Causes Or Cures

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Lance Price about his recent study published in One Health on the link between the meat we eat and urinary tract infections (UTIs). In the podcast, he explains how he conducted the study and breaks down the more technical stuff so that it is understandable. He discusses the results of his work, antibiotic resistance, the types of meat most significantly linked to UTIs and how eating and preparing these types of meat may lead to UTIs. Then he talks about preventive strategies on the individual level and the population level. Dr. Lance Price  is a professor at George Washington University's School of Public Health in Washington DC and the founding director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center. You can learn more about him here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.On Youtube.Or Threads.SUBSCRIBE to her newsletter here!Support the show

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Stephanie James about the potential use of genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs) to fight diseases that mosquitoes carry and spread, such as Malaria and Dengue Fever. In the podcast, Dr. James provides an overview on GMMs, as well as what something called Gene Drive Modified Mosquitoes (GDMMs) are. She talks about the current state of research, testing, and describes the GeneConvene Global Collaborative "GeneConvene", which was created to advance best practices and informed decision making for developing GMMs and GDMMs. She talks about the potential benefits versus the potential risks, how they are conducting risk assessments, how they plan to test GMMs, the ethical and safety concerns, and how local communities will be included in the decision-making process. Dr. James is the Senior Scientific Advisor, Population Health Science at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. She helps lead the work being conducted b

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Comninos about Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) and his and his team's research on a potential new treatment called Kisspeptin. He will discuss prevalence, diagnosis, symptoms, how the diagnosis may be misdiagnosed as Erectile Dysfunction Disorder, and current treatment approaches to HSDD. In detail, he'll describe what Kisspeptin is and how it might help. He'll also talk about the clinical trials he has conducted involving both men and women diagnosed with HSDD and how well Kisspetin worked in those clinical trials. Dr. Comninos is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Imperial College London where he also leads the Imperial Endocrine Bone Unit. He has authored over 75 clinical and translational publications in reproductive endocrinology, with a focus on reproductive hormones and their influence on both behavior and bones. You can learn more about him here.You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eek

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Andrei Gudkov and Dr. Joseph Wakshlag about their research on extending a dog's lifespan. They both are part of a group of scientists at Vaika, a non-profit medical research organization that is dedicated to extending the lifespan of domestic animals. In the podcast, they will discuss the aging process, how it might be reversed and how some of the things they are learning may apply to humans too. They will also talk about some of the research they are doing, including testing drugs to slow or prevent the aging process in retired sled dogs that were in kennels around the US and are now living out their retirement on spacious grounds in upstate NY. You will hear more about the dogs and their way of life in the podcast too.  Dr. Gudkov is one of the founders of Vaika and a professor of oncology and senior vice president of research technology and innovation at Roswell Park Cancer Center. Dr. Wakshlag is a veterinarian with Cornell Uni

Send us a textOn a topic near and dear to her, in this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with "misinformation scientist" Dr. Sacha Altay on what we are getting wrong about misinformation. This podcast will focus on his and his peers' paper published in the journal Social Media and Society  titled Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. His article identifies 6 big misconceptions about misinformation and provides a lot to think about when it comes to our current aproaches to identifying and managing misinformation. In the podcast, Sacha will discuss some of the misconceptions about misinformation when it comes to prevalence and circulation, as well as misconceptions associated with its impact and reception. Essentially, concerns with how we are measuring the impact of misinformation and communicating that to the public. He will then discuss how the aformentioned things are associated with misinterpretation of research results. Finally, he will suggest

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Naveed Sattar, a clinician, researcher, and professor of metabolic medicine at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow and a leading expert in diabetes and cardiovascular disease research. In this podcast, he discusses the most accurate ways to measure body fat and why that matters, and he talks about the "obesity paradox", what that is and how it unravels when using more accurate measures of body fat...particularly when it comes to a specific kind of heart failure. (If you are interested, you can read his study on it here.) He discusses how tackling chronic diseases without specifically focusing on and tackling excess weight leads to significantly more problems. (And you can read his study on that topic here.) He shares his views and concerns on the new obesity medications that are trending in the news, and finally, what  a good, population-level approach to obesity might look like. Y

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Victor Tseng about his and his team's study on how AI (ChatGPT) came close to passing the United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE), tests that all medical doctors must take and pass in order to practice medicine in the US. The study was published in Plos Digital Health here. Dr. Tseng will tell us more about what ChatGPT is and its current capabilities, how they set up the study to test its performance on the USMLE, results of the study, future studies his company may perform, and perhaps most importantly, where ChatGPT could take medicine and public health in the future, while highlighting some of the major ethical and philosophical concerns. Will robots replace us?!? Let's see... Dr. Tseng is a practicing pulmonologist (lung doctor) and the Medical Director and Executive Vice President for AnsibleHealth, a digital theranostics and AI-enhanced medical practice focused on care for diseases of the lungs. You can contact Dr

Send us a textWould you ever donate your kidney to a stranger? In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Elaine Perlman, Director of Waitlist Zero, an organization with the mission of representing kidney donors and ending the waitlist by making it easier for living donors to donate a kidney. Elaine will walk us through her journey (from start to finish) of donating her kidney to a stranger. She'll also tell us about the journey of her son, who donated his kidney when he was just a teenager. Elaine will also explain what the "kidney crisis" is, how long the wait on the waitlist is, and the cost to living donors, a burden which Waitlist Zero hopes to decrease. Finally,  she'll talk about the biggest reason people give for donating a kidney to a stranger, and the main reasons people give for not wanting to do it. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subscribe to her newsletter here!Support the show

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats wit Dr. Michael Santos about the A-PLUS trial, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which looked at the effects of a cheap, widely available antibiotic, Azithromycin, in preventing sepsis and death in women during childbirth in low- to middle-income countries. Dr. Santos will explain the prevalence and life-threatening nature of sepsis in women during childbirth, particularly in low-resource settings. He will discuss what they knew about Azithromycin and maternal sepsis prior to the study, how they recruited for this study and conducted it, the results they found, and the wider public health implications. Dr. Santos is Vice President of Science at the Foundations for the National Intitutes of Health (FNIH)  and was in charge of the work FNIH did on the A-PLUS trial. He was previously Deputy Director of the Global Health program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Ee

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Brennen McKenzie, a veterinarian, epidemiologist and Director of Veterinary Medicine at Loyal, a clinical-stage veterinary medicine company developing drugs to prolong the lifespan and healthspan of dogs. He discusses the aging process in dogs, age-related biomarkers, and the link between dog size (big vs small) and lifespan. He explains what a dog's "methylation age" is, how that relates to "epigenetics" and  how that is similar to and differs from a dog's chronological age. He talks about the studies Loyal is conducting and the drugs they are developing to prolong a dog's lifespan. (You may be able to enroll your dog in a study, right from home, if interested!) Finally, he describes when he thinks we might see a "noticeable" difference in a dog's lifespan.  You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subscribe to her ne

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Anushka Ataullahjan about her research on the polio eradication efforts in Pakistan. Wild polio is still endemic in Pakistan, and Dr. Ataullahjan will discuss different eradication programs and initiatives they've tried over the years and the different barriers they've met, including threats of insecurity and  people's beliefs and concerns. She'll discuss how various  global events impacted polio eradication efforts, including how the CIA's 2011 fake vaccine campaign in Pakistan contributed to widespread vaccine mistrust.  She also will offer insights and recommendations for future efforts. Dr. Ataullahjan is a professor, poet and researcher who studies public health issues as they relate to Pakistan, including this study on polio eradication efforts published in Expert Review of Vaccines. You can follow her on Twitter here.  You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or F

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with author Susan Salenger about her book, SIDELINED, How Women Manage & Mismanage Their Health. Some of the topics covered in the book and on this podcast include why women put themselves second when it comes to health issues, why "nice girls finish last," the shame and blame game for when women are hit with an illness, a breakdown of communication when navigating the healthcare system, how pharmaceutical industries target women with their ads, the downside of the wellness industry and positive psychology, and an intriguing stroll through history to explain the context for why women mismanage their health. She will also provide tips on how women can better manage their health and even save their lives. You can learn more about Susan on her website. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter hereSupport the show

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Siwen Wang about her research published in JAMA Internal Medicine on the link between pre-infection healthy lifestyle factors and risk of Long COVID. She will talk about the 6 lifestyle factors they assessed and why, how they did the study and created a "healthy lifestyle score", and how they defined "Long COVID" for the purposes of her study. Then she will discuss results, "take-home" points, and implications for a wider population. Dr. Wang is a medical doctor and Research Fellow at the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subscribe to her newsletter here.Support the show

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Joseph Maroon about hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), what it is, and how it is administered. He will explain why he believes it is beneficial for improving brain health, particularly for helping people recover from traumatic brain injuries, strokes and PTSD. Dr. Maroon will also explain how it can be used to promote healthy aging and describe his own experience with HBOT at Aviv Clinic, as well as how he uses it with his patients. Dr. Maroon is a neurosurgeon, a former doctor for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Vice President of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, founder of the New Global Aging Consortium, a competitive triathlete and marathoner. You can read his book Square One and learn more about him on his website here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subscribe to her newsletter here. Support the show

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Sebastian Goetze on his and his team's discovery of fungi-killing compounds, which they subsequently named after the famous actor Keanu Reeves. (You can read the study here in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.)While the study has created a lot of buzz for being named after Keanu, in the podcast, Dr. Goetze will describe the need for anti-fungals, particularly in a world experiencing an "anitmicrobial crisis." He will walk us through how they discovered the compounds, break down the chemistry, and teach us what "gene mining" means. He will discuss how these "Keanumycins" may be beneficial for our health (and the Earth's health), the difficult process of developing an anti-fungal drug, safety issues, and answer a question a lot of folks have: why/how he and his team named the compounds after Keanu and not John Wick. He'll end the podcast by describing future avenues of research. Dr.

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. James Giordano about narrowing in on the cause of Havana Syndrome, a mysterious illness targeting the intelligence community. Havana Syndrome was first identified in 2016, when diplomats and intel officers working in Havana, Cuba began experiencing a mysterious set of symptoms. Dr. Giordano was one of the experts tasked to investigate the cause of Havana Syndrome, and while other reports of Havana Syndrome have occurred in other locations, this podcast will focus on what happened in Havana in 2016. "Dr James Giordano is Pellegrino Center Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry, and Chief of the Neuroethics Program at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC. He is Senior Bioethicist of the Defense Medical Ethics Center, and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences/Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, and is Distinguished Visiting Pro

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Jay Shah about why he believes that high blood pressure is a silent epidemic affecting millions of people. Dr. Shah will first describe what blood pressure is and how we measure it, what high blood pressure is, and why he believes we are experiencing a silent epidemic of high blood pressure. He will also make the case for why we should be continually monitoring blood pressure versus traditional methods of monitoring blood pressure, such as periodic visits to a healthcare provider or taking measurements at home with a blood pressure cuff. He'll explain the technology he is currently working with to do this. Finally, he'll also offer a few lifestyle tips for improving cardiac health.  Dr. Shah is a cardiologist who trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. He founded and built the cardiovascular services at The Portland Clinic and served as the medical director of the Aortic Disease

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Nick Washmuth about how swearing (cursing, saying "bad" words, dropping "f bombs") can be used to help manage physical pain. He discusses the theories for why swearing helps with physical pain, the evidence for it, specific case studies, and how it might be used in a clinical setting. He also describes if some swear words are "better" than others for managing physical pain and whether or not making up swear words has any benefit. In addition, he'll talk about how swearing might help build a therapeutic alliance and help with physical performance too. Dr Washmuth is a doctor of physical therapy and an Associate Professor at Samford University, School of Health Professions.  Disclaimer: If swearing disturbs you, this isn't the podcast for you. If you're fine with it...then let's f'ing go!You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Madeline Li about Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying Law or MAID.  The Parliament of Canada passed MAID in 2016, allowing eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying. In 2021 the law was revised to allow for more chronic conditions to be included, and now they are in discussions to expand eligibility to those with a diagnosed mental disorder. Dr. Li is a psychiatrist specializing in cancer and palliative care who also has clinical expertise in applying MAID. She has done eligibility assessments for MAID and helped develop the MAID program for the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada.In the podcast, she tells us more about what MAID is, how the original eligibility criteria evolved since 2016, and describes how the law is applied to people who request MAID. She discusses the reasons put forth for expanding MAID to include those with chronic conditions, including mental disorders, and how she personally

Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Kyle Flanigan, CEO and co-founder of US Specialty Formulations about his company's work on creating a COVID-19 vaccine you can swallow. Basically, a vaccine you drink instead of a shot in the arm. He will discuss his company's vaccine platform, called QYNDR, and how it produces oral vaccines. He'll tell us what an oral vaccine is and how it differs from the traditional vaccines we are used to, including differences in immune response, storage, accessibility and scalability. Dr. Flanigan will walk us through how they are testing the vaccine, the funding requirements involved, early results from an early-stage trial in New Zealand, safety concerns, and what's in store for the future.You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subscribe to her newsletter here. Support the show