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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Randall Urban about his research on the link between Long COVID and growth hormone and how growth hormone may potentially reverse or decrease the neurological symptoms/brain fog associated with Long COVID.
Dr. Urban is an endocrinologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He is the Vice Dean of Clinical Research in the School of Medicine, Vice President and Chief Research Officer, and the Principle Investigator of UTMB's Clinical Translational Science Award. You can learn more about his research here.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Valter Longo about his latest research on the fasting-mimicking diet (FMG) and how it has been shown in studies to reduce biological age and disease risk. In great detail, he describes the fasting-mimicking diet and its components while explaining how it was tested in clinical trials for its effect on biological age and disease risk. Dr. Longo describes the difference between biological age and chronological age and how he and his team measured biological age in the studies. Not attributing the benefits of the fasting-mimicking diet to weight loss alone, Dr. Valter offers theories for how it reduces biological age. Importantly, he comments on the controversial fasting study that suggests 8-hour-time-restricted eating is linked to a 91% higher risk of death from heart disease and closes by telling us what he thinks is the best fasting protocol and why.
Dr. Longo  is a professor of gerontology and biological sciences and director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, a leading center for research on aging and age-related diseases. He also serves as the Director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy. He is author of the international best-selling book, The Longevity Diet.  Holding a PhD in biochemistry from UCLA, his research focuses on the mechanisms of aging, including dietary and genetic interventions to slow biological aging. Read more about him here.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks converses with Dr. Jay Maddock about his research on the scientific connection between nature and mental health benefits. The discussion centers on one of his recent studies, which examined the relationship between a community's "Nature Score" and levels of anxiety, stress, and depression. Dr. Maddock explains the concept of a "Nature Score," the methodology of the study, and its findings. He also highlights other research indicating that exposure to nature can help with PTSD and ADHD, and explores theories on why nature positively impacts mental health and why a lack of it can be harmful. Finally, he delves into ongoing research in this field and discusses its implications for public health practices.
 
Dr. Maddock is a researcher and regents professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M University. He is director of the Center for Health and Nature,  Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living and Chair of the Nature and Health Alliance.

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On this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Diana Noga about her new research on the relationship between short sleep and the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. This is especially relevant in a busy world that doesn't prioritize sleep and is already facing growing rates of Type 2 Diabetes, even in younger age groups.
 In the podcast, she discusses how they conducted their study and the theories for why a short nightly sleep duration may increase risk for Type 2 Diabetes. She also explains a surprising finding, which was that a healthy diet did not mitigate risk of Type 2 Diabetes when short sleep was involved.
Dr. Noga is a researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden where she focuses on the relationship between sleep and health. You can learn more about her work here.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Mark Mamula about the vaccine he and his team created for cancer in dogs. In the podcast, he explains how they created the vaccine, how it works, how they are testing it in dogs, and what is currently known about how well it works. He describes the types of cancers in dogs that the vaccine is targeting, the similarities between cancer in dogs and cancer in humans and how the vaccine could one day also be used for cancer in humans.
Dr. Mamula is a researcher and professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. His lab focuses on cancer immunology, tumor biology and autoimmune disease. You can learn more about his work here. You can read a scientific paper on the vaccine for cancer in dogs here.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with venom expert Tim Friede about his twenty plus years' "unusual" journey with the world's most venomous snakes: Seeking protection from snake bites, Tim purposely injected himself with diluted venom at escalating doses until he achieved a level of hyperimmunity unknown to humans. Working by himself in his Wisconsin home, Tim achieved the uncanny ability of being purposely bitten by the world's deadliest snakes, including cobras, rattlers, black mambas, et al and surviving with no major side effects. He has been bitten by snakes at least 200 times. He has had some close calls, which he discusses in the podcast.
Understanding that his blood was an anomalous, potentially life-saving stew for future victims of snake bites, Tim joined forces with Jacob Glanville, founder of biotech company Centivax, to create the world's first fully human broad-spectrum antivenom. In the podcast, Tim explains how Centivax is using his blood to do this and where they are in their research to create universal antivenom.

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On this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Prabhat Jha about his fascinating research recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the extent and speed at which quitting smoking reduces death rates from smoking-related illnesses.  What he describes in the podcast will be encouragement for anyone, no matter how long they smoked, to consider quitting. In addition to his research, we also chat about evidence for and against vaping, and he also shares a colorful tale on the lows the tobacco industry will go to keep people hooked.
Dr. Jha is an epidemiologist, researcher and founding director of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. His research focus is death resulting from HIV, tobacco, alcohol, malaria and both infectious and non-communicable diseases in general. You can read more about him on his Wikipedia page here.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Wilson Merrell about his recently published research on the percentage of people who hide the fact that they are sick with an infectious disease. In the podcast, he discusses who hides the fact that they are sick, when they do it, why they do it and how they do it. He explains their motives, things the researchers found surprising and the wider implications of his research. 
Dr. Merrell is a researcher who completed his PhD in social psychology at the University of Michigan. He is currently doing postdoc research at the Center for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination at Aarhus University.  His research focus is on psychological processes that help people manage fundamental threats and opportunities in their environment.  

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On this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats wtih Dr. Dmitry Abramov about his and his team's research on the impact of substance use on heart-related deaths over time in the US. The research was recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. In the podcast, he explains how he did the research, what substances have the greatest impact on heart-related deaths, and what subpopulations are most at risk, including some surprising trends. Substances assessed include alcohol, opioids, marijuana, and psychostimulants. He also describes how these substances may damage the heart. 
Dr. Abramov is a practicing cardiologist and researcher at Loma Linda University. His specialties include cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.

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In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Erica Fernandes about the identification of a new syndrome linked to fentanyl exposure while in the womb.
Dr. Fernandes first discusses how a new syndrome related to developmental or genetic abnormalities is identified and then explains how they carried out their study at Nemours Children's Hospital. She discusses the specific characteristics identified in the babies enrolled in their study and how fentanyl was identified as the common exposure. She explains how other known syndromes were ruled out and discusses ongoing research to determine how exactly fentanyl causes the new syndrome. Finally, she offers next steps in terms of informing the public and public health.
Dr. Fernandes is a practicing physician and researcher in the division of medical genetics at Nemours Children's Health. Her and her team's study on the new syndrome was recently published here in Genetics in Medicine Open.

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