Podcast · 174 episodes

The Peter Attia Drive

by Peter Attia, MD · English

Expert insight on health, performance, longevity, critical thinking, and pursuing excellence. Dr. Peter Attia (Stanford/Hopkins/NIH-trained MD) talks with leaders in their fields.

Fitness Health & Fitness Medicine

Follow in VO

Latest episodes

#409 ‒ Inside modern drug development: the science, economics, and regulatory hurdles behind bringing new medicines to patients | Lloyd Klickstein, M.D., Ph.D.Inside modern drug development—how unmet medical needs are identified, how targets and drug formats are chosen, why development is slow/expensive and often fails, how patents/regulatory pathways…28 Sep 2026 · 2 h 26 min

#408 ‒ AMA #89: Thyroid health: interpreting symptoms, diagnosing and treating dysfunction, and navigating the gray zoneThyroid health and the “gray zone” of diagnosis/treatment—how thyroid hormones are regulated (brain pituitary/hypothalamus and local tissue conversion of T4 to T3), why symptoms are nonspecific, how…21 Sep 2026 · 16 min

#407 ‒ Preventing cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease: lowering LDL early, APOE4, and promising new therapies | Michael Davidson, M.D.Primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by lowering LDL earlier in life; biology of CETP inhibition (cholesterol ester transfer protein) and why HDL-raising alone failed; focus…14 Sep 2026 · 1 h 59 min

All episodes

Blood pressure: how to measure, manage, and treat high blood pressure (AMA #48 rebroadcast)Blood pressure measurement, what “high” means, why it matters for longevity, how to measure accurately at home, and how to manage it with lifestyle and (when needed) medications.7 Sep 2026 · 1 h 17 min · 24 chapters

#406 ‒ Migraine, cluster headache, and tension headache: symptoms, causes, prevention, and treatment | Brian Grosberg, M.D.How clinicians classify headaches (primary vs secondary), distinguish migraine vs tension-type vs cluster headache, and manage diagnosis and treatment without biomarkers.31 Aug 2026 · 1 h 56 min · 48 chapters

#405 ‒ AMA #88: Metabolic liver health: how to assess risk, catch dysfunction early, and prevent or reverse liver diseaseMetabolic liver health—how the liver reflects systemic metabolic dysfunction, the four-stage progression (metabolic stress → steatosis → steatohepatitis/MASH → fibrosis/cirrhosis), why normal liver…24 Aug 2026 · 39 min · 16 chapters

#404 ‒ Mental health beyond neurotransmitters: the role of hormones in psychiatry, why symptom reduction isn't enough, and the future of psychedelic therapies | Linus Abrams, M.D.The episode argues that psychiatry should go beyond neurotransmitters and symptom reduction to restore the “full human experience,” emphasizing hormones and whole-body physiology (endocrinology,…17 Aug 2026 · 2 h 18 min · 49 chapters

#403 ‒ Peptides: separating scientific promise from marketing hypePeptides—how to separate real biological/clinical promise from gray-market marketing hype; proposes a framework to judge individual peptides and discusses sourcing, FDA approval, placebo/testimonial…10 Aug 2026 · 53 min · 14 chapters

#402 ‒ NMR blood analysis: how heart disease risk, insulin resistance, inflammation, and mortality risk can be assessed from a single blood sample | Jim Otvos, Ph.D.The episode explains how NMR spectroscopy of a single blood sample can quantify lipoprotein particle concentrations and sizes, and how those NMR-derived measures relate to heart disease risk, insulin…3 Aug 2026 · 2 h 25 min · 47 chapters

#401 ‒ How curiosity transforms medicine: extraordinary discoveries that changed modern healthcareHow curiosity-driven basic research in nature led to major medical breakthroughs, arguing that many drug classes and core lab technologies originated from scientists studying how organisms work…27 Jul 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 15 chapters

#400 ‒ AMA #87: Environmental pollution and longevity: air pollution, noise, light, EMFs, and practical strategies to mitigate health risksEnvironmental pollution in longevity—how air pollution, noise, light, and EMFs/5G may affect cardiovascular, respiratory, sleep, cognitive outcomes, cancer risk, and mortality; why evidence is often…20 Jul 2026 · 20 min · 6 chapters

#399 ‒ The evolution of Alzheimer's disease and dementia care: how early detection, personalized treatment, new therapies, and a multimodal approach are changing the landscape | Gayatri Devi, M.D.The episode argues dementia—especially Alzheimer’s—is a spectrum condition shaped by comorbidities, brain reserve, and neuroinflammation, and that care is shifting toward early detection,…13 Jul 2026 · 1 h 57 min · 42 chapters

Building strength and muscle mass: how to optimize training, nutrition, and more for longevity (AMA #71 rebroadcast)Building strength and muscle mass for longevity—why muscle matters, how strength differs from muscle size, how to train (progressive overload, rep ranges, intensity, concentric vs eccentric work,…6 Jul 2026 · 1 h 44 min · 46 chapters

#398 ‒ AMA #86: GLP-1 RAs and muscle loss: new data, better questions, and how to preserve muscle during weight lossGLP-1 receptor agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound; plus retatrutide) and how they affect muscle/lean mass during weight loss, including DEXA interpretation, bone mass/fracture risk,…29 Jun 2026 · 10 min · 3 chapters

#397 ‒ Endometriosis and adenomyosis: diagnosis, fertility, reproductive aging, and emerging treatments | Renato Tomioka, M.D., Ph.D.Endometriosis and adenomyosis—how they differ, why they’re missed, how diagnosis is shifting from diagnostic laparoscopy to MRI and specialized ultrasound, how treatment choices depend on fertility…22 Jun 2026 · 1 h 59 min · 45 chapters

#396 ‒ Breast cancer screening: understanding risk, deciding when to start and how often to screen, and choosing the right imaging strategyBreast cancer screening—why mortality remains high, where current strategies fail, and how to personalize when to start, how often, and which imaging (mammography/DBT, MRI, CEM, ultrasound).15 Jun 2026 · 50 min · 14 chapters

#395 - Brain lipidology: understanding APOE, cholesterol homeostasis, Alzheimer's disease risk, and the effects of lipid-lowering therapies on brain health | Tom Dayspring, M.D.Brain lipidology—how cholesterol transport differs between the brain and the rest of the body; how APOE genotype and APOE-mediated lipid handling relate to Alzheimer’s disease risk; and what is (and…8 Jun 2026 · 1 h 41 min · 30 chapters

#394 ‒ Sleep pharmacology: the role of medications in healthy sleep, the promise of emerging therapies, and the evidence for common sleep supplementsSleep pharmacology—how to match sleep medications to specific sleep-problem mechanisms (sleep pressure, circadian timing, hyperarousal, sleep architecture), why meds aren’t the foundation of sleep,…1 Jun 2026 · 55 min · 19 chapters

#393 ‒ AMA #85: A guide to medications and supplements: determining what to take, what to skip, and how to know if they're working for youHow to decide whether to take medications or supplements by defining the problem, classifying the intervention’s “job,” matching evidence standards to that job, and judging whether it’s working while…25 May 2026 · 13 min · 5 chapters

#392 - Genetic testing: when it's valuable, how to choose the right test, and what to do with the resultsA practical framework for deciding when genetic testing is valuable, how to choose the right test, and how to interpret results without getting more information than clarity.18 May 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 22 chapters

#391 ‒ Colorectal cancer screening: importance of early screening, colonoscopy as a screening and preventive tool, and how to build a personalized strategyColorectal cancer (CRC) screening—why CRC is highly preventable, how it develops slowly from normal tissue to polyp to precancer to cancer, why colonoscopy is uniquely valuable for both detection and…11 May 2026 · 8 min · 3 chapters

#390 ‒ AMA #84: Family health history, preventing heart disease, metabolic health, strength training efficiency, dementia risk reduction, NAD supplements, and hydrationAMA #84 sneak peek covering family health history (vs genetic testing), cardiovascular disease prevention and risk tolerance, metabolic health in overweight people, minimum effective dose strength…4 May 2026 · 9 min · 3 chapters

#389 - Thinking scientifically: why it's hard, why it matters, and a practical toolkitHow to think scientifically—evaluate claims, update beliefs with new evidence, tolerate uncertainty, and decide who to trust—especially in health and policy amid misinformation.27 Apr 2026 · 54 min · 26 chapters

#388 — Prostate cancer screening: why current PSA guidelines are failing men and how modern tools improve early detection and save livesProstate cancer screening with PSA—why Attia argues current PSA guidelines fail men, and how modern risk-stratified tools (serial PSA trends, MRI, better biopsies, active surveillance) can improve…20 Apr 2026 · 46 min · 18 chapters