Critically Speaking

In this episode, Therese Markow interviews Dr. Shaina Stacy about her studies on cancer risks in children depending upon the body mass index (BMI) of their mothers before and during pregnancy. Dr. Stacy explains how she obtained a sample of nearly 2 million mother-child pairs in the state of Pennsylvania, the largest sample size ever for such a study. They discuss how children of women with a BMI of over 30 when pregnant, had a significantly higher risk of cancers compared to children of lean mothers. This was notable for leukemia in children under 5, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The mechanism underlying the increased risk is not yet known.  

 Key Takeaways:  

• Maternal obesity before and during pregnancy increases the risk for cancers in children under 5 years of age. 
• The risk of leukemia, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL, is the greatest. 
• Children of white, educated women, if obese during pregnancy, have the highest risk. 
• Transgenerational effects of obesity are becoming more apparent. 

"We found that children born to mothers in our highest BMI category had over 30% higher risk of developing any type of childhood cancer." —  Dr. Shaina Stacy 

Connect with Dr. Shaina Stacy:  

Twitter: @sstacy06 

LinkedIn: Shaina Stacy  

Scientific American Blog Post: Cancer Prevention Should Start before Birth    

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Cheryl Hawkes discuss the increasing scientific evidence that maternal obesity affects the developing fetal brain.  While many of the effects are manifest early, in infant temperament and childhood cognitive (IQ) decrements, other effects do not show up until years later, in adult psychiatric and neurodegenerative problems.  The physical bases for these changes in fetal brains also are clearly evidenced in laboratory model systems, such as mice, where the maternal diets can be controlled and the offspring not only can be given behavioral tests, but their brains can be dissected to reveal the changes in the blood vessels caused by obese mothers. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• Children born to obese mothers who are obese have lower IQs and poorer motor, spatial, and verbal skills. 
• Mice and rodents have similar brain development to humans, which is why rodent study models are so beneficial to science. 
• Brain maturation takes many years. Your brain is fully formed at birth but continues to mature and change into your mid-twenties. 

"Because of the rise in obesity globally, a lot of people have started to look, rather than looking at famine…, to now shift our attention to looking at the long term effects of obesity because 30% of women around the world, over the age of 18, are now considered to be obese." —  Dr. Cheryl Hawkes 

Connect with Dr. Cheryl Hawkes:  

Lancaster University Profile: Dr. Cheryl Hawkes    

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Erica Sonnenburg discuss the diverse and active microbiome that is in the human body. This microbiome in our gut varies from person to person and is largely environmentally based – those foods we eat, and what we choose to consume plays a factor on how healthy our gut biome is. They discuss the changes of the microbiome as infants as well as in adults, and ways that we can change or reset the microbiome, as well as what we each can do every day to keep our microbiomes healthy. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• Typical western diets now are very low in complex carbohydrates and it is affecting the microbiome in the large intestine. 
• Your environment is a big player in your microbiome – what you eat, lifestyle, medications, etc. 
• The first year of a baby’s life, their microbiome could make an impact on their immune system.  

"Unlike our human genome, which we have almost no control over, our microbiome is something that we have a lot of control over based on our environment." —  Dr. Erica Sonnenburg 

Connect with Dr. Erica Sonnenburg:  

Website: SonnenburgLab.Stanford.edu 

Book: The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-Term Health 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Glenn Morrison is a professor in Environmental Science and Engineering with a primary interest in chemical and transport phenomena in building environments. These phenomena help us understand, but also control, human exposure to chemicals and particles that are released or transformed indoors. Dr. Morrison has directed research projects and field studies of dermal uptake of indoor pollutants, ozone surface chemistry, building forensics, sensor development, pollutant movement in buildings, aerosol transport of SVOCs, exposure implications of smog reactions with human surfaces and hair and related projects. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Glenn Morrison discuss the change in how society has viewed and handled indoor air pollutants and how that view continues to change as technologies change. They go into more detail about what we know about air pollutants, their sources, and their abilities to damage human health. In addition, Therese and Dr. Morrison continue on to talk about steps, both easy and difficult, that you can do to avoid pollutants in your home and ways to make your life safer and healthier from air pollutants. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• There are thousands of pollutants present in buildings, most are specific chemicals from building materials. 
• Buildings breathe – even if your house seems “closed up” there is still minor airflow from tiny cracks and window edges. You are always breathing outdoor air, even if it has been inside for several hours. 
• Keeping buildings dry is really important for good air quality. 

"Never burn anything in your home. Anything that produces these fine particles from combustion is potentially a problem and you’re just adding to the amount of pollution you’re breathing in." —  Dr. Glenn Morrison 

Connect with Dr. Glenn Morrison:    

UNC Profile: Glenn Morrison, PhD    

Video Presentation: Indoor Chemistry Applications and Solutions, Dr. G. Morrison 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Jeanette McCarthy is a genetic epidemiologist and currently holds adjunct professorships at Duke University and UCSF. She is a leading educator in the field of genomic and precision medicine involved in demystifying genomics for non-technical audiences, including health care providers and patients. In 2014 she helped launch the first consumer-facing magazine in this field, Genome, where she served as editor-in-chief until 2016. She teaches genomic and precision medicine through UCSF and UC Berkeley Extension and online through the Precision Medicine Academy (precisionmedicineacademy.org). 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jeanette McCarthy discuss what precision medicine is and what it isn’t, including the history and the uses of precision medicine. Genetic testing and precision medicine can be used for different types of diagnosis throughout the course of someone’s life, from prenatal testing, childhood genetic diseases, cancer, and more. They discuss some of the reasons of why it may not be as widely used as it could be, as well as the latest developments and exciting new findings in the field. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• The 2013 Supreme Court ruling that you cannot patent genes has lowered the price and broadened the research with genetic testing. 
• Many physicians don’t have the confidence in their own skills on ordering, interpreting, and communicating the test results. It is a relatively new thing that is not really taught in medical school. 
• New sequencing technology is changing and improving information we can receive from these tests. 

"In general, there are modest, but significant, increases in the efficacy of treatment [with targeted cancer treatments]." —  Dr. Jeanette McCarthy 

Connect with Dr. Jeanette McCarthy:   

Twitter: @Genomeducation 

Website: PrecisionMedicineAdvisors.com 

Book: Precision Medicine: A Guide to Genomics in Clinical Practice 

Magazine: Genome 

LinkedIn: Jeanette McCarthy 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Garrett Broad is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University and the author of More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change (University of California Press, 2016). His research investigates the role of storytelling and communication technology in promoting networked movements for social justice. Much of his work focuses on local and global food systems, as he explores how food can best contribute to improved neighborhood health, environmental sustainability, and the rights and welfare of animals.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Garrett Broad discuss the emerging culture around cellular meat and the changing space for this product in the marketplace.  Therese and Dr. Broad discuss how the animal cells are acquired, the process of growing the “meat" in a lab, and the types of products currently, and possibly in the future, grown in laboratories.  They also discuss how food activists can make beneficial impacts on food justice and food sovereignty and change "food deserts" or "food swamps” and the communities in which they are embedded. 

 Key Takeaways:

• In food deserts, the problem is the nutritional quality of available foods, as well as the cultural and economic interests of the area.
• Ground “meat” is the most likely type of food that we are going to be seeing from cell-cultured products, most likely mixed with plant-based products.
• Cultured animal products have the potential to reduce animal suffering, but the impacts on the planet are not yet certain.
• Still in development are the specific rules for FDA and USDA oversight of the safety and quality of the cellular products.

"I don’t think there’s any way cell-cultured meat gets to market in any serious way without getting off of FBS (fetal bovine serum)." —  Dr. Garrett Broad

Connect with Dr. Garrett Broad:  

Twitter: @GarrettBroad

Website: GarrettBroad.com

Book: More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change

Articles: Why We Should Make room for Debate about High-Tech Meat

Plant-based and cell-based animal product alternatives: An assessment and agenda for food tech justice

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Dr. Robert Temple serves as CDER’s Deputy Center Director for Clinical Science and Senior Advisor in the Immediate Office of the Office of New Drugs (OND). 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Robert Temple discuss what the term clinical trial means and how it compares to clinical studies or clinical investigations, as well as the many various facets of applying for and conducting a clinical trial. All clinical trials must be approved through the FDA application process and, once completed, the results must be reported back to the FDA. As new drugs and other therapies have been developed clinical trials became more relevant throughout the 20th century.  They discuss how a positive outcome of a clinical trial is determined, namely that there is an improvement in the particular condition being targeted and that there are no harmful effects.   

 Key Takeaways:  

• While the FDA recognizes several types of clinical trials, the most common is where there are two groups of patients.  One group receives the therapy in question and the other a placebo or blank.  The participants are not aware of which group they are in. 
• Many clinical trials are completed in a clinic, however, some are now being offered in situ – wherever the participant is already, such as via cell phone. 
• If you are looking at participating in a clinical trial, ask what the data is that they are trying to get from the trial. Ask for what has previously been tried, with animal trials and human trials, with the drug previously. 

"That’s what I hope will be conveyed to people – you should be in trials because it’s good for everybody, we learn more." —  Dr. Robert Temple 

Connect with Dr. Robert Temple:  

FDA Bio: Robert Temple M.D. 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Paul Shapiro discuss cellular agriculture and the prospect of growing meat in the laboratory. They examine what is meant by "clean meat", who is investing in this technology, and the future of the meat industry in general. As individuals around the world rise to middle income status, there is also a rise in meat consumption.  Animal agriculture produces considerable levels of greenhouse gases which subsequently affect the planet. Paul Shapiro suggests that it's easier to change a product than to change people and that the demand for meat could be met in an alternative way. With the new technologies being developed in regard to cellular and acellular agriculture, plant-based and animal-based proteins can be mixed, with the potential to reduce livestock production and the release of methane gas into the atmosphere. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Meat substitutes have been around for a long time – a recipe was found for a lamb-substitute dish in around 950 CE in ancient China.
• Some plants, like soy, do have all nine essential amino acids. Others, like rice and beans, when combined, also are complete together.
• Will a time come when we think of laboratory grown meat as naturally preferable to the way we used to do it – just like the change from ice harvesting to ice made in your freezer?

"I believe that blending meat is the fastest way to actually improve the sustainability of the protein that most people are eating, in the same way that improving dual efficiency of cars is a faster way than trying to persuade people to switch to more expensive, all electric cars." —  Paul Shapiro

Connect with Paul Shapiro:  

Twitter: @PaulHShapiro 

Facebook: Paul Shapiro

Website: Paul-Shapiro.com & BetterMeat.co

Instagram: @paulshapiro1  

Book: Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World

Show: The Business For Good Podcast

LinkedIn: Paul Shapiro

Medium: Paul Shapiro

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Dr. Zehr is the scientific editor for the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, which produces two peer-reviewed journals, Radiologic Technology and Radiation Therapist.  Dr. Zehr holds a doctorate in biomedical science with focuses in cardiovascular physiology and fatty acid metabolism.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Kayla Zehr discuss male breast cancer. Men can and do get breast cancer.  While at a seemingly low rate of 1% of all cancer cases being male breast cancer, the rate has been increasing, 26% in the last three decades. They discuss the similarities in breast cancer between men and women, as well as the increased risk for transgendered individuals. Because men often think this is a woman only disease, they may ignore symptoms or feel stigmatized by breast disease.   Thus, they are often diagnosed at a more advanced stage of the disease.   Through awareness and education, we hope to improve breast cancer screening and outcomes for men. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• Before puberty, male and female breasts are identical. After puberty there are some changes due to hormones. 
• Men, as in women, with a 1st degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer have a 2 to 3-fold increased risk of developing breast cancer themselves. 
• Unfortunately, probably through lack of awareness or fear of stigmatization, men tend to be diagnosed when their breast cancer is at a more advanced stage and, thus, their treatment outcomes are not as successful as for women. 
• Men should engage in the same self-examination processes as women and, if diagnosed, should be helped to not feel isolated. 

"Increased circulation of androgens isn’t helpful for breast cancer risk." —  Dr. Kayla Zehr 

Connect with Dr. Kayla Zehr: 

Article: Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer in Men.  

LinkedIn: Kayla Zehr, PhD 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Ricki Lewis discuss the change in consumer genetic testing that became possible due to the human genome project. Dr. Lewis has utilized the genetic testing more than once herself and they discuss how the results of the test varied, as well as the surprise and irony of the geneticist receiving surprise genetic test findings. Dr. Lewis has had a long career in the life sciences, including her authorship in 36 textbooks and her publications in multiple journals and magazines.  

 Key Takeaways:  

• In 6 months, 23andMe was able to find a Parkinson’s Disease chain using 10,000+ people’s voluntary results of the testing. 
• As soon as you find out you have half siblings, half of your medical history is incorrect. 
• Learning information from older relatives can help you put pieces together with your genetic history. 

"Think really carefully before you start delving into your genetic information." —  Dr. Ricki Lewis 

Connect with Dr. Ricki Lewis: 

Website: RickiLewis.com    

DNA Science Blog Articles: Ricki Lewis, PhD    

Genetic Literacy Project: Ricki Lewis  

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.