EP 154: Pioneering early disease detection through wearable devices and regular monitoring with Dr. Mike Snyder

In this episode, Dr. Mike Snyder, Director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine, shares his pioneering work on health monitoring using multiomics and wearables. The conversation spans personalized aging, the challenges of implementing precision medicine in mainstream healthcare, and Dr. Snyder's vision for a future where proactive health monitoring predicts illness before symptoms appear, keeping people healthier longer. Tune in for a fascinating episode centered on preventative medicine!

0:00 Introduction

1:00 Overview of Mike’s background and contributions to genomics and preventative medicine, as well as how he first became interested in deep data collection for health monitoring

4:20 The use of various tools, including smartwatches, blood tests, genetic testing, and more, to create a comprehensive view of an individual’s health

7:00 Using wearables to monitor chronic diseases, initiated by Mike’s personal experience with the Lyme disease

13:00 The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes and the long-term health impacts of being in a borderline or prediabetic state

17:00 The benefits and shortcomings of polygenic risk scores in generating treatment models

19:00 The promise of integrating preventative medicine, wearable devices, and deep data into primary healthcare

25:00 Punctuated points of aging, where rapid changes in biological aging occur at specific and unique stages in a person’s lifespan

31:00 The potential of cell-free DNA in advancing cancer treatments

33:00 The lack of data and digital and biochemical markers for diagnosing and monitoring mental health and neurodegenerative conditions

36:40 The need to incite a cultural shift towards greater data awareness and proactive health monitoring

39:00 Final thoughts: The discrepancy between healthspan and lifespan

42:00 Outro

To learn more about Dr. Snyder’s work, explore his book Genomics and Personalized Medicine and his certificate programs offered through Stanford University:

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