Dr. Michael Mosley
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(0:10 – 0:44) Well, essentially, I’m really interested in the science of aging, not necessarily because I want to live to 101, but I want to beat my dad. My dad died at the age of 74, and indeed no male member of my family has made it beyond 74, and I would like to live a bit longer than that, but primarily I want to live in good health. And I was really interested in looking at the science of aging because 10 years ago, I made a horizon called Eat Fast, Live Longer, which was about intermittent fasting, and which became a sort of worldwide phenomena, but I was convinced that science must have moved on.(0:45 – 1:16) And BBC Studios came to me with a brilliant proposition, which is essentially make a six part series looking at the science of aging, but very much focusing on the super ages. These are the people who are in their 70s, 80s, 90s, you know, but who are still in terrific shape, and in many ways, decades younger than what it says on their passport. And I love the combination of the human stories with some really fantastic science, I mean, really stuff which kind of blew me away, and I’m immersed in this world.(1:16 – 1:36) So I was quite blase, I assumed I knew it all, and I discovered, wow, there is a whole load of stuff out there, which is utterly fascinating. And also, it delivers on lots of kind of take home tips, which is kind of what people want to know as well. Most people don’t want to live to 101, frankly, but they do want to live healthy and see their kids grow up, and ideally, grandkids, whatever it might be.(1:37 – 2:08) So that was the motivation. I think probably over and above everything else was the fact that there are tests available now, which are called epigenetic tests, which can measure your biological age with a very high degree of accuracy. So this is research coming out of California, and previously we’ve had tests which could do things like obviously measure your blood pressure, your blood cholesterol, your blood sugars and things like that, and these are all markers.(2:09 – 2:33) But this thing can actually tell you pretty precisely what your biological age is, and also the age of your different organs. So we went off and filmed with a guy, and I took the test, and he took the test, and I’m 65, and it said I’m biologically 61, so I’m four yearsyounger. He’s 57, it said his biological age is four years older, so he’s 61. (2:33 – 2:43)So there’s an eight-year difference in our passport age, if you like, but we are twins. And I’m not sure he was thrilled by that. I like to think I also look younger than him.(2:44 – 3:35)You have to watch the documentary to see, you know, you’ve got to have a degree of vanity if you want to grow old gracefully, well, perhaps disgracefully, but I think that was really interesting, because what happens once you’ve got these biological markers, you know, you’ve got a test, is you can also start looking at things that actually, you know, people claim will make you younger, but do they actually? And one of, again, the really weird ones was they know that getting blood, fresh young blood, is a really good way to reverse biological age. It’s been done in rats, mice, and now they’re doing it in humans. And we filmed in the US, this was a woman who had Parkinson’s, and this was to try and preserve her brain, if you like, and they’re using blood products from young volunteers.(3:35 – 3:54)So you want blood from somebody who’s young and who’s fit. So I’ve got three sons, all of whom are doing marathons and things like that, so I’m encouraging them and I’m going to obviously rip off their blood anytime soon and infuse it into myself anytime I can feel my brain going. So it’s divided into six parts.(3:55 – 4:11)So it’s kind of like the body, the brain, it’s also appearance, which is obviously very important to people. There’s the internal self, if you like, what’s going on inside you. And it also, the senses, smell, taste, and things like that.(4:11 – 4:40)And then finally, the future. What is future medicine looking like? And then obviously there is some overlap, but at the heart of each of these stories is some really new science plus some fantastic super ages. So we get to know these characters, whether they are an 80-year-old Dan karate master or a 90-year-old surgeon or maybe somebody who’s still playing jazz, Bobby, who’s in his late 80s.(4:40 – 4:55)And you’d imagine his hearing would be shot away because he’s been hanging around. And indeed, his actual sort of, on the physical test, his hearing wasn’t that great. But when we did a brain, a brand new brain test on him, you could see that actually he was picking up the nuances everywhere.(4:56 – 5:11) And that’s because years of playing music had trained his brain to listen to sounds. So he has, if you like, the ears are knackered, but the brain can still bypass the hardware. And that’s kind of one of the messages of the series.(5:11 – 5:23) You can kind of bypass the hardware to some extent. And there’s another wonderful, wonderful perfumier who is based near here in Grasse. And his sense of smell is just kind of fantastic.(5:23 – 5:32) And that is because he’s constantly challenging it. And one of the things, for example, one of the tips is there’s sort of four distinct smells. You can buy them in little bottles.(5:32 – 5:45) And one way to keep your sense of smell really up to date is by having a little practice sniff every morning of these things. It’s the equivalent of doing press-ups for your nose. And so there’s all sorts of stuff like that.(5:45 – 6:05) Another of my favorite stories is we went to the Faroe Islands and filmed with a group of footballers. And they had started perimenopausal, all with signs of osteoporosis, early signs of bone decay. And you’d expect over the five or six years of the study, their bone health did do that.(6:06 – 6:16) But actually, because they were playing five-sided football and having terrific fun, they kept doing it. And now their bone health is fantastic. It’s like that of a, you know, they managed to reverse the age of their bones by at least a decade.(6:17 – 6:29) And instead of going like that, their bone health is doing that, which is kind of wonderful and encouraging. And I had it. And I have the sort of spine of a sort of 30-year-old, it turns out, because I do lots of press-ups.(6:30 – 6:52) So what’s really nice is you get to meet them. The Faroe Islands is a fantastic location, but we travel all over the world. So we filmed in Japan, the US, all over Europe with monks, fasting monks, or, you know, Wim Hoff was obviously vastly entertaining inHolland with his ice-cold buckets and things like that and challenges.(6:53 – 7:02)So it’s a very, very entertaining series and a very colorful series. And you get to know and meet some lovely, lovely people. You learn some fantastic science.(7:02 – 7:16)And you also get lots of take-home tips. So what’s not to love? I think what happens is that, obviously, you have to work with talented people. You need really good producers who understand this.(7:17 – 7:28)And to be honest, they do a lot of the work. They find the people, you know, everything’s set up like that. And then after that, it’s really a matter of, you know, what are the stories? What are the things that, when you chat with people, I chat with people quite a lot.(7:28 – 7:41)And I, you know, I like to give very precise, if you like, instructions. So I also do a series now, which is a BBC podcast series called Just One Thing. And in essence, it’s really simple.(7:41 – 7:53)So it might be, have a cold shower, give it a go, get in it warm, then switch to cold, stay there for 30 seconds until you’re breathing. And that’s kind of it. But it’s a very precise instruction.(7:53 – 8:06)And with something like press-ups, you know, or squats, this is how you do it. Do it first thing in the morning when you get out of bed, because you’re not going to do it any other time. Do it with your partner, if you’ve got a partner, because you’re more likely to do it.(8:06 – 8:11)And start with this and aim for this. Try and hit, say, 30. It’s going to take you a minute, two minutes.(8:11 – 8:19)The benefits are for your muscles, for your spine, and for your brain. And that’s whatyou’re going to keep reminding yourself. This is the reason I’m doing it.(8:19 – 8:33)And once you do that, then, you know, it begins to stick. And so, for example, balance, another one. You know, can you stand for 30 seconds with your eyes open? Most people should manage 30 seconds.(8:33 – 8:44)If it’s less than 30 seconds, your sense of balance needs some work. And we know balance is absolutely critical. It’s one of the best predictions we have of future health, particularly if you start doing it in your 50s or 60s.(8:44 – 8:55)So try to do 30 seconds on one leg. If you can’t, then, for example, I do it while I’m brushing my teeth. Two minutes brushing my teeth, 30 seconds on one leg, 30 seconds on the other leg, switch over.(8:55 – 9:07)Or you can do yoga, or you can do something else. But if I just tell you, go and do yoga, you probably won’t, unless you’re already doing it or you love it or you’ve got other reasons. If I tell you you can improve your balance by doing it while you’re brushing your teeth, you might.(9:08 – 9:19)So it’s finding these sort of tips, if you like, that people will actually do. And people love clear instruction. I say, you know, you can vary it, do it any way you want.(9:19 – 9:20)This is what I do.
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