Answers to emails and a live caller about Alzheimer’s Disease, knee osteoarthritis, childhood vaccines and more

Broadcast from KSQD Santa Cruz on 6-13-2024

• Alzheimer’s Disease and APOE4 Gene
  • Listener asks about the APOE4 gene and its association with Alzheimer's disease in the light of a recent sensationalistic Nature publication.
  • The impact of amyloid beta and TAU proteins on Alzheimer's pathology.
  • Differences in Alzheimer's risk among different ethnic groups with APOE4 with emphasis on the importance of cholesterol levels as a risk multiplier.
• Advice for a listener’s husband dealing with chronic back pain and sciatica
  • Dr. Dawn presents a basic checklist for evaluating back pain symptoms and determining the need for urgent medical intervention.
  • Potential causes are discussed such as spinal nerve compression from various sources.
  • In this case, Dr. Dawn made a specific suggestion of McKenzie exercises and emphasized the importance of seeing a sports medicine doctor or physiatrist for a comprehensive evaluation.
• Dr. Dawn responds to a caller about managing knee osteoarthritis
  • The role of glucosamine, chondroitin, and topical diclofenac in treatment.
  • Discussion on non-pharmaceutical approaches like heat application and massage.
  • Potential interventions like steroid injections, hyaluronic acid, platelet rich plasma and their benefits and risks.
• Dr. Dawn answers a question about dietary oxalates and their impact on kidney stones
  • She emphasizes the importance of the oxalate content in foods and its limited role in kidney stone formation.
  • She emphasizes the importance of hydration and maintaining a healthy microbiome.
  • For specific dietary guidelines on oxalate in foods she suggests using oxalate.org.
• A concerned parent asks about aluminum and other vaccine adjuvants like formaldehyde for their infant's 2 month well child visit
  • She expresses conflicting fears of being mischaracterized as a vaccine denier by merely expressing concern about vaccination for her infant.
  • Dr. Dawn provides a breakdown of the necessity, immediate urgency and risks of each recommended vaccine (Hepatitis B, DTaP, Polio, Hib, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus) and suggests a social contextualization strategy to perhaps delay Polio, rotavirus and Hep B in this family's social context while emphasizing the importance of certain vaccinations to prevent serious illnesses.
  • Dr. Dawn cites intriguing ambiguities in the literature that support the counterintuitive idea that smaller doses of aluminum may have a greater accumulation in tissues of brain and reproductive tissues than larger doses, and promises to research this further in a future program.