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
Jan 27, 2020 • 56min
How to Survive a Nuclear Bomb, with Nuclear Radiation Guru, Dr. Andrew Karam
Send us a textMost people think that it's impossible to survive a nuclear bomb. It is if you're stuck in the fallout plume or come outside before it's safe and get a lethal dose of radiation. But.., is it possible to increase your chances of surviving a nuclear bomb? Dr. Andrew Karam, a world-wide nuclear radiation expert says it absolutely is. In this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Andrew Karam. He will talk about where you should go once you hear a nuclear bomb is launched, how much time you have to prepare, what you should eat, drink, what you should do for your kids and pets, and he even talks about when it's okay to use hair conditioner again. And, since Iran was in the news recently, he talks about their nuclear capabilities, which might listen folks from an international relations perspective. Dr. Karam has a doctorate degree in environmental sciences and a masters degree in geological sciences. He's a graduate of the Naval Chemistry and Radiological Controls School and the Naval Nuclear Power School. Since 1981, Andy has worked in the radiation safety field. He started out working for the Navy and designed numerous radiation safety courses for the military and universities, including The University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, American University of Kosovo and The Center for Advanced Defense Studies. He's a board-certified international consultant for all radiological and nuclear matters, including radiological terrorism, and has consulted for the NYPD Counterterrorism division, NYC Department of Health, NASA Lewis Research Center, Honeywell, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Panama Canal, the Canadian Army, Constellation Energy group and more. He's worked as a professor and has written over 200 peer-reviewed articles, several books and over 100 technical papers on the subject. Listen, subscribe and please share. :) 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
Jan 9, 2020 • 35min
An interview with Amber Romaniuk on Emotional Eating: Her Personal Story and How She Overcame It
Send us a textIn this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Amber Romaniuk, an Emotional Eating, Digestive and Hormone Expert who now helps women achieve optimal health through mindful eating and teaching them how to overcome their struggles with food. Amber describes her own struggle with emotional eating that involved her gaining and losing a total of 1000 pounds and spending 50,000 dollars on binge foods. She discusses how to identify if you are struggling with emotional eating, how it may be affecting your relationships, how she overcame it and how you can overcome it. She also talks about her Body Freedom program and how it's helping women all over the world. To learn more about Amber, visit amberapproved.ca.You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Dec 9, 2019 • 28min
Fat-Shaming Celebrities & What That Does to All of Us: An Interview with Researcher Amanda Ravary
Send us a text Society loves to shame people for their weight. It's called fat-shaming, and even though it doesn't do anything beneficial for physical or mental health on a societal or individual level, it happens all of the time. It's a form of bullying that often gets a pass under the guise of concern, small-talk or encouragement to lose weight. Celebrities face constant scrutiny over their looks and weight and when they are fat-shamed, it's in a very public way: a viral social media post, a magazine article, a TV show, etc. And while we can imagine that this is a painful experience for the person being fat-shamed, does it impact the rest of us, and if so, how? Today's Causes or Cures podcast features Amanda Ravary, a clinical psychologist and researcher at McGill University that researched this topic. Specifically, she analyzed high-profile incidents of celebrity fat-shaming and studied the effects they had on a large sample of women. Click to listen, subscribe to the podcast! :) You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.cFollow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Nov 27, 2019 • 39min
Comedic Meditation with Comedian Carla Collins and Katie Reese
Send us a textWhat is Comedic Meditation? Listen to find out, and we promise you'll want to try it. In this episode of Causes Or Cures, Dr. Eeks (Erin) chats with Carla Collins and Katie Reese, co-founders of Comedic Meditation. Carla Collins is an award-winning comedian who performs all over the country. She's also the bestselling author of Angels, Vampires and Douche Bags. You can watch her reality show Carlawood on Amazon Prime. Katie Reese is a former comedian and co-founder of Elements of Wellness, a LA-based functional medicine and wellness center. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Oct 29, 2019 • 29min
Forensic Elements of Killer Selfies, with Dr. Roger Byard
Send us a textThe world has an obsession with selfies, and while there are many elements to analyze from a health and wellness perspective, this episode of Causes or Cures focuses on selfies that kill people. In this episode, Dr. Roger Byard discusses the forensic elements of killer selfies, or when people die taking selfies. Listen to find out who's most at risk, the countries with the highest rate of selfie deaths and how they are responding, and some of the more dramatic examples of selfie deaths. Dr. Byard dives into other interesting topics as well. Dr. Byard is a forensic pathologist and Professor of Pathology at The University of Adelaide. He has written over 700 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology. If you watch The History Channel, you might have seen him recently featured in Lawless: The Real Bushrangers. He also has a book coming out called The Pathology of Old Age. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Sep 29, 2019 • 28min
The Faulty Health Claims of Alkaline Water: An Interview with Dr. Tanis Fenton
Send us a textAlkaline ( High pH) water is a very popular wellness product,and one you'll see in natural stores across the country.The alkaline diet is also trendy, with many websites and books dedicated to it. Both alkaline water and the alkaline diet are linked to various health benefits, but is there any solid evidence to support these claims? In this Causes or Cures episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Tanis Fenton via a phone call. She is a researcher who studied the alkaline diet, alkaline water and potential health effects.Through her research, she discovered that health claims made about alkaline water and the alkaline diet are unfounded and make no sense on a basic scientific level. Dr. Fenton is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary, a Registered Dietitian, Epidemiologist and Evidence Analyst for Dietitians of Canada. She is the Nutrition Research Lead for Alberta Health Sciences. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Sep 29, 2019 • 29min
Why EMF Shields for Wireless Tech Do Not Work: An Interview with Dr. Paul Heroux
Send us a textIn this episode, Dr. Paul Heroux chats with Dr. Eeks about electromagnetism ( EMF exposure from things like cellphones, wireless, Bluetooth, and the up and coming 5G...) and why the popular EMF shields are not effective and may actually be worsening your EMF exposure. Dr. Heroux has his PhD in physics and is a researcher who focusses on EMF exposure and biological effects. He is highly published in this area and runs InVitro Plus, a toxicology laboratory out of McGill University Health Center, dedicated to studying the therapeutic and pathological effects of electromagnetism. You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.Read Manic Kingdom here.Listen to her short audio parody on the wellness industry here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Sep 15, 2019 • 24min
The Ineffectiveness of Homemade Sunscreen and the Sunscreens People Should Use to Protect their Skin: An Interview with Dr. Julie Merten
Send us a textIn the world of wellness, skepticism around commercial sunscreen is at an all-time high. Wellness bloggers, moms, influencers and others have taken to creating their own sunscreen with various SPF claims. But are these "natural", homemade sunscreens effective at all? What's in them? How is their SPF value being determined? In this podcast, Dr. Eeks has a conversation with Dr. Julie Merten about her recently published research, "Pinterest Homemade Sunscreens: A Recipe for a Sunburn." Dr. Merten answers the above questions and in general, discusses the widespread dissemination of wellness advice from "wellness advocates" on social media and what that means for consumers. Dr. Eeks asks Dr. Merten about concerns over some of the chemicals in certain sunscreens, and Dr. Merten offers her advice on how to avoid them and still protect your skin from sun damage and skin cancer. Dr. Merten is an associate professor of public health at the University of North Florida. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Public Health Review and Chair of the Skin Cancer Prevention Task Force for the Northeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative. Her research involves behavioral skin cancer prevention. Take a listen! You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.Follow Dr. Eeks on Instagram here.Or Facebook here.Or Twitter.On Youtube.Or Threads.SUBSCRIBE to her newsletter here!Support the show
Aug 13, 2019 • 1h 6min
The Social Brain Hypothesis for Depression: A Chat with Dr. Douglas Watt
Send us a textAnyone who struggles with depression or knows someone who struggles with depression should listen to this podcast. Dr. Douglas Watt is a forensic neuropsychologist with over 30 years of clinical practice. He has degrees from Harvard and Boston College, has served as the director of clinical psychology in two Boston teaching hospitals and has been on the faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine for 15 years. He teaches classes on affective neuroscience and its implications. In this podcast, Dr. Watt joins Dr. Eeks to discuss his theory for depression, The Social Brain Hypothesis, and why he believes depression is an evolutionary shut-down mechanism, the chemical imbalance theory is reductive and why conventional antidepressants fall short. He discusses what social rejection and loss of relationships does to us neurologically and why folks with an impaired capacity to make meaningful social attachments can become addicted to social media as a failed replacement for real-life intimate connections. Finally, he discusses why playfulness is a great promoter of intimacy, play as a mammilian prototype, play deficit and what we can do to fix it. This is a longer podcast, but it's full of wise gems. I highly recommend listening to at least some of it. Depression and chronic loneliness are both increasing around the globe, and Dr. Watt offers a solid reason why. ( Apologies for the clicking noise- I think that was from his phone/laptop, and couldn't remove it entirely!) :) To contact Dr. Eeks, do so through bloomingwellness.com Or follow her on Instagram here. Or Facebook here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
Jul 30, 2019 • 1h 7min
The State of Our Mental Health in the Current Political Climate: A Chat with Gabriel Nathan
Send us a textDo you think the current political climate is impacting our mental health..., or are you living under a rock? If you are living under a rock, do you have room for a few more? Just kidding, sort of. There's been a surge of requests for therapists due to stress, anxiety and relationship troubles due to the current political situation. Social media sites are saturated with tribal and reductive back-and-forths that only increase our individual and collective sense of angst. Long-term friendships have dissolved, marriages have ended, Twitter is a battlefield and toxic stress is the name of the game. In short, we've come a long way, baby. In this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Gabriel Nathan, chief editor of OC87 Recovery Stories, about the state of our mental health in the current political climate, why our interactions are toxic and broken, and what can be done to move us towards recovery. Be mindful that specific people and events are mentioned in this podcast, and though not the intent, some things mentioned might offend or anger you. Erin and Gabe have different political opinions, but let this serve as a fair warning to those whose blood pressure rises when politics comes up. To contact Dr. Eeks, do so through bloomingwellness.comTo read or listen to her new comedic parody on the sleazy side of the wellness industry, check out Yours in Wellness, Krystal Heeling on Amazon.Or you can listen to it from Google Play or Walmart! Or follow her on Instagram here. Or Facebook here.Subcribe to her newsletter here!Support the show
