac

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