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Interview

Ashley at Interdependence Public Relations recently interviewed Dr. Fertig of the Metabolism & Medicine Podcast. Ashley and Dr. Fertig discussed the Physiological Fitness Landscape model and its relationship to metabolism and well-being. The video and full transcript can be found below.



Ashley: Hello Dr. Fertig. Thank you for joining me today.

Dr. Fertig: Hi, Ashley.

Ashley: Yes, you have a new book out called “Metabolism & Medicine,” and it introduces a new model for humankind. Can you talk about what that model is?

Dr. Fertig: Sure, of course. It’s a Physiological Fitness Landscape model, or PFL, and it’s a mathematical precision personalized dynamic scale of medicine that’s rooted in physics. It’s dynamic in the sense that it changes with time. And change, including our health, is an inescapable hallmark of time. Now, the model is also a general framework that integrates insights from all disciplines of science and medicine.

Ashley: And what exactly does the PFL model do?

Dr. Fertig: Let me give you an analogy for this. Many of us remember what it’s like driving in an unfamiliar city before the days of cell phones and GPS. It was stressful and sometimes dangerous. A PFL model is a healthcare navigation roadmap that predicts biological phase transitions from health to disease. Or the reverse of response to therapies.

Ashley: Can you tell me how the PFL model works?

Dr. Fertig: Sure. This is key. It uses huge volumes of metabolic data – hundreds of thousands of parameters of genes and proteins and other metabolism products – integrated into algorithms of AI which a healthcare practitioner can then use to predict and prevent the onset of chronic disease. Or predict the patient response to therapeutic intervention.

Ashley: Is there anything additional you’d like to add about the PFL model?

Dr. Fertig: Thank you for asking, Ashley. The PFL model also provides a philosophical perspective that encourages finding new mountains to climb and it’s fueled by vitalizing stress responses and flustered by empathy, kinder personalities, and human bonding. Physiological purpose is inspiring that we’re motivated not only to survive as individuals but to help others do so as well. To promote the joys, the opportunities, the health and the general welfare of others which are inextricably entitled to those who are not. There’s nothing more elevating than to become part of a new system. It’s greater than the sum of the parts. In fact, this defines, in a very real sense, physiological purpose at all hierarchical scales from smaller than the human cell to larger than the being.

Ashley: Thank you for sharing.


Featured Photo by Asad Photo Maldives

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