Critically Speaking

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. David Beversdorf discuss what exactly autism is, the theories of the causes of autism, and what we do know from research of autism. Numerous non-evidence based cures for autism are becoming more common and understanding the facts of autism is becoming more critical. In this discussion with Dr. Beversdorf, we will understand more about what is autism, what are the symptoms, who first discovered it, what really causes it (and what doesn’t), and what effective treatments may be out there.      Key Takeaways:   Vaccines do not cause autism. We do know there is a genetic component and several environmental factors that appear to be important.  There is a variability aspect of autism. It may be extremely important to be able to track patients to see what they respond to in treatment research to see why and how they are responding.  Without more research, we will not be able to create personalized treatment plans for the bio markers. There are a number of organizations around the world that working to achieve this research, which is where the answers will be coming from.      "Two, almost opposite biological aspects, could even be coming to this final common pathway of repetitive behaviors. If you blindly target the repetitive behaviors with a drug, without being aware of this biology, you will get nowhere, because one will get better and one will get worse." —  Dr. David Beversdorf      Connect with Dr. David Beversdorf:  Professional Bio: Dr. David Beversdorf  Twitter: @MU_CogNeuroLab  Facebook: MU Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory        Connect with Therese:   Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net  Twitter: @CritiSpeak   Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net         Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

The last few decades have been filled with confusing information about women's hormones and what's happening with them across a woman's lifetime. How early are male versus female hormones produced? How birth control pills modify hormones and related metabolic processes? What about hormones and postmenopausal women?  In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Felice Gersh discuss these questions and more. As an OBGYN and a dual certified integrative gynecologist, Dr. Gersh shares information on the effects of hormones in female puberty, the rise of acne as a disease of western, modern society, and the importance of menstrual cycles as a sign of underlying health conditions.       Key Takeaways: From 12 weeks gestation, the placenta produces the hormones of embryonic formation. The menstrual cycle is a vital sign of reproductive age, female health - like blood pressure, vital signs, weight, or temperature. How well the menstrual cycle of a young, reproductive aged female is functioning is a vital sign of her underlying health status.  In postmenoposal women, if we give estrogen vaginally, we can help both the bladder and the vagina to be significantly more functional and healthier. In menopause, all estrogen should be given transdermally.    "You need hormones, and you need them in the beautiful rhythms and the right amounts that nature was designed to give us in order for a proper development and functioning." —  Dr. Felice Gersh   Connect with Dr. Felice Gersh: Professional Bio: https://integrativemgi.com/about-dr-felice-gersh/  Website: https://integrativemgi.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrFeliceGersh  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeMGI/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felice-gersh-md-b0422b13/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.felicegersh/  Book: PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist's Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness https://www.amazon.com/Pcos-SOS-Gynecologists-Naturally-Happiness/dp/1911443119/      Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Cheryl Hawkes discuss the increasing scientific evidence that maternal obesity affects the developing fetal brain.  While many of the effects manifest early, in infant temperament and childhood cognitive (IQ) decrements, other effects do not show up until years later, in adult psychiatric and neurodegenerative problems.  The physical bases for these changes in fetal brains also are clearly evidenced in laboratory model systems, such as mice, where the maternal diets can be controlled and the offspring not only can be given behavioral tests, but their brains can be dissected to reveal the changes in the blood vessels caused by obese mothers.    Key Takeaways: Children born to obese mothers have lower IQs and poorer motor, spatial, and verbal skills. Mice and rodents have similar brain development to humans, which is why rodent study models are so beneficial to science. Brain maturation takes many years. Your brain is fully formed at birth but continues to mature and change into your mid-twenties.   "Because of the rise in obesity globally, a lot of people have started to look, rather than looking at famine…, to now shift our attention to looking at the long-term effects of obesity because 30% of women around the world, over the age of 18, are now considered to be obese." —  Dr. Cheryl Hawkes   Connect with Dr. Cheryl Hawkes:  Lancaster University Profile: Dr. Cheryl Hawkes     Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow discusses where the safest seat is on an airplane (and what safety means in different contexts). She passes on the current recommendations for reducing COVID exposure as well as the safest seat in different types of plane crashes.     Key Takeaways: There is a difference between safety from COVID-19 and in a crash.  There is some reduction in risk of infection by sitting by the window if you are sitting in economy. Wear your mask. Go to the bathroom before you fly so you don’t have to get up and expose yourself to more people. Exit proximity and fitness are important factors in surviving a plane crash.    "For both issues, avoiding COVID and having the highest survival after a crash, the safest seats seem to be the window seats at the exit row." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.    Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

We've all either heard about, or know, someone whose home is filled with things they have no use for, but won't, or can't, discard. When taken to the extreme, this is a part of hoarding disorder. While hoarding is a word that is thrown around in our common vernacular (such as people hoarding toilet paper early in this pandemic), there is more to hoarding than what most people know. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mary Dozier discuss what hoarding is, how it can manifest itself, and what we currently know about hoarding disorder.     Key Takeaways: Unlike many psychiatric disorders, hoarding disorder actually tends to worsen as we get older.  People tend to hoard the same things that most people hold on to, just in greater quantities.  One of the primary reasons that people seek out treatment is often that people want to be able to have other people to their homes.    "Having attachments to objects, by itself, isn't necessarily problematic. The problem begins when the attachment is so great, and the number of objects is so many, that the individual is unable to go about their daily lives." —  Dr. Mary Dozier   Connect with Dr. Mary Dozier: Professional Bio: psychology.msstate.edu/people/mary-dozier     Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Not all animals see colors the same way we do. Some have less ability to see color and others have better color vision. Color vision will likely fit with the fitness of a particular species. Can they recognize other members of their group? Can they avoid predation? Is their feeding specialized on particular flowers or colorful insects? We talk about these questions today.    Key Takeaways: Color detection depends on the number and types of cones in the eye, while rods detect movement. Dogs and bulls, having only two types of cones as opposed to three in humans, see as if they were a color blind person. The bright green or red toys we buy for a dog are more for us to find the toy than the dog. The red cape is not what makes the bull charge. Some birds have four cones and can see at different wavelengths and can see below the ocean surface   "Animals see colors if it is important to them for their survival and reproduction - in other words, to find food, to detect, avoid, or fool predators, as well as in courtship rituals." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.   Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Most organisms have ways to fix a wound. But what about regenerating missing tissues or limbs after that wound has healed? What about crippling spinal cord injuries?   Well, today we'll hear about the process of wound healing and subsequent regeneration, and how findings in lower organisms can help us to understand and enhance regeneration in humans. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Karen Echeverri discuss what happens when you get a wound, the role the immune system plays in regeneration, and the difference between  vertebrate and invertebrate regeneration. They also discuss how regeneration shows up differently in axolotls, zebrafish, and even humans.     Key Takeaways: The axolotl is the champion of regeneration - it can regenerate portions of internal organs, tail, and lesions in the brain and spinal cord.  The amount of regeneration time is in proportion to the size of the animal.  Understanding the different mechanisms  of regeneration in various animal species is the key to developing effective treatments for these serious human injuries.   "Our highest regenerative ability is, when we're youngest, so young babies have the highest regenerative potential. There is some evidence that very young children can regenerate the partial digit tip. As the child grows older, and again, their immune system becomes more developed, they also lose that regenerative ability." —  Dr. Karen Echeverri   Connect with Dr. Karen Echeverri: Professional Bio: http://www.neuroscience.umn.edu/people/karen-echeverri-phd  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-echeverri-4a837514      Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

While many of us are familiar with detection dogs, whether working with first responders, military units, in airports, or even just in movies, canine detection is also expanding and evolving into medical detection. But what, exactly, makes a dog good in detection, and how do they do it? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Paul Waggoner, of the Auburn University Canine Performance Sciences Center, discuss these questions and many more.     Key Takeaways: Not all dogs make great detection dogs, although all dogs have greater olfactory detection abilities than humans.  Dogs are unique in their social affinity with people because they have coevolved socially with people. This makes them easier to train. Detection dogs keep us safe from many dangers. A well trained detection dog can be very expensive and their handler must be trained as well. In using dogs for medical detection training, the challenge is to maintain a dog’s ability to distinguish between the cancer scent and the odor associated with the particular individuals.   "What tends to separate dogs that are capable of detection work and those that are not, is a history for what they've been selectively bred for hundreds of years to do." —  Dr. Paul Waggoner   Connect with Dr. Paul Waggoner: Canine Performance Sciences: https://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/research/cps/  Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/L-Waggoner    Donate to Canine Performance Sciences:  www.vetmed.auburn.edu/research/CPS or https://www.auburngiving.org/ designating the gift for CPS.     Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.    

When most of us think of climate change, we think of global warming - that everything's getting hotter. We also know that this is a simplification. Other climate features, like rainfall and humidity, change as well. While the term global is used, there's considerable variation from one geographic area to another with respect to what kinds of changes are happening. An important, but often overlooked, aspect of climate change is its influence on infectious disease. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Luis Escobar discuss what these diseases are, how we can see a growth in the bacteria that are directly influenced by climate, and how different elements play a role in the rate and spread of these diseases.    Key Takeaways: We know that there are many types of bacteria that are directly influenced by climate because when temperature in the water increases, the number of bacteria increases. We can use chlorophyll to measure the changes in the color in the oceans, lakes, or rivers. We can use satellite data to track changes in chlorophyll which is important as climate change is occurring globally. The distribution of disease vectoring insects and their pathogens changes with global warming. Climate, local policy, and culture can all play different roles in how disease spreads and grows throughout the world.    "Mosquitos are the most lethal animals and kill more people than any other animal in the world. Mosquitos transmit many diseases, including malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, zika, chikungunya, and filariasis." —  Dr. Luis Escobar   Connect with Dr. Luis Escobar: Professional Bio: https://www.globalchange.vt.edu/dr-luis-escobar/      Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

No one likes to be lied to. And most folks would love a quick method to detect if somebody lied to them. But it's not so simple. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mark Frank, a specialist in non-verbal communication and the department chair and a professor at the University of Buffalo, discuss the many aspects of lying. They talk about lies versus deception and how the definition of the rules of deception can change by culture. They also discuss lying in interpersonal relationships and in the criminal justice system (including what makes an effective interrogator), and how managing emotions and credibility plays a role in lying.     Key Takeaways: A lie is a deliberate attempt to mislead without prior notification.  Without understanding someone’s baseline, it is harder to notice deviations in behavior that may indicate a lie.  Depending on how you look, juries (and other individuals) may be more likely to believe you are guilty of an action. Good interrogators tend to be good rapport builders     "There is no such thing as a pinocchio response. There is no human response that is exclusive to deception." —  Dr. Mark Frank   Connect with Dr. Mark Frank: Professional Bio: http://www.buffalo.edu/cas/communication/faculty/frank.html      Connect with Therese: Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net Twitter: @CritiSpeak Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net     Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.