Causes or Cures

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We hear a lot about COVID Long Haulers and the symptoms they experience, but are there any predicting factors for becoming one?
 
In this podcast, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Chuck Downs about his ongoing research on COVID Long Haulers. He discusses predicting factors for becoming a Long Hauler ( including age, sex, BMI); one's risk of becoming a COVID Long Hauler when he/she has asymptomatic COVID vs symptomatic COVID; the most common long-haul symptoms and how long they last; if vaccinations help Long Haulers or not, and the predominant theories about why long-haul symptoms happen in some people.

Dr. Downs was the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Miami and is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing and Health Studies. He and his team have published several papers on COVID long-haul symptoms.
 
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Many countries and states are considering vaccine passports that would show proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter certain places and do certain things. While the idea has merit, there are many ethical, legal and social concerns.
In this podcast, Dr. Eeks chats with Dimitry Kochenov, "The Passport Professor", about concerns over vaccine passports, including privacy issues; the further stigmatization of marginalized communities; the "immunoprivileged"; what we know and don't know about the science of the vaccines; the potential for the politicalization of vaccines; who will enforce vaccine passports; and personal liberties vs government mandates.
Dimitry Kochenov leads the Rule of Law research group at CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest and teaches Global Citizenship at CEU Legal Studies department in Vienna. He's an author, having written the book Citizenship and several scholarly papers, and has been a researcher or professor at numerous universities, including Oxford, Princeton and NYU. He's written or co-authored several papers on vaccine passports, including this one and his latest, The Commission against the Internal Market and EU Citizens Rights: Trying to Shoot down Sputnik with the 'Digital Green Certificate."

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Steven Hyman about PANDAS, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections. A child with PANDAS might have a Strep throat infection and then develop psychiatric symptoms soon after. Dr. Hyman will discuss what PANDAS is, why it's considered controversial, what the medical community thinks about it and their approach, research shortcomings, how potential patients with PANDAS are treated and how that treatment is different than conventional psychiatric treatment, as well as prognosis and outcomes.
He also will discuss the broader implications of PANDAS, which is a bacterial or viral infection being the cause of psychiatric symptoms and disorders in both adults and kids, and what that means for the future of the field.

Dr. Hyman is a trained psychiatrist and director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is a graduate of Yale and Harvard Medical School and  previously served as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. He is currently the president of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, past president of the Society for Neuroscience and founding president of the International Neuroethics Society.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with lung doctor, Dr. Sandra Zaeh, about how proning is saving the lives of COVID-19 patients. It's a very cost-effective technique that requires little resources, and Dr. Zaeh will explain what it is, the theory behind why it works, the ideal patients for it and how it's done. We will also discuss the evidence for proning in different patient populations.

Dr. Zaeh is a fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital who has done research on proning.

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What is a Near Death Experience? Is it a glimpse into what happens after we die or is it a side effect of something happening inside the brain as the body shuts down?
Dr. Walter van Laack joins Dr. Eeks on this episode of Causes or Cures to discuss near death experiences. In addition to being an orthopaedic surgeon and professor of medicine at the Fachhochschule Aachen in Germany, he  is one of the most popular researchers worldwide on the topic of Near Death Experiences.  He's written many books on the topic, newspaper columns and has appeared on numerous shows.
In this episode, he will discuss what a near death experience is, how they are most commonly described, the current evidence base and theories for how and why they happen, and his theory of 2 polar-symmetrical worlds, the informational world and the physical world.

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Disclaimer: Causes or Cures is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and no medical claims are being made. Always talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your personal health. 

Ivermectin is an anti-parasite drug that has been used in human and animal medicine for many years. Early in the pandemic, it was suggested that it might help prevent and/or treat COVID-19. The NIH felt there was not enough evidence to support its use against COVID-19 and in August made a recommendation AGAINST its use. In early January of 2021, the NIH invited doctors from the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance ( FLCCC), a group of crtical care physicians who strongly advocated for the use of Ivermectin for COVID-19, to present evidence for its use to their Treatment Guidance Panel. Following that meeting, the NIH removed their recommendation against its use, leaving it up to individual doctors. The WHO is currently assessing a new meta-analysis by Dr. Andrew Hill et al of Liverpool ( in preprint) on the evidence for Ivermectin and should make a ruling on its use soon.
One of the doctors to provide testimony on the benefits of Ivermectin is Dr. Pierre Kory, the president of the FLCCC Alliance. He presented evidence to both the NIH and the Senate Homeland Security Committee in a video that has now gone viral and gained millions of views. He joins Dr. Eeks on this episode of Causes or Cures to discuss Ivermectin in detail, the current evidence base for its use in treatment and prevention, the dosing riddle, and how he responds to critics. He also discusses how he thinks the future of the pandemic will play out.
Dr. Kory is a pulmonary and critical care specialist and considered a world pioneer in the use of ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of critically ill patients. In addition to numerous publications, he developed the first national course in Critical Care Ultrasonography in the US and is the senior editor of the most popular textbook in the field titled "Point of Care Ultrasound." The book is translated into 7 languages worldwide. During the pandemic, he has led ICUS in multiple COVID-19 hotspots, including New York City, Greenville and Milwaukee.  He helped author 2 protocols regarding the use of Ivermectin in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, which you can find here. Early on in the pandemic, he received widespread criticism  for promoting the use of dexamethasone as treatment for COVID-19. Month later, and after more research emerged, dexamethasone became a standard part of treatment for COVID-19 patients.

***Please keep in mind that at the time of this podcast, Ivermectin is NOT approved for use for COVID-19. You should NEVER take Ivermectin outside a doctor's supervision. This podcast is information only and never to be taken as medical or health advice.

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There are several viral videos with millions of views referencing something called Antibody-Dependent Enhancement as a potential effect of COVID-19 vaccines or vaccines in general. Some make very bold claims and it's difficult to sort fact from fiction from hyperbole in these videos. On today's episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks will chat with Dr. Robert Malone about Antibody-Dependent Enhancement and how it relates to vaccine development. He will describe it in an easy-to-understand way, discuss the specifics of vaccine development, antibodies, COVID-19 and his thoughts on herd immunity and the future of the pandemic.

Dr. Malone is a physician, vaccinologist, scientist and internationally recognized as one of the original inventors of  DNA and mRNA Vaccination technology. He has done extensive research and clinical development in the areas of clinical trial design and vaccines, gene therapy, biodefense and immunology.  In 2014, he built and led the initial team, under NewLink Genetics, that took the Canadian rVSVZEBOV-G Ebola vaccine from an abandoned vaccine candidate to a viable contender and eventually a successful vaccine for Ebola. He has worked with numerous high-level government and private organizations and has been involved in the design, development and oversight of over 40 Phase 1 Clinical trials, 20 Phase 2 clinical trials and 5 Phase 3 trials. His infectious disease pathogen advanced development oversight include HIV, Influenza, Plague, Anthrax, Tularemia, Tb, Ebola, Zika, Ricin toxin, Botulinum toxin and engineered pathogens. He has over 100 peer-reviewed papers, over 11 thousand citations and has sat on or served as chairperson on many NIAID and DoD study sections. You can learn more about his consulting firm and background here.

Please keep in mind that this podcast is information only and never to be taken as medical or health advice.

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Countless songs, poems, movies and books are about heartbreaks. We often hear people talk about their broken hearts. Maybe your heart has been broken before, maybe it's breaking now.
While none of that is to be taken literally and are expressions for how many of us will feel at some point in time..., did you know that there is actually a medical condition called Broken Heart Syndrome?  It's sometimes called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or stress cardiomyopathy, and it's linked to states of mental or physical distress.
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Antonio Abbate, a cardiologist who has researched this topic and treats patients with it, chats with Dr. Eeks about all-things Broken Heart Syndrome. He describes what it is, in simple terms, why it happens and when, who is most at risk, how you diagnose and treat it and what your chances are of getting it more than once. He'll also talk about interesting cases he's seen and risk factors you wouldn't think about.
It's a fascinating discussion that will make you think differently next time you hear someone's heart is broken.

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Many people realize that a history of head trauma or concussions is significantly linked to cognitive decline and/or dementia later in life. More awareness has been created about this issue specifically in retired NFL players who take a lot of hits to the head during their professional playing years. Harvard's Football Players Health Study studies this issue and others in retired NFL players.
While the link between head trauma and later-life cognitive decline is clear, are there any modifiable factors, or things a former player can do to lower his risk of cognitive decline? Dr. Andrea Roberts, one of the researchers involved with the Football Players Health Study, studied this in-depth and published several studies related to this issue. She joins Dr. Eeks in this episode of Causes or Cures to talk about those risk factors and what football players can do to lower their risk.  She also discusses what positions are most at risk, what parents should do if they are worried about their kids being hurt and what more can be done to address this issue overall.

You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.
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GERD is a common, painful and annoying health issue, but are there evidence-based changes people can make to prevent and/or treat it? 

In this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Raaj Mehta, an internal medicine physician and gastroenterology fellow at the Massachussetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who recently published a study in JAMA on specific lifestyle changes and dietary changes one can make to prevent GERD and/or improve treatment outcomes. He will talk about those factors in this podcast, along with the best medication options for GERD and any long-term side effects that should concern people.

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