What this was, and why it still reads oddly.
Newsletter #1 went out on June 3, 2020. Its opening news was a name change: Dr. Gates had formed a new corporation called Gates Brain Health, built around a narrower focus on the brain. The letter also carried a new office phone number, closed with a chicken lettuce wrap recipe from a staff member named Laura, and pointed readers toward a recorded conversation between Dr. Gates and Scott Davisson about fear and panic.
That recording is not reproduced, embedded, or linked on this page. We have not verified who owns the reuse rights to it, and we do not republish media on that basis. You are reading the letter's written substance only.
It is a document of its moment, and the moment shows. Some of what it suggested in 2020 was general and sensible. Some of it was not something a practice should have been recommending, and that part is not preserved below.
The letter's real point was about staying stressed too long.
The 2020 edition argued that a body braced for a short emergency is not built to stay braced for months, and that this matters for health. The specific mechanism it offered—figures about immune cells and adrenaline—was not sourced, so it is not repeated here. The underlying idea, though, is one the National Institute of Mental Health does address.
NIMH describes a stressor as something that can happen once, briefly, or repeatedly across a long stretch of time. When anxiety persists and starts to interfere with your life, NIMH says it could affect your health: sleep, and the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. That is a more careful statement than the newsletter made, and it is the one worth keeping.
NIMH also names the point at which self-management stops being the answer. If you are struggling to cope, or the stress and anxiety are not lifting, that is a reason to talk with a professional.
Move more, sit less — and it does not have to be hard.
The newsletter's best instinct was that exercise need not be punishing to count. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans agrees more plainly than the letter did: adults should move more and sit less across the day, some physical activity is better than none, and benefits reach people of every age and fitness level, including people living with a chronic condition or disability.
The guidelines describe what regular activity does in unglamorous terms. It can help people feel better, function better, sleep better, and lower the risk of a large number of chronic diseases. Benefits begin immediately after you exercise, and short episodes count.
For substantial benefit, adults are advised to get at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, ideally spread through the week, plus muscle-strengthening work on two or more days. If that is out of reach today, the guidelines are explicit that doing what you can still has value.
- Anything that gets your heart beating faster counts as moderate activity.
- If you have been inactive, the guidance is to start low and go slow rather than start hard.
- If you have a chronic condition or ongoing symptoms, be under the care of a health care provider and ask what amount and type suits you.
Sleep, meals, and other people.
The letter told readers to get adequate rest without saying what adequate meant. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute puts a number on it: experts recommend that adults sleep between seven and nine hours a night, and adults sleeping under seven hours may have more health issues than those who get seven or more.
On food, the newsletter's advice ran ahead of what it could support. NIMH keeps it modest and we will too: a balanced diet and plenty of water can improve your energy and focus through the day. NIMH's other suggestions for looking after your mental health are similarly ordinary — keep a sleep schedule, try relaxation or breathing exercises, name specific things you are grateful for, decide what genuinely has to get done now, and reach out to friends or family who can offer emotional support and practical help.
And the hand-washing line from 2020 has held up. MedlinePlus explains that washing your hands often reduces the spread of germs and helps prevent illness: lather with soap for at least twenty seconds, about as long as humming "Happy Birthday" twice, getting between the fingers, the backs of the hands, thumbs, and nails. Where soap and water are not available, use a sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.
What we took out, plainly.
The 2020 letter recommended vitamin A, vitamin D, and zinc, referenced lozenges and botanical remedies, described infrared sauna sessions combined with exercise as a way to influence immune cell function, credited laughter with boosting immunity, and invited readers to call the office for advice about immunity and supplements. None of that is on this page.
This is not squeamishness about old writing. It is that we could not attach a government, medical-board, or peer-reviewed source to those claims, and a practice recommending supplements and protocols to a mailing list should be able to. So they are removed rather than hedged. The office does not give supplement advice over the phone.
If you want to talk about your own situation.
The new phone number the newsletter announced in 2020 is still the number: (775) 507-2000. The office answers Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Nothing on this page can evaluate you, and an article about people in general is never a substitute for an examination of you in particular. Please keep medical details to the phone or the office rather than the website.
This is a six-year-old newsletter, not current medical advice. For anything urgent — sudden weakness, trouble speaking, a severe unfamiliar headache, or any situation that feels like an emergency — stop reading and get emergency help right away.