Blood Donation
My blood type is 0 Negative and I want to donate blood. I am a healthy 62 year old female, normal BMI, the only meds I'm taking are HRT and have been on them since my mid 40's. I donated blood in my early 50's without any consequence, however the last couple of times in my late 50's I vomited and fainted about a half hour after the procedure. I haven't returned to donate blood since. Blood tests and vaccines prescribed by my physician are a breeze. Are you aware of any protocol that will enable me to resume donating blood without these consequences? My ferritin levels are high and I have normal blood pressure. My GP is perplexed. He said he never heard of this before. Desperate for a fix Dr. Huberman! Thanking you in advance for any help you can provide.
Does grounding oneself in natural environments have any proven health benefits, and if so, what are they?
Hello! Thank you for all of the information you provide. I have learned an enormous amount of information and appreciate your efforts to get science to the masses! My question for you is regarding grounding. Does grounding oneself in natural environments have any proven health benefits, and if so, what are they? There seems to be controversy on whether grounding has a real effect or not. There are sources that describe grounding in earth or sand and the many benefits derived from doing so, such as: • Improving blood pressure • reduction of chronic pain due to the electrons present in the earth’s surface • Improved sleep and there are pads and such that claim to be able to ground one while in bed • Improves senses • Reduces inflammation • Improves eyesight through pressure points that are stimulated through the feet • Positive impacts on the electrical activity of the brain I would love to know your thoughts on grounding, is it effective to improve health, and if so, to what degree, and what elements of our body does it impact?
Sauna effects on hair and scalp
I have been using sauna more frequently. Some online sources (not from scientific literature) suggest a lot of heat (from sauna or other sources) may be bad for the condition of existing hair and/or hair follicles. Suggestions to ameliorate include wrapping a cloth soaked in cold water around the head while in a dry sauna. It seems pretty obvious that excessive heat can damage existing hair. Given how heat seems to be good for other parts of the body, is ambient sauna heat it also damaging to the scalp and hair follicles themselves? And would wearing a cold wrap around the head reduce the overall beneficial effects of the sauna in shielding the head from the heat? Also - I just want to thank you. I have been dealing with a lot of health issues the last few years, and I can't express enough how the information you share on your podcast has helped me address many of the issues in meaningful ways and really improve my life quality.
Morning/Afternoon Light & Contact Lenses with UV Protection
Can we still obtain the benefits of recommended morning and afternoon light while wearing contact lenses? Dr. Huberman, you have mentioned that we still stand to gain from the benefits of sunlight with contact lenses. As I have understood from your podcast, we are particularly interested in UVB light in the morning/afternoon (recently in Episode 68). It seems to me that modern contact lenses, particularly those that offer UV protection, would prohibit the entry of UVB (e.g. shortwave light) and thus the regulatory benefits that you have mentioned (e.g. regulate the pineal’s gland release of melatonin. According to a study provided by the NIH (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6105637/), “When compared to contact lenses without UV blocker such as Air Optix Night & Day (lotrafilcon A, Alcon, Texas, USA), they offer 10-fold more protection for UVA and 17-fold for UVB reaching 96% and 100% blocking of UVA (Fig. 1C) and UVB (Fig. 1D)” Thank you for considering this question.