This episode of the Optispan Podcast discusses a new program being developed by Matt Kaeberlein, Eric Nelson, and Dr. Kevin White focused on brain health, cognitive decline, and potential interventions to halt or reverse cognitive decline. The guests share their personal experiences and perspectives on the importance of addressing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Eric discusses his background as an ICU nurse and his personal history with concussions as a football player. This led to his fascination with the brain and the potential overlap between traumatic brain injury and age-related dementia. The group acknowledges the need to develop effective strategies to address cognitive decline.

The guests highlight the common perception that cognitive decline is inevitable with aging, and how this mindset needs to change. They believe there are significant opportunities to halt or even reverse cognitive decline through lifestyle, diagnostic, and targeted therapeutic interventions.

The discussion also covers the importance of early detection and intervention. The group describes a case study of a 63-year-old woman with the high-risk APOE4 genotype, but no overt symptoms of cognitive decline. Advanced blood tests were used to identify early signs of plaque buildup in her brain.

The guests emphasize the need for a comprehensive, personalized approach that considers genetics, lifestyle factors, biomarkers, and imaging to fully understand an individual's risk and current brain health status. The goal is to intervene before significant cognitive decline occurs.

The conversation explores the limitations of current FDA-approved drugs for Alzheimer's disease and the need for a more holistic, multi-faceted approach. The guests discuss the potential role of supplements like omega-3s, B vitamins, magnesium, and creatine as part of a brain health protocol.

Medications such as statins, SGLT2 inhibitors, and metformin are discussed as potential interventions to address the metabolic and vascular components of cognitive decline. The guests also highlight the promise of rapamycin and PDE5 inhibitors based on emerging research.

The group considers other non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as therapeutic plasma exchange, as well as the challenges and limitations around peptides and stem cell therapies in this context. The importance of personalization and longitudinal monitoring to assess the efficacy of the interventions is emphasized.

The episode concludes by outlining the structure of the brain health program, including the tiered approach of lifestyle optimization, core supplements, and more targeted pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions. The goal is to launch the program in the coming months and enroll an initial cohort of 100 participants.