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 28, 2021 • 25min
COVID-19 Spillover into White-Tailed Deer & What it Means for the Pandemic, with Dr. Suresh KuchiPudi
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi about his newly published research on the presence of SARS-Cov-2 ( COVID-19) in white-tailed deer. He will discuss how they conducted the study, its findings and what they could mean for viral transmission, the "spillover" of SARS-Cov-2 from humans to deer and how it most likely happened, the symptom profile in deer, how multiple hosts may complicate mitigation efforts, and what this may mean for the trajectory of the pandemic. Dr. Kuchipudi is a clinical professor at Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences and is Associate Director of the Animal Diagnostic Laboratory where he oversees the microbiology department. He is a trained veterinarian and a board-certified specialist in virology and immunology. His research focuses on infectious diseases, zoonotic and emerging viruses, viral pathogenesis, diagnostic assay development and pathogen-host interactions. Currenty his lab is focused on SARS-Cov-2. Recently he was named the prestigious Huck Chair of Emerging Infectious Diseases. You can learn more about him and see his publications here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Nov 28, 2021 • 37min
Dr. Nikolai Petrovsky Discusses His New Protein Subunit Vaccine for COVID-19
Send us Fan MailMost people are focused on the mRNA vaccines ( Pfizer-BioNTech & Moderna) or the viral-vector vaccines, like J&J, but many researchers and companies are working on protein subunit vaccines for COVID-19. Dr. Petrovsky and his company, Vaxine, created a protein subunit vaccine for COVID-19 that was tested in randomized controlled trials in Iran and just recently approved for use there. ( I believe it is the first protein subunit vaccine approved for use anywhere.) In this podcast he will discuss how it was made, efficacy and safety results, possible side effects, where it is currently available, if it is easily updated and more. In the second half of the podcast he shares his experience of the political situation in Australia. I can't comment on that, because I don't know exactly what is happening in Australia, but it sounds concerning. Dr. Petrovsky is a doctor, vaccine researcher and director of endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre in Australia. He is vice-president and secretary-general of the international immunomics society. He is the founder and chairman of Vaxine, a company funded by the NIH to create new vaccine technology. Dr. Petrovsky has developed vaccines for influenza, hepatitis b, malaria, rabies and more. He is author of over 90 papers and book chapters. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Nov 16, 2021 • 1h 22min
Misinformation, Dissent & Censorship, with Dr. Joe Schwarcz
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks discusses "misinformation vs dissent" with Dr. Joe Schwarcz. Topics discussed include: who/what are credible sources; censorship; who is doing the fact checking; who defines what misinformation is/isn't; how do you weed out scientific dissent from misinformation; what to do with anecdotes; and how one measures the potential impact of misinformation. Dr. Schwarcz is Director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society which has the mission of "separating sense from nonsense." The office is currently focused on determining what is misinformation and what is not regarding COVID-19. Dr. Schwarcz is also a spokesperson for ScienceUpFirst, a national initiative funded by Public Health Canada, whose mission is to weed out COVID-19 misinformation. Dr. Schwarcz is also a chemistry professor, hosts "The Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's CJAD and has appeared hundreds of times on The Discovery channel, CTV, CBC, TV Ontario and Global Television. He is also a magician. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subscribe to her newsletter here!.Support the show
Oct 23, 2021 • 47min
Highly-Vaccinated Singapore with Surging Cases & Rising Deaths: What Happened?
Send us Fan MailIn 2020, Singapore was the model country when it came to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had exceptionally low case numbers and an almost non-existant death rate. Many people in the US, a country with high case and death numbers, would ask, "Why couldn't we do it like Singapore did it?" In Dec'2020, I had Dr. Walid Abdullah, a professor and researcher in Singapore, on the podcast to discuss Singapore's model response. Unsurprisingly, Singapore also had a very successful vaccination campaign, having quickly vaccinated over 80% of their population. But fast forward to today and cases are surging in Singapore. Their death rate, while still low, is increasing. That does not make sense to a lot of people. What went wrong? Dr. Abdullah came back on Causes or Cures to explain what happened in Singapore. Dr. Abdullah is a professor of social sciences and researcher at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He recently published a critical assessment of Singapore's response to COVID-19. His areas of research include political systems and elections, state-religion relations, political Islam and Southeast Asia politics.To contact Dr. Eeks, do so through bloomingwellness.comOr follow her on Instagram here.Twitter here.Or Facebook here.Subscribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Oct 19, 2021 • 28min
Big Pharma Has Our Privileged Selves Between Its Teeth
Send us Fan MailCome one, come all, with your sarcasm hats and senses of humor, while Dr. Eeks provides pandemic updates and her perspective on why Big Pharma has our privileged selves between its teeth and is prolonging the pandemic. *Opinions do not reflect anyone Dr. Eeks works for.Don't be so serious, it's unbecoming & no one gets out of here alive. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Sep 17, 2021 • 25min
The COVID-19 Booster Battle: A Public Health Perspective
Send us Fan MailIn this podcast, Dr. Eeks discusses the current battle over the COVID-19 vaccine boosters, and how that ties into mandates, building the public's trust and what's happening in the rest of the world. Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or TwitterOr YoutubeContact her through her website here: Blooming Wellness Support the show
Aug 17, 2021 • 40min
Viral Variants, Kids & Masks, Vaccines and More: Perspectives on the Pandemic with Dr. Jonathan Baktari
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr. Eeks (Dr. ErinKate Stair) chats with Dr. Jonathan Baktari about the rise of the Delta variant and the changing recommendations regarding masks; Delta and kids and whether kids should be required to wear face masks; issues with testing; vaccines and vaccine equity; natural immunity and what he thinks the future of the pandemic looks like. Dr. Baktari is a pulmonary and critical care medical doctor who also serves as CEO of e7Health and US Drug Test Centers. He has served as clinical faculty for several medical schools, including the University of Nevada. You can read more about his bio here. Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or TwitterOr YoutubeContact her through her website here: Blooming Wellness Support the show
Aug 5, 2021 • 39min
Why Young Women Gain Weight, with Mary Pegington
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Mary Pegington about her research into why young women gain weight. Mary is a research dietitian with the Prevent Breast Cancer Research Unit in Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. She will discuss the reasons young women gain weight and have trouble losing it, when they are most at risk of gaining weight, life events and factors that lead to increased weight gain in young women, diets that put young women at a heightened risk of gaining weight, and she will also dispel common age-related myths about when most women gain weight and have trouble keeping it off. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subscribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Jul 5, 2021 • 36min
The Link Between Diet, Exercise & Breast Cancer Outcomes & Survivability, with Dr. Katie Sturgeon
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Katie Sturgeon about the link between diet, exercise and breast cancer outcomes and survivability. This podcast will explore what diet, lifestyle changes and exercise program is optimal for improving breast cancer outcomes and survivability and why. Dr. Sturgeon will dive into the research. The podcast will also explore best preventive measures pre-menopausal women can take to lower their risk of getting breast cancer. Dr. Sturgeon is a researcher and assistant professor at Penn State Cancer Institute and works in the Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Epidemiology. Her research focuses on how exercise and lifestyle changes impact chronic diseases and cancer. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Jun 8, 2021 • 56min
Why We are Getting Obesity Wrong & What to Do About It, with Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford
Send us Fan MailIn this episode Dr. Eeks chats with the obesity doctor, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, about all things obesity. In the first part of the podcast, they discuss why obesity is a disease and why every public health measure fails to lower obesity rates in the US. Dr. Stanford will explain the relationship between obesity and sleep, what a set point is and why that is so important, and the relationship between obesity and stress. They also discuss what to do for people who are "doing everything right" but still unable to lose weight. In the last part of the podcast they discuss how addressing obesity fits in with the Body Positive and Fat Acceptance movements, both prominent in society and on social media, and where her message about obesity intersects with theirs and where it deviates.Dr. Stanford practices and teaches at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School (HMS) as one of the first fellowship-trained obesity medicine physician in the world. Dr. Stanford received her BS and MPH from Emory University as a MLK Scholar, her MD from the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine as a Stoney Scholar, her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Zuckerman Fellow in the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, and her executive MBA as a merit-based scholarship recipient from the Quantic School of Business and . She completed her Obesity Medicine & Nutrition Fellowship at MGH/HMS after completing her internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of South Carolina. She has served as a health communications fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as a behavioral sciences intern at the American Cancer Society. Work with me? Perhaps we are a good match.Keep Causes or Cures Ad-Free with Listener SupportYou 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
