[0:00] Welcome, my name's Dr. Warrick Bishop. I'm a cardiologist, an author and a keynote speaker. I'm CEO of the Healthy Heart Network. I'm all about trying to help people [0:12] Live as well as possible for as long as possible. Heart disease is huge in Australia. Every 20 minutes someone suffers a heart attack. Most of these could probably have been avoided if only we knew what to do. This podcast is all about helping you understand blood pressure, weight, cholesterol for better health. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be honoured for a five-star review. You can share it with your family and friends. It may well save you. [0:41] Someone you love. [0:42] G'day. It's Dr. Warrick here, and thank you so much for joining me. [0:47] Today I'm going to talk about something that I think is pretty important. I've touched on it before. [0:52] and you'll hear about it a lot. [0:56] It's a thing called the mitochondria. And we generally think of the mitochondria as the energy cells within our body. [1:06] cell that drives what's going on. Almost a battery, if you like, or, well, [1:13] the generator for ATP, which is the energy source within every cell in our body. But it turns out that over and above energy, it looks like mitochondria have a role in not just healthy aging, but also other aspects of cell function. [1:32] and solve [1:34] Bye. [1:35] Although I think [1:36] historically been referred to as... [1:39] the power plants within the cell. And if you think about [1:44] a normal cell [1:45] God. [1:47] Imagine [1:48] for ease, are rectangular boxes, a simple visualization. We've got a nucleus in there where the DNA lives, and outside of the nucleus, if you like, which is a small ball within that rectangular box, which we're calling the cell, outside of the nucleus is the cytosol. This area is where there's lots of [2:12] different components of the cell proteins, and this is the location where the mitochondria exist. [2:22] Well, it turns out that those mitochondria appear to have a role in decision making for cells, believe it or not. [2:30] They seem to have a role in inflammation and regulating inflammation to a degree. And as part of what they do, they seem to be involved in the aging process. So because of those important issues, [2:47] interplays, they appear to be an important crossroad for Croc disease. [2:54] When we talk about [2:56] new mitochondria, we're really talking about biogenesis. That's a word we use for growth. [3:05] Now, we know that mitochondrial biogenesis can be really good because the more mitochondria you've got in the cell, potentially the better that cell could work. [3:15] because it's got more... [3:17] energy supplies within it. And that sort of makes a bit of sense. And I think you'd probably have heard that things like exercise [3:29] are good for mitochondrial biogenesis. [3:33] Things like fasting are probably beneficial as well. And we talk about hot and cold exposure. And they tie in as well by challenging the cell. [3:44] The way they seem to work is through a master switch, a molecule called PGC1-alpha, which sort of coordinates metabolism and genetic expression. [3:56] As we lower the amount of ATP within the mitochondria, and that's through things like [4:06] exercise and fasting and cold exposure, so lowering the energy within the cell, we can turn on a molecule called AMP. [4:17] K, which is AMP kinase. And this is literally a switch, which helps when then in that coordination of energy metabolism. [4:25] within the mitochondria. [4:28] At the same time, there's one thing [4:33] protein, which is linked to energy, [4:37] and this can come into play and is used for repair. [4:41] At the same time, we've got mitochondrial transcription factor A, referred to as G1. [4:48] Taffam, T-F-A-M, and this is... [4:52] important because during those times of exercise, fasting, reduced ATP, these [4:59] This mitochondrial transcription factor can act to improve mitochondrial DNA. So there's a number of things all going on. And the mitochondria seems central to these maintenance and repair programs within the cell. [5:18] We know that more mitochondria tends to be related to more endurance, and [5:24] we know it tends to be related to better metabolic resistance as well. [5:30] Brain health and muscle health are helped, obviously, by better mitochondria, and mitochondrial health is linked with slower aging. It all makes a little bit of sense, and we know that these sort of results of... [5:48] Different sorts of exercise impact mitochondrial count within cells and are a substantial component of fitness and function. [6:00] Interestingly though, we're starting to become aware that damaged mitochondria can be a bit of an inflammatory switch. And I don't think we've thought about this in the past. It turns out that damaged mitochondria can leak. And that leaking gives rise to a cascade of processes leading to inflammation. And we know that low-grade inflammation... [6:27] in the long term is a silent killer. It impacts all aspects of our health. We know that inflammation has links with coronary disease, for example. We know that inflammation is actually central [6:38] to bone health as well. And it's likely that inflammation is central to things like Alzheimer's disease. We know it's associated with obesity as well. [6:48] Yeah. [6:49] Importantly, the body can stop clearing or doesn't clear broken mitochondria as well as it did when it was younger as we get older. And this means that those inflammatory prime mitochondria may be hanging around everywhere. [7:02] as we age. [7:06] The concern with this is [7:09] is that this function or dysfunction, the mitochondrial aging process, where these mitochondria are not doing what they should be doing, could be the bedrock or the foundation of a number of different diseases. [7:22] which all have some similarities but are represented differently. So if you think about reducing the... [7:30] energy source, you might understand that things like Alzheimer's, [7:35] Parkinson's, [7:37] heart disease [7:39] Duh, babies. [7:41] or immune conditions [7:44] cancer and even sepsis may all tie back to the cells central to those cells. [7:53] particular conditions, not having the energy they need, or becoming dysfunctional because they're not being cleared properly. So it's a really interesting way to get down to the, if you like, almost molecular conditions. [8:07] basis for a number of the common disease we see, particularly with ageing. [8:14] Well, of course, we talk about antioxidants as a big player in this space. And one of the problems with... [8:25] Uh... [8:27] antioxidants is they don't necessarily tie in well with where the [8:33] oxidation damage occurs with mitochondrial function. [8:38] And they don't necessarily help with mitochondrial disease. [8:43] damage. [8:45] or damaged mitochondrial clearance either. So there's, so antioxidants certainly have a role. We're not sure if they really will reboost the system. We're not sure if they'll bring balance to the system. We do still like to use them, things like resveratrol, vitamin C. There's a [9:05] a quinone called pqq which is considered a very powerful antioxidant but it's to do with where the oxidation stress is and the oxidation stress stress can occur in different places and it can not only occur in different places within the cell but also different places within the mitochondria and if [9:27] It's within different places within the mitochondria, can be at different points in the electron transfer chain. So although we think about antioxidants a bit, we're not... [9:38] But I don't think we've got that spice. [9:40] completely resolved and there's going to be more to follow in time you watch [9:47] So what, if you're listening to this, you think, well, what can I do to support my mitochondria? Well, exercise is probably... [9:56] number one, two and three. Exercise is really [10:02] It's... [10:03] It really is the golden egg for main... [10:06] maintaining your mitochondria for health, it provides greater return on investment than almost any other single intervention. And interestingly, [10:20] to a degree when they look at longevity, which is slightly different to mitochondrial function, when they look at longevity, there is no [10:29] single intervention other than fasting [10:32] or calorie restriction, which points to improved... [10:38] longevity. So exercise number one, two and three, particularly if you can do high intensity interval training and some resistance training because muscle is powerful, particularly if you're in your later years, losing muscle is very common. When it comes to caloric restriction, it is the only thing that's been proven in multiple different organisms to exercise. [11:02] extend life. Cold exposure, red light therapy has been touted. Certainly we know that saunas, with a lot of the Scandinavian research, supports improved mitochondrial functioning and better outcomes. Nutrients, you may have heard of things like NAD+. NAD+ is actually an energy source that the mitochondria can use. That can be taken orally. [11:31] can be infused and you can even take precursors for that, which break down to an AD+. And that's things like NMN and [11:40] nicotinamide riboside. You may have heard of those. They're pretty expensive, but there are certainly people using those. [11:47] Resveratrol is touted as a supplement that could be supportive. And PQQ, it's a quinone. It seems to be a very powerful antioxidant and seems to be very beneficial for mitochondria function as well. Again, these are more speculative. There's no outcome data. [12:06] *sigh* [12:08] The simple low-hanging fruit and probably the foundation of good health is good sleep, [12:13] and breath work and stress adaptation are central to that. If you're not sleeping well, then nothing else works well because you really need that downtime for the body to recover. [12:26] If anyone is interested, through our longevity labs business in Hobart, we're looking at supporting people with sleep and through for sleep with breath work and infusions that include NAD+. [12:40] reach out if you're curious. [12:44] So as we get towards the end of the mitochondrial story, I really encourage you to continue to watch this space. I think we're going to see more and more. [12:53] happening. They are more than just the energy [12:57] supply within the cells. They are not simple engines. They seem to be checkpoints as well, and they seem to do multiple things. And it appears that they can be a common denominator to a number of the aging processes that we now see really dominating chronic health issues in our community. [13:19] So try and keep on top of those mitochondria. Look after your mitochondrial health. Realise that mitochondrial health is foundational and underpins. [13:31] everything else that your cell does and therefore [13:35] what every organ does, and then what every organism does. So mitochondria, I hope you found that valuable. [13:43] It's a really interesting space and keep an eye out. I am going to wish you the very best. Of course. [13:50] Appreciate your time as always and hope you live as well as possible. [13:55] for as long as possible, and look forward to the next time we catch up. [13:59] Bye for now. [14:07] Hi, ever wondered what your risk of heart attack is? You should. It's the single biggest killer in the western world. We're talking one death less than every 30 minutes in Australia, [14:20] less than every 60 seconds in the United States, nine [14:24] million deaths globally per annum. Well how do you check your risk? Well you can go to [14:32] www.virtualheartcheck.com.au You'll find out about your risk and what can be done beyond that to be even more precise.