The People's Pharmacy

Joe and Terry Graedon

Empowering you to make wise decisions about your own health, by providing you with essential health information about both medical and alternative treatment options. 921997

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556 episodes
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Episodes556

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Jun 12, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min
Show 1434: Digital Doctoring: Will AI Save Lives or Cause Medical Mayhem?
In this episode, Joe & Terry speak with two physicians who have examined ways that artificial intelligence might contribute to patient care. Can AI help with better diagnoses? Is robotic surgery better? Could AI save lives or is it more likely to cause trouble? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream on Saturday, June 14, 2025, at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on June 16, 2025. Digital Doctoring: We begin our conversation with Dr. Jonathan Chen, who has found that chatting with a robot made him a better doctor. (He challenged ChatGPT with an ethically difficult conversation and was surprised at the sensitivity of the observations it offered.) When researchers studied diagnostic acumen pitting human doctors against AI, the results were surprising. Some doctors did the diagnosis without help, while others used ChatGPT-4 to help them. The investigators also had the AI do the diagnosis unaided (or unhindered) by humans. Doctors got a score of 74 percent on their own and 76 percent when using AI. But ChatGPT by itself scored 90 percent. (JAMA Network Open, Oct. 28, 2024). AI is certainly not perfect, and there are times when it is not the appropriate tool to use. But results like this suggest that we should be learning more about when it might be an indispensable technology for improving patient care. After all, human doctors are not perfect, either. Paging Doctor Google: Health care professionals are not the only ones who are putting artificial intelligence to use in health care settings. Many physicians dread the patient who arrives with a large stack of papers printed off the internet. Our guests suggest that doctors should welcome these patients and collaborate with them. Pointing them to more reliable sites and better search strategies, if the healthcare provider is able to do so, could yield better results overall. Who is more motivated to spend time researching the details of an unusual syndrome or its treatment? It may well be the patient. There are, of course, some cautions that people should keep in mind. One is privacy. You may not want to disclose your medical history to the internet at large. Most sites are not constrained by HIPAA, which protects patient privacy in medical settings. Another consideration is the reliability of the information you find. Robots are designed to produce answers that will please the humans asking the questions. That might mean that they make things up. If the question is how to connect your camera to your computer, an invented (“hallucinated”) answer is inconvenient. When it concerns your health, a fabricated answer could be dangerous. Could AI Save Lives in Dermatology? Our second guest, Dr. Art Papier, has been involved in developing large libraries of images of skin problems. With artificial intelligence powering it, VisualDx helps doctors recognize dermatological problems such as skin cancers. He describes one situation in which misdiagnosis is common and can cause harm. Cellulitis is a dangerous inflammation due to bacterial infection that can lead to sepsis. Red skin can be a signal of cellulitis, but sometimes it is caused by other problems. Misdiagnosis can lead to hospitalization and inappropriate antibiotics being administered. Utilizing a clinical decision tool like VisualDx reduced unnecessary hospital admission and antibiotic use (Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, June 8, 2023). Another strength of the system Dr. Papier has helped build is that it offers doctors views of atypical presentations of common problems. Hopefully, this keeps them from focusing on a single feature of an illness, such as a bulls-eye rash, as the only defining characteristic. The builders of VisualDx have deliberately included many images of skin of many different shades, as rashes sometimes look different depending upon the background coloration. Both our guests emphasize that AI is a tool. To get the best results, it must be used intelligently, not indiscriminately. This Week’s Guests: Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford Medicine, works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine in the hopes that combining human knowledge with AI will deliver better care than either can alone. His expertise lies in developing innovative AI-driven solutions that enhance diagnostic accuracy, treatment efficiency, and patient outcomes. Dr. Chen focuses on integrating machine learning algorithms and predictive modeling into clinical practice, revolutionizing the way healthcare is delivered. His goal is to use real-world clinical data, such as electronic medical records, with machine learning and data analytics to reveal new clinical insights that will inform patient care. Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, Stanford Medicine Art Papier, MD, is a dermatologist and medical informatics expert and the co-founder and CEO of VisualDx. He has led the development of VisualDx, a professional, point of care decision support system as well as Aysa, a freely available consumer and patient facing AI app for dermatology (www.askaysa.com). A thought leader in clinical informatics, Dr. Papier maintains the overall vision for the company with a keen focus on product integration and impacting costs in healthcare through clinical accuracy. https://www.visualdx.com/blog/our-team/art-papier/ Dr. Art Papier is founder & CEO of VisualDx Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, June 16, 2025, after broadcast on June 14. In this week’s podcast, Dr. Chen describes the effort by Dr. David Fajgenbaum to use AI to search the medical literature and find potential treatments for rare diseases. Dr. Papier discusses the use of AI to reduce the chance of misdiagnosis. How should patients and doctors negotiate the use of AI? You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free, or you can find it on your favorite platform. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Jun 5, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min
Show 1433: What Are the Hidden Dangers in the Air We Breathe?
In this episode, our guest, award-winning science journalist Carl Zimmer, describes the hidden dangers in the air we breathe. He begins with the concept of the aerobiome–the collection of living things from ground level to the stratosphere. While that includes eagles and dragonflies, the most insidious inhabitants are those we can’t see. Often, we are totally unaware of their presence. Yet bacteria like the one that causes tuberculosis or viruses like those that cause COVID or flu have the power to make us ill even if we don’t know they are there. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on June 9, 2025. Hidden Dangers in the Air We Breathe: You have surely heard of the microbiome, but perhaps you thought it only applied to the microscopic beings living in our digestive tract. Lately, scientists have learned that humans have a microbiome for every different part of our bodies, including our eyes, ears, mouth and lungs. The air around us is also full of microorganisms. And even though we can’t see them and we may not be able to smell or taste them, they can still have a big impact on our health. What are the hidden dangers in the air we breathe? Florence Nightingale and the Science of Ventilation: Back in the mid-19th century, Florence Nightingale insisted that fresh air and sunlight were essential for patients to recover. Even though she didn’t know the scientific reason for this, her observation was correct. Good ventilation can help lessen the risk of disease transmission. But infectious disease specialists were not paying much attention to air quality until COVID-19 came along. At the beginning of the pandemic, health experts actually resisted the idea that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, could be airborne. Public health authorities stressed the importance of hand washing, social distancing and disinfecting doorknobs, groceries or other items that someone else might have touched. Those turned out to be of much less significance than the dangers in the air we breathe. The Skagit Valley Chorale Superspreader Event: In the spring of 2020, the Skagit Valley Chorale got together to rehearse for an upcoming concert. There were about 60 singers who took the advised precautions: social distancing and hand sanitizing. The room in which they rehearsed was poorly ventilated, and no one was wearing a mask. This was at a time when the CDC was urging Americans NOT to wear masks, for fear there wouldn’t be enough for healthcare workers. Within a few days, six of the singers were sick. Eventually, 52 of them came down with COVID from this single exposure. Two women died. The Skagit Valley Chorale provided an irrefutable example that the virus could be airborne. Have We Learned the Lessons of COVID-19? If we learned the lessons we should take from the pandemic, we will be on the lookout for other hidden dangers in the air we breathe. We know that measles is incredibly transmissible and that the measles virus is airborne. In areas where measles is spreading, people would be smart to wear effective masks, such as N95, in public. Unfortunately, masks have been politicized, although viruses do not care. Another pathogen that spreads through the air is tuberculosis. Americans don’t think of this as an important problem, but drug-resistant TB is a world-wide threat. Approximately one-fourth of humans carry this pathogen. It can become active whenever stress or other problems knock the immune system down. Many other countries responded differently to the pandemic. Perhaps some will improve the ventilation and filtration in public spaces. That is unlikely in most parts of the US, due to cost. Perhaps we should take to carrying carbon dioxide monitors wherever we go. That will not tell us if there are hidden dangers in the air, but it will indicate how many people have been breathing it. This Week’s Guest: Carl Zimmer writes the “Origins” column for the New York Times and has frequently contributed to the Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. His journalism has earned numerous awards, including ones from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Carl Zimmer is an adjunct professor at Yale, where he teaches writing. He is the author of fourteen books about science, including Life’s Edge. His most recent book is Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). Car Zimmer. Photo credit Mistina Hanscom Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, June 9, 2025, after broadcast on June 7. In this week’s podcast, we discuss the value of CO2 monitors as well as the potential effectiveness of ultraviolet light for purifying the air. Could UV be a helpful part of our toolchest? Might there actually be benefits to breathing in certain microorganisms, similar to the probiotics you might take for gut health? You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free, or you can find it on your favorite platform. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
May 29, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Show 1432: Lead, Lies and Lasting Harm: The Chemical Roots of Chronic Disease
This week, the topic is lead. A hundred years ago, chemists discovered that adding lead to gasoline decreased engine knock and gave the cars of the day more power. It remained a popular additive for decades. At the same time, companies were adding lead to house paint to help it last longer. We know now that lead exposure harms children, but what about adults? Could lead in our environment have contributed to the horrific toll of heart disease over the past century? Find out about the chemical roots of chronic disease on this week’s nationally syndicated radio show! You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on June 2, 2025. The Chemical Roots of Chronic Disease: When the nascent automotive industry began adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline early in the 20th century, scientists did not fully understand the potential health impacts of this compound. They knew by 1889 that lead poisoning could result in saturnine (ie, lead-induced) gout, an inflammatory condition accompanied by atherosclerosis. And at first, public health officials worried that adding it to gasoline might not be safe, especially after large numbers of refinery workers suffered lead poisoning in 1924. According to chemical warfare expert Yandell Henderson, “The use of tetraethyl lead will cause vast numbers of the population to suffer from slow lead poisoning with hardening of the arteries.” (New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 30, 2024). He made that statement at a meeting in 1925. Why didn’t regulators pay attention? The Kehoe Problem: One reason there wasn’t more regulatory attention is that the industry was new and the government hadn’t figured out how to regulate it to make it safer. Another reason is a persuasive individual named Robert Kehoe. As the chief medical officer of the Ethyl Corporation, he had a substantial conflict of interest. But he argued that no one had the right to ban the use of lead in gasoline until someone had proven that it was dangerous. Mind you, not whether lead was dangerous, which scientists knew, “but whether a certain concentration of lead is dangerous.” Unfortunately, the Kehoe rule held sway and has helped shape the American approach to chemical regulation ever since. Lead was used very widely during the 20th century. People put it in insecticide and in jet fuel. We already mentioned its use in paint. The 21st-century water disaster in Flint, Michigan, reminded the country that many cities still contain lead pipes as part of their plumbing infrastructure. In the 1960s, lead levels in the most recent layers of glacial core samples were 1000 times higher than those in more ancient pre-industrial cores. Moreover, people were also carrying around 1000 times more lead in their bones than skeletons from pre-industrial times. Even now, the total amount of lead in our bodies is 10 to 100 times higher than that of pre-industrial people. How Does Lead Affect Health? We asked our guest, Dr. Bruce Lanphear, whether public health improved when we got lead out of gasoline late in the 20th century. The answer is yes; blood lead levels have dropped dramatically. Consequently, many fewer children are dying of acute lead poisoning. But we are still underestimating the overall health effects of chronic low-level lead exposure. Lead exposure, even at low levels, is linked to hypertension and heart disease. People who are exposed to lead have higher blood pressure. In addition, they are more likely to have damage to the endothelium of the blood vessels. This can result in plaques that cause heart attacks. Scientific assessments show that people with blood level levels at the 90th percentile have double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease as those at the 10th percentile. The conclusion is that chronic low-level lead exposure is a leading cause of heart disease. Worldwide, there are about 5.5 million deaths a year due to low-level lead poisoning. How Do We Learn About the Chemical Roots of Chronic Disease? Some critics have objected that association is not causation. That is certainly true. When we have the opportunity to use randomized placebo-controlled trials, we can have more confidence in the conclusions. Yet when there is an overwhelming amount of evidence, we should pay attention. Just as no one now doubts that tobacco harms health, we do not need to doubt the lasting harm caused by lead exposure. We can learn from the lead saga and apply those lessons to other toxic chemicals. First off, lead poisoning is preventable. Cutting lead exposure reduces the harms. In general, chronic disease risk rises with environmental exposure. To prevent disease, we need to clean up the environment. Just as Robert Kehoe objected to eliminating lead from gasoline, current manufacturers defend their own toxic chemicals, whether those are PFAS, cadmium, arsenic, phthalates or the herbicide glyphosate. If we want a cleaner environment, resulting in less chronic disease, we need to demand action. This radio show is a wake-up call to all those politicians calling for less regulation. This Week’s Guest: Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, is Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Professor Lanphear’s research, at the intersection of preventive medicine, pediatrics, public health, toxicology, and infectious disease, is driven by a commitment to prevent death, disease, and disability. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed studies about the impact of toxic chemicals on intellectual deficits, behavioral problems, and brain structure in children. He is ranked among the top 1% of most-cited scientists globally. Bruce and his brother, Bob, co-founded Little Things Matter to make the science on toxic chemicals publicly accessible. They produce videos to show how human health is inextricably connected with exposures to toxic chemicals and to elevate efforts to prevent disease. Professor Lanphear’s new video, Toxic Hearts, will soon be released. May 20th, 2025, was the 100th anniversary of the US Surgeon General’s report on the safety of tetraethyl lead. Follow Dr. Lanphear on Substack at https://blanphear.substack.com/ Bruce Lanphear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University and an expert on lead toxicity. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, June 2, 2025, after broadcast on May 31. This week’s podcast has a more extended discussion of how industry tries to blame the victim. What is Dr. Lanphear doing to upset that dynamic? You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free, or you can find it on your favorite platform. You may also want to listen to a prior interview with Dr. Lanphear: Show 1418: More About the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation (Part 2). You can download the mp3 file at this link. There is also Show 1417: Examining the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation (Part 1). We try to bring you a variety of perspectives on The People’s Pharmacy. If you find this kind of balanced approach worthwhile, please consider a donation at this link. It will help us keep moving forward with our radio show, podcast, newsletter and this website. Thank you for your support. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
May 21, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Show 1431: Vitamin C Studies on Colds & Cancer Vindicate Linus Pauling
This week, two scientists discuss the evidence on using vitamin C to treat colds and as part of the treatment for cancer. For years, the medical establishment has maintained that such claims could not be considered seriously. But new studies vindicate Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize winner who postulated that vitamin C would help. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream on Saturday, May 24, 2025, at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on May 26, 2025. Studies That Vindicate Linus Pauling: In 1970 the Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Dr. Linus Pauling, published a paperback book titled Vitamin C and the Common Cold. Although this idea captured the public imagination, it got a lot of pushback from scientists. Most of the American medical establishment rejected Pauling’s claims that vitamin C could help people recover from the common cold. They were especially dismissive of the idea that vitamin C might be helpful in treating cancer. However, there have been a number of studies conducted over the decades since then. The weight of the evidence now seems to vindicate Linus Pauling. Does Vitamin C Help Recovery from the Common Cold? Our first guest, Dr. Harri Hemilä of Helsinki, Finland, has done several meticulous systematic reviews of the research. Although some people expect supplemental vitamin C to prevent colds, it does not appear to prevent colds except among people doing extreme physical activity (Polish Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 30, 2025). Instead, however, studies show that at doses considerably higher than the RDA vitamin C can reduce the duration and severity of these upper respiratory tract viral infections (BMC Public Health, Dec. 11, 2023). To achieve this, people take a dose of 6 to 8 grams per day. That is a lot more vitamin C than you would get from a morning glass of orange juice. Of course, we worry about the potential harms of consuming an excessive dose of vitamin C. According to Dr. Hemilä, taking this amount for as long as a cold might last does not produce serious side effects. If one were to take it for a lot longer, that might not be the case. Some reports suggest that long-term high-dose vitamin C supplementation might trigger kidney stones. Cancer Studies Vindicate Linus Pauling on Vitamin C: We turn our attention next to a surgeon who treats patients with pancreatic cancer. This type of cancer usually has a grim prognosis. Dr. Joseph Cullen was intrigued by a report that high-dose vitamin C could inhibit the growth of cancer cells, so he and his team tested that possibility in tissue culture. They were impressed at the excellent results they achieved at this first step of the research. However, the benefits were only seen at extremely high doses of vitamin C. This is consistent with preliminary research conducted by Linus Pauling and a colleague testing intravenous (IV) administration of vitamin C in cancer patients. To get exposure to that level of vitamin C (ascorbate) requires IV dosing. The next step in Dr. Cullen’s research was to test vitamin C in mice with experimentally induced cancer. His team administered vitamin C in conjunction with radiation. Once again, the results were promising. How Does Vitamin C Affect Cancer Cells? At low doses, such as those we can get by eating strawberries, bell peppers or oranges, vitamin C is an antioxidant. At the very high doses achieved only by IV administration of 75 grams of ascorbate, this compound acts as a pro-oxidant. It generates hydrogen peroxide that attacks cancer cells. Dr. Cullen’s team continued their research with a preliminary clinical trial (Redox Biology, Nov. 2024). By administering IV vitamin C together with the usual chemotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer, they were able to help those patients survive twice as long as those getting chemotherapy alone. Of course we asked about side effects; Dr. Cullen reports that people become very thirsty during the infusion. The scientists did not observe any serious adverse reactions. Using IV Vitamin C for Other Cancers: In addition to pancreatic cancer, Dr. Cullen and his collaborators have tested the effects of this treatment in another cancer that is notoriously difficult to treat. They found that cells of the brain cancer glioblastoma were far more vulnerable to radiation In the presence of high-dose ascorbate. On the other hand, normal cells suffered less radiation damage. With such success, Dr. Cullen’s team and some others are conducting pre-clinical research on some other cancers. Not all types of cancer appear to respond to high-dose IV vitamin C. Apparently, a trial of prostate cancer was disappointing. However, there is now adequate evidence of the potential benefits of vitamin C when used properly to vindicate Linus Pauling and his conviction that this remarkable compound could contribute enormously to human health. This Week’s Guests: Harri Hemilä, MD, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland. His research has focused on vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc lozenges for respiratory infections, and he has also analyzed the effects of vitamin E on mortality. Dr. Harri Hemilä Joseph J. Cullen, MD, is Professor of Surgery, Gastrointestinal Surgery and Radiation Oncology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. His website is https://surgery.medicine.uiowa.edu/profile/joseph-cullen Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, May 26, 2025, after broadcast on May 24. This week’s podcast contains additional discussion with Dr. Hemilä about the use of zinc in treating the common cold. What type of zinc is best? Should you take tablets or suck on lozenges? Are there any worrisome side effects? We explore briefly the possibility of using both zinc and vitamin C to reduce the duration of a cold. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free, or you can find it on your favorite platform. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
May 15, 2025 · 1 hr
Show 1332: What Everyone Gets Wrong About Weight Loss (Archive)
In this week’s episode, find out what everyone gets wrong about weight loss. Why don’t diet and exercise work very well? Do official guidelines and weight loss drugs offer a clearer path to success? Health Consequences of Excess Weight: With nearly three-fourths of American adults either overweight or obese, we can’t ignore the problem any longer. For decades, people have acted as though packing on extra pounds was simply a matter of poor willpower. “Eat less and exercise more” is the standard mantra. But that is just one of the things we get wrong about weight loss. In truth, obesity is far more complex than we may imagine. In fact, neuroendocrinologist Robert Lustig has spent decades studying obesity and diabetes in children. During the past 25 years, the weight of newborn babies has risen by about 200 grams. No reasonable person could imagine this is the babies’ fault! As a result, he says we need to grapple with the concept of different obesities with different causes and diverse consequences. When we come to terms with what we get wrong about weight loss, we may be able to start helping people achieve it. One Thing We Get Wrong About Weight Loss–Not Distinguishing Different Fat Depots: Dr. Lustig points out that not all fat is identical. In fact, the most visible fat depot, the subcutaneous fat, may be the least dangerous. Many people could handle as much as 20 pounds of subcutaneous fat visible on the arms, legs or butt without serious health consequences. Visceral fat, wrapped around the internal organs, is associated with high cortisol levels much more than with overeating. As little as 2 pounds of visceral fat could make trouble. However, the deadliest fat depot is the liver. As little as ½ pound of fat in the liver can damage health. Dr. Lustig traces fatty liver to overconsumption of alcohol or sugar. Fructose, an important component of sugar, is one of the bad actors driving the epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among children (Nature Reviews. Gastroenterology & Hepatology, May, 2010). Consequences of Obesity: The obesities can increase our risk for a number of serious conditions, including hypertension and diabetes as well as metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Fatty liver disease, whether associated with fructose or alcohol consumption, can damage the liver and lead to cirrhosis. It also triggers severe inflammation and is linked to a greater chance of kidney disease. The Impact on Mitochondria: Every cell in our body relies on mitochondria to produce its energy. These tiny organelles take the energy from food and turn it into ATP, the form of chemical energy that our cells need to function. Unfortunately, the fructose in sugar or high-fructose corn syrup can mess mitochondria up in the context of a high-fat diet (Cell Metabolism, Oct. 1, 2019). High-Powered Weight Loss Drugs: Recently, people have gotten excited about the potential for drugs originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes to help people with significant weight loss. Medications like semaglutide, sold as Ozempic or Wegovy, have become so popular that there have been shortages. Dr. Lustig discusses their use and the symptoms that may be associated with them. Importantly, such drugs can lead to weight loss, up to 16% of total body weight in some studies. However, many people report nausea, sometimes vomiting, lack of appetite and diarrhea. Perhaps we should not consider these side effects; they may be contributing to the effectiveness of the drugs. (Dr. Lustig points out that if people are provided with a healthier diet of real food, they can reduce their risk of metabolic disorders by 29 to 45 %.) Earlier versions of these GLP-1 analogs such as exanetide (Byetta) may increase the risk for pancreatic cancer or certain types of thyroid cancer. We don’t yet know if Wegovy will have similar risks. But we do know that when people stop taking one of these pricey pills, they often gain the weight back. You can read more about this “boomerang” effect at this link. How to Correct What We Get Wrong About Weight Loss: Dr. Lustig points out that the subsidies that the US provides to major food companies mean that ultra-processed foods containing corn syrup or sugar are cheap. As a result, many Americans rely on these inexpensive sources of calories instead of paying more for real food. But they are paying a price far beyond dollars and cents, because the cheap and easy foods are making Americans fat. Can we get food companies to do the right thing? Promoting Good Health in Children with Real Food: School cafeterias across the nation serve kids a tremendous amount of junk food, like pizza or potato chips. But they don’t have to. Dr. Lustig and his colleagues operate a pilot program with schools that serve real food instead. Happily, they do not have to increase their budgets to do so. Providing youngsters with tasty real food can set them up for success in resisting weight gain as they grow older. Finally, we ask Dr. Lustig what people can do to help themselves with healthful, lasting weight loss. This Week’s Guest: Dr. Robert Lustig Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL, is Professor emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He specializes in the field of neuroendocrinology, with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system. His research and clinical practice has focused on childhood obesity and diabetes. Dr. Lustig is the author of several books, including his most recent, Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine. You may also be interested in his previous books, Fat Chance and The Fat Chance Cookbook as well as The Hacking of the American Mind. His website is https://robertlustig.com/ The nonprofit organization improving food in schools is https://eatreal.org/ Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, May 19, 2025, after re-broadcast on May 17. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
May 8, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Show 1430: Uncovering the Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson
In this episode, investigative journalist Gardiner Harris delves into the dark secrets of one of the country’s most admired pharmaceutical firms. Johnson & Johnson sold talcum powder–Johnson’s Baby Powder–for decades even though it contained asbestos, an acknowledged carcinogen. How did the company maintain its superb reputation for so long? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on May 12, 2025. Dark Secrets: Johnson’s Baby Powder was as American as apple pie. The company counted on the emotional associations with its baby products. The fragrance of its Baby Powder was linked to feelings of love and security. That was smart marketing. Continuing to sell a product contaminated with asbestos was something else, though. How did the company deal with this problem? And what did it tell the FDA? What About Tylenol? Johnson’s Baby Powder is not the only iconic product the company sells. Tylenol is another famous J&J product. Johnson & Johnson has long promoted this pain reliever as one that hospitals and doctors trust. Advertising does not feature the fact that the recommended dose and the maximum safe dose of the active ingredient, acetaminophen, are extremely close. As a result, people can inadvertently overdose, especially if they are taking several different types of medicine for symptoms of a cold or the flu, for example. Exceeding the maximum dose of acetaminophen puts a strain on the liver and, over time, may cause liver injury. This is especially worrisome if someone drinks alcohol on a regular basis. J&J’s response to a crisis in which Tylenol was deliberately adulterated with poison is held up to business students as a case study in doing the right thing. The company pulled millions of bottles off shelves and introduced tamper-proof packaging. This decision bolstered the company’s reputation. The Dark Secrets of the Opioid Crisis: Not all of the company’s business decisions are so laudable, and most are not so well-known. Few people are aware that the Johnson & Johnson company developed fentanyl, a potent opioid. It was originally invented by Dr. Paul Janssen, head of Janssen Pharmaceutica. When J&J acquired Janssen, it also acquired the rights to fentanyl, which it sold in a transdermal formulation as Duragesic. According to our guest, the company initially presented it to physicians as a non-addicting pain reliever. You are no doubt aware that is far from the case. Johnson & Johnson’s Antipsychotic Drugs: Gardiner Harris points out that Johnson & Johnson was one of the first companies to offer “atypical” antipsychotics such as Risperdal (risperidone). This drug, also developed by Janssen, was originally designed to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. That market is relatively small, however. Later, the company started suggesting to doctors that they could prescribe it for elderly dementia patients who were agitated. Like other antipsychotic drugs, though, Risperdal increases the possibility that such patients will die prematurely from heart problems or infection. The FDA has not approved it for treating dementia-related psychosis. In 2013, J&J agreed to pay $2.2 billion in fines for its marketing of Risperdal and two other drugs. Johnson & Johnson Responds: A spokesperson for the company responded to our request for comment: “We stand behind the safety of our products and are focused on what we do best: delivering medical innovation for patients around the world.” This Week’s Guest: Gardiner Harris previously served as the public health and pharmaceutical reporter for The New York Times and is now a freelance investigative journalist. He also served as a White House, South Asia, and international diplomacy reporter for the Times. Before that, he was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering the pharmaceutical industry. His investigations there led to what was then the largest fine in the history of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He won the Robert Worth Bingham Prize for investigative journalism and the George Polk Award for environmental reporting after revealing that coal companies deliberately and illegally exposed miners to toxic levels of coal dust. Harris’s novel, Hazard, draws on his experience investigating these conditions. His latest book is No More Tears, the Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson. The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). Gardiner Harris, author of No More Tears, the Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson (c) Erin Champ Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, May 12, 2025, after broadcast on May 10. It contains some additional discussion of the relationships between drug companies and the FDA, specifically with regard to the role of user fees. We also find out about Procrit (EPO) and why it too was a source of controversy. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free, or you can find it on your favorite platform. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Apr 17, 2025 · 1 hr
Show 1427: Dr. Mark Hyman’s Secrets for Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life
In this week’s episode, a functional medicine expert will describe how to adjust your lifestyle to achieve the longest healthiest life possible. Is your biological age greater or less than your chronological age—the one you celebrate with birthday cake? How can you increase your chance of enjoying vibrant good health as you grow older? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on April 21, 2025. Your Longest, Healthiest Life: The idea that food is a powerful tool to transform our health is not new, but for years it’s been addressed with perfunctory advice to “eat a well-balanced diet.” Now researchers have found evidence that up to 40 percent of cancers might be attributed to preventable causes, including diet. That suggests we should be paying much closer attention. Our guest, Dr. Mark Hyman, has indeed been paying attention for years. His recent book, Young Forever, describes how to lower the risks for chronic disease with lifestyle and dietary changes. Some people have even been able to reverse conditions such as type 2 diabetes or psoriatic arthritis. Inflammation is the driver of many chronic conditions, and we can reduce inflammation with appropriate food choices, adequate physical activity and healthful doses of stress (not too much or too little). Embracing these changes can help us towards our longest, healthiest life. Seven Core Biological Systems as the Basis for Health: In Young Forever, Dr. Hyman describes seven core biological systems, and he discusses them in this episode. The first is the system for assimilating nutrients, and the microbiome is key in this process. Dr. Hyman urges us to tend this inner garden with care. The second system is for defense and repair. Doctors call it the immune system, and it guards against infection as well as internal perils like cancer. Although the immune system itself creates inflammation in response to a threat, calming inflammation with breath work, meditation, optimal sleep and experiencing love and community helps lead to better outcomes. Third is the energy system. Mitochondria in every cell create the energy to fuel our bodies. How can we support them most effectively? Detoxification is another core biological system, carried out by the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and digestive system. This system can be overwhelmed by excess toxins, including heavy metals or pesticides. Reducing exposures and fortifying the detoxification process is key. All the parts of our bodies need to communicate with each other. They do that through hormones, neurotransmitters and other cell-signaling molecules. If this system is not functioning well, health can deteriorate quickly. The sixth and seventh core systems are transport (circulation and lymph) and infrastructure (bones, muscles, cells and tissues). It’s easy to see why these are critical to living your longest, healthiest life. Lifespan vs. Healthspan: You already know that lifespan measures the time between the day you are born and the day you die. Healthspan measures only the amount of time that you enjoy good health. How can we make our healthspan include as much of our lifespan as possible? We don’t usually think of our age as something we can actually change. Even lying about it, should we wish to do so, doesn’t change the actual number of years we have spend on the planet. Biological age is more mutable, though. Dr. Hyman managed to lower his biological age several years in his early 40s. How did he do that? Recipes for Your Longest, Healthiest Life: Dr. Hyman describes his visits to Blue Zones such as Sardinia and Loma Linda. He has taken the insights from Blue Zone longevity research and distilled them into recipes for his cookbook. We asked him to describe some of his favorite breakfasts and why organic food—from plants that are stressed—offers benefits for the people eating it. Hear about Himalayan buckwheat and sweet potato and egg stacks with cashew hollandaise sauce. Three Words to the Wise: We asked Dr. Hyman to offer us three ways to improve our chances for the longest healthiest life, starting now. 1. Cut refined starch and sugar as much as possible. 2. Get enough protein (1 gram per lb body weight) and physical activity to maintain and build muscle. 3. Get involved in your community, whatever that happens to be. Living with meaning and purpose can help extend your life by five to seven years. This Week’s Guest: Mark Hyman, MD is a practicing family physician and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of functional medicine. He is the Founder and Director of The UltraWellness Center, Founder of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and Founder and Chairman of the Food Fix Campaign, dedicated to transforming our food and agriculture systems through policy. Dr. Hyman is the host of the popular health podcast, The Dr. Hyman Show, and a fifteen-time New York Times best-selling author, including Young Forever: The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life and The Young Forever Cookbook: More than 100 Delicious Recipes for Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life. His website is DrHyman.com Mark Hyman MD, author of Young Forever The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, April 21, 2025, after broadcast on April 19. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen on iTunes or Spotify.
Apr 10, 2025 · 59 min
Show 1426: Why You Feel Dizzy and What You Can Do About It
This week, neuro-otologist David Kaylie of Duke Health will help us understand how balance disorders disrupt patients’ lives and what doctors can do to help. If you have felt lightheaded or been bothered with vertigo, call in your questions between 7 and 8 am EDT on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at 888-472-3366. Or you can send us email: radio@peoplespharmacy.com. Find out why you feel dizzy and what you can do about it. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on April 14, 2025. Why You Feel Dizzy: One possible cause of dizziness is Menière disease. People with this condition often have unpredictable episodes in which they feel like they are spinning. They may also have hearing loss or tinnitus that comes and goes at first. Menière disease happens when fluid builds up in the inner ear, but doctors don’t know the underlying reasons for that. Another reason many people feel dizzy is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV. This produces a spinning sensation whenever the person moves their head. It occurs when little pieces of calcium carbonate get dislodged from their normal position and move into the semicircular canals. As these inner ear structures are crucial for balance, disrupting them with wandering crystals can cause vertigo. The inner ear is also the source of some other balance problems. An inner ear infection could cause trouble. Inflammation of the labyrinth, which includes the semicircular canal along with the otolith organs, can disrupt balance, as can inflammation of the nerves. For some people, dizziness can be a symptom of migraine. The headache may follow later, or there may not be any actual pain, just lightheadedness or dizziness. Dehydration might trigger the attack, but not everyone can identify a recurrent trigger. Medications can occasionally cause lightheadedness that can be troubling. If they lower blood pressure too much, an individual may need to be careful about standing up too quickly. Doctors call this reaction “orthostatic hypotension.” Another condition that can throw people off balance is “postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome,” or POTS for short. In addition to lightheadedness–feeling as if they might faint–people with POTS may find that their heart rates zoom when they stand up. What Can You Do About Dizziness? The steps to overcome dizziness will depend on the source of the problem. If it is a reaction to medication, a change in the prescription might make a difference. On the other hand, if it is due to migraine, preventive medication might be helpful. Experts may recommend avoiding caffeine or dehydration to reduce the risk of this form of migraine. The compounded medication that Dr. Kaylie prescribes for people with Menière disease is betahistine. Describing Your Symptoms: The doctor will find it easier to diagnose why you feel dizzy if you can be precise about the symptoms. When do they happen? Does anything make them stop? Do you feel like you are spinning, or is the sensation more like you are about to faint? Nausea is common with balance disorders, so reporting it won’t help much with the diagnosis but it will help the doctor understand your experience. Call in Your Questions: Dr. David Kaylie will be in our studio to answer your questions about balance disorders from 7 to 8 am on April 12, 2025. Have you been diagnosed with otoliths? Do you take a medication such as gentamycin that can cause dizziness? Give us a call to learn what you can do about dizziness: 888-472-3366 or email us: radio@peoplespharmacy.com This Week’s Guest: David M. Kaylie, MD, MS, is Professor and Vice Chairman for Clinical Operations in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences at Duke Health. Dr. Kaylie is a neuro-otologist who manages the whole range of disorders of the ear, hearing and balance. He is particularly interested in the impact balance disorders have on patients’ perceptions of their well-being and interactions with the world. Why are balance disorders so disruptive to patients’ lives and what can doctors do to better understand their condition? https://www.dukehealth.org/find-doctors-physicians/david-m-kaylie-md-ms Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, April 14, 2025, after broadcast on April 12. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Apr 3, 2025 · 57 min
Show 1425: How Can You Combine Supplements, Herbs and Medicines Safely?
This week, two pharmacists describe why you should check with a pharmacist about possible problems when you combine supplements, herbs and medicines. In some cases, a supplement might interfere with your prescription drug. In other situations, an herb might slow metabolism of the medicine and increase the possibility of side effects. It’s better to know which pills don’t get along well. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on April 7, 2025. Getting Information on Supplements & Herbs: When you have a question about supplements or herbs, you probably go to the web for answers. But while there is plenty of information out there, not all of it is reliable. We start this episode by talking with a pharmacist who does research for one of the sites we use as a favorite resource, Examine.com. The site has long provided information on what a product is supposed to do and how well it might do that thing. It also offers information on dosing and on quality. For example, if you look up turmeric, you’ll learn that Meriva and BCM95 are standardized extracts that have been used in a number of randomized controlled trials. Now, Examine is going beyond efficacy and looking at safety. Because there is less information available about safety, even for medications, this has been more challenging. We especially appreciate that the summaries are succinct and easy to understand and that the statements are supported by peer-reviewed research. Checking Examine.com is a good place to start learning about potential incompatibilities among supplements, herbs and medicines you are taking. What Does Grapefruit Have to Do with It? We recognize that grapefruit is not an herb or a supplement. It is certainly not a medication, although it is a great source of vitamin C and regular consumption of grapefruit can help control cholesterol (Metabolism, July 2012). Nonetheless, it is important to our topic, because scientists discovered a potent interaction between grapefruit juice and certain prescription drug many decades ago (Lancet, Feb. 2, 1991). Although grapefruit inhibits the CYP3A4 enzyme that metabolizes many medicines, it is not the only plant product that can affect them. This was a wake-up call for us and for many health professionals to pay attention to interactions among supplements, herbs and medicines. Like grapefruit, both ginger and berberine inhibit CYP3A4. St. John’s wort, on the other hand, induces the enzyme, which means that the target medication may be less effective. If it is an oral contraceptive or a drug to prevent transplant rejection, you need to know that! How Pharmacists Can Help: Pharmacists stand ready to help people review their supplements, herbs and medicines to see if there are potential interactions, redundancies, adverse reactions or other problems. Technically, everyone on Medicare is entitled to a comprehensive medication review annually. Some pharmacists like to conduct that as a “brown bag review,” in which the patient brings in everything they are taking–OTC med, prescription drugs, herbs, vitamins and other dietary supplements–so the pharmacist gets a complete picture. Sometimes, it may even be helpful to talk about food and drink. We already mentioned grapefruit. During this interview, we also bring up research showing that hibiscus tea (which can lower blood pressure) could interact with the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin (Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Dec. 2017). Hibiscus tea itself lowers cholesterol well. However, it interacts with simvastatin and reduces the drug’s effectiveness. The authors of the study advise against co-administration. This Week’s Guests: Katie Jantz, MS, RPh is a researcher on the staff for Examine.com. Katie Jantz, MS, RPh Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, is the Henry L. Smith and James L. Olsen, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor in Pharmacy Practice. She has served as the Chair of the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her main research interests include advancing clinical practice in the community-pharmacy setting. https://pharmacy.unc.edu/directory/ferreri/ Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, April 7, 2025, after broadcast on April 5. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Mar 27, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min
Show 1424: Breathing Better Despite Pollution, Infections, Asthma or COPD
This week, we talk with a pulmonologist–a doctor who takes care of people with lung problems. Our topics range from common respiratory infections to the hazards of breathing smoke from forest fires. We also discuss asthma and COPD. Listen to find out how you could be breathing better. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on March 31, 2025. Breathing Better Despite Infections: We are finally emerging from an especially severe flu season. After a few years during and right after the pandemic in which there was relatively little influenza, this year was challenging. Preliminary data from the CDC suggest that between 40 million and 75 million Americans suffered from influenza or flu-like illnesses between October and March. As many as 1.2 million had to be hospitalized. The influenza viruses (there are many) are not the only pathogens that can cause coughing, fever or trouble breathing. Many others might also result in upper respiratory infections that can progress to bronchitis or lower respiratory infections and lead to wheezing or shortness of breath. A bad cold will do that for some people. Human metapneumovirus is not widely recognized and is difficult to pronounce. The infection with this virus starts like a bad cold but it produces a terrible cough that can last for weeks. How can doctors help a patient with a respiratory infection? If the problem is influenza, they could prescribe a medicine such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or baloxavir (Xofluza). These medicines can shorten the duration of flu symptoms and possibly make them less severe. However, they work best when taken as soon as possible (within 48 hours) of the first symptoms appearing. To learn whether that sore throat and sniffle is leading to flu, you might want to keep a test handy at home. There are several on the market that can determine if you have COVID-19 or influenza A. Then, if you have access to a patient portal, use it to communicate the results to your healthcare provider and get a prompt prescription. What About a Cold? While flu or COVID can be serious, colds are far more common. Doctors do not have much in their tool kits to help you recover from a cold, but there are a few things you can do for yourself. Spending some time in sunlight can be very useful. Dr. Seheult suspects that the benefits go beyond the amount of vitamin D you might make through that exposure. In addition, we have seen studies supporting the use of vitamin C supplements to recover from a cold more quickly. Breathing Better with Improved Ventilation: During the pandemic, air quality and ventilation got more attention than ever before. Now, although we may be less concerned about airborne pathogens, we still need to pay attention to air quality. Forest fires, whether in California, the Carolinas or any other part of the continent, can put out a lot of smoke. Wildfire smoke carries small particles that can penetrate deep in the lungs and do a lot of damage. Air conditioning may help clean indoor air. So can an inexpensive do-it-yourself air filtering system called a Corsi-Rosenthal box. Here is a link to the show in which we describe how to make one at home. Struggling to Exhale: Dr. Seheult also describes the Global Initiative for Asthma, or GINA. Asthma is reversible airway inflammation. Sometimes this is caused by allergic reactions. Infections may also cause inflammation and lead to asthma exacerbations. In the presence of inflammation, the smooth muscle around the little airways deep in the lungs constrict. This makes it difficult to exhale and make room for the next fresh new breath. The problem is similar in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in that inflammation tightens those critical small airways and interferes with exhalation. That in turn can keep the patient from being able to take a good breath in. In COPD, however, the inflammation is irreversible. Both asthma and COPD may respond to drugs that activate beta receptors (“beta agonists”). The long-acting beta agonists (LABAs) are especially prominent. Inhaled steroids can calm the inflammation in both conditions so people can start breathing better. In some instances, an antibiotic like azithromycin can reduce exacerbations. We don’t know whether it is working by fighting off hidden pathogens, or whether it is also reducing inflammation. In COPD, anticholinergic drugs may be able to relax airways even beyond the effects of the beta agonists. If calming inflammation is not good enough, people may need a rescue inhaler. When Should You Get Emergency Attention? People experiencing shortness of breath, especially if they are also having fevers, chills or night sweats, should get medical attention promptly. This Week’s Guest: Dr. Roger Seheult is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the School of Medicine and Allied Health at Loma Linda University. Dr. Seheult is quadruple board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care Medicine, and Sleep Medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine. HIs current practice is in Beaumont, California where he is a critical care physician, pulmonologist, and sleep physician at Optum California. He lectures routinely across the country at conferences and for medical, PA, and RT societies, is the director of a sleep lab, and is the Medical Director for the Crafton Hills College Respiratory Care Program. Roger Seheult, MD, MedCram, Loma Linda, UC-Riverside MedCram In 2012 he and Kyle Allred founded MedCram L.L.C., a medical education company with CME-accredited videos that are utilized by hospitals, medical schools, and hundreds of thousands of medical professionals from all over the world (and over 1 million YouTube Subscribers). His passion is “demystifying” medical concepts and offering people the tools for staying healthy. We have found Dr. Seheult’s MedCram videos amazing. He makes many complex medical topics understandable. This is a skill that few of Joe’s professors in the University of Michigan’s Department of Pharmacology could claim. Dr. Seheult was the recipient of the 2021 San Bernardino County Medical Society’s William L. Cover MD Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medicine and the 2022 UnitedHealth Group’s The Sages of Clinical Service Award. In 2022 both Roger Seheult and Kyle Allred received the HRH Prince Salmon bin Hamad Al Khalifa Medical Merit Medal from the Kingdom of Bahrain for their contribution to health policy in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, March 31, 2025, after broadcast on March 29. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. In addition to what you hear on the broadcast, the podcast also contains information about TRP channels and home remedies for coughs. We also discuss the heart drug amiodarone and its effects on the lung, along with the nature of interstitial lung disease and how to treat it. You’ll also learn about the pros and cons of OTC inhalers. Can they get you breathing better? Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Mar 20, 2025 · 57 min
Show 1423: How to Fix Your Foot Pain
This week, Dr. Jane Andersen joins Joe and Terry in the studio to answer listeners’ questions about foot problems. Do you have bunions or plantar fasciitis? Dr. Andersen has tips on how to fix your foot pain. We invite you to call and tell us about it. You can call 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EDT. Or email us: radio@PeoplesPharmacy.com. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EST on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on March 24, 2025. How Can You Fix Your Foot Pain? If your feet don’t feel good, you won’t either. Just imagine stubbing your toe. Ouch, that hurt! But stubbed toes generally recover fairly quickly. Some other common foot problems are likely to cause more long-lasting pain. Some of these may result from participation in sports, such as sprained ankles or stress fractures. What is the best way to handle these injuries so they won’t cause persistent problems? Preventing Foot Pain: Are your feet flat? Find out what exercises may help and which shoes you should choose to fix your foot pain from flat feet. Heel pain is another common problem. Inflammation of the Achilles tendon is one possible cause. Perhaps more often, plantar fasciitis triggers heel pain. That is an inflammation of the tissue connecting the heel and the ball of the foot, and special stretches can often help. If you have wondered about heel spurs or neuromas, tell us what you would like to know. Restoring feet to good health can cover a lot of different areas. Toes and Toenails: How about toes? Find out what to do about hammertoes, mallet toes or claw toes, as well as bunions. Are you worried about gout? It may affect the toes first, before causing pain in other parts of the body. With warmer weather on the way, you may be interested in learning how to prevent athletes foot or eliminate toenail fungus. Do you have corns or calluses on your feet? What is the difference between them, and do the treatments differ? The questions listeners ask drive the topics we discuss in this show. You can email questions ahead of time to: radio@peoplespharmacy.com. This Week’s Guest: Dr. Jane Andersen, Board Certified, American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery, is in practice at Chapel Hill Foot and Ankle, part of FASMA, Foot and Ankle specialists of the Mid Atlantic, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Andersen specializes in Foot and ankle care for Children, Adults, Athletes and Geriatric Patients including surgery and conservative care. She is a Trustee of the American Podiatric Medical Association. January 18, 2025, Jane Andersen, DPM, was awarded the Edwin B. Martin, Jr., Award for Podiatrist of the Year. Dr. Jane Andersen can help you manage your foot problems. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, March 24, 2025, after broadcast on March 22. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Mar 14, 2025 · 1 hr 2 min
Show 1422: Can You Regain Your Sense of Smell After Illness?
This week, our guests take two different approaches to the sense of smell. We talk with a surgeon who treats people having difficulties with that sense. In addition, a nurse describes utilizing the sense of smell for aromatherapy in integrative healing. Learn about the fascinating science of smell. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on March 17, 2025. The Science of Smell: Of all our senses, the sense of smell often gets short shrift. Aside from Marcel Proust’s evocative description of the link between odor and memory, we don’t think much about smell. Scientists have discovered, however, that much of our social interaction relies on olfaction at a subconscious level. It plays a largely unconscious role in our choice of mates as well as in the timing of sexual activity. It is also important for the bonding between mothers and their infants. Consequently, the sense of smell is crucial for the survival of our species, even when we aren’t paying attention. Losing our sense of smell can be devastating, as too many people learned by experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did they miss out on pleasant aromas like fresh-brewed coffee or newly mown grass, but they also were at a disadvantage in detecting if there might be gas leaking in the kitchen or a fire smoldering somewhere in the house. Although some of those who lost their sense of smell during an acute infection subsequently regained it, others did not. Too many people are still suffering from anosmia. Is there anything that can be done to help them? Regenerating Nerves in the Nose: Many viruses can cause inflammation in nasal tissue and potentially damage the sense of smell. During COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacked ACE receptors on cells in the olfactory epithelium of the nose. These cells are not the nerve cells themselves, but support cells (called, if you must know, sustentacular cells). Fortunately, these cells can regenerate, although it takes time. The Science of Smell Recovery–Olfactory Training: The first step in recovering the sense of smell is olfactory training. It could be considered something like physical therapy for the nose. In this structured smelling protocol, people are exposed to one of four distinctive aromas from essential oils: lemon, rose, eucalyptus or clove. As they attempt to discern the scent, they remember how they used to experience those odors. As part of the protocol, they also irrigate their nasal passages with high-dose steroids in saline solution (International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, Sep. 2018). Over many months, this concerted effort is able to help 30 to 50 percent of patients recover their sense of smell to a satisfactory degree. The Science of Smell Recovery–Platelet-Rich Plasma: To help people who are not successful enough with olfactory training, Dr. Zara Patel has pioneered the use of platelet-rich plasma. PRP injections have been used to help athletes recover from injury. Since it can be helpful in situations where inflammation is high, she tried PRP injections for people with difficulty smelling. A randomized controlled trial showed that the injection is safe and may be effective in helping people recover their sense of smell after COVID-19 (International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, June 2023). She hopes to conduct a larger study that would be more conclusive. Harnessing the Sense of Smell with Aromatherapy: Dr. Patel was careful to point out the distinction between olfactory training, based on the science of smell, and aromatherapy. Our other guest, an integrative care nurse, utilizes aromatherapy to help people in post-anesthesia care units. There is some evidence, for example, that the aroma of lavender essential oil can help anxious patients relax and get to sleep, but better studies are necessary (Phytomedicine, Dec. 2019). Plants use the volatile compounds in their essential oils for communication. In addition, some terpenes in juniper or pine have antiviral activity, while components in clary sage or bergamot have antifungal properties. Nurses in some cancer hospitals utilize aromatherapy to help patients overcome nausea and pain associated with chemotherapy. This is an area of the science of smell in which our guest Kathy Fritze has special expertise. This Week’s Guests: Zara M. Patel, MD, is Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Stanford School of Medicine. Her website is https://profiles.stanford.edu/zara-patel Zara Patel, MD, Stanford School of Medicine Kathy Fritze, RN, BSN, is a holistic and integrative care nurse in the Wellness & Support Center at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. Kathryn Fritze RN, BSN Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, March 17, 2025, after broadcast on March 15. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. In addition to what you heard in the broadcast, the podcast includes additional information on why people sometimes detect strange odors that others don’t perceive. We also discuss people who have strong reactions to odors in perfume or detergent, such that they become physically ill when they smell them. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Mar 7, 2025 · 1 hr 6 min
Show 1421: Is Lp(a) the Heart Risk No One Talks About?
This week, we get in-depth information on Lp(a), the heart risk no one talks about. You have heard of cholesterol, and you may even know what your cholesterol level is. The compound lipoprotein a may be equally dangerous when it is elevated, but you have probably heard very little about it. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on March 10, 2025. What Is Lp(a)? Lipoprotein a, or L-P-little a for short, circulates in the bloodstream, where it picks up and carries cholesterol and oxidized phospholipids. Scientists believe that blood levels are determined mostly by genetics and change very little over the course of our lives. Roughly 20 percent of people have high levels of Lp(a), above 30 ng/dL or 75 nmol/L. The two different figures are because tests use different units to measure the blood concentration, either nanograms per deciliter or nanomols per liter. While we don’t know if Lp(a) has or perhaps once had some important functions, we do know that elevated levels of this chemical is associated with heart disease. People with higher levels are more likely to suffer blood clots and inflammation. That puts them at risk for heart attacks or even strokes. So why hasn’t your doctor ordered a blood test to learn your level? Is Lp(a) the Heart Risk Doctors Can’t Treat? Perhaps doctors have been reluctant to measure or discuss lipoprotein a because they don’t have good interventions. That is beginning to change with the development of antisense oligonucleotides, a new category of prescription drugs that can cut levels sharply. The FDA has not yet approved any of these new medications, though. The first of these, pelacarsen, is still in Phase 3 trials needed before the agency can consider the evidence. However, it can bring down lipoprotein a by an estimated 80 percent. Cardiologists’ favorite drugs, statins, do not help Lp(a) levels. In fact, Lp(a) the heart risk rises when people are taking statins to lower their cholesterol. Other cholesterol-lowering drugs such as evolocumab (Repatha) and alirocumab (Praluent) can bring Lp(a) levels down modestly. One really old cholesterol-lowering drug, high-dose niacin, also helps moderate Lp(a). Some people do not tolerate it, however, as it can cause very uncomfortable flushing. So far as we know, no scientists have run studies to see whether niacin reduces the risk of heart attacks and other complications because of its effects on Lp(a). Other Complications of Lp(a): Our guest, Dr. Sam Tsimikas, is among the country’s leading experts on lipoprotein a. We asked him whether Lp(a) the heart risk factor causes other problems as well. Dr. Tsimikas described heart failure, potentially resulting from a heart attack, as well as peripheral artery disease (PAD), which can make it painful to walk. Lp(a) seems to cause plaque in arteries throughout the body. As a result, it can increase the chance of a stroke. In addition, it contributes to calcification of the heart valves. This condition interferes with their ability to function properly. What Can We Do If Lp(a) Is Too High? Dr. Tsimikas runs a unique clinic for cardiology patients with high levels of Lp(a). We asked him how he helps them. One approach is to collect additional information about their level of risk. A coronary calcium score can be a useful indicator. If it is high, he and his patients work to control all the potential risk factors that they can. He discusses the potential benefit of aspirin with them. Because Lp(a) the heart risk factor increases the chance of dangerous blood clots, the anti-clotting activity of aspirin can sometimes be helpful. Offering dietary advice can be tricky if a patient has high cholesterol as well as elevated Lp(a), since the ideal diets for each are nearly opposite each other. A ketogenic diet tends to raise LDL cholesterol, for example, while it may modestly lower Lp(a). We think by the end of this episode, you’ll join us in hoping that scientists can learn a lot more about Lp(a) in the next few years. This Week’s Guest: Sotirios (Sam) Tsimikas, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, is Professor of Medicine/Cardiology and Director of Vascular Medicine at the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center. That is part of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. His website is https://profiles.ucsd.edu/sotirios.tsimikas Sotirios (Sam) Tsimikas, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, UCSD Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, March 10, 2025, after broadcast on March 8. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. In addition to what you heard in the broadcast, the podcast includes additional information on calcium scores and the benefits and risks of statins to lower cholesterol. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Feb 20, 2025 · 59 min
Show 1419: Restless Legs, Muscle Cramps and Sleepless Nights
This week, Terry and Joe welcome Dr. Andrew Spector to the studio to share his expertise with listeners. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a relatively common problem that can really wreak havoc on a good night’s sleep. Have you experienced this problem? How do you manage it? We invite you to call and tell us about it. You can call 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EST. Or email us: radio@PeoplesPharmacy.com. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EST on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on February 24, 2025. What Is Restless Legs Syndrome? This neurological condition is not new. The first description appeared late in the 17th century. However, it wasn’t until fairly recently that doctors started studying this problem so they could offer effective treatments. Usually RLS starts with an uncomfortable feeling in the legs that is relieved only by moving them. Sometimes people report a sensation similar to ants crawling on them. Others describe legs that throb or itch. Occasionally, the sensation will affect another body part, though legs pose the most common problem by far. The symptoms are noticeable when a person is resting, especially at the end of the day. However, sitting still for a long plane ride can also be very uncomfortable. Do You Have Restless Legs Syndrome? Dr. Spector will describe how he diagnoses RLS as well as other conditions that may sometimes make a diagnosis more confusing. Restless legs are not usually painful, so pain that keeps a person awake might be due to neuropathy. Another condition that often bothers a bed partner more than the patient is periodic limb movements of sleep. The name is descriptive, and because the person doesn’t wake up and isn’t troubled by unpleasant sensations, it is different from restless legs. What Can You Do About RLS? According to Dr. Spector, research points to low iron in the brain as a common contributor to RLS. Consequently, iron supplements could often be helpful. He’ll describe the testing that a doctor would use to determine the appropriate protocol for boosting iron. Medications That Make RLS Worse: If you have RLS, you may have considered taking an over-the-counter sleep aid containing diphenhydramine. Many listeners have told us that these medicines seem to make the RLS symptoms worse. Can You Manage RLS Without Drugs? We have heard from many people who have developed non-drug approaches that help them overcome their restless legs. They may avoid sugar or caffeine, which can sometimes trigger a bout of RLS. Avoiding nicotine and alcohol may also be useful. Magnesium or selenium supplements help certain individuals. Some listeners put a bar of soap under the bottom sheet near their legs and find that their symptoms are less troublesome. This home remedy is even more popular as a way to ward off nocturnal leg cramps. We have also heard from sufferers who have sought out acupuncture and found it effective. Maintaining a moderate level of exercise benefits many people with RLS. Treating RLS: In the past few decades, the FDA has approved several prescription drugs that can ease the symptoms of restless legs syndrome. It started with ropinirole (Requip), a drug that was originally developed to treat Parkinson disease. It is effective for RLS, although it has side effects that may limit its usefulness for some people. Other drugs in the same category are pramipexole (Mirapex) and rotigotine (Neupro). If a patient cannot tolerate one of these medicines, or if the doctor decides they are not appropriate, there are other options. Doctors may prescribe a medicine such as gabapentin enacarbil (Horizant). Other drugs in this category include gabapentin or pregabalin. Although the FDA has not approved them specifically for RLS, doctors sometimes find them helpful. They frequently cost less than Horizant. Opioids and benzodiazepines offer additional prescription options. If you have experience with any of these medicines, we’d love to hear about it. This Week’s Guest: Andrew Spector, MD,is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the Duke University School of Medicine. Along with his clinical practice in sleep medicine, he serves as the Program Director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship, the Duke Athletics Sleep Optimization Consultant, and the Vice Chair for Professionalism, Inclusion, Diversity, and Empowerment. Dr. Spector is the author of Navigating Life with Restless Legs Syndrome. His website is http://www.andrewspectormd.com Andrew Spector, MD, Duke University Department of Neurology The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, February 24, 2025, after broadcast on Feb. 22. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Feb 13, 2025 · 1 hr
Show 1418: More About the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation (Part 2)
This week, we offer the second of a two-part series on the pros and cons of water fluoridation. Last week we discussed the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to prevent tooth decay. This week we hear from a researcher who has found that early exposure to fluoridated water may affect youngsters’ IQ. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT (February 15, 2025) on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on February 17, 2025. More About the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation: Some people are opposed to any municipality putting fluoride in its water supply simply because it means the residents have little choice but to use it. On the other hand, many people embrace a “no harm, no foul” philosophy. What are the potential cons of water fluoridation? Is Fluoride a Neurotoxin? Dr. Bruce Lanphear studied the effects of lead on children’s developing brains for decades. There is no longer any doubt that lead harms their intellectual capacity. When someone asked him about fluoride, he realized that he did not know what the potential impact on infants might be. He took advantage of an opportunity to study it, and what he and his colleagues found is rather alarming (JAMA Pediatrics, Aug. 19, 2019). There were 512 pairs of mothers with their babies in the study, which evaluated fluoride in drinking water and also tested the mothers’ urine during pregnancy. As the levels of fluoride rose, the IQ scores of the boys, tested between age three and four, dropped. Girls did not demonstrate such an association. The Cons of Water Fluoridation: We encounter fluoride in toothpaste, in medications and in food packaging, among other sources. However, water fluoridation is far and away the main source of fluoride. As a result, if a community decided that the cons of water fluoridation outweigh the benefits, it would be relatively easy to lower levels for everyone. Simply stop adding fluoride to the water! Interactions That Could Cause Trouble: Iodine: Another disquieting discovery from Dr. Lanphear’s research is that there are multiple interactions among the various compounds we encounter every day. For example, little boys whose mothers were able to get access to adequate iodine during pregnancy were much less likely to suffer IQ deficits than those whose mothers did not have adequate iodine (Science of the Total Environment, April 15, 2023). Hypothyroidism may be an important link. Lead: Another interaction is with lead. Not only does lead itself harm children’s brains, it appears to be a risk factor for tooth decay. Would that lead parents to increase the fluoride exposure for their youngsters? How do lead and fluoride interact in the body? We don’t yet have answers for these important questions. Pesticides: In addition, women exposed to higher levels of pesticides are more likely to give birth to children with autism if their folate levels are subpar. That is another area where researchers are striving to learn more about interactions that put babies at risk. During the interview, we mentioned a recent meta-analysis of 74 studies of water fluoridation. You can find it in JAMA Pediatrics (Jan. 6, 2025). As with the study Dr. Lanphear describes, children exposed to higher levels of fluoride as measured in their pregnant mothers’ urine were more likely to have deficits in IQ. The Precautionary Principle: We asked Dr. Lanphear about the precautionary principle applied by European regulators. He suggested that it is easier to understand when stated as the medical precept, “First, do no harm!” The idea is that we should know as much as possible about hazards as well as benefits of new compounds before broad populations are exposed to them. This Week’s Guests: Gary D Slade, BDS, DDPH, PhD, is the John W. Stamm Distinguished Professor of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC. He conducts epidemiological studies of oral diseases including public health interventions for prevention of dental decay. His website is https://dentistry.unc.edu/people/gary-slade/ Dr. Slade was the featured guest in last week’s episode emphasizing the benefits of water fluoridation. Gary Slade, BDS, DDPH, PhD, is the John W. Stamm Distinguished Professor of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC. Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, is Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. He is the featured guest this week on our episode examining the cons of water fluoridation. His website is https://www.sfu.ca/fhs/about/people/profiles/bruce-lanphear.html Professor Lanphear’s research, at the intersection of preventive medicine, pediatrics, public health, toxicology, and infectious disease, is driven by a commitment to prevent death, disease, and disability. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed studies about the impact of toxic chemicals on intellectual deficits, behavioral problems, and brain structure in children. He is ranked among the top 1% of most-cited scientists globally. Bruce and his brother, Bob, co-founded Little Things Matter to make the science on toxic chemicals publicly accessible. They produce videos to show how human health is inextricably connected with exposures to toxic chemicals and to elevate efforts to prevent disease. Bruce Lanphear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University and an expert on lead toxicity. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, February 17, 2025, after broadcast on Feb. 15. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Feb 7, 2025 · 59 min
Show 1417: Examining the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation (Part 1)
This week, we offer the first of a two-part series on water fluoridation. The practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to prevent tooth decay has been controversial for some time. Why? What should we know about it? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on February 10, 2025. Examining the Pros and Cons of Water Fluoridation: Tooth decay is uncomfortable. When it leads to periodontal disease and tooth loss, it can have a negative impact on cardiovascular and cognitive health, as well as quality of life. Fluoridation has been employed as a public health intervention to improve dental health. What is fluoride and how does it work? Our guest, Dr. Gary Slade, explains the mechanisms that help fluoride strengthen tooth enamel. In particular, it becomes incorporated into the crystalline structure of the enamel in places where it has been attacked by acid. It is very difficult to determine exactly how effective water fluoridation may be at reducing dental problems because it started before there were randomized controlled trial conducted. Comparing countries that use this technique to those that do not is imperfect, since there are often many other differences among them. One important difference could be the rigor of data collection and analysis. The only way to overcome that problem is to conduct a randomized controlled trial. Conducting A Randomized Controlled Trial of Water Fluoridation: Dr. Slade and his colleagues have already begun exactly such a trial in Lenoir County, North Carolina. Families are assigned to either fluoridated or unfluoridated water. Because each household is provided with big 5-gallon jugs of water for their consumption, they have no way of telling which group they belong to. Nor does anyone else. This creates an effective “double-blind” situation for the trial. The investigators don’t yet have data on dental outcomes. That will be forthcoming, and it will provide a much better assessment of exactly how well fluoridation protects teeth. Other Ways of Preventing Decay: Joe recalls the dentist of his childhood cautioning him to avoid sugar. Dr. Slade agrees that limiting the number of times a day that one consumes sweet snacks or sugar-sweetened beverages can make a difference in reducing tooth decay. We asked him to explain the difference between “caries” and “cavities.” Caries is the term for the process of tooth surface deterioration. A cavity is the result of that process. Cutting the amount of sugar we eat can definitely discourage that process. Clearly, brushing teeth is critical to keeping them healthy. We discussed the amount of fluoride toothpaste we need to put on the toothbrush. It’s not nearly as much as depicted in toothpaste commercials. Dr. Slade also explained that flossing is most impactful when it comes to gum health rather than preventing caries. That is important, too. Healthy gums make it easier to keep your teeth and also promote general health. A Hint of the Cons of Water Fluoridation: Fluoridated water is the primary source through which we are exposed to fluoride. On the other hand, it is not the only source. Next week’s guest points out that formula-fed infants get a much higher dose, relatively speaking, than adults if their formula is made with tap water. In addition, we are all exposed to fluoride from nonstick pans and stain-resistant fabrics, antidepressants and anesthetics and a host of other sources. Next week, Dr. Bruce Lanphear will explain why he thinks this is a problem. This Week’s Guests: Gary D. Slade, BDS, DDPH, PhD, is the John W. Stamm Distinguished Professor of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC. He conducts epidemiological studies of oral diseases including public health interventions for prevention of dental decay. His website is https://dentistry.unc.edu/people/gary-slade/ Gary Slade, BDS, DDPH, PhD, is the John W. Stamm Distinguished Professor of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC. Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, is Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. His website is https://www.sfu.ca/fhs/about/people/profiles/bruce-lanphear.html Bruce Lanphear, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University and an expert on lead toxicity. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, February 10, 2025, after broadcast on Feb. 8. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Next week, the show will focus on Dr. Lanphear’s research. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Jan 30, 2025 · 1 hr 13 min
Show 1416: Exposing Fraud and Arrogance in Alzheimer’s Research
This week, we explore the evidence that some respected researchers in the field of Alzheimer’s disease took shortcut or even manipulated their data to get the results they wanted. How did our guests detect fraud and arrogance in this research? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on February 3, 2025. Exposing Fraud & Arrogance in Alzheimer’s Research: With nearly seven million Americans currently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the effort to understand what causes it and how it could be treated effectively is urgent. Over the last several decades, research on this dementia has focused largely on amyloid plaque (also called amyloid-beta) in the brain as the sole cause. Consequently, drug companies have developed medications that can pull plaque out of the brain. Medicines like aducanumab (Aduhelm), lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla) do that pretty well. Unfortunately, though, the patients don’t get better. At best, they decline a little more slowly. Could putting all the focus on amyloid-beta have been a mistake? Western-Blot Images Appear to Have Been Changed: Dr. Matthew Schrag is a neurologist who has been examining images in scientific papers independently of his university duties at Vanderbilt. His initial investigations were of studies of a drug called simufilam being developed by Cassava Sciences. He detected signs suggesting that some of the images (termed “Western blot”) indicating proteins present in certain tissues had been altered. To interpret such images appropriately, a person needs a high level of expertise. Changing the picture can change the interpretation of the data as well. The Risks of Blowing the Whistle: An investigative journalist for Science magazine, Charles Piller, heard about Dr. Schrag’s discoveries and wrote an in-depth story about it. Dr. Schrag had not set out to be a whistleblower. Both he and Mr. Piller were well aware of the hazards whistleblowers can run, especially if they are early in their careers. However, they are both curious people and dedicated to research integrity. Dr. Schrag had found some disturbing signs in foundational papers of the field. Charles Piller thinks of him as the most important whistleblower in the history of Alzheimer disease research. The two men teamed up to take a closer look. What could account for the apparent image manipulation that they uncovered? As Mr. Piller observes, the incentives for scientists encourage data manipulation if one is so inclined. Getting journals to retract published papers is difficult. Universities are likewise not eager to investigate prominent investigators. Mr. Piller and Dr. Schrag are careful not to imply that the field is rife with fraud and arrogance. However, they found far more than we should be comfortable with. Verification: Mr. Piller invited other experts to review the images that Dr. Schrag had flagged as questionable. In most cases, they agreed that someone had apparently tinkered with them. In some cases, images reappeared in multiple papers. Since they are an important form of data, they should not be replicated in papers describing different experiments. The Problems with Amyloid Drugs: It seems very odd that the FDA approved aducanumab (Aduhelm) despite the recommendation of its expert panel not to do so. Aduhelm has since been removed from the market. Like other drugs in the class, it has a small benefit–almost imperceptible from the perspective of the patients or their families. The side effects could be consequential, however. In some cases, the drug causes swelling or bleeding of the brain. It also can result in ARIA, amyloid-related imaging abnormalities. Over time, these medications end up shrinking people’s brains even more than the disease itself does. The Future of Research on Alzheimer’s Disease: Once fraud and arrogance have been exposed, suspicious findings could be excised from the scientific literature. This should permit research to flourish on a range of approaches to understanding Alzheimer’s disease. This Week’s Guests: Matthew Schrag MD, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Director of the Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Clinic. The Schrag Lab is focused on discovering shared molecular pathways between Alzheimer disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. His website is https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute/person/matthew-schrag-m-d-ph-d/ Matthew Schrag, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Charles Piller is a prominent investigative journalist, primarily known for his work in the field of science. He writes in-depth stories for Science magazine, where he often exposes misconduct and problematic practices within scientific research, particularly focusing on public health issues like the study of Alzheimer’s disease. Charles Piller is the author of Gene Wars and The Fail-Safe Society. His most recent book is Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s. The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). You can read an essay by Charles Piller recently published in The New York Times: “The Devastating Legacy of Lies in Alzheimer’s Science.” The photo of Charles Piller is by Mike McGee. Charles PIller, author of Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, February 3, 2025, after broadcast on Feb. 1. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. This week, you’ll hear Charles Piller describe why the operation of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research might raise some red flags. We also discuss the monoclonal antibody drugs that the FDA has approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease. In a shift of focus, we examine the incentives that power a nonprofit organization such as the Alzheimer’s Association. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Jan 24, 2025 · 1 hr 2 min
Show 1415: Can Home Remedies Help Overcome Cold Symptoms?
This week, Joe & Terry invite listeners to share their favorite home remedies for colds. No one expects a remedy to shorten the duration of a cold–although perhaps one or two could! But many may help people feel better for a few hours if they alleviate symptoms. You can call in your suggestions to 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EST on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Or you can send them by email: radio@peoplespharmacy.com You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on January 27, 2025. Home Remedies for Cold Symptoms: If you start to come down with a cold, what do you do? A lot of people reach for acetaminophen or ibuprofen, especially if they are running a mild fever. We suggest saving the pain relievers for when you have pain and welcome a fever. It is your body’s way of fighting off infection and shouldn’t need treating unless it gets really high. Does your family have a remedy like piling on the quilts designed to get the cold victim to actually run a fever? Some people turn to hot liquids to warm up when they have a cold. Chicken Soup and Golden Milk: Around the world, people rely on chicken soup when they have a cold. Inhaling the steam from a bowl of soup can help ease congestion temporarily. If you make your soup with lots of thyme, it may reduce coughing for a while. In China, grandmothers often make chicken soup with astragalus root, because that has a reputation for bolstering the immune response. Vegetarians avoid chicken soup, of course, but some embrace golden milk. This traditional Ayurvedic cold remedy includes the yellow spice turmeric mixed into warm milk and sweetened with honey to taste. Just as with chicken soup, people who grew up with this remedy find it a true comfort when they are under the weather. Researchers have found that curcumin, a key component of turmeric, has definite antiviral activity (Molecules, July 8, 2022). Several Varieties of Tea: We have some favorite types of tea that we like to use if we feel a cold coming on. Ginger Tea for Cold Symptoms: Ginger tea is a lovely way to address both cough and congestion. You can make it from dried ginger, but we think it is best made by grating fresh ginger root and steeping it in hot water. If you like, it can be sweetened with honey. Some people prefer to add a bit of hot pepper, livening an already spicy drink even more. Thyme Tea for Cough: When we start to cough, we rely on a cup of fresh-brewed thyme tea. Using a half teaspoon of dried thyme leaves in a tea infusing spoon, we steep 6 ounces of hot water for about five minutes. This is delicious when we add lemon (and honey!). We find it really calms a cough quickly for several hours. There haven’t been many studies of this herbal remedy, but one randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial in kids with asthma found that thyme syrup reduced activity-induced cough (Allergologia et Immunopathologia, Jan. 2024). These youngsters have asthma, so it is not directly applicable to people with coughs due to colds; still, it suggests there is some activity. Elderflower Tea: Extracts of dried flowers of elderberry shrubs (AKA elder flower tea) contain high levels of polyphenols (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 11, 2015). Some scientists are interested in developing medicinal compounds to treat respiratory infections based on the components of elderberries (Molecules, June 22, 2024). Traditional herbalists recommend elder flower tea for a cough associated with a cold. Have you tried this approach? The Sambucus fruit, elderberry, has been having a moment lately. A systematic review of its use of viral respiratory illnesses found that it doesn’t seem to prevent colds, but it may reduce the duration or severity (BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, April 7, 2021). As with nearly all our remedies, more research is needed. Sage Tea for Sore Throat: When we talk with Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, she frequently recalls that when she was a child, her grandmother would prepare sage tea when there were colds in the household. Rather than consume it as a hot beverage, the youngsters let it cool and used it as a gargle to ease the pain of a sore throat. What About Vitamin C? When it comes to vitamin C, are you pro or con? The benefits of this vitamin against the common cold have been quite controversial for decades. Nobel laureate Linus Pauling was a fan, but many doctors are skeptical, to say the least. The latest review shows that high-dose vitamin C can prevent colds in people doing intense physical activity and decrease the severity of colds by about 15 percent (Polish Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 13, 2025). That seems like it might be worth a try, given that vitamin C doesn’t often cause side effects. The authors suggest a self-experiment using 6 to 8 grams a day starting at the earliest hint of cold symptoms. Some people will experience diarrhea at that dose and will need to lower it for their personal protocol. Will Zinc Help Your Sore Throat? Back in 1979, a little girl with cancer refused to swallow the zinc tablet she was supposed to take. She sucked on it for hours instead. Surprisingly, the cold symptoms she had been developing disappeared. Subsequent research has confirmed that zinc has antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2023). Have you tried zinc lozenges to treat your cold symptoms? Tell us how it went. Do You Take Quercetin for a Cold? The flavonoid quercetin is available as a dietary supplement. It has a reputation for fighting off viruses, possibly because research has demonstrated that it can inhibit the early stages of viral infection and reduce inflammation (Phytotherapy Research, Jan. 2022). Perhaps this helps explain the popularity of onion syrup as a cold remedy. Many listeners have reminisced about this, which appears to have broad popularity. Have you tried it? Vicks VapoRub: No discussion of cold remedies would be complete without mentioning Vicks. It actually was developed (more than a hundred years ago) specifically to help with cough from upper respiratory infections. While the usual approach to using Vicks calls for it to be applied to the chest, a lot of listeners have found that applying it to the soles of the feet is also quite effective for a nighttime cough. Be sure to put on some thick socks so the sheets don’t get greasy from the petrolatum. We suspect the menthol that contributes to its distinctive aroma helps explain why it could work for a cough. Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, January 27, 2025, after broadcast on Jan. 25. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Jan 16, 2025 · 1 hr 21 min
Show 1414: Finding Your Exercise Prescription for Life
This week, two distinguished exercise physiologists tell us why we each need an exercise prescription for life. Dr. Benjamin Levine has worked with the Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study to discover that three weeks of bed rest hurt fitness more than 30 years of normal life. Dr. Claudio Battaglini provides exercise prescriptions for cancer patients so that they will be in better health once they recover from their malignancy. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on January 20, 2025. An Exercise Prescription as Part of Our Daily Hygiene: A lot of people think they should exercise, but they just don’t feel like it most of the time. Perhaps when you first started flossing your teeth, that’s how you felt about it. Many of the things we do every day as part of our daily hygiene–shower and shampoo, wash the dishes, change our clothes–aren’t exactly fun, but we feel better when we do them. Dr. Levine argues that we should approach physical activity in much the same way. If we build activity into our daily routine rather than make it a special event that requires extra scheduling and effort, it has the power to improve our health. What Exercise Is Best? No question here–the best exercise is that one you actually do. Perhaps, like Joe and Dr. Levine, you love playing tennis. Because that is fun, you make time for it whenever you can. Maybe you love running, or dancing, or swimming or walking in the woods. Whatever you most enjoy is a good place to anchor your exercise prescription. Getting a Varied Diet of Activity: Tennis is great for those who love it, but it isn’t enough all by itself. We also need to pay attention to the “dose.” We each need a time in the week when we exercise intensely. Dr. Levine likes a Norwegian approach called 4 by 4. You exercise as hard as you can for four minutes, then rest for three minutes. Repeat that sequence four times. There are other ways of getting intense activity as well: running up stairs works for some folks. Others like cycling. If you can’t manage it on your own, recruiting friends or signing up for a class may help. All of us need to strengthen our muscles and bones as well. Consequently, we should find a way of challenging them with resistance training. This could be pushups, pullups, squats or burpees. Or it could be working out with weights or on machines designed to help you build strength. Recovering from Injury or Heart Attacks: Back in the 20th century, heart attack patients were often told to avoid exerting themselves. The current thinking is that people need to start moving as soon as possible after a heart attack, gently at first, walking around the room or in the hospital corridors. Once they are ready for discharge, the exercise prescription will probably be for a cardiac rehabilitation exercise program with careful cardiac monitoring. For most people, that will last about three months and insurance pays for it. Then they can graduate to un-monitored exercise. When people are recovering from an injury, they also need an exercise prescription so they won’t lose too much fitness before they are better. This probably will mean 20 to 30 minutes a day of physical activity that doesn’t put stress on the injured limb. A Variety of Exercise Specialists: Our conversation with Dr. Battaglini began with him clarifying the roles of the different types of exercise specialists. The exercise physiologists, like him, are research scientists. Trainers and physical therapists put the data the exercise physiologists discover into practice. The trainer helps athletes achieve their best performance while the physical therapist helps an injured person recover to the best of their ability. In both cases, they are using evidence to provide an exercise prescription. Dr. Battaglini’s area of practice and research has been with cancer patients. Staying physically active throughout our lives can help reduce our risk for many cancers. However, if a person develops cancer, the treatment can be grueling and lead to fatigue. As with heart disease, thinking has changed. Oncologists used to think that physical activity would make their patients’ fatigue worse. Now, however, the evidence shows that appropriate activity can actually reduce fatigue. The exercise prescription must be personalized to the patient. Working Out Alone or in Groups: In the course of his work, Dr. Battaglini was providing exercise programs for breast cancer patients. Each patient had one-on-one attention from a student or intern who served as the coach. But when he read the evaluations from the patients, many wished they could be exercising in a group with other patients. When he made that change to the program, it was a great success. Each one followed her individual exercise plan, and the group provided each other with strong emotional support. One barrier to using exercise more broadly in the treatment of cancer patients is that insurance companies have not gotten on board. The lack of reimbursement makes it more difficult for cancer centers to provide this important healing service. This Week’s Guests: Benjamin Levine, MD, FACC, FACSM, FAPS, FAHA, is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of the Division of Cardiology. He holds the Distinguished Professorship in Exercise Sciences. He is the founding Director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where he also holds the S. Finley Ewing Jr. Chair for Wellness and the Harry S. Moss Heart Chair for Cardiovascular Research. https://utswmed.org/doctors/benjamin-levine/ Dr. Benjamin Levine Claudio L. Battaglini, PhD, FACSM is a Professor of Exercise Physiology and the Director of the Graduate Exercise Physiology Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is Co-Director of the Exercise Oncology Laboratory in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Battaglini is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. https://exss.unc.edu/faculty-staff/claudio-battaglini/ Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, January 20, 2025, after broadcast on Jan. 18. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Jan 10, 2025 · 1 hr
Show 1413: Stopping Strokes: How to Reduce Your Risk of a Brain Attack
This week, we hear a first-hand account of what a stroke feels like, from neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Then we learn from a neurologist, Dr. Matthew Schrag, about the risk factors for such a brain attack. What treatments could be helpful? You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on January 13, 2025. Who Is Vulnerable to a Brain Attack? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year. We are calling this a brain attack because, like a heart attack, it is preceded by risk factors and may be followed by lasting damage. How can we reduce our risk? What Does It Feel Like? We spoke with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor in 2021 about her book, Whole Brain Living. During that interview, she described her experience with a bleeding stroke and explained the unusual anatomical connection between artery and vein that led to the devastating hemorrhage in her brain. We include part of that interview in this episode. If you would like to hear her entire account, you can listen here. Two Kinds of Strokes: There are two different types of brain attack, both involving the blood vessels to the brain. In Dr. Taylor’s case, the blood vessels broke open and bled into the brain. Such a hemorrhagic stroke is less common, but it can be even more damaging than an ischemic stroke caused by a blood clot in an artery serving the brain. Such blood clots account for 87% of strokes. Thus, reducing the likelihood of blood clots is an important step to reducing the risk of a brain attack. Risk of Bleeding Stroke: Beyond the type of congenital malformation that was responsible for Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s bleeding stroke, we need to pay attention to the integrity of the blood vessels in the brain. Some medications such as fluoroquinolones weaken blood vessels. People who are on anticoagulants, sometimes termed “blood thinners,” may also be at increased risk for bleeding in the brain. Pre-existing conditions such as cerebral amyloid angiopathy may also boost the chance of bleeding into the brain. Risk for Clotting Stroke: As mentioned, the other type of brain attack is caused by a clot in the blood vessels leading to the brain. Conditions that can lead to clot formation raise the likelihood of this type of stroke. These include atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm abnormality in which blood may pool in a portion of the heart rather than rushing through it out into the body. Such stagnant blood is prone to clot, and after it does, the clot may be pumped into the circulation to the brain. That is why people with Afib, as it is often called, usually take prescribed anticoagulants. Some medications may also increase the risk of clotting. These include birth control pills, especially when women are also taking NSAIDs. These pain relievers such as diclofenac, ibuprofen or naproxen can also trigger the formation of blood clots on their own. Managing Risk Factors for a Brain Attack: Perhaps the most important step to take is to keep blood pressure under control. That may be easier said than done, but it has a big impact. People with well-controlled blood pressure reduce their risk for a stroke of either type by about 70%. As a result, we should all know our blood pressure. Just as we have a home scale to keep track of our weight, a home blood pressure monitor is an essential piece of home health equipment. The ideal blood pressure measurement is within 10 points of 120/80. Blood pressure that is consistently higher deserves a doctor’s attention. There are other preventive steps as well. People who smoke should cut back or quit. Smoking is bad for blood vessels, but you knew that. We discussed Afib as a risk factor. Smart watches can now detect this heart rhythm so that it can be addressed in a timely fashion. Elevated cholesterol is also bad for blood vessels in the brain as well as around the heart, so a careful doctor will address that, too. Two important factors that are under our personal control are physical activity and diet. Keeping active on a regular basis is a foundation for good health, including brain health. A diet that emphasizes less processed foods with plenty of produce, such as a Mediterranean-style diet, can also bolster health and reduce the risk for a brain attack. Diagnosis and Treatment: Time is of the essence when it comes to treating strokes. The sooner a brain attack is treated, the better the outcome is likely to be. That’s why we should all be aware that sudden onset of symptoms such as slurred speech, vision problems (especially on one side), facial drooping or asymmetric expression, weakness or trouble with movement should prompt a call to 911. Do NOT drive yourself to the ER but get there as quickly as possible and let triage know you are concerned about a stroke. Bleeding and clotting tend to cause similar symptoms, but determining the type of stroke is crucial. Once a person shows up at the emergency department, the staff there will arrange a CT scan to see what is happening. For a stroke caused by a clot, an anticoagulant can be very useful, but it would be exactly the wrong thing for someone who is already bleeding. If the problem is a clot, the image should tell the doctors where it is. There is now a device that can be threaded into the blood vessels to fish the clot out. This approach is showing great promise. Another treatment is for people with Afib to prevent them from forming clots. It is a surgical procedure called a left atrial appendage closure that eliminates a pocket in the heart where blood tends to pool before it clots. Rehabilitation from a Brain Attack: People used to think that stroke victims would not make much progress beyond the immediate aftermath. We now know that is far too pessimistic. Rehabilitation requires hard work, but physical therapy and speech therapy can make a huge difference. People who are conscientious about their rehab can continue to make progress for a long time, as Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor demonstrated. She had to re-learn to walk and talk, but as you can hear, she did that very well. Dr. Schrag suggests that in some cases experimental treatments such as nerve graft or stem cell transplantation may also be helpful. In the future, doctors should know far more about when and how to apply such therapies. This Week’s Guests: Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., is a Harvard trained and published neuroanatomist. Dr. Taylor has been the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Brain Bank). She was one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2008, and her TED talk ‘My Stroke of Insight’ was the first TED talk to go viral on the internet. Dr. Taylor is the author of the memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey. Her most recent book is Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life. The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you). Matthew Schrag MD, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Director of the Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Clinic. His specialty is the overlap between vascular and cognitive neurological diseases. The Schrag Lab is focused on discovering shared molecular pathways between Alzheimer disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. His website is https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute/person/matthew-schrag-m-d-ph-d/ Matthew Schrag, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Listen to the Podcast: The podcast of this program will be available Monday, January 13, 2025, after broadcast on Jan. 11. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free. Download the mp3, or listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The People's Pharmacy

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Show 1414: Finding Your Exercise Prescription for Life

Show 1413: Stopping Strokes: How to Reduce Your Risk of a Brain Attack