Causes or Cures
Dr. Eeks
"For the Nerds and the Nerd Nots"Causes or Cures is a health podcast hosted by Dr. Eeks—an independent, grassroots show driven by curiosity and a passion for breaking down complex health topics into bite-sized, easy-to-understand insights. Dr. Eeks works as a public health consultant, in the realm of epi/scicomms. She's all about making science relatable and often uses a blue-collar sense of humor to drive the message home.On this podcast, Dr. Eeks talks with experts from around the world (doctors, researchers, public health pros, and more) to dive into the latest hot topics in health and research, all in a down-to-earth kind of way. She also includes people with compelling stories of healing and "characters" because life is too boring and short to leave out characters. ;)DISCLAIMER: Some topics are more controversial than others, so keep in mind that this is information only and not health advice. Dr. Eeks doesn't endorse any of her guests' views, and despite a strict health routine, nor does she endorse any products, supplements, oils, magic socks or potions. If an episode is sponsored by a company she likes, she will say so in the show notes! Causes or Cures is not a "news site." It's about having conversations, and Dr. Eeks is confident that she can have a respectful conversation with anyone, even people who think far differently than she does. (At least that's been her experience at hole-in-the-walls & on the NYC sidewalks.) The point is to not take anything here as Gospel. Sometimes Dr. Eeks' dog Barnaby makes his opinion known, but the good news is that he's a smart dog. Most importantly, she hopes this podcast encourages folks to stay curious, empathic, hopeful, compassionate, honest, open-minded, and engaged. Freedom of discussion is a beautiful thing, delightfully messy, and one that many take for granted.*The views on this podcast do not reflect the views of anyone she contracts with or consults for. You can contact Dr. Eeks through her website, bloomingwellness.com.If you are interested in sponsoring an episode, write erin@bloomingwellness.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 10, 2022 • 58min
Tripping through Time, Psychedelic Medicine's Past and the Promising Paths Ahead, with Dr. Dave Smith
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. David Smith about the history and future of psychedelic medicine. He will discuss early research on psychedelics (including experiments the CIA ran), the potential health benefits and disorders they may treat, any potential side effects we should worry about, the current state of research, and why he remains cautiously optimistic. (You'll also hear about some of your favorite bands and how their contributions kept some of the earliest clinics open.) Dr. David Smith is one of the founders of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, founded in 1967 during the Summer of Love. He is a recognized national leader in the treatment of addictive disease and the psychopharmacology of drugs. Now in his eighties, he continues to serve as medical director for several medical centers and is chair of addiction medicine for a residential center for teens with substance abuse. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and the California Society of Addiction Medicine and founding editor of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read her bookSubcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
May 8, 2022 • 30min
Cerebral Slimdown: Cracking the Code of Brain Proteins in Weight Control, with Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Gassen
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Mathias Schmidt and Dr. Nils Gassen about their recent research published in Science Advances that involves a protein in the brain that may link autophagy to metabolism to weight control and the fight against obesity. In the podcast, they will discuss why they are interested in obesity research, why they have a specific interest in this protein, what they knew about the protein before the study and what they learned, what autophagy is, how it is linked to the specific protein, how autophagy is linked to metabolism, and what their research might mean for weight control and the fight against obesity going forward.. Dr. Schmidt is the Research Group Leader of the Neurobiology of Stress Resilience at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany and Dr. Gassen is a Research Group Leader at the University of Bonn Medical Center in Germany. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 26, 2022 • 45min
On Losing her Sons to the Opioid Epidemic and Navigating Grief, with Cheryl Juaire
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Cheryl Juaire, founder of Team Sharing, INC. Cheryl will discuss Team Sharing, a not-for-profit for parents who have lost their kids to substance abuse disorder, including opioids, and why she started it. She will talk about what it was like to navigate loss and grief after losing two of her sons to the opioid epidemic and how Team Sharing helps parents and family members navigate through grief. She will also discuss what she thinks the public health response to the opioid epidemic should look like, and she will talk about what it was like to personally address the Sackler Family, owners of the disgraced pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma that led a wide and false marketing campaign that misinformed patients and providers about the addictive potential of prescribed opioids. (If you are interested in joining a virtual 5K on May 7th to help raise money for TeamSharing, the sign-up link is here! For a great cause!)You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 23, 2022 • 28min
The First Potential Case of Deer to Human COVID-19 transmission, with Dr. Brad Pickering
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Brad Pickering about COVID-19 spillover from humans into other animals, particularly his work on viral spillover into white-tailed deer in Canada, as well as the case he and his team discovered that might be the first, identifiable case of deer to human transmission of the virus. He will discuss the unique mutations in the deer viral samples, the potential first case of deer to human transmission (how it was identified and how it might have occurred), vaccine effectiveness against the deer viral samples and what this potential spillover and spillback might mean for managing the COVID-19 virus going forward. Dr. Pickering is the head of the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Center for Foreign Animal Disease for the Canadian Government. You can read his study here. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 18, 2022 • 37min
How the Pharmaceutical Industry Influences UK's Parliamentary Groups & Why It Matters, with Emily Rickard
Send us a textContinuing our exploration of the pharmaceutical industry's influence on health and health policy at a global level, in this podcast, Dr. Eeks has a conversation with Emily Rickard about her research on how the industry influences the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Groups. She will explain what the All-Party Parliamentary Groups, particularly the health-related ones, are and what they do. She'll talk about both the direct and indirect ways the pharmaceutical industry influences those groups and why that matters from both a transparency issue and a health-policy one. Emily is a researcher and doctoral student with the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Bath. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 12, 2022 • 32min
What Indigenous Populations Can Teach Us About Preventing Dementia, with Dr. Margaret Gatz
Send us a textRates of dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, are only increasing in developed nations as scientists race to find treatments and identify preventive strategies. In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Margaret Gatz about her research published in the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association titled: Prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in indigenous Bolivian forager-horticulturalists. In the podcast she will discuss these indigenous populations, including their lifestyle, diet and educational levels, how she conducted her research to assess their risks and rates of dementia, how their rates compare to the developed world, some intriguing findings, and what developed nations with growing rates of Alzheimer's disease can potentially learn from them in terms of risk factors for dementia and prevention. Dr. Gatz is a professor of psychology, gerontology and preventive medicine at the University of Southern California's Lenoard Davis School of Gerontology. Studies in her Gatz lab include age-related changes in cognition, depression, personality and preventive factors for Alzheimer's Disease and other kinds of dementia. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 7, 2022 • 1h 5min
Whose Science is it Anyway? The Perils of Regulatory Capture in Research, with Dr. Andrea Saltelli
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Andrea Saltelli about his recent paper on regulatory capture titled: Science, the Endless Frontier of Regulatory Capture. He will discuss what regulatory capture is, what cultural capture is, what an epistemic ladder of corruption is and how all of these things impact science, influence policy and ultimately, all of us. He will use specific case studies to highlight elements of regulatory capture in science that make it easier to understand. He will also discuss ways to make regulatory capture less of an issue for science and subsequent policies. Dr. Saltelli has done a lot of research on physical chemistry, environmental science and applied statistics. His main area of focus is sensitivity analysis of model output, where statistical tools are used to interpret outputs from mathematical and computational models, and sensitivity auditing, an extension of sensitivity analysis applied to the entire evidence-generating process from a policy context. Till 2015, he worked at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, leading a team devoted to econometrics and applied statistics. Between 2016-2020, he was associate professor at the Center for the Study of the Sciences of Humanity at the University of Bergen. His recent work includes the reproducibility of scientific results, principles of modeling & the ethics of quantification. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Apr 4, 2022 • 48min
The Case for Why Features of the US HealthCare System Caused the Opioid Epidemic, with Dr. Janet Currie
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Janet Currie about the factors that caused the opioid epidemic. They will discuss her recent research published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, "The Opioid Epidemic was Not Caused by Economic Distress but by Factors that Could be More Rapidly Addressed." In this podcast, she will discuss the history of the opioid epidemic, how it started and explain why prescriptions for opioids and healthcare market policies are what fueled the epidemic, not economic factors. Dr. Currie is an economist and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University and the co-director of Princeton's Center for Health and Wellbeing. She is also codirector of the Program on Families and Children at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She was named a Nomis Distinguished Scientist in 2019 and 1 of the top 10 women in economics by the World Economics Forum in 2015. She has served as the President of the American Society of Health Economics, The Society of Labour Economics and Vice President of the American Economics Association. She is considered a pioneer in the economic analysis of child development and her current research focuses on the socioeconomic differences in health, access to healthcare, and environmental threats to health. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Or TikTokRead her BookSubcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Mar 24, 2022 • 48min
Behind the Script: Unveilling Doctor-Pharma Relationships and the Limits of Transparency, with Dr. Joel Lexchin
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Joel Lexchin about his recent research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine titled: A Ray of Sunshine: Transparency in Physician-Industry Relationships Is Not Enough. He will discuss what the Sunshine Act was designed to accomplish in terms of being transparent about physician-industry relationships, what it actually did, and how it did or did not change physician behavior, industry behavior and consumer behavior. Dr. Lexchin is a professor at the York University Faculty of Health where he taught pharmaceutical policy, an emergency medicine physician, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the author of over 160 peer-reviewed publications. He was a member of the Ontario Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee and chair of the Drugs and Pharmacotherapy Committee of the Ontario Medical Association for 2 years.You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Mar 21, 2022 • 40min
Cleansing Spirits: A Conversation with a Modern Exorcist, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti
Send us a textIn this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Msgr Stephen Rossetti about his work as an Exorcist. He has conducted hundreds of exorcisms. In this podcast, he will describe what it means to be possessed and how possessions manifest, how one discerns possession from an underlying mental or physiological issue, who Spiritual Sensitives are and why they are important, what happens during an exorcism and some of his scarier moments, how long exorcisms take and what he says to the doubters. Msgr. Rossetti is the author of A Diary of an American Exorcist. He has a Ph.D in psychology and is a licensed psychologist, is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and is President of the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal and a research associate professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington. He helped create the app, Catholic Exorcism , which provides deliverance and exorcism prayers in English and Spanish and maintains an active blog. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Subcribe to her newsletter here!You can support the Show here.Support the show
