Neuroveda Podcast for Complex Health

It's the right time to repost this incredible episode in which the beauty of Islam is beamed through the words and spirit of Sufi Imam Jamal Rahman. It was one of our opening podcasts on January 2, 2020 and is in the top 3 of my favorite podcasts we've ever produced. Listen in and heal.  From 1/2/2020:  Sufi Imam Jamal Rahman reveals insights from Rumi, Hafiz and other poets into the ways that Koranic verses can nourish personal, community, racial, economic and environmental healing. According to the Koran, a good life is built “50% of the visible and 50% of the invisible” meaning rooted in the work of the heart and the spirit. This can be supported by building in internal circle of love within oneself and/or an external authentic community centered in care for one another, trust in each other’s inherent vulnerability and common aspirations of truth and patience. Imam Rahman also shares practices to incorporate therapeutic silence, embracing emotions without attachment and having the moral courage to talk about where religion has gone astray. His perspective is deeply informed by his nearly two-decade long partnership in the Interfaith Amigos with Pastor Donald Mckenzie and Rabbi Ted Falcon. Find more about Imam Rahman from JamalRahman.com, InterfaithCommunitySanctuary.com, InterfaithAmigos.com and enjoy 50-60 short videos (2-6 minutes each) about Islam, Sufism, and various meditations on his YouTube channel at Call of Compassion Northwest by searching his name Jamal: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=call+of+compassion+nw+jamal

Dr Manish Butte, MD PhD, is a pediatrician & Division Chief of Immunology, Allergy & Rheumatology, and is also a surprisingly down-to-Earth kind of guy. In this show, he causally lays it all out there from the perspective of a scientist and compassionate clinician who works at the edges of what we know regarding genetics and rare diseases to give us a view of the whole playing field of immunology, including allergy, autoimmunity and infection (especially the post-infectious drive towards autoimmunity). We discuss Lyme, EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) and the ways in which the B cells & T cells function to mount, address & recede from their battle stations (did you know regulatory T cells even a part of the initial cytotoxic T cell response to infection?). Dr Butte then dives into the mechanobiology components of T cell activation (did you know stiff vs soft, aka swollen/edematous tissues vs non-traumatized tissue, trigger different T cell responses?) with some fascinating conjecture about the interaction between hypermobile tissues & T cell activity. We seem to end the conversation with a deep discussion about IVIG (IV immunoglobulin G) and rituximab which address aberrant antibodies but then truly finish with some discussion about the importance of immunogenetics and COVID antibody & T-cell evaluations. All in all, a fabulous show for which we are grateful for Dr Butte's generous participation. 

Neuropathy is dysfunction or damage (or both!) to the nerves and is a source for movement disorders as well as burning, tingling and numbness. It's a condition that can result from so many different triggers. Did you know ~40% of neuropathies remain 'idiopathic' in cause, meaning of unknown origin? In this podcast, MD Dan Olesnicky walks through them all. Step by step, he discusses the central vs peripheral nervous system (the peripheral being the end 'rootlets' of very small nerves that can enervate our hands and feet but also wrap around our gut and heart), and then goes into mono vs polyneuropathy. We talk about everything from mechanical compression to toxic insult to acute or chronic infection to hereditary sources for neuropathy. Then we talk about treatment options, including the innovative treatments he offers in his clinic that include stem cell and PRP (platelet rich protein) injections into nerve trigger points that has given some of his toughest neuropathy patients relief. Dr Olesnicky shares some elements of the cardiac neuropathy he experienced from Lyme Disease and how this has resolved with IV stem cell therapy. Fascinating N of 1 case! 

Dr Ilene Ruhoy is the Medical Director of the new Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Center at Mt Sinai in South Nassau, New York. In this podcast, Dr Ruhoy shares the structure, goals and approach to EDS patient care. Dr Ruhoy lays out the challenges that EDS and hypermobile patients encounter in experiencing connective tissue disorders, getting a diagnosis and the work that is happening at the EDS Center to center complex and chronically ill patient care. It starts with a triad structure binding together clinical practice with the illustrious Dr Anne Maitland, surgery led by Dr Paulo Bolognese, as driving and driven by research. Then, Dr Ruhoy dives into the nature of the connective tissue and reviews one research study underway to evaluate these connective tissues for infectious source but also postulates other potential sources starting with genetic vulnerabilities as acted upon by pollution, trauma and other triggers. This might be a one-two punch that can result in complex and chronic disease.  What is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome? https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/ EDS Center at Mt Sinai: https://www.southnassau.org/sn/chiari-eds?srcaud=Main

Health is well beyond just a medical status and is inherently political. Dr Sharad Kohli, MD, has been working in primary care with underserved populations for over 15 years. He shares his story of transition from wanting to provide good healthcare to realizing that health required other services like voting rights, access to healthy food and exercise opportunities. The transition was complete in the further realization that going upstream to work on the criminal justice system, gun rights, immigration and poverty requires attention to provide care that truly targets health. This work was formalized in the non-profit IM4US (www.IM4US.org) which has a yearly conference and continues to support all members of healthcare teams to serve underserved patients well. Further, Dr Kohli reviews their incredible integrative pain program, which focused on complex trauma as a potential trigger for substance use and targeting addiction prevention. He also reviews the importance of community and group visits for building resilience and healing with inevitable cycles of health & illness. It's an uplifting show that touches on decolonizing medicine, looking at personal bias, and presents one real-life model for how good medicine is being offered in one Austin, Texas clinic. Dr Kohli is brilliant, engaging & humble.  Why cultural safety rather than cultural competency is required to achieve health equity: a literature review and recommended definition Elana Curtis* , Rhys Jones , David Tipene-Leach , Curtis Walker , Belinda Loring , Sarah-Jane Paine and Papaarangi Reid https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12939-019-1082-3.pdf

Why are chronic, persistent infections like Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia and others like long-COVID and Epstein-Barr Virus so difficult to diagnose and treat? Infectious Disease specialist, Dr Bela Chheda, MD, walks us step by step through testing options including Elisa, Western Blot, PCR, Immunoblot (Igenix, Vibrant America), FISH testing for Babesia (Igenix), and some of the uncommonly tested parts of the immune system like the T-cells (InfectoLab). She also reviews how these bacteria can hide deep within tissue compartments and intracellularly,  and that they can change themselves to hide from our immune system as well as changing our immune system itself. This flows right into the discussion about treatments with a focus on antibiotics: when to start them, when to stop them, how long they may be used for and what they can or can't do for recovering from chronic persistent infections. Dr Chheda explains why the CDC-criteria for Lyme disease set in the 1990's to target surveillance of population health lacks the sensitivity to find the cases of Lyme disease out there that can be responsive to treatment and discusses the critical importance of interpreting all test results in the clinical context of the individual patient. This one-hour show cracks the nut on how to think about testing and treating of these tricky vector-borne diseases that can trigger a chronic persistent infection that impedes optimal health.

Nancy Nomellini is driving the development of the community-rooted Yoga center called Mother Yoga in Seattle, Washington. In this episode, she rips off the assumptions we have about Yoga as something that we go to or do. “When consciousness began, Yoga began.”  There is no way which we can escape Yoga. Yoga exists as we exist. Are we living or are we LIVING? There might not be a difference except in our awareness. Can we raise our awareness, attitude & mental temperament to meet this gift of living reality? Join us as we swim around in the science, history, stories and scriptures of Yoga. Nancy brilliantly describes some of the types of Yoga including Hatha (postures, movements), Raja (royal), Bhakti (devotion), and Tantra (rustic, ritual). She shares scriptural descriptions of Yoga pinning these to the daily experience including the dual-non-dualism in the Bhagvada Gita, Yoga Sutras and others. We walk through oppression/justice work and spiritual by-passing. Nancy is a charismatic & engaging story-teller who is unapologetic towards her target of truth. She is solidly anchored within her body, breath, family, history, community and the work of justice, including veganism, while she gathers & weaves these wisdom threads through the joys, tragedies and mundane parts of being alive. This is a show not to be missed. Settle in to your body & breath & let Nancy take you for this ride. Then donate to her Go Fund Me for community Yoga and join her Yoga classes online & in person in Seattle: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/mother-yoga-seattle Mother Yoga Seattle: www.motheryogaseattle.com

Gays Making is the podcast that spotlights LGBTQIA creators, artists, musicians, actor, performers - any and all creatives. Join Grayson Hay as he has conversations with LGBTQIA creators about their art, their inspirations, and how they stay creative in the world. Premiering May 27th and releasing every other week on Thursdays! Subscribe now where you get your podcasts! Presented by Partyfish Media 🎉🐟

Health and healing have history in time immemorial. We all do it- people, animals, plants, communities, and planet. In this episode, Matia Jones, Medical and Ecological Anthropologist, and Gillian Ehrlich, Family Nurse Practitioner, dive into definitions of health and healing across time and space. The conversation covers one of the traditional definitions of health from the ancient Ayurvedic texts as well as descriptions of ‘intactness’ from the Mayan culture. We reflect on the recent conviction of Derek Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd as a type of autoimmune disease, in which the cells of the organism charged with protection and security are destroying other cells they are responsible for keeping safe, which ultimately threatens the viability of the whole organism. There is much to be gained here in terms of reminders that we belong within this body and on this planet. 

Put on your seatbelt because Dr Boles is taking you for a genetics ride you might need to listen to twice! We start at the beginning, talking about Mendel's pea plants, what is DNA, RNA and how does inheritance work. Then, we peel the onion another layer and review mitochondria, which have their own genetic lineage, including how, when and why our inheritances overlap. THEN, we further peel the onion to get into the poly-genetic origins of functional disease. Boom. It's a fascinating discussion that delineates structural vs functional disease and how most of what we struggle with in the modern world is functional disease. AND THEN, we do a deep dive into the genetics that underlie functional diseases like autism, chronic fatigue (CFS/ME), anxiety, depression, OCD, dysautonomia, abdominal migraines and cyclic vomiting syndrome. Dr Boles' adept descriptions make this reasonably understandable as he winds his way through mitochondrial treatments (vitamins, minerals, nutrients and medication options) as well as a clear teaching about channelopathies and why this might be your subtle but persistent problem. He finishes up talking about the company he founded, Neuro Needs, to offer mitochondrial cocktails, after struggling to give children and adults with congenital and acquired mitochondropathies all of the nutrients they needed over the years. Tune in to understand some of the more subtle but impactful aspects of our genotype vs phenotypical presentation in our daily life.  Resources:  To have a consult with Dr Boles: https://neurabilities.com/our-team/ For his Neuro Needs mitochondrial support products: https://www.neuroneeds.com/