Podcasts about Epidemiology

Welcome to this week's Midlife Minute. Today, I'm focusing on all the questions I received about gallbladder health, including HRT-provoking symptoms, supplements that improve gallbladder health, and evidence-based food interventions. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: Why the risk of gallstones and gallbladder inflammation increases during the menopause transition How estrogen and progesterone HRT have different effects on gallbladder functioning The differences in risk between transdermal and oral HRT How the progesterone in HRT can cause gallbladder issues in some women What TUDCA is, and how it supports gallbladder health The value of TUDCA for women who have had their gallbladders removed How various nutrients and supplements support bile flow and gallbladder health What can contribute to gallstone formation Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website. Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com  Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.  Purchase Cynthia's book, The Menopause Gut. Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Gallbladder Research: Cabrera D, Arab JP, Arrese M. UDCA, NorUDCA, and TUDCA in liver diseases: a review of their mechanisms of action and clinical applications. Seminars in Liver Disease. 2019;39(4):397–404. doi:10.1055/s-0039-1696799  Vang S, Longley K, Steer CJ, Low WC. The unexpected uses of urso- and tauroursodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of non-liver diseases. Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 2014;3(3):58–69. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2014.017  Bai M, Yang L, Liao H, et al. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid improves nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2024;72(41):22655–22668. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.4c04630  Simon JA, Hudes ES. Relation of serum ascorbic acid to serum vitamin B12, serum ferritin, and kidney stones in US adults. *Archives of Internal Medicine.*1999;159(6):619–624. doi:10.1001/archinte.159.6.619  Walcher T, Haenle MM, Kron M, et al. Vitamin C supplement use may protect against gallstones: an observational study on a randomly selected population. BMC Gastroenterology. 2009;9:74. doi:10.1186/1471-230X-9-74  Tsai CJ, Leitzmann MF, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL. Long-term intake of dietary fiber and decreased risk of cholecystectomy in women. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2004;99(7):1364–1370. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2004.30281.x  Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Spiegelman D, Colditz GA, Giovannucci EL. Coffee intake is associated with lower risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in women. Gastroenterology. 2002;123(6):1823–1830. doi:10.1053/gast.2002.37085  Moerman CJ, Smeets FW, Kromhout D. Dietary risk factors for clinically diagnosed gallstones in middle-aged men — a 25-year follow-up study. Annals of Epidemiology. 1994;4(3):248–254. doi:10.1016/1047-2797(94)90099-x Association between dietary magnesium intake and gallstones: the mediating role of atherogenic index of plasma. Lipids in Health and Disease. 2024;23(1):82. doi:10.1186/s12944-024-02074-4  Pitt HA, Doty JE, Murphy MM, Schwarz MB. Progesterone alters biliary flow dynamics. Annals of Surgery. 1999;229(2):205–209. doi:10.1097/00000658-199902000-00008

The benefits of getting a shingles vaccine seem relatively straightforward: It will prevent you from getting shingles, a painful rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. But researchers have found a surprising link between getting the shingles vaccine and a lower risk of developing dementia. And that's not the only vaccine that seems to have additional benefits. So what's going on here?  To help explain this research are epidemiologist Pascal Geldsetzer, who studies the association between the shingles vaccine and lower rates of dementia; and physician and epidemiologist Helen Chu, who studies the Flu, RSV and COVID-19 viruses. Guests: Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer is an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology and population health at Stanford University.  Dr. Helen Chu is a professor of epidemiology, allergy and infectious diseases at the University of Washington.  Other episodes you may enjoy: Study Finds COVID mRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Treatment As Cervical Cancer Deaths Plummet, Experts Credit HPV Vaccine Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that's keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two disease outbreaks are dominating the news: Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and hantavirus, which started spreading on a cruise ship. The U.S. has a one-of-a-kind medical facility that exists just for emergencies like this. It's called the National Quarantine Unit, and it's in Omaha, Nebraska. Right now, 18 Americans from the cruise ship where hantavirus broke out are in quarantine there.  Host Flora Lichtman chats with Angie Vasa, a nurse and administrator who has worked at this emergency center for the last 17 years. They discuss how the facility works, what's happening with the travelers exposed to hantavirus, and how they're preparing for the possibility of Ebola-exposed individuals.   Guest: Angie Vasa is the director of emergency preparedness and special pathogens programs at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska.  Other episodes you may enjoy: Mapping Out How Viruses Jump Between Species How Viruses Have Shaped Our World Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that's keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On episode #107 of the Infectious Disease Puscast, Daniel and Sara review the infectious disease literature for the weeks of 5/7 – 5/20/26. Host: Daniel Griffin and Sarah Dong Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of Puscast! Links for this episode Viral FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Gilead's Hepcludex® (bulevirtide-gmod), the First and Only Approved Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) (Gileadl) A Phase 3, Randomized Trial ofBulevirtide in Chronic Hepatitis D(NEJM) Study to Assess Efficacy and Safety of Bulevirtide in Participants With Chronic Hepatitis Delta (CHD) (NLM: ClinicalTrials.gov) Andes Hantavirus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship, 2026 (NEJM) Quick takes: Another hantavirus case, polio in 3 countries, NIAID head steps down (CIDRAP) Dolutegravir Reduces Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Proviral Load and Improves Neurological Outcomes in a Phase 2 Controlled Trial (CID) Dolutegravir Appears to Lower Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) Proviral Load: The Emerging Rational Approach to Treatment of HTLV-1–Associated Myelopathy (CID) Use of Dolutegravir for treatment of HTLV-1 (CID) Use of dolutegravir to treat people living with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) (CID) Bacterial Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)-free and Recurrent UTI (rUTI)-Free Survivals Following Bladder Electrofulguration in Women With a History of Antibiotic-Refractory rUTI (OFID) Azithromycin for Preschoolers with Wheezing in the Emergency Department (JAMA) Rapid Respiratory Microbiological Point-of-Care Testing and Antibiotic Use in Primary Care (JAMA Internal Medicine) Fungal The Last of US Season 2 (YouTube) Changes in Epidemiology of Candidemia in the United States With a Focus on Candida auris (CID) Parasitic Impact of introducing RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine on mortality in young children in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi: an observational evaluation of a cluster-randomised implementation programme (The LANCET) Ivermectin-Benzimidazole Prescribing Following Celebrity Endorsement  (JAMA Network OPEN) Febrile Temperature Augents Ring-stage Plasmodium falciparum Adhesion to Brain Endothelial Cells (JID) An Increase in Imported Plasmodium vivax Malaria in New York City: Clinical and Demographic Trends Following Recent Migration (OFID) Miscellaneous The State of Physician Leadership (WittkKieffer) Infectious Diseases Fellowship Curriculum: IDSA Training Program Directors Community of Practice (TPDCOP), Curricular and Educational REsources Workgroup (CREW) (CID) Music is by Ronald Jenkees Information on this podcast should not be considered as medical advice.

The majority of non-fatal gunshot wound survivors walk away with a bullet still inside them. Most are discharged without a removal attempt, without a surveillance plan, and without a conversation about what comes next. This episode fills that gap.Dr. Patrick Georgoff is joined by BIG T co-host Dr. Teddy Puzio (UT Houston), gun violence survivor and trauma surgeon Dr. Madhu Subramanian (Duke), and Dr. Tyler Simpson (Duke ACS Fellow) for a practical, honest conversation about one of trauma's most overlooked topics.What we cover: Epidemiology: how common retained fragments really are, and why the downstream burden is underappreciated When to remove (and when not to): a framework for both index hospitalization and delayed removal Forensic evidence: how to handle bullets in the OR without destroying their evidentiary value — and who to call when you don't know Lead toxicity: the rare but real complication that can surface a decade later, which blood lead levels should prompt action, and when to call hematology or toxicology The psychology: retained bullets are independently associated with depression and reduced return to work — and that belongs in the risk-benefit conversation DOMINATE THE DAYBIG T Trauma Full Series: https://behindtheknife.org/podcast-series/big-t-traumaThis episode of Big T Trauma was sponsored by Teleflex, a global provider of medical devices. Learn more at teleflex.com and at the Teleflex Trauma and Emergency Medicine LinkedIn page. Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.  If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://behindtheknife.org/listenBehind the Knife Premium: https://behindtheknife.org/premiumOral Board Review: https://behindtheknife.org/oral-boardOral Board Simulator: https://behindtheknife.org/oral-board/simulatorGeneral Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/general-surgery-oral-board-reviewTrauma Surgery Video Atlas: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/trauma-surgery-video-atlasDominate Surgery: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Clerkship: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-clerkshipDominate Surgery for APPs: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Rotation: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-for-apps-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-rotationVascular Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/vascular-surgery-oral-board-reviewColorectal Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/colorectal-surgery-oral-board-reviewSurgical Oncology Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/surgical-oncology-oral-board-reviewCardiothoracic Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/cardiothoracic-surgery-oral-board-reviewDownload our App:Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/behind-the-knife/id1672420049Android/Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.btk.app&hl=en_US

What does it take for a single idea to travel from a research lab in New Haven to war zones in Uganda, refugee camps in Malaysia, and clinics across 30 countries and six continents? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Myrna Weissman, one of the most consequential figures in modern psychiatry, to find out.Dr. Weissman co-developed Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) alongside her late husband, Dr. Gerald Klerman, on a simple premise: that human suffering is deeply tied to human connection. Grief. Conflict. Loneliness. Life upended. These are not niche clinical categories, but rather a universal language of distress. And IPT was built to respond to it.In this conversation, Dr. Weissman reflects on five decades of research, the pandemic-era project that became a sweeping global volume (now available free via open access), and what it means to build something that outlives its origins. *This episode briefly mentions suicide.(Re-post: This is one of our most beloved episodes, brought back by popular demand. If you've heard it before, we hope it moves you just as much the second time.)What Is Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Why Does It Work?IPT links the emergence of psychiatric symptoms to what is happening in a person's current life. It focuses on four core problem areas:1. Grief — the loss of a loved one2. Disputes — conflict with someone important to you3. Transitions — life changes, even positive ones, that disrupt relationships4. Loneliness/Isolation — chronic or newly developed lack of attachmentThese four areas have proven to resonate across vastly different cultures because they reflect fundamental aspects of the human condition. Dr. Weissman emphasizes that IPT is not the only evidence-based psychotherapy — it is “one tool in the toolbox, not a religion.”IPT for AdolescentsAdolescence is a prime time for IPT's problem areas, especially disputes, transitions, and loneliness. Key takeaways for parents:• Try to understand the specific stressors behind an adolescent's symptoms rather than reacting to global, dramatic statements.• Always be alert to the possibility of suicidal ideation.• Communication barriers between teens and parents are common; a trusted third party (grandparent, therapist, family friend) can sometimes serve as a valuable bridge.The New Book: IPT Around the WorldThis book is now available open access for readers everywhere!The COVID-19 pandemic gave Dr. Weissman the unexpected opportunity to connect with IPT practitioners worldwide. What began as a routine update to the standard IPT manual grew into a sweeping collaborative volume covering more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Contributors were asked: What are you doing? What works? What doesn't? What adaptations did you need to make?Notable chapters include:• Uganda — IPT was introduced around 2003 amid civil war and a mental health crisis. A landmark clinical trial published in JAMA confirmed its effectiveness. Sean Mabry, a former WHO worker, went on to treat hundreds of thousands of people using IPT, even by telephone during the pandemic, and has now established a low-cost program in New Jersey.• China — After government engagement and training by Columbia experts, IPT became what practitioners called a “rapidly growing practice,” with books, training programs, and internet-based delivery.• Malaysia — IPT has been applied with refugees, using the “transitions” framework to help people process displacement and profound loss.• Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia, Uganda) — Adaptations have been made for cultural context, including how disputes are communicated and resolved within different family and community structures.• Japan and Hong Kong — Initial resistance to psychotherapy has given way to growing acceptance and translated materials.• United States special populations — Chapters cover Alaska Natives, people who are incarcerated, sexual and gender minorities, pre-adolescents, adolescents, and older adults.Cultural AdaptationsDr. Weissman shares a vivid example from Uganda: women in marital disputes are often encouraged not to confront their husbands directly, but to work through an elder who mediates. The underlying IPT principle, that the dispute is driving the symptoms, remains intact; only the implementation changes.Resources Mentioned• International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) — volunteer-run, affordable membership, biannual international conference (10th meeting held in the UK, March 2024)• Dr. Weissman's new book on IPT across international sites — published Open Access, freely available to practitioners and researchers worldwide• Oxford University Press — publisher of the standard IPT manualAbout the GuestDr. Myrna Weissman is the Diana Goldman Kemper Family Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health, and Chief of the Division of Translational Epidemiology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Alongside her late husband, Dr. Gerald Klerman, she co-developed Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), now backed by over 140 clinical trials, translated into numerous languages, and recommended by the World Health Organization.

The ongoing outbreak of hantavirus infections that originated with passengers on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius in April has generated concerns across the globe. This very rare occurrence has led to a number of deaths, required quarantining of passengers and prompted emergency responses from public health authorities in multiple countries.  On this episode of Raise the Line from Elsevier, we're tapping the expertise of a leading authority on the subject, Dr. Jamie Childs of Yale University, to provide you with a scientific understanding of hantaviruses and what level of threat is posed by this situation. In short, Dr. Childs believes this is not the start of a pandemic. “The Andes variant involved here is one of the most dangerous hantaviruses, but it is totally controllable with contact tracing.” This timely conversation with host Lindsey Smith is informed by Dr. Childs' decades of hantavirus research as well as learnings from his role leading the CDC's environmental investigation during the landmark 1993 hantavirus outbreak in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. And be sure to stay tuned to hear his concerns about the factors complicating containment of the current Ebola outbreak in East Africa. Note: this conversation was recorded on May 19th, 2026. Mentioned in this episode: Yale School of Public Health Yale Institute for Global Health If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast

Carlos Juan Finlay was a Cuban doctor who did a lot of work to understand the spread of Yellow Fever. But Walter Reed got most of the credit. Research: American Experience. “Carlos Finlay (1833-1915).” From The Great Fever. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fever-carlos-finlay/ Berenbrok, Dorothy E., "Latin Heritage Month. Carlos Juan Finlay: Outrageous, Courageous and Correct" (2015). Posters: Jefferson History. 3. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jeffhistoryposters/3 "Carlos Juan Finlay." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631002194/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=bfeecc25. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026. Chaves-Carballo, Enrique. “Carlos J. Finlay: The mosquito man.” Hektoen International. 11/2/2020. https://hekint.org/2020/11/02/carlos-j-finlay-the-mosquito-man/ Corbitt, Duvon C. “Carlos J. Finlay, Cuban Physician.” The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Aug., 1965). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2511751 Del Regato, Juan A. “Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915).” Journal of Public Health Policy , 2001, Vol. 22, No. 1 (2001). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3343556 Faerstein, Eduardoa; Winkelstein, Warren Jrb. Carlos Juan Finlay: Rejected, Respected, and Right. Epidemiology 21(1):p 158, January 2010. | DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0b013e3181c308e0 Ferreira Moreno, Víctor Guillermo. “Evocation to the Dr. Carlos J. Finlay Barres on the centennial of his death.” Colombia medica (Cali, Colombia) vol. 47,1 63-6. 30 Mar. 2016 Finlay, Carlos J. “The Mosquito Hypothetically Considered as the Agent of Transmission of Yellow Fever.” Read before the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences Session of August 14th, 1881. https://archive.org/details/b33448541/page/590/mode/1up Finlay, Carlos Juan. “Trabajos selectos del Dr. Carlos J. Finlay. Selected papers of Dr. Carlos J. Finlay.” Habana. 1912. https://archive.org/details/trabajosselectos00finl Finlay, Charles. “Inoculations for Yellow Fever by Means of Contaminated Mosquitoes.” Published in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, n.s. 102: 264-268, 1891. https://archive.org/details/b33445242/page/n4/mode/1up Finlay, Charles. “Yellow Fever: Its ‘Transmission by Means of the Culex Mosquito.” Published in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, n.s. 92: 395-409, 1886. https://archive.org/details/b33435698/page/613/mode/1up Palmer, Steven. “A Cuban Scientist Between Empires: Peripheral Vision on Race and Tropical Medicine.” Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue canadienne desétudes latino-américaines et caraïbes, Vol. 35, No. 69, Special Issue: Landscapes of LatinAmerican Health, 1870-1970. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41800498 Spears, Ellen Griffith and Rosa López-Oceguera. “Carlos Juan Finlay, William Gorgas, and Walter Reed and the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Controversy: Competing Historical Memories.” Alabama Review The University of Alabama Press. Volume 74, Number 1, January 2021. https://doi.org/10.1353/ala.2021.0011 Stepan, Nancy. “The Interplay between Socio-Economic Factors and Medical Science: Yellow Fever Research, Cuba and the United States.” Social Studies of Science , Nov., 1978, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Nov., 1978). Via JSTOR. http://www.jstor.com/stable/284817 Thomas Jefferson University. “10 Notable Jefferson Alumni of the Past.” https://library.jefferson.edu/archives/exhibits/notable_alumni/juan_carlos_finlay.cfm Tone, John Lawrence. (2002) “How the mosquito (man) liberated Cuba.” History and Technology, 18:4, 277-308, DOI: 10.1080/07341512.2002.11417735 “Carlos J. Finlay.” 5/16/2023. https://www.unesco.org/en/prizes/carlos-j-finlay/about Woodall, Jack. "Yellow Fever." Infectious Diseases: In Context, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, vol. 2, Gale, 2008, pp. 925-931. In Context Series. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3045200265/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=bf646a26. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spine Health Researcher, Clinician, and Professor, Dr. Christine Goertz shares her life's work in her new book Take Your Back Back. RESEARCH & HEALTH POLICY CAREER I'm Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D. I have spent 35 years working with multi-disciplinary teams to conduct research studies and implement best practices designed to optimize care for patients with low back pain. CURRENT ROLE I am a Professor in Musculoskeletal Research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Vice Chair for the Implementation of Spine Health Innovation in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University. I am also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.  WHERE IT ALL BEGAN I received my Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree from Northwestern Health Sciences University in 1991 and a Ph.D. in Health Services Research, Policy and Administration from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in 1999. ACCOMPLISHMENTS I have extensive experience in the administration of Federal grants, both as a PI and as a program official at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I have received nearly $45 million in federal funding, as the principal investigator or co-principal investigator, primarily from NIH and the Department of Defense. I have also co-authored more than 135 peer-reviewed scientific papers. MAKING A GLOBAL IMPACT I am honored to have delivered invited lectures, keynote talks, clinical grand rounds, and plenary presentations worldwide. Topics include "Research, Its Not Just for Scientists Anymore," "In Search of the Holy Grail in Low Back Pain Treatment or Anything that Works at All," and " Nonpharmacological Approaches to Pain Management." Venues include the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute Annual Meeting, Georgetown University, Duke University School of Medicine, the American Physical Therapy Association's Combined Sections Meeting, the American Chiropractic Association Summit, the World Federation of Chiropractic Research Congress, and the European Chiropractic Union.  Resources: Dr. Goertz's website The Back Pain Chronicles Pain Trainer Take Your Back Back The Cox 8 Table by Haven Medical Find a Back Doctor  

About this episode: A deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has been declared a global public health emergency by WHO. In this episode: infectious disease epidemiologist Emily Gurley explains why this outbreak is particularly concerning for a region managing existing crises and how public health systems are working to contain transmission and treat patients. Guest: Emily S. Gurley, PhD, MPH, is a professor in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she focuses on infectious disease and outbreak investigation. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. Show links and related content: WHO declares major outbreak of rare Ebola virus species an international emergency—Science US Imposes Ebola Travel Restrictions as CDC Says Risk Remains Low—Newsweek What else to know: The Ebola outbreak in Central Africa will be challenging to control, but decades of experience will help—The Uptake  Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

What can a rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship tell us about broader public health risks, and are there warning signs closer to home that we may be overlooking? After a Dutch vessel was linked to the Andes strain, questions emerge about how such diseases spread, what makes them dangerous, and whether other threats, including tick-borne illnesses, are already taking hold. We examine what is known about hantavirus, how it compares to more familiar risks, and what it could signal about shifting patterns in human and environmental health. Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist and epidemiologist at St. Michael's Hospital, looks at the implications for surveillance, preparedness, and public awareness. We then turn to a different kind of signal: the ways animals respond to changing conditions. If animals are constantly communicating, what might humans be missing, and could those observations offer insight into environmental change? Amelia Thomas, journalist and author of "What Sheep Think About the Weather," explores how animals interpret their surroundings, what their behaviours might reveal, and whether learning to pay closer attention could deepen our understanding of the forces shaping both animal and human health.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Africa Melane speaks to Professor Helen Rees about a growing Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, where suspected cases and deaths are rising and a vaccine could still be up to nine months away. With experimental vaccines under consideration and South Africa pledging over R40 million to support the Africa CDC response, the discussion focuses on containment, urgency, and regional preparedness. Early Breakfast with Africa Melane is 702’s and CapeTalk’s early morning talk show. Experienced broadcaster Africa Melane brings you the early morning news, sports, business, and interviews politicians and analysts to help make sense of the world. He also enjoys chatting to guests in the lifestyle sphere and the Arts. All the interviews are podcasted for you to catch-up and listen. Thank you for listening to this podcast from Early Breakfast with Africa Melane For more about the show click https://buff.ly/XHry7eQ and find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/XJ10LBU Listen live on weekdays between 04:00 and 06:00 (SA Time) to the Early Breakfast with Africa Melane broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3N Subscribe to the 702 and CapeTalk daily and weekly newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702 CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The herbicide paraquat is so toxic it's banned in over 70 countries. But its use in the U.S. is growing, despite known links to Parkinson's disease. In southeastern Mississippi, an industrial plant is leaking tens of thousands of pounds of the chemical into the air. Environmental reporter Delaney Nolan and epidemiologist Beate Ritz join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss the implications of this leak, and what we know about how paraquat affects the body. Guests:  Delaney Nolan is an environmental reporter based in New Orleans. She reported this story for The Lens and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. Dr. Beate Ritz is a professor of epidemiology at UCLA in Los Angeles. Other episodes you may enjoy: Teasing Apart The Causes And Early Signs Of Parkinson's Workout Worms May Reveal New Parkinson's Treatments Want SciFri gear? Check out our new shop! Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that's keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-4-SCIFRI Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Katelyn Jetelina, founder and author of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist, talks about what public health authorities do and don't know about the strain of hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship, what the risks are and what the reaction of US-based health officials has signaled about pandemic preparedness here. Photo: Specialist workers in full PPE carry boxes containing hazardous waste as they begin the process of disinfecting the cruise ship MV Hondius after it docked in the Port of Rotterdam following the recent hantavirus outbreak, on May 18, 2026 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Allergies have tripled - with hay fever, seasonal allergies, eczema and food intolerances now affecting millions of people. But why are allergy symptoms getting worse, and what does gut health have to do with it? In this episode, Adam Fox, a world-leading allergy Professor at King's College London, explains why allergies may be rising so fast, why many beliefs about allergies are wrong, and what new science reveals about your immune system, skin and gut. Professor Fox explores why some foods are more likely to trigger reactions, and why modern allergy science is increasingly focused on gut health. Adam also discusses why 90% of people told they are allergic to certain things may not actually be allergic, the difference between allergies and intolerances, and why some antihistamines may be doing you more harm than you realise. By the end of this episode, you will have some practical ways to manage hay fever and seasonal allergies, including which antihistamines experts now recommend avoiding, simple ways to reduce pollen exposure at home, and when allergy testing or desensitisation treatment may help. Adam explains how newer treatments are starting to retrain the immune system rather than simply suppress symptoms. If allergies barely existed a few hundred years ago, what changed? And could your gut now be shaping the way your immune system reacts to the world around you?

Chemical exposures in the womb can lead to what biologists call organizational effects - that is, impacts on the developing child that are irreversible. How were developmental problems associated with chemical exposures during pregnancy first discovered? And how did these discoveries influence policy? With me to discuss chemicals and child development is Tracey Woodruff. Tracey is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University, where she co-leads the UCSF/Stanford Environmental Research and Translation for Health Center. She is an expert on environmental pollution exposures and impacts on health, with a focus on pregnancy, infancy and childhood, and health equity. Tracey was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her pioneering work advancing environmental health and reproductive justice.

A cruise ship, a rare virus, and three dead passengers. It is the headline that has put us all on edge, but how worried should we be about hantavirus? In this episode of The Quicky, we speak with CSIRO Principal Research Scientist Professor Glenn Marsh to find out how this rodent-borne illness spreads, why a specific South American strain has experts concerned and whether Australia is prepared for a potential outbreak.

In a viral confession, Katy Talento — President Trump's former health advisor — revealed her role in keeping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. away from the White House, saying it was her job to “make this problem go away.” “I was a Harvard-trained infectious disease epidemiologist. I believed, religiously, that vaccines were the gold standard of public health interventions,” writes Talento. “Not because I had been shown the evidence for their effectiveness and safety in public health school… but because I had been trained in the orthodoxy of public health, where it was assumed that someone had studied this and it had been demonstrated at some point – so now we could all focus on more pressing matters, like how to get vaccines in more kids' arms around the world.” But slowly, she began to feel suspicious – and her research led her to switch sides. “[S]omething happened in late summer of 2021 – a set of legal contortions between Big Pharma and the FDA that started to make everything painfully clear,” she says in a May 2026 public apology to RFK for her part in keeping him away from the White House. In This Episode: Katy Talento joins Dr. Drew to expose the inner workings of the White House Domestic Policy Council, the DC establishment's efforts to sabotage RFK, and why she no longer trusts the medical consensus. A&E's Flash Shelton explains his unconventional strategies for helping homeowners take back their properties from squatters nationwide. Flash Shelton is the host of A&E's docu-series “Squatters,” which premieres with back-to-back episodes starting Tuesday, May 12th at 10pm and 10:30pm ET/PT. Shelton's journey began in 2019 when squatters took over his mother's vacant home in Northern California. After navigating the eviction process himself, he has gone on to help property owners nationwide in more than 100 cases. Learn more at https://www.aetv.com/ Katy Talento is a licensed health benefits consultant, epidemiologist, and health care reformer. As the top health advisor at the White House Domestic Policy Council, she spearheaded policies on health care pricing, prescription drugs, and the opioid crisis. She earned her graduate degree in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health. She is CEO of AllBetter Health. Follow at https://x.com/katytalento 「 SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS 」 • STRONG CELL – If you want to feel more like your younger self, go to https://strongcell.com/ and use code DREW for 20% off. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• FATTY15 – The future of essential fatty acids is here! Strengthen your cells against age-related breakdown with Fatty15. Get 15% off a 90-day Starter Kit Subscription at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/fatty15⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • PALEOVALLEY - "Paleovalley has a wide variety of extraordinary products that are both healthful and delicious,” says Dr. Drew. "I am a huge fan of this brand and know you'll love it too!” Get 15% off your first order at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/paleovalley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • THE WELLNESS COMPANY - Counteract harmful spike proteins with TWC's Signature Series Spike Support Formula containing nattokinase and selenium. Learn more about TWC's supplements at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twc.health/drew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 「 ABOUT THE SHOW 」 This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Executive Producers • Kaleb Nation - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://kalebnation.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • Susan Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/firstladyoflove⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Content Producer • Emily Barsh - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/emilytvproducer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted By • Dr. Drew Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/drdrew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Small islands generally did far better during the pandemic than bigger (and often richer) countries with more complex health systems. In this episode, Emily and Matt ask: what have been the longer-term effects of Covid-19 more than five years on? Have lessons have been learned for the next shock? Where can we see both improvements and things to worry about in health provision and outcomes? We welcome two global public health experts for our “Explainer”. Sophie Harman tells us why we should worry about not only the decline of multilateral health governance, but also what might be replacing it. Simon Rushton talks us through some of the longer-term effects of the pandemic on the Global South. Then, in the Big Picture, we are joined by Roannie Ng Shiu from Samoa and Aviane Auguste from St Lucia to learn why SIDS did relatively so well in the pandemic but why more prosaic health challenges – from measles to dengue and non-communicable diseases like diabetes – are of greater immediate concern. Finally, in no stupid questions, Matt and Emily ask whether small size and islandness are actually secret weapons in helping SIDS to achieve better health outcomes. LISTENER SURVEY: To help us make Small Islands, Big Picture even better, we've put together a short audience survey and would love your input. You can find the survey at this link and your feedback will help us shape future episodes, topics, and guests. If you have a moment, please fill it out: it only takes a couple of minutes would mean a lot to us. Thanks for listening and supporting the show! Featuring:Emily Wilkinson (host) | RESI Director and Principal Research Fellow at ODI GlobalMatthew Bishop (host) | RESI Director and Senior Lecturer at the University of SheffieldSophie Harman | Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary, University of LondonSimon Rushton | Professor of International Politics, University of SheffieldRoannie Ng Shiu | Director, Institute for Pacific and Global Health, University of AucklandAvianne Auguste | Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational health, McGill University Resources:Programme page | Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI)Sophie's profile | Professor Sophie HarmanSophie's film | PiliSophie's book | Sick of it: the global fight for women's healthSimon's profile | Professor Simon RushtonSimon's award | ESRC Impact Prize: Improbable DialoguesSimon & Sophie's recent Lancet article | Global health partnerships for a post-2030 agendaRoannie's profile | Dr Roannie Ng ShiuRoannie's Lancet article | The 2024 small island developing states report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate changeAviane's profile | Dr Aviane AugusteA public lecture by Aviane | Improving health outcomes in small islandsAn important Lancet piece | SIDS standing together on NCDs and mental health Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Part 2, Nanette K. Wenger examines how underrepresentation in research shaped cardiovascular epidemiology in women. Learn about the impact of key guideline developments, and where critical data gaps remain.  Timestamps:  1:09 – Historical underrepresentation  5:05 – Evidence gaps 

Can faster access to real-world data actually change patient outcomes, or are we still too reliant on controlled clinical trials to see the full picture? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Alex Asiimwe, Executive Director of Epidemiology at Gilead Sciences, to explore a topic that doesn't get enough attention in the AI conversation, real-world evidence. While much of the industry focuses on AI in drug discovery or diagnostics, Alex brings a different perspective, one rooted in what happens after treatments reach real patients in the real world. As he explains, clinical trials may be the gold standard, but they are still controlled environments. Real-world evidence is where we begin to understand how treatments perform across diverse populations, healthcare systems, and everyday conditions. What stood out in our conversation is just how messy and fragmented that real-world data can be. Much of it is not collected for research purposes, which means it takes months, sometimes up to a year, to clean, structure, and analyze before it can inform decisions. Alex shares how AI is beginning to change that, not by replacing human expertise, but by automating the most time-consuming parts of the process. If that timeline can be cut in half, the impact is immediate. Faster evidence means faster decisions, and in healthcare, delays in evidence can directly affect patient outcomes. We also explore what Alex describes as the "analytics gap," the disconnect between where data exists and where insights are actually generated. Today, much of the evidence used in drug development still comes from limited datasets, often from a single country or region. Yet the treatments themselves are global. That mismatch creates blind spots, particularly in low and middle-income countries where data is often unstructured, fragmented, or simply not accessible. AI has the potential to standardize and unlock that data, helping to create a more complete and representative view of patient populations worldwide. Of course, the challenges are not just technical. Trust, governance, and politics all play a role in whether data can be shared and used effectively. Alex is clear that the biggest barrier is not the science or the analytics, it is building trust between organizations, governments, and communities. Without that, even the most advanced AI models cannot deliver meaningful outcomes. This conversation also touches on the importance of collaboration, not just between healthcare organizations and technology providers like SAS, but across the global ecosystem. Alex highlights how partnerships, open standards, and shared frameworks can help close the analytics gap and accelerate progress in areas like HIV prevention, where understanding real-world patient behavior is critical. As we wrap up, one message comes through clearly. AI is not a miracle solution, and it will not transform healthcare overnight. But when applied to the right parts of the workflow, especially around data preparation and evidence generation, it can create measurable, meaningful change. So as healthcare leaders look to move beyond pilots and into real impact, the question becomes, are we focusing on the right problems, and are we ready to open up the data needed to solve them?  Useful Links Connect with Dr. Alex Asiimwe OHDSI – Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics Please check our partners of Tech Tech Talks Network Learn more about the NordLayer Browser  

Today, we're diving into a topic that should be getting far more attention: Cardiovascular disease in women. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women—yet it's often under-addressed, oversimplified, and misunderstood in clinical practice. Most women are told: “Eat better. Take this prescription.” But that approach misses something critical. Full citation list:    •    Hall, Kevin D., et al. “Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake.” Cell Metabolism, vol. 30, no. 1, 2019, pp. 67–77.e3. Supports the core causal point that ultra-processed foods drive higher intake and weight gain even under controlled feeding conditions; this is not a women-specific lipid paper, but it is the cleanest experimental anchor for why UPFs create a high-throughput metabolic environment.     •    El Khoudary, Samar R., et al. “Menopause Transition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Implications for Timing of Early Prevention: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.” Circulation, vol. 142, no. 25, 2020, pp. e506–e532. Supports the midlife women's frame: across the menopause transition, LDL-C and ApoB rise, metabolic risk shifts, and cardiovascular prevention needs to become more deliberate during this window. This supports the “why I care about lipids in endocrine care” part of the episode.     •    Derby, Carol A., et al. “Lipid Changes During the Menopause Transition in Relation to Age and Weight: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.” American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 169, no. 11, 2009, pp. 1352–61. Foundational SWAN paper establishing that the menopause transition itself — not just chronological aging — is associated with adverse lipid shifts in midlife women. This is the original observation that the timing argument rests on.     •    Wu, Bingjie, et al. “Trajectories of Blood Lipids Profile in Midlife Women: Does Menopause Matter?” Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 12, no. 22, 2023, e030388. Supports the claim that LDL-C, total cholesterol, and ApoB follow distinct trajectory patterns through the menopause transition, with subgroups of women showing rising lipids in the years before the final menstrual period — useful for the timing argument that body and symptom changes can precede the obvious lab story.     •    Matthews, Karen A., et al. “Age at Menopause in Relationship to Lipid Changes and Subclinical Carotid Disease Across 20 Years: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.” Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 10, no. 18, 2021, e021362. Supports the point that ApoB and Apo A1 changes cluster around the final menstrual period and that adverse lipid shifts in the early postmenopausal years track with subclinical carotid disease later — connects menopausal timing to the longer cardiovascular arc rather than a one-time lab blip.     •    De Oliveira-Gomes, Diana, et al. “Apolipoprotein B: Bridging the Gap Between Evidence and Clinical Practice.” Circulation, vol. 150, no. 1, 2024, pp. 62–79. Supports the practical ApoB explanation: ApoB reflects atherogenic particle burden and outperforms LDL-C for ASCVD risk prediction in many settings, but adoption lags because clear apoB targets and triggers are still lacking in mainstream guidelines. Good support for the public-service “what the hell is ApoB anyway?” section.     •    Williamson, Laura. “The Slowly Evolving Truth About Heart Disease and Women.” American Heart Association News, 9 Feb. 2024, heart.org/en/news/2024/02/09/the-slowly-evolving-truth-about-heart-disease-and-women. Supports the broader clinical framing that women remain underrecognized or undertreated in cardiovascular care and that women's heart disease still needs better public and clinical communication. This is more public-facing than mechanistic, but useful for your opening frame. Dr. Brendan McCarthy is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Arizona. With over two decades of experience, he's helped thousands of patients navigate hormonal imbalances using bioidentical HRT, nutrition, and root-cause medicine. He's also taught and mentored other physicians on integrative approaches to hormone therapy, weight loss, fertility, and more. If you're ready to take your health seriously, this podcast is a great place to start.

I'm delighted today to be joined by Dr. Joseph Skelton, professor of Pediatrics, founder and director of Brenner Fit, a program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. FIT stands for Families in Training, which is a family-based pediatric obesity program. He's the author of a new book on children and their weight, a topic we discussed in a separate podcast. But in this podcast, we're talking about something he teaches at Wake Forest, a course in culinary medicine. This is a fascinating, pioneering area of focus, so let's dig in. Interview Transcript There's a lot of language about medicine and nutrition now, so people talk about food as medicine. There's a move afoot to get more training and nutrition and medical education, and here you are doing culinary medicine. Tell me how all these things differ from one another. Our interest in this here at Wake Forest School Medicine started a little organically with our program. A lot of what we do is focus on family meals. There are decades of research showing the benefits of family meals, not only for the nutrition and obesity risk, but the quality of nutrition, time spent together, parent child communication. Kids are less likely to get pregnant or do drugs and alcohol. All these things from just spending that time together over the meal. And I inherited a small teaching kitchen that was at a local organization that someone before me had gotten funding for. And we, sort of, took it over and used this opportunity to teach families how to cook. And a lot of families know how to cook but trying foods in different ways and to get kids involved and things like that. Then a couple years after that, the local YMCA approached us. They had some space and wanted to do this as a partnership. So I became a fundraising machine for a year or two and took a lot of dinners to raise the funds. And we built this gorgeous teaching kitchen, and we were mainly doing it in the efforts of sort childhood obesity treatment or prevention, getting families, teaching them new recipes, which then kind of extended to that whole key thing of getting families just to be comfortable in the kitchen and spending that time together. And we just started seeing these amazing things. We always say we've converted more kids to Brussels sprouts than I think any other effort of just getting them cooking it a different way. You and I were both probably raised with steamed Brussels sprouts, which I think is an abomination. If you really want to highlight the sulfur smell of a food, then you're going to steam it. And so, we really started to do that. And then students started volunteering. Actually, it was a student, Josh Patman, he's an emergency medicine physician now at East Carolina University, and he was a cook in a professional kitchen college. And he said, hey, could I help volunteer with that? And then more student medical students wanted to do it. And then we all found that you, much like I did, I'm a self-taught cook myself, and the more time you spend in that, the more you learn, the more comfortable you are. And the more you start to know, you know, I can teach med students nutrition all day, but that doesn't teach them how to get nutrition on their patients' plates, into their mouth. And so it really grew from there. And then I, kind of, stumbled upon what other people were doing. It started in New York, but the biggest program started was really Tulane School of Medicine that had it as a very focused way about teaching nutrition through cooking. Not just on a blackboard through PowerPoint slides and stuff like that of like hey, let's teach it in a different way. And the old-fashioned analogy, and actually the medical educators hate this, it used to be see one, do one, teach one. That was sort of the old surgical thing. And so, it's really you got to see how to make a recipe and you got to do it yourself. And what we found that when students start then teaching each other, or teaching patients or teaching community members, it really drives home and gives them a much deeper understanding of what nutrition in the real world is. Let's talk about the need for this. If we go back in time and we think about your parents or my parents, you know, the likelihood is that meals were being prepared from the real foods rather than from a package, let's say, or in a micro. How are things different now for the modern parent that has kept people distanced from their food and where it comes from, and that's led families to be distant because they're not having meals together as much? What does that look like now? Yeah, pulling from our own history, you know, Home Ec is not really a thing anymore. We did this study in our own med students. You know, most of their cooking, nutrition, the nutrition education they're getting tends to be the popular media. They're learning it from social media. Very few students have a degree in nutrition or took a nutrition class. And as much as we have to cram into medical student's education, there's not much room for it. They mainly learn to cook from their families. And what we know is families are cooking less and less for multiple reasons. They're much busier. Especially parents, actually parents of kids of all ages with that. And again, the marketing of food, you know, it's much easier to get ready made meals. And I'm not badmouthing those, you know. We're in talks right now of actually writing a cookbook for families, and one of the things that we promise is we're going to have a chapter on assembled meals. You know, having a pre-made salad with a rotisserie chicken, that's still going to be a better thing to do if you bring that home, sit at a table or at a bar or around a coffee table and eat that meal together. It's still going to be better for your family in multiple ways on multiple levels than eating out. And what I see, it really with families right now when it comes to actually raising "healthy eaters" or raising good eaters is when we... and again, I love a good restaurant, I'm not trying to badmouth that... but when you're going out to eat a lot of kids have endless choices and there's two issues. One is a paradox of choice. Whatever they get, they're always going to think that other thing might have been better. And it doesn't allow them to spread their palate and try different foods and get exposed to different things. And we always laugh... whenever in this field we want to play a drinking game where every time you say complex or complexity, you take a drink because, but it is such a complex issue with parents. You know, with kids and getting meals on the table. And hopefully finding some time, whether it's a breakfast or it's a dinner, but finding that time to come together around a meal. You mentioned the paradox of choice. I was reminded at one point I downloaded this cute app called You Choose or something like that. And it would help you make a decision if you were undecided. It would flip a coin, it would roll a dice. It would do, yes, no, it would do rock, paper, scissors, it would do all these things. And I was at a restaurant once. I couldn't decide between two entrees, so I used it. I did rock, paper, scissors, or something, and I then it said, okay you should choose X. So I ordered X and the second I ordered it, I immediately thought I should have ordered Y. Alright, so tell us about culinary medicine. What does this course look like that you teach? Yeah, the best way to think about it is applied nutrition. Because again, you can understand a ton about nutrition, but if that doesn't change into you getting the foods that you want in front of you, to me it's almost theoretical or scientific. It's applied nutrition. It's this idea of teaching some very basic cooking skills, and then including within that very core elements of nutrition. And for us, we tend to do it by the balanced plate. We think that works really well for families. But having it be very real world. You know, so again, we have recipes... in two weeks, I'm doing one... we're doing a rotisserie chicken and you're breaking it apart and making a chicken salad out of it. We were always teaching using microwavable rice and a couple of the students cornered me and said, this is very offensive to my culture. You need to teach people how to make real rice. But what it looks like for us is about a quarter, almost a third of med students will rotate through these classes. So, it's voluntary. Next year we're actually hopefully going to surpass half of the first-year med school class. That's unbelievable. That's very impressive. Well, especially up until last year I was doing this in my free time and paying for it with fundraising money. But yeah, Wake Forest is really behind this now. But about a quarter to a third of med students. They do five classes. And it's set up and again, that sort of theme of that family meal. They come in and we get stuff cooking. We get stuff in the oven; we get stuff on the stove top. We usually take some time out for a very short lecture. Again, tends to be very practical stuff. We include a lot about social determinants of health and food insecurity. Given what I do, we talk about picky eating. Very little do we go into details about Mediterranean diet and Dash diet and some of the really core things with that. We really just try to keep it about getting that balanced plate of a protein, a starch and a fruit or vegetable on the plate in front of you. They come back and usually finish what they're cooking, and then they sit down to eat together. And unlike when I was in med school and you were in grad school, or when you were teaching, a lot of students don't go to class anymore. A lot of students, they record the lectures so they can listen to them at one and a quarter speed and study in the best way for them. I love getting to know my students on a different level of sitting down. And that's what my really own exposure to medical student education anymore is really through this, which to me is just the ultimate. Being able to sit down, teach them some interesting things, eat a meal with them. Given my chemistry background, I love getting into the science of a lot of the stuff. And I think for them being, you know, sort of STEM kids, it makes a lot more sense. One of my favorite things is the science of grilling, you know, the science of garlic, you know, things like that. And it helps them sort of understand and helps them remember that, and also peppering it with the stories. It just tends to stick that much more when they know the science, they know the story, they know the culture behind it. So, it's five classes. It's all set up that way, that there's a short lecture. They're preparing everything they can and they're eating it. Again, we include some very easy stuff. One of the classes we do microwaveable vegetables because that's what a lot of what their patients are doing. The bagged vegetable medleys. And one, the important thing that we teach them is most of these don't have any seasoning. So yeah, you can microwave them, but you have got to teach your patients throw a bit of olive oil on there, throw a pad of butter, do some salt and pepper, add some other spices to it. And they go nuts with one group will do some more Indian spices. One group will do more sort of traditional, one to do more Asian flavorings to it in our teaching kitchen. It's really teaching very practical things like that. The fun part of that, that's really spun onto the other things that I'll tell you about, is about half of those students that do that- we have about 18 per semester- and about half those students end up volunteering with us. They come to the classes that we have that are community focused. Now some of the students are going through lead teacher training. They get Serve Safe Certified. It's awesome for me and my staff because it saves us a lot of time and overtime that they come in, they let themselves in the kitchen, they set up, they run the class, they clean up, and they can't get enough of it. They absolutely love it. Now you do some celebration of different food cultures in your class. Tell, tell us about that. Including, as I understand, some of the food culture that you grew up with. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's about, that was a big understatement right there. We just love that and that's a great thing. Wake Forest, being a private medical school, kids are from all over the country, from all different backgrounds. And so, we absolutely sort of herald that. One of the things I love doing is class three is a plant-based proteins class. The first class is a general cooking class. The second class has a focus on animal proteins, and again, we're always also cooking vegetables and fruits and starches. The third class is plant-based proteins, and I do that as Southern cooking. And I just love that sort of theme with that. So, we do pinto beans, you know, And the slow cooker. We tell them how to use instant pots, pressure cookers. We do black eyed peas. A lot of these kids don't know that you're supposed to eat that on New Year's Day. I do a vegetarian collard green recipe, taught to me by a local chef. And I think this is probably my number one post that I do in social media is cornbread night. And teaching them how to make cast iron skillet cornbread, which is the only way to do cornbread in my book. And letting them know, sort of, the background of a lot of the stuff. My wife is from South Carolina, so I teach them great thing about cornbread if you're a poor student, is you have a slice with your beans and your collard greens, and then for dessert you put honey on. Which is what I picked up in South Carolina. So, you know, really celebrating that stuff. We have a whole Spanish speaking program, and we have an article written, we just haven't found the right journal for it. It says, leave my tortilla out of this. Instead of, you know, saying, oh, you have to eat less tortillas, celebrate it. Why is that such an important part of not even that culture, but this family's food history and stuff like that. Because food is personal, it's cultural, its family, and it's to be celebrated. We do a fourth-year elective, it's the last full elective of their fourth-year class and a very lucky 20 students get to do that class. And we always have one called Family Night where they bring a dish that's important to them and their family. And it could be like me, it was the roasted chicken that one of my classmates in med school cooked. And I just thought that was so exotic. You know, I never had a whole roasted chicken before. You know, we had a student that had spent the first part of her life in Australia, so she did pavlova and told the history about where the pavlova came from. Now that's considered sort of the national dessert of Australia. And I always remember this one student, he was going to emergency medicine, very quiet kid. And he's over there cooking these porridges. That's the only way I could describe it is just these porridges. We said, what are you doing? And he told the most amazing story. I almost tear up when I talk about it. His grandfather fled Saddam Hussein. He was Iraqi Christian and fled Saddam Hussein and his grandfather lived with them. And this was their afterschool snack. Was this Iraqi dish that his grandfather would make. And there was a sweet one and there was a savory one. And so just stuff like that is... it's fantastic. I just, I can't get enough of that. And they remember that. And so, as students leave us, and I just came from Match Day where they found out where they're spending the next three to seven years of their life. And I always say wherever you're going, learn something about that culture and that food. If you're moving to Cincinnati, you have got to learn about Cincinnati Chili and getta. take something from that. I did all my training in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin supper clubs and how you can tell what a fresh cheese curd is, and it's just... food is fantastic. And we can take that with us wherever we go. And it can give you a way to know your patients even better. And when I hear of a family that they're from West Africa, ah, you like Jollof Rice. And their face lights up and like, oh yeah, where'd you have Jollof rice? So, it's a great way to get to know more about people. So, there's way more to it than cooking technique. I mean, there's, you know, you roast a chicken that this temperature for that long, or here's how long you microwave. It's really a lot more than that, isn't it? It's just like medicine. It's science and an art. And you know that one of my most popular lectures I give does not have to do with obesity but has to do with barbecue and all the different styles of barbecue. And what is just amazing, despite what we know about the science of taking spareribs, which are an incredibly tough cut of meat, and you have to cook them low and slow to get that temperature up. I think it's 189 degrees or higher where you start to get the collagen that breaks down and they turn tender. So yeah, spareribs to be good tender and edible, you're talking four to six hours. But then you go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and you go to Dreamland Barbecue. They do spareribs over live coals for an hour and a half. I sat there talking to the person doing it. I'm like, you must bake them ahead of time. Do you soak them? And he's just like, nope. And so again, I know the science of that. So how do these jokers do that for an hour and a half, and it turns out in what my opinion are the greatest bear ribs in the world. Oh really? Oh, I'll have to try. I'll have to try that place out. Yeah, there's several. Birmingham has two there. There's several in Southeast and they cook them for an hour and a half. Over live coals. Violating every scientific principle of low and slow. Don't get it. It's fascinating. That sounds really good. Yeah. Well, Joey, thanks very much. One final question. Do you see this... is this a movement in medicine now or more and more people doing this? Yeah, you know, it was really big for a while. Tulane had so much. You know, they were sharing their curriculum and they were doing some good research. And that's where a lot of what you see now as the food is medicine food is medicine or as medicine where hey, we need to find ways to get medically tailored meals in the patient's hands. There's really good evidence of that with diabetes and stuff like that. I think what you're seeing now is, I think especially with some of our efforts in the government right now, is sort of demanding more nutrition education in medical school. And I'm going to double down on culinary medicine because you know what? My students, myself, I don't need to know more about the biochemistry of carbohydrates. I need to know the biochemistry of cooking and how to do that quickly and safely to teach my patients. And also, with that, we have to forget, there's an entire field that's already doing this, you know? Dietetics and nutrition and there's professionals that probably are way better than us. But I think having this increased understanding, especially dwelling in that food space, is going to help us relate to them that much more. So even though I do a lot of nutritional counseling and talking, I still use my dieticians way more. I think they're going to be way better at that. So I think there is a lot of steam building towards that, but we don't need to turn doctors into junior dieticians. But I think we can give them deeper understanding of how food and nutrition affects their health and the broader aspects of that. It's not about the biochemistry of insulin secretion, it's about where are they accessing food and how can they make use of the food pantry near them. And let them know, hey, it's okay when you open a can of beans it's gonna smell like cat food initially, but you know what? You wash that off and actually it's not going taste like cat food. And you know, just kind of be able to work with them. Hey, canned beans are perfectly fine. Guess what? Canned beans now are coming in no salt added and low salt preparations. And here's an easy way that you could take these canned great northern beans, chop up some herbs with olive oil and a chunk of garlic and you can make some fantastic bean recipe that is incredibly filling and healthy and cheap as dirt. Oh, that's really nice. Well, this is an exciting advance in the field and you're really at the forefront of it, and your students are lucky that they have this available to them. So, thanks very much for being with us and sharing your experience. Well and what the big secret about this is, Kelly, is this is fantastic. I love doing it. Our med school really values it, but it's a lot of fun. That's the thing. You can tell just by the way you're talking about it. It is so much fun. And again, I just saw all my students that were graduating. And that some of these I hadn't seen in three years and they're like doing Doctors in the Kitchen and then seeing patients, they're cooking and being able to relate to them in those ways. I just have a text from one of my students going to family medicine, and she's like, this changed the trajectory in my career. And I'm not taking credit for that, but just the idea of giving that experience I think especially in my world to medical students, I absolutely love it. In the end it's a hell of a lot of fun. BIO Joseph A. "Joey" Skelton, MD, MS, FAAP, FTOS, DABOM is a Professor of Pediatrics, and of Epidemiology and Prevention, at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is the Founder and Director of Brenner FIT® (Families In Training), an interdisciplinary pediatric obesity treatment, prevention, research, and educational program. He serves as the Director of the Center for Prevention Science in Child and Family Health, Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Pediatrics, Associate Leader of Community and Stakeholder Engagement at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Childhood Obesity. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Obesity Medicine. His research and clinical work has focused on the treatment of children with obesity. He has secured nearly $10 million in funding over the past 15 years, has given over 50 national and international presentations, and has over 130 peer-reviewed publications. He enjoys teaching cooking classes that are both fun and informative to anyone who will listen.

“Violence has been misdiagnosed. And there's a misdiagnosis that has caused us to not be able to control it as we could.” — Dr. Gary Slutkin Human violence appears ubiquitous. In Iran. In Gaza. In Ukraine. In Sudan. In American cities and homes. So widespread, indeed, that it seems naturally hardwired into us. Our species-being, so to speak. But, for Dr. Gary Slutkin, there is nothing inevitable about human violence. Slutkin — an epidemiologist who spent years fighting cholera, tuberculosis, and AIDS in Africa before focusing his medical mind on violence — argues that violence is neither a character flaw nor a moral failing. Rather than being baked into our natures, Slutkin sees violence as a contagious disease. It meets the clinical definition of a plague, he says. The more violent our homes, communities, media, politics, the more virally it spreads. Slutkin's new book, The End of Violence: Eliminating the World's Most Dangerous Epidemic, makes the case that violence has been misdiagnosed for centuries. We analyse it as a crime problem, a character problem, an inter-state problem. So we punish, incarcerate and bomb. But none of these approaches confront the contagion. This can only be done, Slutkin argues, with what he calls “violence interrupters” — people from within the infected community who find the most at-risk individuals and cool things down before they escalate. Communities that have applied this approach have seen reductions in violence of 40 to 70 percent, Slutkin boasts, with Cherry Hill, one of Chicago's most dangerous neighbourhoods, experiencing 450 days without a shooting. There will be a time, he promises, when the plague of human violence will be mostly overcome. I hope Dr. Slutkin is correct. But suspect that his brave new violence-free world, like Huxley's, might be simultaneously utopian and dystopian. Five Takeaways •       Violence Meets the Clinical Definition of a Contagious Disease: Slutkin is not speaking metaphorically. Violence meets the definition of a disease: characteristic signs and symptoms causing morbidity and mortality. It meets the definition of contagious: it causes more of itself. One violent event leads to another — in a home, in a community, in a region, in a war. The more you are exposed to it, the more likely you are to do it. This is the same mechanism as measles, as cholera, as COVID. Susceptibility varies — for violence, it has to do with how much you feel humiliated, how much social pain you carry, how much grievance a leader has taught you to feel. But the operating system is the same. •       Violence Has Been Misdiagnosed: For centuries, we have treated violence as a moral failing: a matter of bad people making bad choices. The response has been punishment, incarceration, war. None of these interrupt the contagion. In fact, incarceration concentrates the infection. The misdiagnosis has cost millions of lives. The correct diagnosis — epidemic disease spreading through exposure — changes everything. You don't blame a cholera patient for drinking contaminated water. You don't punish a COVID patient for breathing. You interrupt the spread. You treat the susceptibility. You cool it down. •       Violence Interrupters: The Epidemic Control Playbook: Cure Violence Global trains and deploys violence interrupters: people from the same community, who speak the same language, who have often been involved in violence themselves. Their job is to find the most at-risk individuals — the ones most likely to shoot or be shot next — and intervene before the next event. The approach works. Communities that have applied it have seen reductions of 40 to 70 percent. Over a dozen American cities are at fifty- or sixty-year historic lows. Cherry Hill in Chicago went 450 days without a shooting. Baltimore, New York, and other cities have had similar results. •       Authoritarian Violence Disorder: Chapter eight of The End of Violence is called “Infections of the State.” Slutkin's argument: authoritarian leadership is itself a form of epidemic violence. It spreads violence outward into its own population — through ICE raids, through threats, through the approval and scripting of violence by others. It also spreads it abroad, through war. Violence doesn't know borders. The mechanism is the same: exposure increases transmission; grievance and humiliation increase susceptibility. Trump's Iran war is not just a war. It is authoritarianism causing war. And the spread doesn't stop at the border. •       Uganda Dropped HIV 85 Percent with Behavior Change Alone: In 1987, Slutkin arrived in Uganda, then the most infected country in the world, where a third of the population had what was then a 100 percent lethal disease. Using the epidemic control playbook — no medicines, just behaviour change interventions — they dropped the rate 85 percent. The same approach drove down Ebola, drove down TB long before medication existed. Slutkin's point: we do not need pharmacological intervention to eliminate violence. We need the right people doing the right interventions with the right understanding of how contagion works. We have done it. We can do it again. About the Guest Dr. Gary Slutkin is an epidemiologist and the founder and CEO of Cure Violence Global. He is the author of The End of Violence: Eliminating the World's Most Dangerous Epidemic (Health Communications, Inc., 2026). He is a Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at the University of Illinois Chicago and a former WHO epidemiologist. References: •       The End of Violence: Eliminating the World's Most Dangerous Epidemic by Gary Slutkin (2026). •       Cure Violence Global — Slutkin's organisation. cvg.org. •       Episode 2887: Steven J. Ross on The Secret War Against Hate — the historical companion on American violence and authoritarian disorder. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify 

Episode 201, Jay Cutler & Manager Matt bring on Dr Zach Pallikaros from the UK. Dr. Zach is a competitive bodybuilder, has a PhD in Epidemiology and is the owner of Pumping Iron Gym in london! Also making an appearance is Dave Bourlet from JayCutler TV! TRT Kingdom - https://trtkingdom.com/?ref=cutlercast Cutler Nutrition - http://jaycutler.com/cutlercast  

So going back more than 30 years, I was involved in work on childhood obesity. It was a prevalent problem at the time, but little attention was being devoted to children and weight issues. And it was fair to say that the field, as it were, was an academic backwater. Little was known about short and long-term effects of childhood obesity. The social and emotional lives experienced by the children hadn't really been documented or studied much. There was very little known about treatment or strategies for parents, but thankfully, things are different now. Thanks in part to the work of a number of really innovative people in the field, and one of the most innovative is our guest today, Dr. Joseph Skelton. He's a professor of pediatrics and founder and director of Brenner Fit. FIT stands for Families in Training, which is the family-based pediatric obesity program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He's also editor of the Journal of Childhood Obesity is involved in clinical care, research, education, and community outreach. Dr. Skelton has just published what I think is a really important book through the American Academy of Pediatrics, entitled Your Child Is Not Their Weight: Parenting in a Size Obsessed World. I was asked to review the book and was delighted to see it before it was published and just was so happy to see that such a book existed at all, but such a good quality book at entering the picture. Really a very important advance in our field. Interview Transcript There have been some books about pediatric weight issues in the past. Who is this book for and how is it different than what's been out there? I feel overall the big audience for this book is any parent, especially of my generation, that were raised during some really toxic diet culture in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. And so, I think the main folks that that's for is that parent: I want my kids to eat healthy, to be active, to lead healthy lives. But I don't want them to become concerned about their weight to feed into our culture's focus on the ideal body image. I don't want to feed into that. But you know I do want to pay attention to the health habits. How can I do this in a healthy way? How can I focus on health habits with my kid that's not a focus on weight and do it in a way that's backed up by science. You know, that's what parents always want to know. Am I doing this right? Am I causing harm? And it is actually who the book is dedicated to, you know, all those parents that were raised in a toxic diet culture and want to do things differently with their children. So, in modern day America, what is life like for a child whose weight exceeds the standards that we know might be healthy, and for the parents who are raising those children? From personal experience and 20 years of running a program, as well as what the research shows, it can be kind of rough. Despite a lot of the advances that we've made around weight bias we're still in a place that kids are trying to live up to this idealized body image. And then they have all these toxic messages when it comes to nutrition and body image. I think it's rough. We know that kids in bigger bodies tend to have a lower quality life. They tend to have more symptoms of depression, anxiety; and it's because of this world that we live in. You mentioned messages that they might be getting from places like the media, but what are interactions like with peers and teachers and doctors and others in their lives that are affecting how they feel? Yes. So, the adults in their life were raised in that toxic culture. They're my generation and the generation behind me that was raised in that. You know, there's the myth that a smaller body is healthier than a bigger body. And I think we can't break away from that. And I think that still sort of comes through. We still see this as a lifestyle issue, and everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a thought of, you know, well, I did this... and I lowered my cholesterol... I did this and I lost weight, you need to do it too. And I think in the medical profession, because of a lack of understanding, a lack of training - I think that still occurs. I don't do a ton of medical education. I'm getting more and more into it, especially when it comes to areas around nutrition. But that's what I'm trying to avoid in the next generation of healthcare providers and even actually a lot of our community collaborators, teachers, and stuff like that. To get away from that. This is not a simple issue, so don't share advice because sometimes that advice can be damaging or could be wrong. You know, good lord how much I hear about carbs on a weekly basis. And not the carbs I like to talk about, which is around dessert and Carolina Gold rice and all these other food stuff. But it tends to be around sort of demonizing certain foods and just really bad messages that still are floating around out there. Let's dive in a little deeper about what you refer to as toxic diet culture that was especially pronounced in previous generations. What does that mean? Does it affect standards for what the ideal body looks like? What about messages about how much control you have over that yourself, and how responsible you are for your weight? How your self-image should be influenced by how you look? But tell us more about what you mean by that. We wanted this to be a book that didn't necessarily dwell on weight so much, but actually one of the first chapters is to say let's cover how complex weight really is. We know that 50% or more of someone's weight is heavily, heavily influenced by their genetics. Where they live, you know. The amount that our lifestyle affects that is much, much smaller. It's the minority of what goes into our body size. And even that, our habits are so influenced by the world around us. But it's, you know, trying to get people to understand that, hey, body sizes are just different. I love this picture from the Olympics and it was a medalist in gymnastics- it was Simone Biles; you know, the huge media personality of Ilona Maher who is a bronze medalist in rugby; and then one of the women's basketball players. You're talking 4'9", 5'10" and pure muscle and six foot seven, all people at the top of their game. And not only different heights, different body types. And, you know, body type is a hard thing to talk about because there's not standard body types. We're all just built differently. And starting that message at a young age that people are just oftentimes built differently. There's very little control that we have over our weight. And even though there are things that we can do about weight, what you can do is you can focus on your habits for health. And that has just gotten lost. We talk about in the book the, we call it veiled weight talk, and it's basically where you're just substituting the word health for the word weight. And kids pick up on that. They know when their parents and others are talking about weight. And so, a really big thing we want to accomplish is like, Hey, you know, eating for health is important. Being active for health is important. In my world, and I did one part of my early research in this, and we always try to have that message as there's so much more to health than weight. In our medical world right now, our primary outcome on these lifestyle changes that people are making is weight. You mentioned genetics as a contributing factor to who is affected by the problem. Tell me how you look at the food environment out there that people are exposed to now, and things like food marketing and the processing of foods. The availability of all these foods that are contributing to obesity and things. And the reason I ask is, you know, there was a time in our country when the prevalence of childhood obesity was probably close to zero. And there are plenty of countries around the world where that's still the case. But now in many countries there's large amounts of childhood obesity. And it's not as if the genetics have changed. When people move from other countries to the United States, their weight tends to go up. Their genes obviously don't change. There's something pretty toxic about the food environment that's driving this. So, thinking about things that way, does that help parents by shifting some of the blame from them and their children to an environment that they might be able to manage in some way? Absolutely. Because parents…they blame themselves oftentimes. You know, how did I let this happen? What did I do to sort of cause it happen and it's not. So, we do try to shift that of looking at ourselves as the reason blame. But you can kind of look at the - and I'm just going to focus on nutrition as the focus - the broader food environment and how that impacts. We tend to get a lot of buy-in or understanding when you talk about how they are trying to market to kids. And so, for any parent, all you have to do is bring up the checkout line at a grocery store, you know? And all the things that are at the kids' level that is just made to make your life as a parent hard when you're trying to feed your kids well-balanced regular meals but you're just kind of constantly walking through this landmine. It's the same thing with electronics and social media. There are so many things that they have a lot more money than you do to market to you than you do to protect yourself against it. And it absolutely influences it. And the way I talk about this is really when it comes down to snack foods, and using the parenting language that snacks get you between long periods of time between meals, but that got co-opted by companies marketing snack foods. And when you see food, smell food or hear about food, you kind of want that food. And that's what parents have every day to now the point is. Snacks always have to be crunchy, salty, and sweet, and we're supposed to give kids snacks when they ask for it, because that's what these companies tell us about hunger. You know, hunger hits us every time and you have got to have this bar to sort of get through that. Parenting is hard enough and then trying to parent through this when they're directly marketing kids... you know, in most European countries, they're not allowed to market to kids. In some countries it's age eight. Some countries it's age 12 because they don't quite recognize this is marketing, they're want you to buy this. It makes it a lot harder for parents. You know, when I was on the faculty at Yale, I got to know a political scientist. A very impressive person named Jacob Hacker. And he'd written a book called The Great Risk Shift. What he talked about was how government and American businesses have systematically shifted the responsibility for overcoming harm from products from themselves onto the consumer. And that's really true in a way here, isn't it? Because the problem is created by corporations who are marketing unhealthy foods in such high levels. It's not the only cause, but it's certainly an important one. But the responsibility for solving the problem then falls to the parents and the children who have it. And one party has way more resources than the other. As you said, it's really not a fair fight and parents have a very tough battle dealing with these things. Yes. There was a marketing study called The Nag Factor, and I'm an old Simpsons fan, you know. You imagine the people behind the one-way mirror watching things and trying to manipulate. And that's what the nag factor was. How can we get kids to nag their parents more effectively? And what they found is parents that were immune to nagging tended to be the more educated, higher-income parents. And so, they literally had this plan of we need to change how we're getting these kids to nag. We need to give them reasons to nag. And that's when you started seeing vitamin C, high in protein. So, you think the checkout at the grocery store is bad, but then the signage in the commercials each and every day are giving kids reasons they can go to their parents to tell them get me this. Because nagging is not going to be enough for the high-income parents. They have to have some purpose behind it. You know, when I was growing up, the only way I saw advertisements for food was on Saturday morning cartoon television. And there were three channels showing it. Well, it shows how old I am, but now it's just an avalanche of messages on social media, built into gaming, and it's just everywhere. And it's probably pretty hard for parents to control that. Wouldn't you say? Well, now that you've said that, that's what my phone's going to start doing. The next time I open up my Facebook, there's going to be an ad for some sort of food camp because it's listening to us. Absolutely. Oh yeah. There's just no comparison. And I think that's also something very hard for parents, regardless of the topic, is what worked for me that my parents used is different than for my kids. And even between your kids. You know, my 24-year-old and my 20-year-old are completely different kids. You wouldn't even know they're related and different personalities. And so, what worked for one, you can't necessarily apply to the other. And whereas we love the idea of multi-generation households and, you know, being involved and being there to give advice. And you should take the advice of your parents, but it doesn't always apply. It's just a different world. I feel like I need to give credit to my East Tennessee farming roots. There are two stories I always remember my dad talking about when they would go to a car hop. Maybe some of your listeners know what a car hop is maybe they don't. It's like a Sonic, you know, it's the old school drive up. Or for you Atlanta folks, like the varsity drive up. My grandparents would make my dad put on his Sunday clothes. You know, that was how rare they went out is they would actually get dressed up driving into town to go try these hamburgers and these French fries. Versus now you can you DoorDash that 24/7. I mean just what a different world and concept. And I still have to share this other story for my grandfather, who my oldest son is named after, he was a tobacco and sustenance his farmer in East Tennessee. And every time I have a med student that's a vegetarian in my cooking class, I always tell the story of he came home one day, and he was talking to my aunt. He says, you know what? The county agent said one day people are going to be eating soybeans. That's so funny. Soybeans were fed to cattle back then. It's really just how drastically we change and now it's changing even faster. I mean, my grandchildren will be light years different than what my children are. Let's dive back into your book. Tell me about the collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics and how did the book come about? They have had two books in the past that were sort of geared towards parents, you know, how to address weight in your kids if your child has a problem with their weight, what can you do about it? Well-written books. They had done well. But they were looking to try to do something different. It was kind of time to sort of update that. And the last book was great by Natalie Muth. It was a fantastic book. So, a lot of my friends were on the 2023 clinical practice guidelines. And when that came out, there was a huge blowback from the eating disorder community. And, again, it's sort of the polarization of our country right now. And, they had asked me to speak at a conference saying, hey, can you try to do something in the middle? They knew that we included elements of the body positivity movement in what we do. We're big adherents and teachers of authoritative parenting. And they said could you try to give a talk that kind of goes in between what we're trying to do with the treatment of obesity that's affecting children's health as well as the body positivity movement. It's kind of, again, speaking of the Saturday morning cartoons, it was kind of those things that everyone stepped back, and Bugs Bunny was still in the front and got volunteered. It was sort of one of those situations. And so, I gave this presentation and they said, hey, well, what do you think about turning this into a book? Would you be interested in writing a book? And I said, absolutely not. I don't have time. And never in a million years would I do it. But this needed to be out there. So, first of all, the AAP asks, as a pediatrician, you do it. And second of all, I feel like this book needs to be out there. Both for who I talked about earlier, those parents that don't want to hurt the kids' feelings, make them hate their bodies, feel like something's wrong with them, which is what a lot of kids say. But it's also for those parents that are wanting to do something. These are the parents that, you know, they want to put their kid on a diet or make a comment to them of you sure you need to have seconds on that? You know, which we know can do damage. And of course, parents, you know, they don't want to hurt their kids and get in the way. And so, it was kind of geared toward those parents that were starting down an avenue that may not have been safe. You know, they don't have access to a good evidence-based program. And so, it's also for those parents that says, hey, your kids aren't little adults. Don't take these weight loss approaches to kids. It's just a different beast. We'll come back in a minute and talk about specific parenting strategy, but you alluded to this blowback from the eating disorders fields and the clinical guidelines. Tell us a little bit more about that, because it's one of the key features that would drive the need for a book like yours. I'm not an eating disorder specialist, but there was a big concern that one of the big recommendations that was new was that you can't have watchful waiting anymore. It used to be, you know, if younger children were starting to gain weight, before you intervene or start into treatment or start to change a lot that maybe just wait to see if, you know kind of the old-fashioned thing, are they going to outgrow it? Are they going to go through a growth spurt? So that was a part of the recommendations. The evidence says that watchful waiting in today's world, you're unlikely to see a kid outgrow it anymore, including bariatric surgery, use of medications and things like that. And so, they felt like this increased focus that this was going to cause pediatricians and parents to focus even more on weight and therefore lead to eating disorders. And then that was coinciding over the previous five years, a lot of studies were coming out and then it got put into a couple of systematic reviews of meta-analyses that showed that kids in bigger bodies, kids with overweight and obesity, had a two to three times higher prevalence of eating disorders. Because typically eating disorders are always thought to occur in underweight or thinner children. But it actually is much higher risk of these in children in bigger bodies. And so, we use that term threading the needle, how do you help families who want to do something about their child's weight for health reasons but not worsening disorders. And so that blowback was really saying, hey, by increasing focus on this, you're going to make things worse with that. And it was kind of surprising. A lot of my good friends were on that practice guidelines and they're kind of taken aback because these are experts in the field. Well-meaning people that for 10, 15, 20 years had dedicated their careers to helping these kids looking for help. And I think any care provider to be accused of causing harm is always, always jarring. Tell us how you navigate that and what sort of advice do you give parents in this book? Yeah, so one is that I call weight literacy. It's sort of understanding this is a complex issue. It's not something you did. This is something that happens. We can't always explain it. There are still things, this is where you read too much of this science, it gets you really paranoid about microplastics and things like that. There are some legitimate arguments to me be made there in endocrine disrupting chemicals and stuff like that. We can't always explain why kids are growing bigger than other kids or at a heavier weight. So, the weight literacy, sort of, understanding this is a complex issue, this is not a lifestyle issue. And the second thing is it's worthwhile to focus on healthy eating and physical activity for health. Sometimes that will see improvements in weight, sometimes it won't. But it's still important to do. That's the idea of getting away from that weight being the primary outcome. We feel like this is a great adjunct for someone who might be pursuing bariatric surgery or medications, because it does give us the opportunity to not keep pushing kids harder on nutrition and physical activity, which could lead to that disorder eating. And I think the final thing is sometimes parents and kids are aligned. You know, give me a 15-year-old girl that wants to lose weight. A 15-year-old girl that wants to lose weight, that is unfortunately a child that's very high risk of developing disordered eating. And maybe the parents really wanted to help. But what oftentimes we see a lot is tension brewing between the parent and child. The parent making efforts to help the child with their health and their weight, and the child interpreting those efforts as you think I'm fat, you think I'm ugly, you think something's wrong with me. And it's causing that tension: you know, you can't eat too much of that. Taking Food away. That movie Spanglish with Adam Sandler, several scenes in that sort of reflect that of just small comments that parents can make. You know, actually wanting to help and how that can hurt children. And what we would hope for a lot of parents is to say how can you do this in a way that can be helpful. And one of our chapters is called how to not talk to your children about their weight. You know, the idea that parents don't need to feel that pressure to bring that up. Now, if their child wants to talk about it, absolutely they need to be there, and we give a lot of tips for that. But, you know, your job as the parent, you don't really have control of your child's weight, but there's lots that you can control and lots that you can do to promote the healthy development of your child. You know there's a heavy dose of compassion in your book. That was one thing that appealed to me about it and impressed me. Because if one thinks about a book for parents on dealing with their overweight children, you sort of default to, oh, this book is probably a diet or an exercise program, or things like that about how the child can change their weight. And you're talking much more here about understanding the psychological world of the child. Being sensitive to possible risks of talking to them in ways that are unhelpful or lead to eating disorders and things like that. It's wonderful that you pay so much attention to those issues. And it's very affirming because you're saying that there are some things parents can do about this in ways that affirm their children, accept them as individuals. It's built into the title of your book that your child is not their weight. And that just means so much, I think. Oh, thank you. That is what we had hoped. I mean, you know, parents love their children and in endless, endless ways. And the parents are the key to their children and their children's health. And I feel like sometimes we push too hard. Now we're doing it for good reasons. We want this child to be healthy. We want to help make some improvements. And we put a lot on the parents' back. And I think sometimes then that pressure then is extended to the children. And a lot of this is trying to get parents some insights of, we know you love your children. Here's how to make sure that your child is being loved. You know, the old parenting typology, and I kind of go through some of that history in there, really kind of gets at that. But sometimes we do or say things that doesn't make their children feel loved by accident of course. And it sort of highlights that, not to make parents feel bad, just so they're aware. I've been guilty of it. None of us are perfect parents. And you know, making sure that our kids are feeling, loved by us. Family-based treatment is obviously the key. And I always think of one of your, one of your hypertension studies, I think from 1983. I still quote it to this day. You know, the idea that even though we talk about family-based treatment, we're usually dealing with a parent and a child. The dyad. Now they're representative of the family and I've always felt like something was, sort of, missing there. And two things really influenced me. One of that is one of my co-authors, Dara Gardner-Edwards, who is a licensed clinical social worker. And they are all about the family. They know how to do family assessments. And so, recognizing there's more than just those parents and the child in the clinic with you. In addition to that, working the whole field, I didn't know about human development and family studies. Didn't know that was a field and actually came from the University of Minnesota. I was one of the early. Strong program. So, UNC-Greensboro, our neighbor over there. I started working with a professor over there, Cheryl Buehler, and we would go meet over sushi and she essentially taught me a four-hour freshman-focused family studies course. And just this whole other world, social science world of family dynamics and recognizing when you're working with that child and parent. You may or may not be affecting the family dynamics in the household, of that family system. And so being able to extend differently and having some more appreciation of the complexity of families and the relationships with families. Hopefully we're helping people understand making changes in health habits, relationships matter. We have a project going right now, led by one of my medical students. She was always impressed, in shadowing with us, of how many siblings were picky eaters. And I brought this up to my team, like, oh yeah, this is a huge stress. You know, this parent is obviously wants to change the habits of the entire family but is obviously focused on this child we have in clinic. But the struggle of having this other kid that's a picky eater really throws off those dynamics. And being able to account for that and that stress that that puts on families, and what can we do around that? Oh, that's so interesting. You know, the more aggressive, dramatic treatments that are being used for adults like bariatric surgery and the GLP one drugs, how do they fit into this picture? Yeah, so we feel like it's a perfect adjunct if someone is pursuing with this with their child, because it still is talking about that parenting approach. And it's not really going to change anything with how you're parenting around these things. You know, bariatric surgery for many years has been done safely and effectively in children. Not that it's always perfect, but again, because of the cost, the idea that it's not reversible and typically you want that done in a center that's very experienced with working with kids. So, access issues tend to be really big with that. It can be very effective for some kids but is not available to everyone. We're in the same situation with the medicines with GLP1s. There's one that has been approved for use down to age 12, and overall, they tend to work very well with kids. But we're in the real world now. We're learning a lot about that. It can be miraculous for some children because it gives them success with their weight. It takes pressure off themselves. We're always trying to prevent that restriction, both in hearing that from another adult or the child doing it themselves, trying to tell themselves to eat less. It's always going to backfire. It's going to increase your hunger and things like that. And having that GLP1 is going to help with that. It's actually going to lower that pressure. And oftentimes they can get in that healthy routine much quicker. In others, it's causing some problems. We are seeing some kids that it is absolutely wiping out their appetite. And we're figuring out now the kids are sort of at risk for that. And you can't do that. The kids gotta eat. But for some kids, they just lose all appetite whatsoever. And they can't not eat. And so, we're still figuring out through the real world. But I think, what we're also finding is the job that we do in these multidisciplinary teams, it's just as important if not more important when you're using medications than when you're not. Let me ask you a big picture question and let me see how optimistic you might feel about how, where things are going. So, think of a physician who is treating people with lung cancer. So, the lung cancer is caused by this terrible environmental influence: cigarettes. And the physician then is in the position of having to treat the people who have that really unfortunate problem. And thank God there are physicians who do that, and there's research showing how to treat it effectively. But of course, it would be better if the environmental insult that's causing the problem in the first place didn't exist. That would make everybody happier, except for the companies that sell the product. So, do you think you and colleagues who are doing similar work are faced with a similar kind of a problem? There are all these environmental things that are helping push this problem in the first place. Thankfully, there's kindness, compassion and effective care available and your book helps push that forward even further. But are you hopeful at all that the environmental situation, you know, all the bad foods and stuff out there is changing in a positive way so that there might be less of the problem, or it might be easier on the children now who deal with the problem? Some people think it's getting worse. Others think we might see some progress. But what do you think about that? My brother is an HR guy and he kind of talks about these different typologies with that. And, I forget, I'm called something like the mad scientist, which is you're very pessimistic in complaining, but you have enthusiasm. I don't really know how to take that. But I think, you know, I'm enthusiastic obviously about this topic and what we can do to help parents. But I'm a little pessimistic when it comes to the broader world. I think there's enough, and not saying that every for-profit company's bad, but I think a lot of history is on my side with that. I don't get paid more the more kids I see and the better success I have. I don't get paid more. My job is to be here to help. But, you know, companies, every time I see a for-profit company that comes out and says safety is our number one priority. Or, you know, your satisfaction is number priority, I'm like, no, it's not. Your number priority are your shareholders. And I think that's a very, you know, jaded way to say, I don't quite trust companies right now because of that. Are there some positives that you see, and do you see some changes being made in some menus? Do you see some different products out there that are really trying to get it healthy? But it's hard. I think I have some trust issues and I think that's well founded. Maybe that's my Appalachian background. I tend to be very distrustful of the large mining companies coming in. That, speaking of your lung analogy, that I think I have some healthy distrust that is well founded. So, I think trying to help, and that's obviously a big movement that we have, of trying to help people be more discerning parents, more discerning consumers. But it's hard because they, like you said earlier, they have a whole lot more marketing dollars to convince you to buy their product than we have trying to convince them to make smarter choices about it. BIO Joseph A. "Joey" Skelton, MD, MS, FAAP, FTOS, DABOM is a Professor of Pediatrics, and of Epidemiology and Prevention, at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is the Founder and Director of Brenner FIT® (Families In Training), an interdisciplinary pediatric obesity treatment, prevention, research, and educational program. He serves as the Director of the Center for Prevention Science in Child and Family Health, Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Pediatrics, Associate Leader of Community and Stakeholder Engagement at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Childhood Obesity. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Obesity Medicine. His research and clinical work has focused on the treatment of children with obesity. He has secured nearly $10 million in funding over the past 15 years, has given over 50 national and international presentations, and has over 130 peer-reviewed publications. He enjoys teaching cooking classes that are both fun and informative to anyone who will listen.

Legendary researcher Dr. Niels Pedersen, Professor Emeritus of Medicine & Epidemiology at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is most known for playing a pivotal role in finding a treatment for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). He tells the FIP story and how, with EveryCat Health Foundation, the disease, which was previously considered fatal, is now treatable, and with […]

What if one of the most popular health trends in the world, fasting, is actually being done wrong by millions of people? In this powerful and deeply grounded conversation, Darin sits down with world-renowned longevity expert Dr. Valter Longo to cut through the noise surrounding fasting, dieting, and modern health trends. From the dangers of prolonged fasting and skipping breakfast to the science behind the Fasting Mimicking Diet, this episode delivers a reality check rooted in decades of clinical research, not social media hype. They explore the intersection of longevity, cancer, metabolism, and modern lifestyle, unpacking why extreme protocols fail, why simplicity wins, and why aligning with your biology is the true key to a long, disease-free life.     What You'll Learn Why most fasting trends are misapplied and potentially harmful The safest and most sustainable fasting window for longevity Why skipping breakfast is linked to increased mortality risk The science behind the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) How fasting impacts cancer cells vs healthy cells The hidden risks of GLP-1 weight loss drugs Why "easy solutions" often lead to worse long-term outcomes The importance of circadian rhythm in metabolism The truth about protein intake and long-term health risks Why slow, consistent change beats every "quick fix"     Chapters 00:00:00 – Opening: SuperLife mission and framing the conversation 00:00:32 – Sponsor: Therasage infrared sauna and heat therapy benefits 00:03:16 – Introduction: Dr. Valter Longo and longevity research 00:03:40 – The fasting craze: what's misunderstood 00:04:05 – Documentary discussion: science vs entertainment 00:05:13 – Why education must outweigh entertainment 00:06:19 – The danger of social media health advice 00:07:00 – Food systems, pharma, and systemic health issues 00:07:58 – Why clinical trials matter more than anecdotes 00:08:15 – Framing fasting: trends vs real science 00:08:59 – The problem with DIY fasting 00:10:03 – The safest fast: 12-hour daily fasting explained 00:10:38 – Risks of long fasting: cholesterol, gallstones, mortality 00:11:09 – Why skipping breakfast increases health risks 00:11:49 – 12-hour fasting as the most sustainable protocol 00:12:13 – Modern eating habits: 15+ hour eating windows 00:12:34 – Why extreme diets fail long-term 00:13:37 – Feasibility: why most people won't sustain extremes 00:13:56 – Introducing the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) 00:14:53 – Risks of fasting without personalization 00:15:20 – Why fasting can do more harm than good 00:15:45 – Sponsor: Alkemis Paint, indoor toxicity and non-toxic paint 00:18:42 – Clinical trials: meal timing and metabolic health 00:19:03 – Morning vs evening calorie intake study 00:19:56 – Why late eating disrupts metabolism and sleep 00:20:21 – Epidemiology: skipping breakfast increases mortality 00:21:18 – Circadian rhythm and digestion explained 00:22:11 – Evolutionary biology of eating patterns 00:22:41 – Circadian violations and long-term consequences 00:23:11 – Short-term benefits vs long-term risks 00:24:01 – Why slow progress leads to real results 00:24:49 – Realistic timelines: years, not weeks 00:25:19 – The modern system pushing unhealthy behaviors 00:25:48 – GLP-1 drugs: convenience vs consequences 00:26:13 – The danger of "effortless health" 00:27:13 – Exercise analogy: why effort still matters 00:28:06 – The "pill for everything" mentality 00:28:48 – Finding balance between extremes 00:29:25 – Sponsor: Our Place, non-toxic cookware and health 00:31:12 – Personalization vs one-size-fits-all health 00:31:51 – GLP-1 risks: depression, anxiety, muscle loss 00:32:36 – Natural vs drug-induced weight loss differences 00:33:29 – Rebound weight gain and hormonal suppression 00:34:14 – Supplements vs fixing root causes 00:34:37 – What is the Fasting Mimicking Diet 00:35:05 – Cancer research: fasting and treatment synergy 00:36:13 – How FMD mimics fasting while protecting the body 00:37:06 – Gut health and microbiome benefits 00:38:32 – FMD vs water-only fasting outcomes 00:39:26 – Clinical trials: Crohn's and colitis remission 00:40:03 – Importance of independent research 00:41:20 – Longevity through the lens of fatherhood 00:42:23 – Concerns about AI and children's development 00:43:25 – Social isolation vs digital addiction 00:44:25 – The need for balance in technology use 00:45:10 – AI overdependence and cognitive decline 00:46:18 – Mental health crisis and modern technology 00:47:10 – Reclaiming creativity and human agency 00:48:43 – Fasting and cancer: immune system activation 00:49:53 – Why cancer cells resist fasting signals 00:51:10 – The "desert analogy" for cancer vulnerability 00:52:54 – Combining fasting with therapies 00:54:07 – Future of treatment: precision targeting 00:55:14 – Early detection and personalized interventions 00:56:12 – Where fasting fits in cancer care today 00:57:31 – The protein debate: how much is too much 00:58:17 – Protein intake guidelines explained 00:59:07 – Quality vs quantity of protein 01:00:18 – SuperLife Patreon and accessing exclusive content 01:01:21 – The protein obsession problem 01:02:00 – Children consuming excessive protein 01:03:18 – Portion control and dietary awareness 01:04:07 – Risks of excessive protein intake 01:05:04 – Minimal benefits vs long-term risks 01:06:12 – Longevity populations and low protein intake 01:08:00 – The future of nutrition science 01:12:00 – Final reflections on longevity and health 01:15:00 – Closing thoughts: aligning with biology     Thank You to Our Sponsors Therasage: Go to www.therasage.com and use code DARIN20 at checkout for 20% off Alkemis: Go to alkemispaint.com and use code DARIN10 for 10% off your order. Our Place: Toxic-free, durable cookware that supports healthy cooking. Use code DARIN for 10% off at fromourplace.com.     Join the SuperLife Community Get Darin's deeper wellness breakdowns — beyond social media restrictions: Weekly voice notes Ingredient deep dives Wellness challenges Energy + consciousness tools Community accountability Extended episodes Join for $7.49/month → https://patreon.com/darinolien     Find More from Dr. Valter Longo Website: valterlongo.com Instagram: @prof_valterlongo Get His New Book: Fasting Cancer     Find More from Darin Olien: Instagram: @darinolien Podcast: SuperLife Podcast Website: superlife.com Book: Fatal Conveniences New Show: Roadmap to Happiness     Key Takeaway "The path to longevity isn't found in extreme protocols or quick fixes, it's found in consistency, alignment, and understanding your biology. When you stop chasing shortcuts and start working with your body instead of against it, that's when real transformation happens, not just in how long you live, but in how well you live."

In this episode of Community Connection, Tina Cosby dives into the world of politics and community health. She's joined by Dr. Elizabeth Bowman, Dr. of Public Health and the Marion County Public Health Department Administrator of Epidemiology. Tina is joined later by Annette Johnson, the incumbent Pike Township Trustee, who's running for her third term. They discuss the challenges facing Pike Township, including the ongoing concern about Eagle Creek Park and transportation issues. The conversation also touches on the importance of client services, community resources, and the Pike Township Fire Department's independence. Additionally, Tina talks with Danny Bridges, a Sportswriter for the Indianapolis Recorder, they discuss the NFL draft happening tonight and the potential of Indiana athletes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The rates of fractures are highest in the high milk drinking countries, basically North America, Scandinavia, Denmark, and they're lowest in countries that actually don't consume milk at all." Today, we're joined by one of the most influential and widely cited figures in nutrition science. Dr. Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has published over 2,000 papers across four decades. His work includes some of the largest and most rigorous studies on diet and chronic disease ever conducted. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy, which challenged prevailing nutrition dogma and offered a clearer, evidence-based path forward. In this conversation, we examine the eating patterns most closely linked to longevity—for both human health and the health of the planet—the rise of foods designed for convenience rather than nourishment, and the risks they pose. We also break down the practical steps that offer the greatest protection against illness. So tune in for the rare opportunity to hear from a scientist and physician whose work continues to define the boundaries of nutrition. What we discuss: The potential risks of dairy consumption during adolescence in relation to bone health. Dairy-free sources of calcium and how to meet needs without milk. Concerns with current dietary guidelines and how they may mislead the public. Why plant protein sources are preferable to animal sources. The Planetary Health Diet and what it emphasizes. How diet influences susceptibility to infectious diseases, especially in children. The types of processed foods most harmful to health. The primary drivers of the obesity epidemic. Practical tips for eating healthier with limited access to fresh foods. Key principles to follow when navigating conflicting nutrition advice.  Resources: Walter C. Willett | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Nutrition Source Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating 1 Million Tables Click the link below to learn about the FISCAL Act https://switch4good.org/fiscal-act/ Share the website and get your resources here https://kidsandmilk.org/ Dairy-Free Swaps Guide: Easy Anti-Inflammatory Meals, Recipes, and Tips https://switch4good.org/dairy-free-swaps-guide SUPPORT SWITCH4GOOD https://switch4good.org/support-us/ ★☆★ JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP ★☆★  https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcastchat ★☆★ SWITCH4GOOD WEBSITE ★☆★ https://switch4good.org/ ★☆★ ONLINE STORE ★☆★ https://shop.switch4good.org/shop/ ★☆★ FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM ★☆★ https://www.instagram.com/Switch4Good/ ★☆★ LIKE US ON FACEBOOK ★☆★ https://www.facebook.com/Switch4Good/ ★☆★ AMAZON STORE ★☆★ https://www.amazon.com/shop/switch4good

Dr. Tesha Monteith talks with Ayesha Sohail about her abstract titled "Global Burden of Headache Disorders in Older Adults (Aged ≥ 55 Years) from 1990-2021: An Analysis of Epidemiology, Trends, and Socioeconomic Disparities."  Read more about this abstract on the AAN website. 

We learn about a new injectable microgel to help reduce bleeding in infants who require surgical care. In a mice model, it reduced bleeding by at least 50%. Ashley Brown, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University and UNC Chapel Hill tells presenter Claudia Hammond more about this new material her team has designed.Joined by Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at Boston University in the US, Dr Matthew Fox, Claudia hears about a mystery illness that is being investigated by health officials in Burundi, which has caused five deaths and sickened thirty-five people. So far lab analysis of the illness - which causes fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea - has been negative for Ebola and Marburg viruses, Rift Valley fever, and others.We hear about influential analysis from Cochrane which has concluded that "breakthrough" Alzheimer's drugs are unlikely to benefit patients. Researchers said the impact was "well below" what was needed to make a difference to dementia patients' lives. However, their report has also provoked a vicious backlash from equally esteemed scientists who label it as fundamentally flawed.We're joined by health journalist Katie Silver in Mexico, who brings us the news that the President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has announced the details of a plan to introduce universal healthcare – no mean feat in country of 130 million people.And we hear about an experiment that was done by academics to see if they could trick AI chatbots into believing in an entirely fake disease. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

This isn't just another interview. I sat down with Dr. Stuart McGill to talk honestly about back pain, training, and all the stuff people get wrong online. We get into flexion, pain science, injuries, and how to actually train without messing yourself up long term. No fluff, no internet arguments, just a real conversation. If you train, deal with pain, or coach others, you'll get something from this.   00:00 – Introduction and Overview 03:11 – Addressing Criticisms and Flexion 10:46 – Epidemiology and Risk Assessment 14:04 – Core Endurance and Spine Hygiene 18:58 – Coaching and Performance Nuance 21:40 – Adaptation and Tissue Science 33:02 – Mechanisms of Disc Resolution 36:07 – Case Studies in Strength and MMA 44:49 – Refining the Assessment Process 50:25 – Neuroscience vs. Biomechanics 55:29 – Reintroducing Load and Progressive Training 01:00:37 – Future Directions and Closing   https://chrisduffin.com/ Coaching, Peptides, Supplements, eBooks & Merch, Education, and my Free Community! A deeper dive on coaching, peptides, and regenerative amplification method at https://www.enhancedexecutive.com/  

In this episode of the Public Health Joy Podcast, we sit down with Alexandra Piatkowski, founder and CEO of Piat Public Health, for a conversation that reframes how we think about structure, strategy, and community impact in public health.Together, we dig into what it really means to bring project management into public health spaces — not as a corporate add-on, but as a tool for health equity. Alexandra opens up about how she stumbled into project management through practice, what it looks like to manage complex community initiatives with limited resources, and why documentation and communication are the unsung heroes of any project done well.From the detective work of epidemiology to the big-picture thinking required to keep coalitions moving forward, this episode makes the case that public health professionals who understand project management bring something truly special to the table. And for those who feel stretched thin and under-resourced? Alexandra has practical, real-world advice for making it work anyway.One thing is clear: when project management is intentional, community-centered, and grounded in public health values, it becomes one of the most powerful tools we have for turning data into action — and plans into real change.If you care about health equity, community engagement, and building the kind of leadership skills that actually move the needle, this is an episode you won't want to miss.Key Points From This Episode:Project management and public health create a unique skill set. [19:21 – 23:08]Leadership in public health benefits from project management skills. [10:52 – 12:46]Combining different skill sets can lead to innovative solutions. [19:21 – 20:10]Epidemiology enhances project management in health initiatives. [19:21 – 20:10]Public health professionals should consider project management training. [31:30 – 32:50]Effective project management is crucial in public health projects. [20:10 – 23:08]The integration of skills leads to better health outcomes. [20:10 – 23:08]Leadership roles in public health require diverse expertise. [33:11 – 35:18]Project management can improve public health program efficiency. [26:05 – 28:39]There is a growing need for skilled leaders in public health. [33:11 – 35:45]If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and, leave a review! For more transcripts, show notes,and more visit: ⁠Click Here⁠

Usama Bilal, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Urban Health CollaborativeEpidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University, Philadelphia

Iowa continues to rank among the highest in the nation for cancer incidence, and it's one of the few states in the country where rates are still rising. What's behind the numbers?In the latest episode, Dr. Andrew Nish is joined by Mary Charleton, a professor of Epidemiology and the Director and Principal Investigator at the State Health Registry of Iowa and the Iowa Cancer Registry to break down the Cancer in Iowa Report 2026 and what it means for Iowans.

Are You A Narcissist? The Truth Behind This Personality Disorder Narcissistic personality disorder develops through a combination of genetics and childhood development. While the term is often used casually to describe selfish behavior, a true diagnosis reflects a much more complicated disorder. Our expert addresses common misconceptions and explains the roots of this often-villainized condition. Guests: Wendy T. Behary, clinical psychotherapist, author, Disarming the Narcissist   The Return Of Measles: The Hidden Dangers Of This Preventable Disease Despite being declared eliminated in America more than two decades ago, measles has made a significant resurgence and is on track to break modern records. With no known treatment, patients must try to manage symptoms like high fever and potential respiratory or neurological complications that can be fatal for unvaccinated children. Our expert explains the dangers of the current uptick in cases and sets the record straight on vaccine misinformation. Guests: Dr. Ben Bradley, medical director, ARUP Laboratories, assistant professor, University of Utah School of Medicine   Medical Notes: Conquering Your Phobias, Managing Adult Asthma, And The New Era Of Injectable Bandages Scientists have discovered how to inject bandages into the body. How to manage your adult asthma. Are you addicted to food? Can you ever truly conquer a fear? Facebook: ingoodhealthpodX: @ ingoodhealthpodIG: @ingoodhealthpodYouTube: @ingoodhealthpodSpotify Apple Podcast In Good Health PodcastSubscribed to the newsletterFull ArchiveContact UsBecome an Affiliate Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Return Of Measles: The Hidden Dangers Of This Preventable Disease Despite being declared eliminated in America more than two decades ago, measles has made a significant resurgence and is on track to break modern records. With no known treatment, patients must try to manage symptoms like high fever and potential respiratory or neurological complications that can be fatal for unvaccinated children. Dr. Ben Bradley explains the dangers of the current uptick in cases and sets the record straight on vaccine misinformation. Guest: Dr. Ben Bradley, medical director, ARUP Laboratories, assistant professor, University of Utah School of Medicine Host: Greg Johnson Producer: Kristen Farrah   Facebook: ingoodhealthpodX: @ ingoodhealthpodIG: @ingoodhealthpodYouTube: @ingoodhealthpodSpotify Apple Podcast In Good Health PodcastSubscribed to the newsletterFull ArchiveContact UsBecome an Affiliate Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Exploring the paradoxes of the Japanese diet, LDL cholesterol, and longevity, challenging conventional wisdom on fats and health.Chapters00:00 The Inconvenient Truth of Japanese Nutrition02:46 The Paradox of LDL and Longevity06:51 Challenging Dietary MythsReferencesKawamoto R, et al. (2021). Low density lipoprotein cholesterol and all-cause mortality rate in community-dwelling persons. BMC Geriatrics. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8436563/Ravnskov U, et al. (2020). The LDL Paradox: Higher LDL-Cholesterol is Associated with Greater Longevity. Annals of Epidemiology and Public Health, 3(1): 1040. https://meddocsonline.org/annals-of-epidemiology-and-public-health/the-LDL-paradox-higher-LDL-cholesterol-is-associated-with-greater-longevity.pdfObservatoire de la Prévention (2021). Why do the Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world? https://observatoireprevention.org/en/2021/03/09/why-do-the-japanese-have-the-highest-life-expectancy-in-the-world/Japan Today (2023). People in Japan are eating a lot less fish now than they used to, but why? https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/people-in-japan-are-eating-a-lot-less-fish-now-than-they-used-to-but-whySustainability Hypotheses (2023). Meat consumption and sustainability: the case of Japan. https://sustainability.hypotheses.org/1037American Case Medical Reports (2023). Height is a Measure of Consumption that Incorporates Nutritional Quality. https://acmcasereport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ACMCR-v9-1835.pdfMeat Science / ScienceDirect (2022). Meat consumption and consumer attitudes in Japan: An overview. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0309174022001474PMC / Nutrients (2024). Dietary pattern transition and its nutrient intakes and diet quality in Japan. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11645119/Sheng-Shu W, et al. (2023). Cholesterol paradox in community-living older adults. PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10755211/Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2020). The Highs and Lows of Cholesterol: A Paradox of Healthy Aging? https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.16302

We need to talk about the cars on our roads or more specifically the utes. Utes are brilliant vehicles for the farm, for tradespeople and for people who actually need the space - but more and more they seem to be the vehicle of choice for people who live in a city. In fact new research shows 66 percent of trips by double-cab utes are made in urban areas. So what's the appeal and how can we convince people to move to vehicles more fitting to their needs? University of Auckland Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Alistair Woodward joins Jesse.

Host Dr. Joel Berg is joined by Dr. Juan Yepes, a distinguished professor and AAPD 2026 featured speaker, for a discussion focused on Dr. Yepes unique journey to become both a pediatric dentist and medical primary care physician. Dr. Yepes shares his stories from studying in numerous programs around the globe and how they each played a role in his growth and network, highlighting how all of the experiences and relationships have shaped him as a teacher and professional. Guest Bio: Juan F. Yepes DDS, MD, MPH, MS, DrPH is a full professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and the associate dean for graduate education at Indiana University School of Dentistry and an attending at Riley Children Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Juan F. is a dentist (DDS) and a physician (MD) from Javeriana University at Bogotá, Colombia. In 1999, Juan F. moved to the USA and attended the University of Iowa and the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a fellowship and residency in Radiology and Oral Medicine respectively in 2002 and 2004. In 2006, Juan F. completed a Master in Public Health (MPH), and in 2011 a Doctoral Degree in Public Health (DrPH) both with emphasis in Epidemiology at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. In 2008, Juan F. completed a residency program in Dental Public Health at University of Texas, Baylor College of Dentistry. Finally, Juan F. completed a residency program and a master in pediatric dentistry at the University of Kentucky in 2012. Juan F. is board-certified by the American Boards of Pediatric Dentistry, Oral Medicine, and Dental Public Health. He is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Academy of Oral Medicine, American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Indiana Dental Association, and American Dental Association. Juan F. is a fellow in dental surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons at Edinburgh. He is a member of the editorial board of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Oral Radiology. Finally, Juan F. is the associate editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) and one of the directors/examiners of the American Board of Oral Medicine. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Yale epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch digs into PubMed's controversial retraction of a 2025 study of Fenbendazole (FenBen) for cancer treatment by Dr. William Makis. Naomi Wolf Ph.D. is concerned about bizarre cloud formations and the real threat of government geoengineering programs – and the exclusion of women from public prayer spaces. Evolutionary biologist and pseudoscience expert Massimo Pigliucci breaks down the ancient practices of Stoicism and Epicureanism, explaining the biological and societal forces that lock human beings into predictable routines. Naomi Wolf, Ph.D. is an independent journalist, co-founder, and CEO of DailyClout.io. She edits The Pfizer Papers and authored Facing the Beast and War Room / DailyClout Pfizer Documents Analysis Volunteers' Reports eBook. More at https://x.com/naomirwolf and https://naomiwolf.substack.com⠀Massimo Pigliucci, PhD, is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. His academic work is in evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophy. He has a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. He has published over 190 technical papers in science and philosophy and is the author or editor of 23 books. Learn more at https://massimopigliucci.net/⠀Dr. Harvey Risch is Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at Yale. He provided testimony to the US Senate regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and has spoken widely about his opposition to masking, vaccine mandates, and the reliability of PCR tests – along with his research on COVID prevention and treatment with existing drugs. In 2025, President Trump appointed him to chair the President's Cancer Panel. Follow at https://x.com/DrHarveyRisch 「 SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS 」 • STRONG CELL – If you want to feel more like your younger self, go to https://strongcell.com/ and use code DREW for 20% off. • AUGUSTA PRECIOUS METALS – Thousands of Americans are moving portions of their retirement into physical gold & silver. Learn more in this 3-minute report from our friends at Augusta Precious Metals: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/gold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or text DREW to 35052 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• FATTY15 – The future of essential fatty acids is here! Strengthen your cells against age-related breakdown with Fatty15. Get 15% off a 90-day Starter Kit Subscription at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/fatty15⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • PALEOVALLEY - "Paleovalley has a wide variety of extraordinary products that are both healthful and delicious,” says Dr. Drew. "I am a huge fan of this brand and know you'll love it too!” Get 15% off your first order at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drdrew.com/paleovalley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • THE WELLNESS COMPANY - Counteract harmful spike proteins with TWC's Signature Series Spike Support Formula containing nattokinase and selenium. Learn more about TWC's supplements at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twc.health/drew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 「 ABOUT THE SHOW 」 This show is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Executive Producers • Kaleb Nation - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://kalebnation.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • Susan Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/firstladyoflove⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Content Producer • Emily Barsh - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/emilytvproducer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted By • Dr. Drew Pinsky - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/drdrew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About this episode: Prediabetes—a diagnosis characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that can progress to Type 2 diabetes—is embroiled in debate about whether the condition is clinically "real," and, if so, what the threshold for diagnosis should be. In this episode: Epidemiologist and diabetes expert Elizabeth Selvin breaks down the controversy surrounding prediabetes and why she thinks the diagnosis offers an opportunity for intervention. Guest: Elizabeth Selvin, PhD, MPH, is a professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she studies diagnosis and screening for diabetes and prediabetes. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: Prediabetes and What It Means: The Epidemiological Evidence—Annual Review of Public Health Prediabetes Explained: An Under-the-Radar and Common Condition That Doesn't Have to Lead to a Diabetes Diagnosis—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health In Praise of Prevention—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)—National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Paula Quatromoni is a tenured Associate Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Boston University. Her work focuses on eating disorders, sports nutrition, child health, dietary patterns, and cardiometabolic disease. She founded BU's sports nutrition consult service and helped create the GOALS Program for athletes with eating disorders. She teaches courses in nutritional epidemiology, eating disorders, and a study abroad program in Italy on the Mediterranean diet. She holds nutrition degrees from the University of Maine and a doctorate in epidemiology from BU, and is an award-winning teacher and widely published mentor dedicated to advancing the dietetics profession.

What separates strong clinical research from misleading conclusions? Often, it comes down to study design. In this episode of the Clinical Trial Podcast, Kunal Sampat sits down with Dr. Thomas Newman, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and co-author of Designing Clinical Research, to break down how observational studies actually work. While randomized controlled trials are often considered the gold standard, observational studies are essential in many real-world settings. But they come with challenges including bias, confounding, and misinterpretation that can lead to flawed conclusions if not handled correctly. Dr. Newman shares a practical framework to help you design better studies, interpret results more critically, and build a stronger foundation in clinical research. In this episode, you'll learn: When observational studies are more appropriate than randomized trials A practical framework for designing observational research Key threats to validity: bias, confounding, and chance How to interpret associations vs. causal effects Strategies for dealing with confounders in analysis How to approach statistics with more clarity and confidence About the guest: Dr. Thomas Newman, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. His work focuses on applying epidemiologic methods to important clinical problems in child health, including neonatal jaundice, infections in newborns, and cholesterol screening. He is widely recognized for his contributions to clinical research education and is co-author of Designing Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Diagnosis. Why this episode matters: If you want to grow in clinical research, you need more than surface-level knowledge - you need to understand how studies are designed and where they can go wrong. This episode helps you think like a clinical researcher.

In this month's episode of the Harvard Data Science Review Podcast, we explore a timeless yet increasingly urgent question: What does it mean to flourish as a human being in an age of artificial intelligence? We are joined by experts Noreen Herzfeld and Tyler VanderWeele, who together bring empirical, philosophical, and theological perspectives to a wide-ranging conversation on human well-being, relationships, and the role of technology in each. The guests examine whether AI can support human flourishing—or whether it may erode the very capacities that make flourishing possible. They discuss the limits of AI in addressing deeper human longings for meaning and transcendence, the risks of replacing human connection with artificial interaction, and the ethical responsibilities of developers in shaping these tools. This episode invites listeners to reflect on what it truly means to live well in a technological age. Join in and add your voice to the conversation. The episode also highlights Dr. VanderWeele's recent Psychology Today article, “Can We Remain Human in the Age of AI” and Dr. Herzfeld's recent writings. Our guests: Noreen Herzfeld is the director of the Benedictine Spirituality and the Environment program at Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary. Tyler VanderWeele is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology and the director of the Human Flourishing Program and the co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University.  

Bird flu has flown off the national news radar, with only scattered, local reports of dead birds in parks and poultry farms. Is it simply no longer a concern, or have cuts to federal science funding disrupted monitoring for this disease? Airborne pathogens expert Seema Lakdawala gives a flyover view on where bird flu stands today, and whether the government's current monitoring efforts are enough to help prevent another pandemic. Guest: Dr. Seema Lakdawala is co-director of the Center for Transmission of Airborne Pathogens and an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

This episode examines whether unprocessed red meat has a causal role in (1) type 2 diabetes risk and intermediate measures of glucose intolerance (insulin resistance, beta cell dysfunction, glycemic markers) and (2) cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. While there is commonly observed risk signal from observational cohorts, there exist short-term randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that show largely null effects on glucose homeostasis. This had led to differing opinions and interpretations of the evidence base. Some feel that in the context of an otherwise healthy diet, there isn't much to suggest concern about consuming unprocessed red meat. While others are of the view that there does exist a risk and that limiting or even avoiding consumption is prudent. The crucial concept of replacement effects is discussed. Increasing red meat intake always means decreasing something else or increasing total energy intake. Therefore, interpreting evidence requires specifying the comparator food(s), the background dietary pattern, the dose, the cut (lean vs fatty), and how the meat is prepared. To discuss their interpretations of this contentious evidence base, Dr. Mario Kratz and Dr. Gil Carvalho join the podcast to go through the studies most directly related to these questions. Timestamps [06:20] Red meat's impact is debated [10:54] Mechanisms linking meat to diabetes [15:31] Cohort evidence on diabetes risk [24:43] Differences between cohorts and threshold effects [33:13] RCT evidence and substitution trials [45:49] Why comparator foods matter [50:43] RCT examples and mixed results [01:00:30] Is there cardiovascular risk beyond saturated fat? [01:08:10] Epidemiology patterns and dose thresholds [01:11:36] Personal recommendations and risk tolerance [01:16:19] Key ideas Related Resources Go to episode page (study links, guest bios, additional resources) Join the Sigma email newsletter for free Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium Enroll in the next cohort of our Applied Nutrition Literacy course Mario's YouTube channel: Nourished By Science Gil's YouTube channel: Nutrition Made Simple!

In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof are joined in person by Dr. Lovey Bradley, NSI certified practitioner, BrainBased facilitator, and facilitator of the NSI BIPOC Affinity Group. Together they examine how racial stress and systemic oppression live in the body, how they shape nervous system patterns across generations, and what post-traumatic growth actually requires when the environment itself keeps activating survival. Dr. Lovey opens by sharing what brought her to this conversation, including a moment of messaging Elisabeth out of frustration, asking why race still has to be such a defining factor, and what it would take to start breaking those walls down. The answer they keep returning to: it starts with having the conversations. From there the episode moves into the physiology of racial stress, how chronic exposure to discrimination activates the HPA axis, elevates cortisol, suppresses progesterone, and drives the specific health disparities that show up disproportionately in melanated bodies, including fibroids, endometriosis, heart disease, hypertension, and chronic pain. Dr. Lovey names what she sees in the women she works with and connects those physical realities directly to suppressed expression, ancestral stress load, and the specific demands placed on bodies that have never had the systemic safety to soften. Elisabeth grounds the conversation in current research including the work of Resmaa Menakem on embodied racial trauma and Tema Okun's writing on white supremacy culture, which she connects directly to nervous system dysregulation rather than personality or ideology. The episode also traces how cultural conditioning normalizes threat-based behaviors like urgency, perfectionism, and emotional repression as efficiency or success, and what that means for everyone living inside those systems. Dr. Lovey also shares the story of how she accidentally created a healing community for melanated women after a single post went viral in a Facebook group, and what the response revealed about the collective hunger for real, unperformed connection. Topics Covered How racism functions as a chronic threat signal that reshapes the nervous system, not just belief or behavior What the HPA axis, cortisol, and progesterone have to do with racial stress and women's health outcomes How suppressed expression contributes to physical disease in melanated bodies What Resmaa Menakem's framework adds to neuro somatic approaches to racialized trauma Why white supremacy culture traits like urgency and perfectionism map directly onto chronic stress behaviors How the urgency to fix or regulate can itself become a form of bypassing in healing spaces What post-traumatic growth looks like at a collective level, not just an individual one Why witnessing state violence on social media is a genuine nervous system stressor, even for those not directly targeted How Dr. Levy's community for melanated women came to life and what it is building toward Chapter Markers 0:00 - Why This Conversation Had to Happen 01:57 - Welcome: Racial Trauma, the Nervous System, and Post-Traumatic Growth 07:25 - What Racial Stress Looks Like in the Body, for White and Melanated Bodies 10:44 - Post-Traumatic Growth at the Collective Level: What It Actually Requires 15:35 - The Danger of Regulating Out of Activation Before the Cycle Completes 18:09 - The Neuroscience: HPA Axis, Allostatic Load, and Chronic Racial Threat 24:27 - How Racial Stress Shows Up in Hormones, Cycles, and Women's Health 29:25 - Resmaa Menakem, White Supremacy Culture, and the Nervous System 38:42 - Dr. Levy's Community for Melanated Women and What It Is Building 41:35 - Witnessing Violence at Scale: What It Does to All Nervous Systems 49:11 - What This Work Has Made Possible: Dr. Levy on Choosing to Create a Different World 51:59 - Closing Reflection: What Post-Traumatic Growth Requires of Us Collectively Ways to Engage with Neurosomatics: Neurosomatic Intelligence is now enrolling : https://neurosomaticintelligence.com/nsi-certification Join us for a two week trial of neurosomatic practices at rewiretrial.com Free BrainBased neurosomatic workshop for entrepreneurs at rewirecapacity.com Sacred Synapse: an educational YouTube channel founded by Jennifer Wallace that explores nervous system regulation, applied neuroscience, consciousness, and psychedelic preparation and integration through Neurosomatic Intelligence.  Wayfinder Journal: Track nervous system patterns and support preparation and integration through Neurosomatic Intelligence. Learn to work with Boundaries at the level of the body and nervous system at https://www.boundaryrewire.com   Resources: Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse. "The Historical Trauma Response Among Natives and Its Relationship with Substance Abuse: A Lakota Illustration." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 35, no. 1, 2003, pp. 7–13. Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse, and Eduardo Duran. "Healing the Soul Wound: Counseling with American Indians and Other Native Peoples." Teachers College Press, 1995. DeGruy, Joy. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. Joy DeGruy Publications Inc., 2005. Hobson, J. M., M. D. Moody, R. E. Sorge, and B. R. Goodin. "The Neurobiology of Social Stress Resulting from Racism." Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, 2022, pp. 181–191. Hicken, Margaret T., et al. "Everyday Discrimination, Chronic Stress, and Cardiovascular Health." American Journal of Epidemiology, 2014. Geronimus, Arline T. "Weathering and the Health of African-American Women." Ethnicity & Disease, 2006. Menakem, Resmaa. My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Central Recovery Press, 2017. Okun, Tema. "White Supremacy Culture." Dismantling Racism Works, originally published 1999, revised 2021. Williams, Monnica T. "Racial Trauma: Theory, Research, and Healing." American Psychologist, vol. 74, no. 1, 2019, pp. 33–42.  

 If you lose a spouse, you're a widow. If you lose your parents, an orphan. But we don't have the language for someone who lost a sibling – your first friend, your first ally, your first enemy (probably, at least temporarily). Grief always feels like a gut punch, but losing a sibling is a unique kind of pain that we don't talk about enough.  So today, I'm joined by Steph Wittels Wachs, former TTFA guest and sister of comedy legend Harris Wittels, who died in 2015 of an accidental overdose. We're talking about what losing a sibling means and sharing the notes, advice and insights from people who know what it's like to live in the world without their siblings. Cited in this episode: Rogne, S., Grotta, A., Liu, C., Berg, L., Saarela, J., Kawachi, I., Hiyoshi, A., & Rostila, M. (2025). All-cause mortality around the anniversary of a sibling's death: findings from Swedish National Register Data. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf213  Tatjana Gazibara, Katherine A Ornstein, Christina Gillezeau, Melissa Aldridge, Mogens Groenvold, Merete Nordentoft, Lau Caspar Thygesen, Bereavement Among Adult Siblings: An Examination of Health Services Utilization and Mental Health Outcomes, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 190, Issue 12, December 2021, Pages 2571–2581, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab212  Davidson, D. (2018). Sibling loss - disenfranchised grief and forgotten mourners. Bereavement Care, 37(3), 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682621.2018.1535882   Herberman Mash, H. B., Fullerton, C. S., & Ursano, R. J. (2013). Complicated Grief and Bereavement in Young Adults Following Close Friend and Sibling Loss. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269), 30(12), 1202–1210. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22068     Watch us on YouTube here! Get this episode ad-free here! Listen to Geoffrey's album on Spotify and Apple! LINKS TO RELATED EPISODES! https://feelingsand.co/podcasts/terrible-thanks-for-asking/86-sundays/  https://feelingsand.co/podcasts/terrible-thanks-for-asking/what-does-all-this-loss-mean/  Don't you want someone to take care of you?  _ Right now, go to Quince.com/TFA for free shipping and 365-day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it. And you will. Now available in Canada, too. Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to Quince.com/TFA for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quince.com/TFA Shop my favorite bras and underwear at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select podcast in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows. Right now, our listeners get an additional 15% off any annual membership at MASTERCLASS.com/TFA. That's 15% off at MASTERCLASS.com/TFA. With evening and weekend course options, Fordham's online MSW lets you keep working while earning your degree, completing the program in as few as 16 months. Learn more and apply at fordham.edu/TTFA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices