Try This – 4 Shares For The Week

Today, I’m sharing four really cool things in the medicine space that might give us all a little hope. Personally, I’m excited to be alive during this time of advancement and possibility when it comes to healing from chronic disease. I hope these shares make you feel hopeful, or at least intrigued! 

High-level:

1. The effects of GLP-1 drugs on breast cancer

2. Revolutionary research on aging cells 

3. A wild story of a woman with dementia

4. Interested in peptides? Watch this 

Let’s dive in…

GLP-1 Medication Cuts Breast Cancer Risk by 30% in Overweight Women

Could the most famous weight-loss drugs in America also lower breast cancer risk? A new University of Pennsylvania study presented this year looked at health records from more than 110,000 overweight and obese women ages 45 to 80 and found that those taking GLP-1 medications were about 30 percent less likely to develop breast cancer. 

So what’s going on here? 

Part of the benefit may simply come from weight loss. Excess body fat, especially after menopause, is a known risk factor for breast cancer. But researchers think there may be more to the story. GLP-1 medications appear to reduce inflammation, improve metabolic health, and influence several biological pathways involved in cancer development.

Before we get too excited, it's important to remember this was an observational study. It can't prove that GLP-1 medications directly prevent breast cancer, and we still need randomized clinical trials to know for sure. Researchers are already working on those studies.

The bigger takeaway: We're learning that metabolic health touches nearly every aspect of health, including cancer risk. Whether through weight loss, blood sugar control, exercise, sleep, or nutrition, taking care of your metabolism may be one of the most powerful long-term investments you can make.

A World First: Therapy to Make Cells Young Again Trialed in a Person

Scientists just gave a person a therapy designed to literally make their old cells young again. 

And by the way, this is the first time it's ever been done in a human.

It comes from David Sinclair's company, Life Biosciences, and it's based on his lab's work in which they flipped on three "youth" genes in mice and got damaged optic nerve cells to regenerate—even reversing vision loss in old mice. 

Now they're trying it on someone with glaucoma, going after nerve cells in the eye that we've always been told can't grow back. I, and many others, are watching this one closely because if it’s successful, it could be groundbreaking for reversing cell damage. 

Wild Case Study 

This is a powerful and mind-blowing case study of a woman with Alzheimer’s who took psilocybin and woke up a different person.

An 80-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer's disease had spent years in severe decline.

She could speak only in short, monosyllabic responses. She was incontinent, needed help walking, struggled with daily tasks, and rarely engaged socially.

Then something unexpected happened.

As part of a case study, researchers administered a high dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in "magic mushrooms." About 19 hours later, the woman began speaking in full sentences and recalling memories she hadn't expressed in years. Over the following days and weeks, she regained bladder control, dressed herself independently, engaged in conversations, made eye contact, and showed an emotional responsiveness that had largely disappeared. A second, smaller dose appeared to produce additional improvements.

Before we get too excited, there's an important caveat: This was a case report involving a single patient. The treatment did not reverse Alzheimer's disease, and the improvements were temporary.

Still, the findings raise a provocative question. What if some abilities lost in late-stage Alzheimer's aren't entirely gone, but instead become inaccessible as brain networks break down? Researchers speculate that psilocybin's effects on brain connectivity and neuroplasticity may have temporarily unlocked functions that had gone dormant.

If a family member or I developed Alzheimer’s one day, I’d definitely look into psilocybin (amongst many other things).

In fact, I took my parents on a guided psilocybin trip a few years ago as part of their health and soul journey, and it was a profound and magical experience for both of them. 

If you want to learn more about the power of psilocybin, who should try it, and who shouldn’t, check out my episode this week with Dr. Will Van Derveer. I talk about my experience with psilocybin, too! 

Podcast Episode I’ve Been Enjoying

Speaking of fringe therapies, I’ve been really paying attention to the peptide conversation. If you’re curious about peptides—what they are, who they’re for, and the nuances around them—this podcast episode with Andrew Huberman and Dr. Abud Bakri is the best deep dive I’ve seen.

Even just the first 30 minutes are pretty fascinating. They talk about BPC157, a peptide that has the potential to accelerate tissue healing, reduce inflammation, and support gut health. It’s also become the most popular and powerful peptide available right now, and something I've been taking for a couple of years now, on and off.

They also talk about the criticism surrounding peptides. Some experts argue that we have to be super careful with these medications because they could accelerate cancer risk, while others argue that they are exciting and could be the new frontier of healing. 

What I like about this episode is that Dr. Abud gives a well-balanced take on peptides, including what we know and what we don’t. I highly recommend it!

See you next week for more shares. 

Much love,
Dhru Purohit 

The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice; please consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions.