From Dupuytren's Treatment to Dementia Prevention: Essential Health Updates on Vitamins, Vaccines, and Medical Breakthroughs

Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 6-05-2025:

• Dr. Dawn answers an email about Dupuytren's contracture treatment, explaining her clinic experience using acupuncture anesthesia combined with Traumeel injections directly into palm nodules. She describes how this anti-inflammatory homeopathic compound, when injected into tendon sheaths, can break the cycle of fibrosis formation. Dr. Dawn explores fascinating quantum physics concepts involving collagen microstructure, water molecules, and hydrogen ion movement that may explain how acupuncture and homeopathy work through crystalline formations in collagen tubules.
• She discusses vitamin A's critical role in measles complications, explaining how deficiency dramatically increases risks of encephalitis and cardiac damage. Dr. Dawn covers two forms of dietary vitamin A - beta carotene from plants requiring enzymatic conversion, and vitamin A from animal products. She warns about vitamin A toxicity risks, particularly birth defects in pregnancy, while noting that typical American diets are adequate unlike vitamin D.
• Dr. Dawn examines vitamin D deficiency affecting 68% of children in a South Florida study, linking inadequate levels to bone health, immune function, and gut barrier integrity. She explains how vitamin D receptors throughout the body regulate cell differentiation, insulin secretion, and tight junction formation that prevents leaky gut syndrome. There are higher deficiency rates in darker-skinned populations and the historical context of rickets during industrialization when urban environments blocked sunlight exposure.
• She highlights revolutionary medical technology, the world's smallest pacemaker for newborns, half the size of a rice grain. This injectable device dissolves naturally after hearts self-repair, controlled by light-emitting patches communicating through the baby's skin. This breakthrough eliminates risky surgical removal procedures that caused complications, such as Neil Armstrong's death from pacemaker wire infections.
• Dr. Dawn discusses research showing shingles vaccination reduces dementia risk by 20%, particularly in women. She explains the natural experiment in Wales where universal healthcare created clear vaccination cutoff dates, allowing researchers to compare dementia rates. Dr. Dawn hypothesizes that cross-immunity against herpes viruses may protect brain tissue, noting even stronger protection with newer Shingrix vaccines compared to older Zostavax.
• She covers alarming increases in invasive Group A Streptococcus infections, with cases more than doubling from 2013 to 2022. Dr. Dawn explains how flesh-eating bacteria secretes enzymes that dissolve epithelial barriers in throats and lungs, allowing systemic spread that destroys tissue. She links rising cases to increasing diabetes and obesity rates that compromise immune function, noting devastating mortality rates approaching 10,000 deaths nationwide.
• Dr. Dawn celebrates a breakthrough antibiotic discovery of Lariocidin which works against highly drug-resistant bacteria through novel protein synthesis inhibition. She explains how antibiotic resistance spreads between bacterial species just like social media memes, emphasizing the urgent need for new treatments as 4 million people die annually from resistant infections. Dr. Dawn advocates for public funding since pharmaceutical companies avoid antibiotic development due to poor profit margins.
• She answers an email about Epstein-Barr virus detection, explaining its role in mononucleosis, Burkitt's lymphoma, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Dawn describes how EBV can remain dormant and reactivate during stress or immunocompromise, potentially triggering autoimmunity. She discusses similarities between EBV reactivation, Lyme disease, and long COVID, suggesting they may represent variations of the same inflammatory syndrome with different triggers.
• She explores the nocebo effect - how negative expectations worsen outcomes - and its amplification through social media. Dr. Dawn cites studies showing people warned about erectile dysfunction or altitude headaches experience these symptoms more frequently. She discusses recent phenomena like TikTok-induced tics and vaccine side effect amplification, warning that online health information creates dangerous nocebo loops that spread faster than traditional word-of-mouth.