Journal Club with Dr. Peter Attia | Effects of Light & Dark on Mental Health & Treatments for Cancer

In this journal club episode, my guest is Dr. Peter Attia, M.D., a Stanford and Johns Hopkins-trained physician focusing on healthspan and lifespan and the host of The Drive podcast.

We each present a peer-reviewed scientific paper chosen because it contains novel, interesting, and actionable data. First, we discuss a paper on how bright light exposure at sunrise and throughout the day and dark exposure at night independently improve mental health and can offset some of the major symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Then, we discuss an article that explores a novel class of immunotherapy treatments to combat cancer. We also discuss some of the new data on low-calorie sweeteners and if they are safe. This episode should be of interest to listeners curious about maximizing their vitality and longevity and to anyone seeking science-supported ways to improve mental health and lifespan.

Journal Articles

• Day and night light exposure are associated with psychiatric disorders: an objective light study in >85,000 people (Nature Mental Health)
• Early evening light mitigates sleep compromising physiological and alerting responses to subsequent late evening light (Scientific Reports)
• Absence of Circadian Phase Resetting in Response to Bright Light Behind the Knees (Science)
• Time spent in outdoor light is associated with mood, sleep, and circadian rhythm-related outcomes: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study in over 400,000 UK Biobank participants (Journal of Affective Disorders)
• Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma (The New England Journal of Medicine)
• Understanding the Warburg Effect: The Metabolic Requirements of Cell Proliferation (Science)
• Screening for the Lynch Syndrome (Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer) (The New England Journal of Medicine)
• Autoimmunity Correlates With Tumor Regression in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma Treated With Anti–Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen-4 (Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Other Resources

• Tuo
• Light Meter app (Google Play)
• Light Meter app (App Store)
• Carbon app
• Fluorescence & Mammals
• Dr. Alia Crum: Science of Mindsets for Health & Performance
• Sugar substitutes: deep dive into the pros, cons, available options, and impact on metabolic health
• The mechanisms of action for immune checkpoint inhibitors

People Mentioned

• David Berson: Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Brown University  
• Charles (Chuck) Czeisler: Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School
• Rick Rubin: Influential record producer
• Alia Crum: Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University; expert on belief effects
• Samer Hattar: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chief of Light and Circadian Rhythms section
• Layne Norton: nutritional sciences expert; founder of BioLayne
• Dana Small: Professor Adjunct of Psychiatry and Director, Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center at Yale School of Medicine
• Iggy Provencio, David Berson, Samer Hattar, Satchidananda Panda: Discovered melanopsin and intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells