💪 Stanford MD, Internal Medicine Board Certified Physician
💪 Longevity, Healthspan, Proactive Health
💪 Serial founder, Newsletter, Podcast
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This whale lives 200 years and never gets cancer. Here's why.
Published 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader,
The bowhead whale lives over 200 years, weighs 200,000 pounds, and almost never gets cancer.
These whales don't kill damaged cells (what we previously thought was the "right" thing for longevity)—they repair them with extraordinary precision.
This week I'm covering three studies key for any longevity enthusiast:
Why your fitness tracker might be misleading you (and what actually matters)
How bowhead whales repair DNA damage that would kill us
Why menopause represents the biggest longevity leverage point for women
I was on stage at the massive 12,000 HLTH conference with the CEO of Nestle Health Sciences and the SVP of TruNiagen (NR Supplements). Now, I finally get a break before the next conference in November!
🚶♀️ When Your Wearable Tracks the Wrong Thing
A study tracking 33,560 adults over nearly eight years showed that how you get your steps really matters.
Continuous walks of 10+ minutes -> 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 18% lower all-cause mortality
Breaking up steps into shorter blocks did not show this benefit
Same total steps, completely different results.
Why Continuous Walking Works
Your cardiovascular system needs sustained stimulus to adapt. Short bursts spike your heart rate briefly and then nothing happens.
It's like doing one pushup per hour and calling it a workout.
Continuous walking creates sustained arterial shear stress, which triggers your blood vessels to release nitric oxide.
This molecule is your body's natural arterial protector
Nitric oxide reduces blood pressure
...prevents plaque buildup
...and protects against the endothelial dysfunction that precedes heart attacks.
But you need sustained walking to maintain this cascade. Short bursts interrupt it before your vessels can properly respond.
The same principle applies to metabolic benefits. During continuous walks, your muscles maintain fat oxidation and glucose uptake long enough to improve insulin sensitivity.
Stop-and-start activity never enters this metabolic zone, and you miss the inflammation-suppressing effects that require prolonged moderate exercise.
What This Means for You
Stop obsessing over step counts and start tracking bout duration:
Two 15-20 minute walks daily at a conversational pace
Strategic timing: morning for metabolic boost, after lunch for glucose control, evening for sleep preparation
Phone in pocket: no stopping every 90 seconds to check messages
One continuous walk beats six short trips every single time
🐋 What a 200-Year-Old Whale Teaches Us About DNA Repair
There's a general rule that larger animals tend to have shorter lifespans. Clear exceptions are elephants...and the bowhead whale.
Elephants live a long time because of genetic tricks like having 20+ copies of the p53 tumor suppressor gene.
The bowhead whale takes a completely different approach. These whales don't prevent cancer by eliminating damaged cells—they prevent cancer by repairing damaged cells with extraordinary precision.
This gorgeous beast may hold one of the keys to extreme longevity.
The Strategy Nobody Expected
When researchers exposed bowhead whale cells to DNA-damaging agents, they discovered:
Cells repaired DNA breaks twice as fast as human cells
Made far fewer errors during the repair process
Accumulated 80% fewer mutations over their lifetime
Tumors (when they rarely occurred) showed remarkably few genetic variants compared to human cancers
The key to this remarkable repair capacity? Massively elevated levels of a protein called CIRBP (Cold-Inducible RNA-Binding Protein).
What CIRBP Actually Does
Bowhead whales express far more CIRBP than any other mammal studied.
When researchers inserted the bowhead CIRBP gene into human cells, DNA repair rates doubled with fewer errors and greater resistance to damage.
Even more remarkably, when they inserted CIRBP into fruit flies (who live a short enough time to study lifespan), the flies lived longer and showed increased resistance to radiation damage.
This opens the door to future potential longevity gene therapies for other species—including humans.
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Stem Cells Reverse Alzheimer's in Mice Cedars-Sinai engineered "young" immune cells from human stem cells → reversed cognitive decline + cleared amyloid buildup in mouse models. Human applications still years away but concept proven.
Ditch Your Sleep Meds to Live Longer An analysis of 15.3 million Americans over age 50 showed that sleep meds are associated to injuries (falls), cognitive impairment, and even decreased life expectancy (0.11 years). In my view, the absolute amount of time isn't the main issue, but rather the worse quality of life when one is sedated into the daytime.
Flatworm Stem Cells Ignore Their NeighborsImmortal planarian flatworms can regrow entire bodies from tiny fragments because their stem cells take orders from distant intestinal cells, not their immediate neighbors—defying traditional stem cell theory. This discovery may unlock the secrets of unlimited regeneration potential.
COVID mRNA Vaccines Double Cancer Survival Analysis of 1,000+ patients at MD Anderson found that receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy nearly doubled survival in advanced lung cancer (37.3 vs 20.6 months). The vaccine appears to "reset" the immune system in a powerful, nonspecific way that enhances cancer treatment.
Gum Disease Linked to Brain Damage Study of 1,143 older adults found those with gum disease had 56% higher likelihood of extensive white matter damage in the brain, even after adjusting for other risk factors. Chronic oral inflammation may be quietly harming blood vessels in the brain—another reason to floss.
Omega-3 Benefits Vanish Fast After Stopping Finnish researchers found EPA improved arterial health markers and lipid profiles, but levels dropped quickly after stopping supplementation. The takeaway: omega-3 benefits require consistent intake—stopping means losing protection fast.
Where You Can Find Me
🧘 Eudemonia – Nov 13-16, West Palm Beach, FL. This is looking like *the* consumer longevity summit. If you're looking to try out products in the field, come hang out with me here. Code CARECORE for 20% off a Standard (1- or 3-day) or EXPOSŌME Pass.
🚀 The Longevity Global Summit 2025 – Dec 9, Novato, CA. Clinical Panel. I'm so excited to speak at the Buck Institute with the movers and shakers of longevity! Code SUMMITSPEAKER15 for 15% off
👱🏻♀️👩🏻🦰👩🏻👧🏽👧🏾 Livelong Women's Health Summit – April 17-18, 2026, SF, CA. Delighted to join 50 other thought leaders in speaking on
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