Using Existing Drugs in New Ways to Treat & Cure Diseases of Brain & Body | Dr. David Fajgenbaum
Andrew Huberman
Nov 3, 2025
Episode description
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
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*Dr. David Fajgenbaum*
Website: https://davidfajgenbaum.com
Academic profile: https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p8205911
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-health-2025/7279645/david-fajgenbaum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dfajgenbaum
X: https://x.com/DavidFajgenbaum
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidfajgenbaum
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/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
Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer
Mindsip insights from this episode:
Repurpose thalidomide to treat leprosy and multiple myeloma
Thalidomide, a drug infamous for causing birth defects, was successfully repurposed to treat both leprosy and multiple myeloma due to its ability to reduce blood vessel growth.
Understand how sleep deprivation triggers immune cytokine storms
A study found that the actual cause of death in severely sleep-deprived mice was a massive inflammatory cytokine storm from their own immune systems.
Utilize aspirin to lower colon cancer recurrence risk
Aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer recurrence, particularly in individuals who have a mutation in the MTOR pathway.
Utilize Rapamycin to combat Castleman's disease and enhance longevity
The speaker treated his own fatal Castleman's disease with a high dose of Rapamycin (Sirolimus), a drug typically used for organ transplants and explored for longevity.
Inject lidocaine pre-surgery to lower breast cancer mortality
A large trial in India found that injecting lidocaine around a breast cancer tumor 8-10 minutes before surgery resulted in a 29% reduction in five-year mortality.
Address generic drug issue to promote life-saving research
Since 80% of the 4,000 FDA-approved drugs are generic, there is no financial incentive for any single company to research and promote their new, life-saving uses.
Leverage hope-action loop in anterior mid-cingulate cortex to enhance will to live
The will to live and overcome challenges is linked to a 'hope, action, impact' feedback loop driven by a specific brain region called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex.
Leverage patents to drive drug repurposing for heart health
The ancient gout drug colchicine only received FDA approval for reducing heart attack risk after its dose was slightly changed, which allowed for a new patent to be filed.
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