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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
Can the molecular biology of flies serve as an indicator for the health of the environment around them? Insects around the world can give insights into how the area around them operates. Press play to learn:
Claudia Husseneder, professor of urban entomology at LSU, drops by to share her experience working around the world studying population genetics and how it impacts the area around them.
Using the principles of epigenetics, traits passed down in horsefly populations can give hints about their surroundings. The population decrease of flies in affected areas of the oil spill leads to the conclusion that part of the ecosystem has been negatively impacted, causing it not to sustain as large of a population.
If genetic diversity in a population is reduced, new and rare genetic variants are taken out of the future's hereditary pool. Population genetics applications can explain not only this but why it can spell disaster for the area around them.
For more information, visit https://www.lsu.edu/entomology/. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
Is cancer detectable by the receptors in the human nose? New research suggests that humans can detect minimal chemical changes using smell.
Listen in to learn:
CEO of Aromyx, Josh Silverman, joins the conversation and lends his insight into the future of human smell receptors and digital technology in healthcare.
As the head of a digital scent technology company, the secrets of human smell sensors and olfactory receptor neurons have been very useful in developing new medical technology and marketing strategies. Since smell is a more rudimentary sensory input than something like sight, it remains extremely sensitive but much harder to process and describe.
Scientists have found genetic predispositions to smells and sensory experiences, leading new studies to search for what populations prefer different scents. Aromyx is looking to the future and planning to conduct multiple disease detection studies after previous results have shown great promise.
Visit aromyx.com to learn more. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
Have medical textbooks been mistaken when addressing the proliferation of cancer cells? Studies out of Tuft School of Medicine may present a new way of thinking about carcinogens. Tune in to learn:
Integrative physiologist and pathobiologist at Tufts School of Medicine, Carlos Sonnenschein, M.D., breaks down his recent insights about how cancer should be perceived and treated.
The established view of cancer as a cellular issue may be on its way out. Dr. Sonnenschein discusses the common error in thinking cell proliferation is inducible and how this relates to cancer cells. This leads to the conclusion that cancer is a tissue-based problem rather than being cellular-based, as is commonly taught.
Carcinogens affect cells and cause disorders to begin occurring. This leads to mutations of the tissue and will cause chaos in its development. Dr. Sonnenschein is on a mission to change the way people think about carcinogens and how we can make a difference in battling cancer development moving forward.
For more information, the Tufts School of Medicine research studies are available online, and Dr. Sonnenschein can be reached at his email address: carlos.sonnenschein@tufts.edu. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
You can make lifestyle choices to increase your bone health, says chiropractor Dr. Frank Bodnar. He gives listeners the full picture of what bone density means and how our own daily habits along with medical interventions can make a difference. Listen and learn
Dr. Frank Bodnar is a licensed chiropractor in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois and works with the Lifestyle Matrix Resource Center. While many chiropractors don't address bone density per se, his own experience of watching his father diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when nutrition therapy for diabetes was not normal protocol impacted him. He knew patients deserved better and this experience made him sensitive to how important it is to teach patients about what they could do for themselves. He brought his own passion for lifestyle interventions into addressing bone health and helps clinicians educate patients about lifestyle benefits as part of their plan. In this interview, he readily shares some of the same advice with listeners.
He begins by explaining some of the terminology of bone health, from a DEXA scan to the physiology behind bone growth and density loss, down to the effect of protein on blood sugars and why the Mediterranean diet leads to less inflammation. Additionally, he describes why supplementation is more than just adding calcium, and explains what considerations nutritionists advise in how to pair supplements for the most beneficial effects. Finally, he gives specific examples of patients and what made substantive differences for their bone health. Even stress, he adds, can lend a factor and in addition to the psychological benefits of exercise on stress, resistance training can have a marked effect on bone density, even for the elderly. Curious about how to put your bones on a healthy path? Listen in as Dr. Bodnar shares his knowledge. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
Are you facing a thyroid cancer diagnosis or other thyroid condition? You're not alone. Thyroid issues touch a large percentage of the American population. This dialogue helps listeners understand thyroid cancers and other conditions, from the most common to least, and explains current trends and treatment improvements. Listen and learn
Dr. Bryan Haugen is a physician and endocrinologist with the University of Colorado. He and Richard discuss multiple thyroid diagnoses, and Richard shares his own experience with thyroid cancer. Dr. Haugen, in turn, explains many possibilities that patients face for treatment. This includes, for example, why some thyroid cancers require surgery and others require radioactive iodine or broad-spectrum chemotherapy or a combination. He goes into detail about the most common type, papillary thyroid cancer, and why doctors are seeing more of it in the last few years.
He also increases listener's comfort level with a lot of the jargon with thyroid conditions, explaining the difference between targeted and directed therapies, the difference between differentiated and undifferentiated cells in cancer, and the role of the parathyroid. Finally, he provides pros and cons for various treatments, addresses if there are concerns with radioactive iodine, as well as how he treats a patient that isn't responding effectively to basic synthroid medications. So, if you are ready for a helpful primer on thyroid function and complications, sit back and learn. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
How can the painful bites and stings of insects be objectively classified onto a spectrum of suffering? One entomologist has spent his life's work doing just that. Listen in to discover:
Entomologist and author of "The Sting of the Wild", Justin Schmidt shares his insight on honeybee behavioral adaptions and his experience creating a sting pain index from scratch.
Mr. Schmidt left his role as a laboratory chemist to combine that knowledge with his love of insects. Using his chemical expertise and applying it to the venom of insects, the Schmidt Sting Pain Index was created. On a scale from one to four, insects worldwide find their place from a mere annoyance on the low end of the scale to an electric shock topping out at four.
Contrary to intuition, a bug's size is not necessarily relative to the might of its sting. It has been found that regardless of the size, if an insect is not often threatened or challenged by large predators, it may not have as severe a sting. Due to honeybee behavioral adaptions, a single sting only falls as a two on the index, but the victim may be in for severe repercussions if attacked by a swarm.
To learn more, purchase "The Sting of the Wild" on Amazon.com or search the Schmidt Sting Pain Index online. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
How have governments around the world differed in their responses to COVID-19? How have various countries been impacted by the lockdowns?
Tune in for the answers, and to learn:
Associate lecturer at the University of Adelaide and member of Politics and International Relations (POLIR), David Olney, returns to the show to discuss his perspective on the COVID-19 situation, from the beginning right up to the current day, and even what he thinks it looks like moving forward.
He shares his opinion of how, when, and where the virus came about, his experience living in Australia when the virus hit, the response to COVID-19 in China and the Hong Kong protests that preceded it, why the pandemic is just as much an image issue as a health concern for many governments, the COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 and economies, the many ways of dealing with inflation (and the inflation that's occurred with masks), and more.
For more info, visit https://davidolney.com.au/, and check out Olney's podcast, Blind Insights. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
How can one person stand up against a government coverup? With the right support and strategy, a small stone cast can cause significant ripples. Press play to learn:
Author and activist in New Orleans, Sandy Rosenthal, shares her hard-fought battle to expose the plight against Louisiana's people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina damage.
Mrs. Rosenthal sheds light on the shoddy design of the levees, which caused catastrophic flooding in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. Though the common misconception was that local authorities were to blame for poor levee maintenance, the Army Core of Engineers was discovered to be the true culprits.
Pushing through local and government persecution, the truth was revealed, and the Army Core of Engineers now claims responsibility for the flawed design. There is no need to be an expert in the subject to exact change in your community. Rosenthal shares her story of overcoming pushback against her truth and instructs future activists on how to make their voices heard, even amid harassment.
For more information, visit levees.org. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
A handful of soil really is its own universe. In fact, the mathematical properties that make for galaxy clustering is similar to the physics and biology behind the clustering of soil. So is there a big bang theory for soil? Listen in as Professor John Crawford addresses these big questions for soil-plant-microbe interactions. This conversation explores
John Crawford is a professor in Strategy and Technology Management at the University of Glasgow. He's studied soil for over 30 years, but actually began his career in astrophysics, and it shows. He gives listeners a fascinating lesson in the organizational physics of galaxies and how he brought that expansive understanding to soil structure. Furthermore, he explains why this is worthy of close scrutiny, namely its ability to support terrestrial life. He comments that, "if soil is good at one thing . . . it's that it allows air and water to mix over a very broad range of environmental conditions." He gives a fascinating description for how it does so through a maximized interface of microbes, oxygen, carbon, and water with a biological glue to hold it together.
He gets even more specific for how fungi and bacteria practice a critical job share of interactions that benefit all organisms involved. In fact, he adds that "it's probably more accurate to think about soil, as an organism, as a composite organism." He gives specific ways readers can understand these interactions through relaying classic and current studies and describes the direction his research his heading, including toward understanding how soil retains and releases carbon in different situations, how soil-plant relationships work and can benefit from intervention, and how water management can be improved through soil structures. Listen in to hear more about the fascinating universe under our feet.
For more about his work, see his page at the University of Glasgow. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
What does it mean to treat the patient, not the disease? Dr. Gary Foresman helps listeners understand what this looks like in a day-to-day approach to cancer therapies, from new cancer treatments to integrative oncology. Listen and learn
Dr. Gary Foresman specializes in integrative cancer therapies and regenerative medicine. He's the founder of Middle Path Medicine and works entirely in the clinical field. He's able to paint a very clear picture for listeners of what it could mean to approach cancer treatment through an integrative path. This makes for a patient-oriented habit of practice, he explains. Each person makes their choice—sometimes that means more of a western approach with targeted chemo, and sometimes this means more of a natural approach. This patient-centered treatment, he adds, is really what integrative medicine should be. Ultimately, integrative practitioners are "providing tools for patients and allowing them to make better, informed decisions."
This means he takes a slightly different approach to counseling patients through diet and exercise choices and even meditation as ways to treat cancer. But, he's clear that nutrition treats people and not diseases: rather than ask which diet is best for cancer or heart disease, one should ask which diet is best for themselves, he explains. Often the first thing he talks about with a patient is their stress levels, an extremely important element in cancer treatment and healing. Therefore, he's sensitive to pushing them towards diets or changes that might engender more stress rather than increase health outcomes. But he's honest with patients about what food, exercise, and mindful practices could provide them with a healthful balance alongside western approaches to treatment. Listen in to hear more about what forms this advice takes.
For more about Dr. Gary Foresman, see Middle Path Medicine. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C
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