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Copyright: © Richard Jacobs
After Dr. Myles Spar noticed that women far outnumbered men as integrative medicine patients, he worked to reframe the messaging. In this podcast, he discusses
Dr. Myles Spar is the Chief Medical Officer of Vault Health and specializes in men's health and wellness. He serves as a clinical faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Arizona Schools of Medicine. His volunteer time with Doctors Without Borders encouraged him to pursue integrative medicine fully on his return. He starts by explaining how earlier experiences led him to question the messaging men receive to not seek help. This along with his own observations of the scarcity of men as patients seeking health and wellness information from various types of integrative medicine practices encouraged him to provide messaging more adaptive to men's needs.
He tells listeners about health considerations and centers this discussion on hormones. He explains that testosterone is the main one listeners may be familiar with but adds that there are many more male hormones to consider like DHEA and estradiol. Dr. Spar also describes his initial approach with patients, how he starts by developing an understanding of what's important to that patient in terms of health goals and motivations. In other words, he learns what patients want their health to achieve for them, or alternatively, what is their ill health getting in the way of. He divides these issues by sex, body, or brain and proceeds to evaluate based on those goals. He also discusses levels of testosterone and the nuances behind the numbers as well as different types of testosterone treatments from pellets to pills to other means and advantages and disadvantages for each.
For more, see Vault Health's website at vaulthealth.com and click on "Get Started" for a telehealth appointment. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Renowned for his knowledge and expertise in biology, University of Oxford Professor Denis Noble once again returns to the show to share his insight. Today's episode deals with the topic of viruses, and it is the first in what will be a thorough and compelling series on virology. Throughout the course of this series, Richard Jacobs will interview approximately 30 scientists and researchers, each with something unique and meaningful to contribute to the conversation. In this episode, you will learn:
The COVID-19 situation has created an unprecedented global stir of questions about viruses: Why would one type of virus have such a different structure and function than another type of virus? How do viruses spread, and why do they seem to trigger different immune responses in different people? Why can it be so challenging to find an effective way to eliminate them? Noble provides a great deal of compelling information on these topics and more, including the possible connection between exosomes and the origin of viruses, the ways in which the microbiome might change around a cell once the cell is infected by a virus, how viruses find their targets, and the role of viruses in evolution and speciation.
Learn more about Denis Noble's work and publications at https://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/denis-noble. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Returning guest and founder of Quantgene, Jo Bhakdi, discusses his work at Quantgene in the COVID-19 testing arena. Press play to learn:
Quantgene's genomic and liquid biopsy technologies have played a significant role in advancing the speed and accuracy of cancer identification. Now, they're focusing their efforts on COVID-19 testing methods. "We are all about real-time medical intelligence," says Bhakdi, as he explains that medicine is mostly a data problem, with the COVID-19 situation being no exception. According to Bhakdi, the COVID-19 testing crisis is not a molecular diagnostic problem, but a time problem: it's simply taking far too long for people to get their results.
Bhakdi explains what PCR testing is and how it works. This includes an explanation of how the amount of genomic material doubles with each amplification cycle in the PCR procedure, in what way the test involves DNA sequencing, and the role of the protein polymerase in synthesizing strands of DNA. He also explains what Quantgene's COVID-19 test provides that others don't, and the enormous demand for a reliable test that delivers fast results.
Visit https://www.quantgene.com/ to learn more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Courtney Sexton is a PhD student researching what we can learn from other species about our own and how to better interact with animals that share our habitat, like dogs. She's especially interested in the evolution of nonverbal communication. In this podcast, she discusses
Courtney Sexton is a PhD student with the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at The George Washington University. She describes for listeners the different forms of communication throughout the animal kingdom, including among human animals. She adds that an interesting aspect of this involves human-dog coevolution, and studying the relationship may lead to some dog behaviors explained. In fact, dogs are unique in that they've adapted to communicate with people almost as well as among themselves. Humans and dogs have been cohabitating for roughly 30,000 years and dog social behavior has some similar patterns with humans; she points to paired mating systems exhibited by dogs and wolves in the paleo hunter-gatherer era as one example.
Interestingly, dogs have gotten better at interpreting our signals than vice-versa. There are many examples of humans simplifying the understanding of dog body language when something such as tail wagging can signify a gamut of emotions. Courtney also explains that dogs pick up a great deal of information from our own facial expressions. She describes her current research comparing fascial muscle development in dogs with and without hair coloring markings that exaggerate certain expressions. This stems from a similar study done on primates. She adds that researchers are struggling to find dogs to observe because of the pandemic shut downs and points listeners to resources, including her own Primate Genomics Lab, if they are interested in participating in video studies with their dogs.
For more, see her lab site, cashp.columbian.gwu.edu/primate-genomics, and her department's website, cashp.columbian.gwu.edu. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Jeff Chilton has been involved one way or another in organic mushroom cultivation and mushroom health benefits since the 1970s. In this podcast, he tells listeners
After many years spent in organic mushroom farming, Jeff Chilton started Nammex in 1989 to sell mushrooms to the herbal supplement industry. He explains that it took a while to educate North Americans to how essential mushrooms had been in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. His company produces extracts of quality mushrooms that these supplement companies integrate and sell for functional or medicinal purposes.
Jeff gives listeners a broader picture of the value of various fungi in the diet, and says that there are at least 270 different medicinal mushrooms with supporting research showing benefits. His company works consistently with about 10 to 12 species that have an overlap between established scientifically-proven benefits and a history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. He explains that mushroom supplements benefit our immune system modulation. He describes the process they use to produce the powdered extract as well as some of the qualities of popular species like the shitake and the reishi mushroom. He also tells listeners about their biology and growing process and lists some compound benefits, such as for beta glucans and ergosterol. He finishes by describing some newer products, such as cordyceps, a fungus harvested from caterpillars.
Find more on their website, nammex.com, and for a division of the company that sells directly to consumers, see realmushrooms.com. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Professor Wood specializes in the roles of soil microbial communities and is currently studying the importance of microbial diversity impacting plant diversity in rainforests. In this podcast, she explores
Dr. Jen Wood is an associate lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Microbiology at La Trobe University in Australia. She's just begun co-heading a laboratory that centers on understanding the role of microbes in ecosystems so that scientists might better manage these systems, whether in an agricultural, rainforest, or human-gut setting. She describes a particular study near Queensland examining why rainforests are so botanically diverse. They've observed that something happens when the plants move from the seedling to sapling stage that manages and sets up this effective balance. The evidence points to microbes killing off dominate species, maintaining a degree of balance.
She discusses many findings, challenges, and procedures that spin from this study. For example, when they try and compare soil patches, the microbial turnover is too great and the rhizosphere is so interconnected that separating out by species is too complicated. Therefore, rather than compare three seedling patches taxonomically, they compare them by microbial traits. A trait is any physical or morphological attribute that helps an organism compete. Examples include motility, presence of efflux pumps, ability to produce antibiotics, and ability to undergo chemotaxis. She notes that when comparing three patches by microbial traits, they've found patterns in the data. She also addresses fire in rainforests and studying recovery and ways to understand competition in these environments.
For more, see her information page on La Trobe's website, scholars.latrobe.edu.au/display/j5wood; her personal website, jenwoodmicro.wordpress.com; and follow her on Twitter, @JW_ilikedirt. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
In the early part of her career, Melanie Weller saw mostly patients who'd gone through several other treatment systems without symptom relief. Treating this population put her in a position to consider vagus nerve symptoms as a means for addressing a road block of sorts in their body. In this podcast, she discusses
Melanie Weller has been a physical therapist for about 25 years. She tells listeners about her gradual discovery of vagus nerve importance and how it even lends itself to stress management. When she began her career treating people who had not had success elsewhere, there was so much to address that she would start with one or two things she could do that would clear a large segment of issues, such as range of motion. She found her work with the vagus nerve produced dramatic results.
She explains that the vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve, coming out of the brain stem and progressing all the way down the spinal cord. It enervates our vocal cord, heart, digestive system, and sweat glands. She adds that it is our "grace under pressure" system as well and is dialed down when we experience "fight and flight" reactions. Therefore, she discusses the emotional crossover with this system. Treating the vagus nerve effectively can therefore lend itself to elevated stress management techniques. These days, she is mainly seeing clients through online formats and is still able to offer effective treatment. She says that there's nothing better than helping someone get rid of pain and limitations they've been dealing with a long time. She's currently looking for research partners and working on a book.
See her website for more: melanieweller.com. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
In the world of diabetes, Khambatta and Barbaro are teaching something that no one else is, and it's working. In this episode, you will learn:
"Am I a freak of nature?" That was the one question Khambatta had for his professors while in graduate school for nutritional biochemistry. He'd been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 22, put on insulin, and told to adhere to a low-carb diet. Over time, his blood glucose levels rose, he needed an increasing amount of insulin, and the symptoms of type 1 diabetes hadn't subsided; he knew something wasn't right with the prescribed treatment.
After conducting his own research on his condition and trying to determine why the recommended treatment didn't seem to be working, he came upon a nutrition professional who advised him to transition to a low-fat, plant-based, whole-foods diet. The result? After one week, Khambatta cut his insulin use by 40% while at the same time consuming six times the amount of carbs that the doctor recommended.
Determined to figure out how this was possible—and whether other people with diabetes could benefit in the same way—Khambatta dove deeper into the research on diabetes and discovered a whole collection of papers that described precisely what he was experiencing.
Since then, he and Barbaro (who had a very similar experience with type 1 diabetes) have taught thousands of people how to follow in their footsteps by transitioning to a low-fat, whole-foods, plant-based diet. Together, Khambatta and Barbaro have founded Mastering Diabetes, a program that aims to translate the true science of insulin resistance for the people who need it most.
"This carbohydrate-insulin model that the diabetes world operates off of—that the more carbohydrates you eat the more insulin you need, and/or the more carbohydrates you eat the fatter you get and the harder your pancreas has to work—that whole story is convoluted and is correct only in very specific situations," explains Khambatta.
Tune in to hear the full conversation, and check out the book, Mastering Diabetes: The Revolutionary Method to Reverse Insulin Resistance Permanently in Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, Prediabetes, and Gestational Diabetes. Learn more at https://www.masteringdiabetes.org/. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Leigh Rothschild has been inventing and filing for new patents since his teenage years and now has at least 130 patents to his name, mostly technology patents, with about 200 more pending approval. In this podcast he discusses his own entrepreneurship development and today's patent process. He discusses
In addition to putting his entrepreneurship skills to use through inventions like the technology at the center of Qmage, Inc., Leigh Rothschild also founded a firm called Patent Asset Management. He discusses his years as an inventor and the vast accumulation of patent knowledge he has accumulated in the meantime. He offers listeners solid information about the process of patent applications and how to make the most of your patents. For example, he explains the three ways he's been able to monetize patents: by selling patents to companies around the world, like Apple; by starting businesses that utilize his patents; and by looking for potential licensees for his current patents—in other words, finding people using and/or infringing on them—and getting them to license and pay for them.
This last effort extended into him setting up an organization with lawyers and staff to monitor his patents and their uses and licenses and to advise others on making their entrepreneurship ideas a patented reality. He explains the logistics of patent filing for listeners as well as various legislation that has made it easier for others to target and challenge patents. He feels that the U.S. is in fact one of the most patent-unfriendly countries in the world due to legislation in the past few years as well as a Supreme Court case that allowed federal circuit courts to void patents if they think they were given unfairly. He describes ways to work with these challenges and how congress needs legislation to reframe these provisions in a more suitable way.
For more, see his company's website at patentmgmt.com and email him at leigh@patentmngmt.com. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Dr. Nick West, Chief Medical Officer and Divisional Vice President of Global Medical Affairs, Abbott Vascular at Abbot joins the show to discuss his research on coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD). In this episode, you'll discover:
About 90% of the heart's blood supply is delivered by the coronary microvasculature, which is composed of tiny vessels 10 to 50 microns in diameter. This leaves just 10% of the blood supply to the three main, large arteries of the heart. Surprisingly, much of the focus in the field of research on coronary health and disease has revolved around the large arteries, and overlooked the importance of the heart's microvasculature.
The vessels that make up the coronary microvasculature are too small to be detected on coronary angiogram. Dr West explains how this could account for the fact that about 50% of the patients who end up in a cardiac catheter lab with a presumptive diagnosis of angina don't walk away with a surgical recommendation. In other words, if the typical narrowing of the larger coronary vessels can't be identified, then a patient will be told not to worry, and that a surgical procedure (such as a stent or bypass) isn't necessary.
In reality, it's possible that many of these patients suffer from microvascular dysfunction. With the real problem flying under the radar, these patients are left with no way to get better. As a result, they suffer poor quality of life, present recurrently to ERs and specialists, undergo extensive testing to no avail, and are at higher risk of heart attack and death.
Dr. West wants to know how microvascular dysfunction can be diagnosed, and whether a treatment can be developed. Essential to diagnosing it is a tool called a pressure wire, which is used to measure the pressure gradient across the coronary artery. There are several on the market, but none like the one Dr. West has helped develop; it has a temperature sensor, which allows for thermodilution tests to be performed. This test measures the time it takes for a room-temperature bolus of saline to reach the temperature sensor on the pressure wire from the top of the coronary artery. The tighter the microvascular circulation, the longer it will take for the bolus to reach the sensor.
Tune in to hear Dr. West explain all of this and more. Find further information and read the white paper at https://www.cardiovascular.abbott/us/en/campaigns/beyond-intervention.html. Dr. West's blog: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ugcPost-6683355388731027456-BgEu/ that announces the launch of Coroventis. The full report and announcement of the recently launched "Beyond Intervention" global research.
New Research Finds Physicians and Patients Point to Emerging Technology and Data as Central to Closing Treatment Gaps and Improving Vascular Health
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
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