How A Doctor Cured His Own Terminal Disease | Dr. David Fajgenbaum

My guest is Dr. David Fajgenbaum, MD, professor of translational medicine and human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. He explains how, unbeknownst to most doctors, many approved medications can successfully treat or even cure diseases other than the ones they are typically used to treat. He shares his story of escaping death from Castleman's disease by discovering a life-saving treatment using repurposed drugs that were approved for other purposes. Our conversation explores how researchers, physicians, and you—the general public—can explore novel treatments and cures to conditions the medical profession has deemed untreatable, including cancers. We also discuss the crucial role of mindset in battling diseases and the lesser-known use of compounds to promote health and longevity. Episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/4ER98fx Thank you to our sponsors AGZ by AG1: ⁠https://drinkagz.com/huberman Eight Sleep: ⁠https://eightsleep.com/huberman Rorra: ⁠https://rorra.com/huberman David: ⁠https://davidprotein.com/huberman Function: ⁠https://functionhealth.com/huberman Follow Huberman Lab Instagram:   / hubermanlab   Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X:   / hubermanlab   Facebook:   / hubermanlab   TikTok:   / hubermanlab   LinkedIn:   / andrew-huberman   Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter Dr. David Fajgenbaum Website: https://davidfajgenbaum.com Academic profile: https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/facult... TED talk: https://davidfajgenbaum.com/#ted Support Every Cure’s mission: https://everycure.org/ted Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory: https://www.med.upenn.edu/CSTL Chasing My Cure (book): https://amzn.to/49Ea3Fg Time100 Health 2025: https://time.com/collections/time100-... Instagram:   / dfajgenbaum   X: https://x.com/DavidFajgenbaum Facebook:   / davidfajgenbaum   LinkedIn:   / davidfajgenbaum   Timestamps 00:00:00 David Fajgenbaum 00:04:06 Self-Agency in Healthcare; New Uses for Old Medicines 00:06:44 Other Uses of Aspirin & Viagra; Drug Development & Approved Use 00:08:53 Lidocaine & Breast Cancer; Pharmaceutical Companies & Incentives 00:11:36 Sponsors: Eight Sleep & Rorra 00:14:16 Pharmaceutical Companies, Patents & New Uses; Lithium 00:18:40 Tools: Finding Reliable Health Sources, Asking Questions & Disease Organizations; DADA2 Treatment 00:21:53 Medical Community & Connections; Integrated Medical Databases 00:24:36 Drug Repurposing, Thalidomide, Pembrolizumab 00:28:45 Medical Research Databases, Mapping Disease Connections 00:33:51 Every Cure Database & Programs, Bachmann-Bupp Syndrome; Colchicine & Heart Disease 00:37:57 Sponsors: AGZ by AG1 & David 00:40:41 David’s Medical & Career Journey, Glioblastoma, Castleman Disease 00:49:10 Autoimmune Disease, Driven Personality, Stress & Immune System 00:52:52 Castleman Disease, Treatment, Chemotherapy 00:55:54 Physician Continuing Education, Santa Claus Theory of Civilization; Science Collaboration 01:03:32 Medical School, Relapse & “Overtime”, Finding a New Treatment, Rapamycin 01:12:46 Sport, Football & Resilience; Challenge & Personal Growth, Family 01:18:41 Sponsor: Function 01:20:29 Social Support; “Overtime”, Gratitude 01:23:19 Business School, Castleman Disease Treatment; Repurposing Drugs & AI 01:28:29 Drug Repurposing, POEMS Syndrome; Mitigating Risk 01:35:32 Nicotine, Compounds for Preventive Health; GLP-1 Agonists 01:40:51 Bioprospecting, Drug Development; AI, Prioritization & Novel Connections 01:46:18 Healthcare & Children; Hope, Action & Impact Circuit; Challenge & Super-Agers 01:52:50 Get Involved with Every Cure 01:56:20 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter #HubermanLab #Science #Health Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer