Degrees of Health

What if we could replace the brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease? In this episode, Professor Roger Barker of the University of Cambridge explains how cutting-edge stem cell research could help restore dopamine function in the brain, and what early human trials are revealing about this promising approach. We explore why Parkinson’s is so difficult to treat, whether exercise can make a meaningful difference, and how researchers are working towards therapies that go beyond managing symptoms to repair the brain itself. We also discuss the limits of current treatments, the potential of stem cell transplantation, and the big question: Could we one day stop Parkinson’s in its tracks? It’s a fascinating conversation about the future of neuroscience, what we’re learning from clinical trials, and how close we might be to a fundamentally different way of treating Parkinson’s disease. In this episode - Parkinson’s and dopamine: What happens in the brain, why symptoms emerge, and how dopamine-based treatments work. - Why progress has been difficult: The challenges of studying the living human brain and understanding the different forms of Parkinson’s. - Neuroplasticity and compensation: How the brain adapts to cell loss—and why compensation has its limits. - Exercise and brain health: What one striking patient story suggests about exercise, and what researchers still don’t know about its effects on disease progression. - The brain-body connection: The potential roles of the gut, immune system, sleep, diet and social engagement. - AI, smartphones and cognition: Whether modern technology could change how we exercise our brains, and what remains unknown about any connection to Parkinson’s risk. - Stem cell-derived dopamine cells: How researchers turn pluripotent stem cells into dopamine cell precursors for transplantation. - Inside cell transplantation: Why cells are implanted into the striatum, where dopamine normally acts, rather than the area where the cells originally originate. - Early clinical trial findings: What published trials suggest about safety, clinical response and the challenges still to overcome. - Can cell therapy cure Parkinson’s? Which symptoms might improve, which aspects of the disease would remain, and why disease-modifying treatments are still needed. His research focuses on Parkinson’s disease, understanding its different subtypes, and developing cell-based therapies to replace dopamine-producing cells lost in the condition. He discusses the promise of stem cell-derived dopamine cell transplantation, the lessons emerging from early clinical trials, and the work still needed to make these therapies safer, more effective and widely available. Further resources Professor Barker recommends exploring the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for accessible educational resources on stem cells, Parkinson’s disease and cell-based therapies. He also highlights educational modules developed with Harvard Medical School covering Parkinson’s and emerging treatments. If you enjoyed this conversation, please like the video, subscribe to the channel, and share your thoughts or questions in the comments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Are exogenous ketones the same as being in ketosis? Not quite. In this episode, Ben sits down with Dr Kaja Falkenhain, a nutritional physiology researcher who has spent years studying ketones both as a supplement and as a product of fasting and ketogenic diets. Kaja explains why the context your ketones come from changes what they do in your body, how a ketone drink taken before a meal can lower blood sugar spikes by around 25% in people with type 2 diabetes, and why ketones are now being studied as signalling molecules that behave a lot like hormones. Ben also brings his own experiments to the table, from using ketones before cricket to why MCT oil powder switches his brain on like nothing else.MILESTONE MOMENTS- Why taking ketone supplements might actually slow your route into nutritional ketosis- Nutrients are more than fuel: how ketones went from “toxic byproduct” to signalling molecule- The study showing a ketone drink before a meal can blunt blood sugar spikes- The forgotten research from the 1920s to 1940s that predicted today’s ketone boom- Can ketones sharpen reaction time? Ben’s cricket experiment- Why MCT oil powder may feel so different for focus------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.CHAPTERSWelcome Dr Kaja FalkenhainExogenous vs endogenous ketones explainedDoes context change how ketones behave?Ketones, insulin and how they switch off their own productionDo exogenous ketones slow down ketosis?How the body adapts to a new fuel sourceNutrients as signalling metabolitesAre ketones a hormone?Ketones, blood sugar, the brain, heart failure and inflammationThe surprising history of ketone researchKetones, reaction time and cognitive performance in sportUndiscovered effects of ketones on the brainKaja’s ideal studyKetone salts vs ketone estersMCT oil and MCT powderDoes Kaja take exogenous ketones herself?Ketones, calm and metabolic psychiatryHow the gut senses nutrients and talks to the brainWhere to find Kaja

Why is it so hard to break a bad habit, and what if willpower was never the answer? In this episode, Ben Hopkins sits down with psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr Jud Brewer to explore the science of habit change. Jud breaks down the three elements every habit is built on, why your brain keeps repeating behaviours that feel rewarding, and how simply paying attention can make old habits lose their grip. His approach has delivered five times the quit rates of gold-standard smoking cessation treatment and a 67% reduction in anxiety in a randomised controlled trial.Together they unpack why anxiety and worry behave like habits, what brain scans reveal about the default mode network, why fighting a craving only makes it stronger, and how curiosity can become a superpower for lasting change. Whether you’re trying to quit smoking, stop stress eating, worry less or build better habits, this conversation offers practical tools you can start using today.MILESTONE MOMENTSWhy Jud tells smokers to go home and smoke, and what they discover when they pay attention The chocolate shop example: how your brain learns what is rewarding Why New Year’s resolutions fail and how to find immediate rewards insteadAnxiety as a habit: how worry gives us a false sense of control A 67% reduction in anxiety compared to 14% with usual care. What brain scans of expert meditators reveal about worry The patient whose head felt like it would explode, and what happened when he stayed with the craving “Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will” Be curious, not judgmental: the message Jud would put on billboards worldwide You are not your thoughts: why thoughts are a sixth sense door00:00 Introduction to Habit Neuroscience 02:44 Reward and Reinforcement in Habits 04:40 Paying Attention to Smoking and Other Habits 06:39 Mindfulness and Neural Mechanisms of Worry 08:24 The Power of Paying Attention to Rewards 09:17 Long Term Rewards and Habit Formation 11:32 Using Curiosity to Change Habits 14:15 Understanding Anxiety as a Habit 16:31 Neuroimaging and Brain Networks in Anxiety 18:46 Mapping Habit Loops for Anxiety 21:10 The Role of Acceptance and Curiosity 23:26 Default Mode Network and Mindfulness 24:21 Dopamine, Craving and Attention 25:51 Responding to Cravings with Curiosity 27:42 Acceptance and the Power of Curiosity 28:54 Resisting vs Allowing Experience 31:46 Mindfulness Beyond Meditation 32:14 Curiosity as a Metacognitive Tool 34:21 Thoughts Are Not the Self 35:52 Resources and Further LearningLINKS Going Beyond Anxiety, Jud’s new book Going Beyond Anxiety program: goingbeyondanxiety.com Jud’s website and free resources: drjud.com Inside the Curious Mind, Jud’s weekly Substack: judbrewer.substack.com Subscribe to Degrees of Health: youtube.com/@degreesofhealth------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Can changing what you eat change how you think and feel? In this episode, Ben Hopkins sits down with registered dietitian Rachel Frase to explore metabolic psychiatry, the fast-growing field using ketogenic therapy to support depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and more. Rachel shares how her own gut health struggles led her into low-carb nutrition, then into a psychiatric practice where she spent three years working with patients using personalised ketogenic diets alongside or instead of medication.Together they unpack why ketones give the brain more energy than glucose, why mental and metabolic conditions should never be treated in silos, what “more mental bandwidth” really means, how ketogenic therapy is being explored for anorexia, and the simple steps to start a ketogenic diet without the dreaded keto flu.If you’ve ever wondered whether diet can be a serious tool for mental health, this one’s for you.MILESTONE MOMENTS Why intervening early after a first episode of psychosis can change the rest of someone’s lifeMore ATP, more mitochondria: why ketones fuel the brain better than glucose Depression, diabetes and bipolar disorder: one spectrum, not separate buckets The myth that ketosis is dangerous in pregnancy, and the weak data behind 175g of carbsMetabolic flexibility, BDNF and the science of mental capacity How a ketogenic diet can bring food freedom to people with anorexia The most common mistake people make when starting keto Exogenous ketones: strategic tool, not a crutch CHAPTERSWelcome Rachel Frase From gut health struggles to metabolic psychiatry What convinced Rachel that diet can transform mental health How effective is a ketogenic diet for depression? Which version of keto actually works Is it the ketones or the break from glucose? Mental health as a spectrum, not silos: Stress, pregnancy and gestational diabetes Ketogenic therapy during pregnancy The next frontier: education Mental bandwidth and capacity explained Ketogenic therapy and anorexia Keto in a calorie surplus Carnivore and ketone levels How to start a ketogenic diet the right way: What a continuous ketone monitor might reveal Dietary fat and burning body fatExogenous ketones: help or hindrance? The Sugar Summit and where to find RachelLINKS The Quit Sugar Summit (free virtual event, October 21 to 25, focused on metabolic psychiatry): Follow Rachel on Instagram Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn Subscribe to Degrees of Health: youtube.com/@degreesofhealth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Could removing damaged cells help us age better and reduce the risk of age-related diseases? In this episode, Ben Hopkins sits down with researcher **Juliette Taverner** to explore the science of cellular senescence, senolytics, and the potential of compounds like fisetin in the field of longevity research. As we age, some damaged cells stop dividing but remain active, releasing inflammatory signals that can affect surrounding tissues. These are known as *senescent cells*, sometimes nicknamed “zombie cells”. Scientists are investigating whether senolytics, compounds designed to selectively eliminate these cells, could help reduce their harmful effects and improve health as we age.🧬 What You'll Learn **Cellular senescence:** What happens when damaged cells stop dividing but continue to release inflammatory signals.**Senolytics vs. senomorphics:** How these two approaches differ in targeting senescent cells and their effects.**Fisetin and longevity:** Why this plant-derived compound has attracted interest in ageing research, and what we still don't know about its effects in humans.**Clinical trials:** How researchers are investigating fisetin in older adults and exploring different treatment approaches.**Measuring biological ageing:** Why identifying and quantifying senescent cells in living humans remains a major scientific challenge.**SUPAR as a biomarker:** How this blood-based marker may help researchers investigate chronic inflammation and biological ageing.**Immune system decline:** How immunosenescence may contribute to the accumulation of senescent cells as we age.**Safety and supplementation:** Potential risks, drug interactions, bioavailability challenges and why high-dose fisetin should not be assumed to be safe or effective. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Introduction to Juliette Taverner 00:26 – What is cellular senescence? 03:58 – Fisetin and the science of senolytics 04:16 – How fisetin works 05:54 – Why senolytics may be taken intermittently 06:29 – Inside the fisetin clinical trials 08:08 – How do researchers measure senescence? 09:41 – SUPAR: A potential biomarker of biological ageing 11:39 – Understanding fisetin dosing 12:18 – What do we know from current research? 14:27 – Can diet provide enough fisetin? 15:10 – Should you take fisetin supplements? 16:17 – Fisetin, caffeine and potential drug interactions 17:39 – Is fisetin the best senolytic candidate? 18:40 – Do senolytics have a future in longevity? 19:45 – Are anti-ageing supplement claims justified? 21:35 – Designing better senolytic clinical trials 22:14 – The future of cellular senescence research 22:40 – Where to follow Juliette's research Juliette discusses research into senolytic and senomorphic approaches, including clinical studies investigating fisetin, safety, pharmacokinetics and potential changes in markers of inflammation and ageing.A central challenge remains: researchers need to determine who might benefit from these therapies, how to measure senescent cell burden reliably, and whether changes in biomarkers translate into meaningful improvements in health, physical function and cognition.Do you think senolytics could become an important part of the future of longevity medicine? What evidence would you want to see before considering a treatment designed to target senescent cells? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Dr Josh Turknett: The Genius and the Impostor | Degrees of HealthIn my early twenties, I read everything I could get my hands on, because I’d picked up the idea that my brain would basically stop changing at 25. That turns out to be completely false. It also worked, because it made me take learning seriously. Which is sort of the whole point of this conversation.Dr Josh Turknett is a neurologist, and his new book The Genius and the Impostor takes apart what he calls the special brain story: the idea that you’re born with a maths brain or a music brain and a fixed amount of “smart juice”, and your job is to work out which one you got. He thinks it’s wrong and doing real damage. Beliefs shape outcomes, from the placebo and nocebo effects to the Pygmalion effect in classrooms, and Josh argues the special brain story is the nocebo effect at scale.The book centres on two characters. The genius is the unconscious learning engine that taught you to walk, talk and socialise from nothing, and it never goes away. The impostor turns up in adolescence. It’s the narrative voice in your head, a module in the language cortex found in split-brain research, whose job is to explain your behaviour with total confidence and no real insight. It really cares about status, which is why it’s so keen to tell you you’re not a maths person.We get into why plasticity is about need rather than age (there’s an owl study involving inverted goggles), why curiosity is the signal to follow, why you should give your impostor a name, and why Josh calls the online world “purified impostor”. We also cover the minimum effective dose for learning, somewhere between five and twenty minutes, which he worked out teaching himself banjo while working ninety-hour weeks as a neurology resident. Plus why brain training apps only make you good at brain training apps, why rest is where the growth happens, and the idea that plasticity itself is plastic: the more you learn, the better you get at learning.Josh’s closing line stuck with me. We built our whole theory of intelligence before we understood the brain, which is like building a theory of digestion without knowing about the stomach. And we’re still using it.LINKS🧠 The Genius and the Impostor: geniusandtheimpostor.com🎧 Better Brain Fitness podcast, with Dr Tommy Wood 🎙️ Josh’s performance neurology podcast 📬 Substack-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

How much of what you think you know is actually true?In this episode of Degrees of Health, Ben Hopkins sits down with Dr Ellen Langer, the first woman to be tenured in psychology at Harvard and the researcher who has spent fifty years studying mindfulness, almost none of it involving meditation.Ellen makes a simple case with enormous consequences. Mindfulness isn’t something you sit cross-legged to achieve. It’s just noticing. And the moment you decide you know something, you stop noticing it entirely. Her definition of the opposite state is one of the best lines in the episode: frequently in error, but rarely in doubt.From there, the conversation moves through five decades of research that keeps arriving at the same conclusion, which is that our beliefs shape our bodies far more directly than most of us are willing to accept.They discuss:Why mindfulness has almost nothing to do with meditation The one plus one question that catches almost everyone outThe horse that ate a hot dog, and why it changed the direction of a career Why knowing something can be the thing that causes the bad outcomeThe counterclockwise study, where elderly men lived as though it were twenty years earlier The chambermaids who lost weight after being told their work already counted as exerciseThe rigged clock experiments, where blood sugar followed perceived time rather than real time Why Ellen thinks mind and body connection doesn’t go far enough; learning things conditionally, and the single word that changes what you can do with an idea Why stress requires you to predict a future you’re demonstrably bad at predicting Why every negative word we use about behaviour has an equally true positive version: attention to symptom variability, and how to run it yourself with a phone alarm What chronic actually means, and why it isn’t what most people assume Why the more different you are from whoever wrote the rule, the less you should follow it One of the biggest takeaways is that uncertainty isn’t the problem. Being certain is. The more fixed your view of something, the fewer options you leave yourself, and Ellen’s argument is that most of our suffering traces back to exactly that.A genuinely fun conversation with someone who has spent a lifetime questioning things the rest of us stopped looking at years ago. She’s 79, by the way, which makes her thoughts on healing and ageing land rather differently.Find out more about Ellen Langer and her work:Book: The Mindful Body by Dr Ellen LangerInstagram, where the paintings, fairy tales and songs appear first ellenlanger.com If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe to Degrees of Health and let us know in the comments: What’s one thing you’re completely certain about? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Dr Nash Jocic: Philosophy, Bodybuilding and the Golden Era | Degrees of Health Every so often, a conversation goes somewhere you didn’t expect. This was one of them. Dr Nash Jocic came to bodybuilding through philosophy, not the other way round. He started with Hermann Hesse, arrived at a view that a person exists as three entities physical, intellectual and spiritual — and realised philosophy was only giving him two of them. Bodybuilding was the only thing he could find that was challenging enough for the third. That was forty years ago. He’s 64 now, trains five times a week, does zero cardio, and has eaten broadly the same way for decades.The interesting part is the wrong turn he took on the way there. In his early twenties, he followed Mike Mentzer’s heavy-duty system religiously for two years, hit 112kg, and couldn’t find the line between his chest and his shoulders. Then he went to his first bodybuilding show, looked at the men on stage, and had the thought that changes everything for anyone who’s had it: if those are bodybuilders, what am I?Ben and Nash get into high volume and what it really means, why copying Serge Nubret won’t make you Nubret, rep ranges and time under tension, rest periods, and his hormonal case against eating six times a day. His most contrarian position is about the word “cardio” itself, and he goes after it hard. Underneath it all: Nietzsche, Spinoza, Sartre, Hobbes and the Buddha, deployed to make one point. Methods are many, principles are few. Stop looking for the recipe. Worth your time whether you lift or not. MILESTONE MOMENTS ⚡ Seventies lifters had two machines and protein powder that made you sick. By every measure, we should be producing better physiques now. We aren’t.⚡ Mentzer won Mr Universe training like everyone else. The system he sold came later, after his shape went. ⚡ From 112kg to 82kg on stage. “I had to lose 30 kilos to see my six pack.” ⚡ The Buddha: “Do not rely on my stick, make your own one.” ⚡ Hobbes: roll thirty severed heads down a hill and every man runs for his own. Ego, encapsulated. ⚡ “Deeds talk.” Why what you’ve done is the only thing that makes you special. ⚡ Nothing magic about twelve reps — what matters is three to four seconds per rep. ⚡ “Each set should step on the tail of the next one.” ⚡ 64 years old, zero cardio, shredded. “I eat like this for decades.” LINKS 💪 Nash Fit Training — nashfittraining.com 📚 14 ebooks on nutrition, training systems and fat loss 🎥 The Bodybuilding Blueprint course ▶️ Dr Nash Jocic on YouTube -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.

Can changing what you eat really help control seizures?In this episode of Degrees of Health, Ben Hopkins sits down with Dr. Eric Kossoff, a leading neurologist at Johns Hopkins who has spent decades researching ketogenic diet therapies for epilepsy.The ketogenic diet has been used to treat epilepsy for over 100 years, but there’s still a lot people don’t know about how it works. And it turns out, it might not just be about ketones.Eric explains why ketogenic diet therapy can be effective for children and adults with epilepsy, how it’s become an established treatment in modern medicine, and why he believes we should be looking at using it earlier in the treatment process.They also get into the five different types of ketogenic diet therapy, the surprising role blood glucose stability could play in controlling seizures, and the possibility that the diet may have benefits that last even after someone stops following it.In this episode, we discuss:• How effective ketogenic diet therapy really is for epilepsy• Why it can work even when ketone levels are low• The five different ketogenic diets used in clinical practice• What blood glucose stability might have to do with seizure control• Why the medical world has been slow to embrace dietary therapies• Whether starting the ketogenic diet earlier could improve outcomes• How long children and adults typically stay on the diet• Whether ketogenic diet therapy can have lasting effects after stopping• What we know (and don’t know) about exogenous ketones for epilepsy• The role of parents and families in shaping epilepsy researchOne of the most interesting takeaways is that ketones may be only part of the story. Different ketogenic diets may work through different mechanisms, including changes in glucose regulation and the gut microbiome, and researchers are still working to understand exactly how it all fits together.If you're interested in metabolic health, the brain, or the science behind using nutrition as a medical therapy, this is a fascinating conversation.Useful resources mentioned in the episode:Charlie Foundation: https://charliefoundation.org/Matthews Friends: https://www.matthewsfriends.org/International Neurological Ketogenic Society: https://neuroketo.org/Dr. Kossoff and his colleagues also discuss their book, Ketogenic Diet Therapies, written for patients, parents and caregivers.Important: Ketogenic diet therapy for epilepsy should be undertaken with appropriate medical supervision, including guidance from a neurologist and specialist dietitian.If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe to Degrees of Health and let us know in the comments: Do you think dietary therapies deserve a bigger role in modern medicine?#DegreesOfHealth #KetogenicDiet #Epilepsy #MetabolicHealth #Keto #Neurology #BrainHealth #NutritionScience------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🌈 Exploring the benefits of red and infra light therapy? Our community receive 10% off the FlexBeam from Recharge Health via this link: ⬇️ https://rechargehealthas.sjv.io/DyJ3mn (learn more about the benefits of healing with light in our 'Light as Medicine' Playlist). 🤝 Join the community - by subscribing, you are self-selecting as a health nerd. We like you. We applaud you. You are shaping the future of health information in real time. As a thank you, we pledge to bring you the best we can, where we are, with the tools we have.