Causes or Cures
Dr. Eeks
"For the Nerds and the Nerd Nots"Causes or Cures is a health podcast hosted by "Dr. Eeks"—an independent, offbeat, grassroots show driven by curiosity and a passion for breaking down complex health topics into bite-sized, easy-to-understand insights. Dr. Eeks is a public health professional specializing in applied epidemiology and health communication. She works on complex and timely public health issues and is all about making science relatable, often using a blue-collar sense of humor to drive the message home. On this podcast, Dr. Eeks talks with experts from around the world (doctors, researchers, public health pros, and more) to dive into the latest hot topics in health and research, all in a down-to-earth kind of way. She also includes people with compelling stories of healing and "characters" because life is too boring and short to leave out characters and not embrace the weird. ;)DISCLAIMER: Some topics are more controversial than others, so keep in mind that this is information only and not health advice. If you are battling an individual health issue, always check in with your doctor & don't run with anything on podcast as advice. Dr. Eeks doesn't endorse any of her guests' views, and despite a strict health routine, nor does she endorse any products, supplements, oils, magic socks or potions. (If an episode is sponsored by a company she likes, she will say so in the show notes.) While she has a MD, she does not practice medicine (she's a full-time public health nerd) so she does not give out medical advice nor should you treat anything on this podcast as medical advice. Causes or Cures is not a "news site." It's about having conversations, and Dr. Eeks is confident that she can have a respectful conversation with anyone, even people who think far differently than she does. (At least that's been her experience at hole-in-the-walls & on sidewalks across the world.) The point is to not take anything here as Gospel. Sometimes Dr. Eeks' dog Barnaby makes his opinion known, but the good news is that he's a smart dog. Most importantly, she hopes this podcast encourages folks to stay curious, empathic, hopeful, compassionate, honest, open-minded, and engaged. Freedom of discussion is a beautiful thing, delightfully messy, and one that many take for granted.*The views on this podcast do not reflect the views of anyone she contracts with or consults for on various public health projects. You can help keep Causes or Cure independent and ad-free by hitting the "Support" button in the upper corner.You can contact Dr. Eeks through her website, bloomingwellness.com.SIGN UP for her Newsletter HERE: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/xnqmy06
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 5, 2022 • 37min
The Link between Psilocybin, Weight Control & Energy Balance, with Dr. Christoffer Clemmensen
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Christoffer Clemmensen about his research on the psychedelic drug, psilocybin, and its connection to weight and energy balance. This podcast will mostly cover his animal study published here in Translational Psychiatry. As there is renewed interest in psychedelics and, of course, the ongoing obesity epidemic that is increasing around the globe, this is a doubly timely topic. Specifically, he will discuss psilocybin, how it works in the body, its relation to "cognitive flexibility", and how it might be used for obesity. He will explain the results of his animal study involving psilocybin, the dosing riddle, and why he feels it should next be studied in humans. Dr. Clemmensen heads the Clemmensen Group studies at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research. His research focuses on the biological regulation of body weight and aims to develop new therapeutic approaches for obesity and its metabolic consequences. You can learn more about him and his lab here. 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
Nov 2, 2022 • 58min
Evidence for an Emerging Epidemic of Cancer in Young People, with Dr. Shuji Ogino
Send us Fan MailIn this Causes or Cures episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Shuji Ogino about his recent paper published in Nature Reviews, Clinical Oncology, titled "Is early-onset cancer an emerging global epidemic? Current evidence and future implications." In the podcast, Dr. Ogino discusses what "early onset" means, what types of cancer are showing up earlier in people less than 50 years of age, and the evidence and data that supports this trend. He discusses how exposures early in life and in utero may be contributing to early-onset cancer in young people ( in their thirties and forties), and the specific risk factors that have been linked to early-onset cancer. He talks about why molecular pathological epidemiology is important for future analysis of this trend and what we need to do to slow this emerging epidemic from an individual perspective, a public health perspective, and a research one. Dr. Ogino, originally from Japan, is chief of the program in Molecular Pathological Epidemiology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He is also a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. You can learn more about him here.Work with me? Perhaps we are a good match. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Eeks on Instagram here.Follow Public Health is WeirdOr Facebook here.Or X.On Youtube.Or TikTok.SUBSCRIBE to her WEEKLY newsletter here!Support the show
Oct 19, 2022 • 57min
At-Home Ketamine Treatment for Depression & Anxiety, with Jack Swain, Mindbloom's Head of Clinical Operations
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Jack Swain, head of clinical operations at Mindbloom. Mindbloom is a mental health and wellness company dedicated to expanding science-based treatments for depression and anxiety, and they are starting with at-home, sublingual Ketamine treatment that is supplemented with telehealth and peer support. There is an explosion of interest in how psychedelics and other kinds of alternatives might be used to treat depression and anxiety, diseases that are notoriously difficult to treat, particularly for the long-term. In this episode, Jack will discuss a recent study involving Mindbloom that was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in October'22. He will discuss what Ketamine is, the theory for why it helps with depression and anxiety, and Ketamine's disassociation effect. He breaks down the "methods" section of the research (what the outcomes were, how they were measured and how the study was set up) and the results of the study. He talks any safety or side effect concerns with Ketamine and finally, the benefits of sublingual (under-the-tongue) Ketamine vs IV Ketamine. He'll also touch on what else is in store for Mindbloom. 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
Oct 4, 2022 • 46min
Understanding the Link Between Lifestyle Choices and Colon Cancer, with Dr. Marko Lukic
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Marko Lukic, a physician and researcher at the Arctic Univeristy of Norway, who recently did a study on modifiable risk factors for colon cancer, an interesting and timely topic considering the concerning rising rates of colon cancer in young people. The study was published in the International Journal of Cancer. In the podcast, Dr. Lukic talks us through his research and the data he used. He describes the specific, modifiable risk factors and how they link to new cases of colon cancer. He talks about how much these risk factors explain the burden of colon cancer, as well as how much of the burden remains unexplained. For the coffee drinkers out there, he also adds some interesting tidbits about his research on coffee and its relationship to cancer. 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
Sep 20, 2022 • 37min
Mapping the Opioid Epidemic to Help Bring It to an End, with Jeremiah Lindemann
Send us Fan MailThe opioid epidemic is still raging, and people are still dying as a result. In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Jeremiah Lindemann about how he is using his data, geographic information system and mapping skills to combat the opioid epidemic. Inspired by the loss of his brother to the opioid epidemic, he will discuss the creation of the "Celebrate Lost Loved Ones" map, hosted by the National Safety Council, who visits the map, and stories being shared on the map daily. He will discuss how he became an "accidental" public health professional and how he obtains data to create specific maps that are useful for helping state and local governments take on the opioid epidemic in more efficient ways. Finally, he will share what he thinks needs to be prioritized to bring the opioid epidemic, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, to an end. Jeremiah is an ArcGIS Solutions product engineer with over 20 years of experience, including consulting for state and local governments. If you lost someone to the opioid epidemic and would like to share his/her story and/or photo on the Celebrate Lost Loved Ones map, you can do so here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Sep 13, 2022 • 1h 19min
How Intermittent Fasting can Slow Aging & Prevent Disease, with Neuroscientist Dr. Mark Mattson
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks will chat with neuroscientist Dr. Mark Mattson about his new book titled, The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance. Dr. Mattson is a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, the former chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the National Institute of Aging and someone who has done a lot of research on intermittent fasting. The National Institute of Health (NIH) considers him one of the world's top experts on the potential health benefits of intermittent fasting. In the podcast, he will discuss how food scarcity sculpted the brain, including creativity and imagination; why 3 meals a day (plus a snack) isn't the best nutritional advice; the mechanisms of how intermittent fasting slows aging and prevents specific diseases; why stuffing our bodies with antioxidants may not be the best idea and why some "free radicals" are necessary; what hormesis means and why exercise and intermittent fasting are "good" kinds of stress; how intermittent fasting increases cortisol, but neurons respond differently to cortisol produced by intermittent fasting vs, say, chronic lifestyle stress. He will talk about how intermittent fasting relates to "old cells", Alzheimer's disease, cancer and autism. He will discuss a ketone ester that is on the market and finally, why we have an "ass backwards" health system. To order Dr. Mattson's book, go here.You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Aug 11, 2022 • 41min
The First Real-Time Platform to Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness, with Professor Maggie Wang
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Professor Maggie Wang about the first, real-time platform to predict the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. The podcast is based on her and her team's work published in Nature Medicine in June of 2022. The platform has the potential to be used for other vaccines as well. In the podcast, Professor Wang will discuss the research behind the platform, how vaccine effectiveness relates to "genetic distance"; how, when using the platform, the different COVID-19 vaccine platforms compare; why over 80% of variation in vaccine effectiveness is due to the genetic distance measure; how the platform can predict vaccine effectiveness by vaccine type and geopgraphical area; reverse vaccinology, and the larger, practical implications of this real-time platform. Professor Wang is founder and director of BethBio, a biotech company located in Hong Kong that focuses on vaccine development and translating frontier research results into vaccine technologies. She is also the Co-Director of the Master of Science Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Review Editor for Human Genetics.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
Aug 7, 2022 • 43min
A Potential Nasal Spray for COVID-19 in the Works, with Dr. Hector Aguilar-Carreno
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Hector Aguilar-Carreno about his and his team's research published in Nature, May'22 titled: A TMPRSS2 inhibitor acts as a pan-SARS-CoV-2 prophylactic and therapeutic. In the podcast, he will break down the study and in an easy-to-understand way explain what TMPRSS2 is and how it relates to COVID-19 infection; the inhibitors and how they work; results when tested on cells and mice; why a nasal spray would be the most ideal way to administer this; public health implications, and where they are at in the research process. Dr. Aguilar-Carreno is a virologist, professor and researcher with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. 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
Jul 20, 2022 • 32min
Naturally-Acquired Immunity against COVID-19 in Kids & Adolescents during the Delta Wave, with Dr. Tal Patalon
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Tal Patalon, head of Kahn, Sagol, Maccabi (KSM), the Research and Innovation Center of Maccabi Healthcare Services in Israel about her recent study (still in preprint), titled: Naturally-acquired Immunity Dynamics against SARS-CoV-2 in Children and Adolescents, which you can access here. Currently, this is the largest, real-world, observational study looking at this research question during the Delta wave in Israel, with hundreds of thousands of kids and adolescents included in the study. In the podcast, she will discuss why she was interested in this research question, how she and her team conducted the study, what they discovered, any differences observed between reinfection rates without symptoms vs reinfection with symptoms in kids and adolescents, and since she is also a practicing clinician in Israel, what she is seeing from a clinical perspective and if that coincides with her research findings. Hope you tune in to the conversation! :) You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Jul 17, 2022 • 45min
The Proof Pinnacle, A Deep Dive into the Evidence for Intermittent Fasting, with Dr. Krista Varady
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Krista Varady about the evidence base for intermittent fasting (IF). Dr. Varady has conducted numerous randomized controlled trials on intermittent fasting and is with the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Her recent review on IF was published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology, which you can read here. You can follow her on Instagram here. In the podcast, she will discuss the evidence for intermittent fasting, its relationship to weight loss, if it helps with certain disease states, long-term results vs short-term results, different results in adults vs kids, if there is something "unique" about IF or if any health benefits come down to calorie restriction, and if she thinks it's a better diet to follow than others. Tune in! You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
