Stiff person syndrome, like many rare diseases, does not get nearly the same amount of screen time or name recognition that other, more common diseases do. For many people, Celine Dion’s announcement of her diagnosis with the condition in 2022 marked the first time they had heard of it. This limited awareness surrounding stiff person syndrome marks just one of the many challenges keeping this disease and other rare disorders in the dark. In this episode, we attempt to shed some light on stiff person syndrome, exploring the complex biology, frustrating history, and hopeful future of this disease. Because while the field of stiff person syndrome research faces many hurdles, there are also so many individuals - researchers, patients, advocates - and organizations that fight to bring this and other rare disorders into the light. Tune in today!

Links:

National Organization for Rare Diseases

Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center

Johns Hopkins Stiff Person Syndrome Center

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Five years ago, we asked you all to ask us anything, and you delivered. We answered dozens of listener questions, like how we first met, our favorite quarantinis, where we were in our career journeys, and so many more. But in the years since that first “ask us anything”, a lot has changed for both of us! So we’re coming back to you with the answers to more of your probing questions, like “what disease names would make good person names?”, “where are you in the world these days?”, “if you could have only one sandwich for the rest of your life, what would it be?” and a million more, ranging from serious to silly and everywhere in between. Tune in for a non-stop, self-indulgent Ask the Erins!

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How is it that we can’t remember where we put our keys or the name of the person we just met, but we can recall in excruciating detail the embarrassing interaction we had at the grocery store ten years ago? Sometimes it seems like our memory works against us more than it does for us. But, as it turns out, this aspect of our memory is more a feature than a bug, and the key to understanding the difference may lie in our evolutionary history. Dr. Charan Ranganath, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California at Davis, joins us today to discuss his book Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters. Dr. Ranganath deftly guides readers through not only the “how” of memory formation but also the “why”, helping us to understand why we remember certain things and forget others. Tune in for a fascinating discussion ranging from the importance of context (like smell) in memory to the different types of memory, from decision-making to memory competitions, and so much more!

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One day, you’re enjoying a beautiful hike through the tall grass. A few months later, you find yourself in anaphylaxis from a post-hike hamburger. The culprit: a tick bite. In this much-requested episode, we take on alpha-gal syndrome, the red meat allergy triggered by the bite of a tick. Sometimes science is stranger than fiction. How exactly does an encounter with a tiny arachnid cause your throat to swell up and your skin break out into hives hours after eating red meat? Is it all red meat? Is it all ticks? How on earth did anyone even make this connection in the first place? Those are just a few of the questions we answer in this action-packed episode that has us venturing into surprising topics, like primate evolution, ancient epidemics, and cancer treatments. Tune in for all this and more.

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For life on this planet, iron is not optional. It is essential. When our iron levels are low, we can get sick, and when they get really really low, we can even die. But you know what they say, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. In the case of iron, the genetic condition hemochromatosis is often to blame for iron overload, but why is too much iron a bad thing? In this episode, we explore that question and many others, starting with why iron is a biological non-negotiable and how a lack of iron regulation in hemochromatosis can lead to severe tissue damage. Then we’re going Deep Time™ to suss out the origins of our dependence on iron, a journey that eventually leads us to the Neolithic Revolution and the 20th century realization that a certain ancient medical practice is not as obsolete as previously thought. Tune in to catch us ironing out the details of this incredibly common genetic disorder.

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Phosphorus is an element that wears many faces. Its overuse as a fertilizer has polluted freshwater ecosystems, transforming rivers and lakes from thriving communities to lethal zones devoid of life. Its role as an explosive has brought fiery death and suffering to many during times of war. And its dwindling global supply poses an existential threat to humanity. Because phosphorus is not just a destructive force - it is essential for all of life on this planet. In The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance, author Dan Egan explores the multi-faceted nature of phosphorus and the surprising ways this element has shaped our world. Egan, Journalist in Residence at the Center for Water Policy in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences, transports readers from the guano-covered islands off the coast of Peru to the fertile fields of the American Midwest, from the 17th century laboratories reeking of boiled urine to our tenuous future as the demand for this element outpaces its supply. Tune in to learn about this powerful yet underappreciated element.

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The stethoscope. It’s iconic. You’re playing Pictionary and you pull the “doctor” card? Easy - sketch a stethoscope. Need a last-minute Halloween costume? Easy - throw a stethoscope around your shoulders. Google image search “doctor” and you can count the number of stethoscope-less doctors on one hand. How did this instrument become so emblematic of the field of medicine? What can it tell us about our heart and lungs? And is its future under threat? That’s where this episode comes in. We explore the invention, evolution, and application of this tool, from the tragic life story of its inventor to the surprising amount of controversy over whether the stethoscope still holds a place in medicine today. Tune in for all this and so much more, including a doctor’s-ear perspective of the heart and lungs, complete with all the heart and lung sounds you could want!

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“Is it gonna be poop or is it gonna be barf?” It’s the question we all fear during a bout of food poisoning when time is of the essence and a decision has to be made before it’s made for us. Often, the germ forcing this question upon us is none other than the dreaded norovirus. First called “winter vomiting disease” for reasons obvious to anyone who has been unfortunate enough to become infected, norovirus now conjures up images of puking passengers aboard cruise ships or oysters on the half shell secretly harboring a vomiting virus. In this episode, we delve into the world of norovirus, examining what qualities make it spread so rapidly and sicken us so quickly. Our tour of norovirus history takes us down some surprising roads, where we meet Vomiting Larry and chat about vulture vomit. We round out the episode by looking at norovirus by the numbers, dispelling the notion that norovirus can only be found aboard cruise ships. Spoilers: it’s everywhere.

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In the pre-antibiotic era, tuberculosis was one of the biggest killers humanity ever faced. The specter of the ‘great white plague’ hung over towns and cities across the world, cities like New York whose population boom in the early 20th century paved the way for this deadly disease to spread throughout crowded tenements. As tuberculosis rates in NYC reached a breaking point, city officials sought to solve the problem by establishing a sanatorium on Staten Island. But they quickly ran into an issue - who would be willing to work there, exposing themselves to this untreatable deadly disease? In The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis, author Maria Smilios tells the story of the courageous nurses who worked at Sea View Hospital on Staten Island, facing the constant threat of disease and perpetual racism from patients, colleagues, and neighbors. Smilios brings these women’s stories to life, describing how they persevered in these difficult conditions to ultimately help bring about the cure for tuberculosis, for which they have only recently been recognized. Tune in for a fascinating discussion about a monumental time in tuberculosis history!

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In last week’s episode/love song to poison control centers, we journeyed through the history of these centers, from idea to institution. This week, we pick up where we left off by taking stock of the incredible impact that poison control centers have had on public health and individual lives. We also get a thrilling behind-the-scenes look at the operational side of things - who is on the other end of the line when you call poison control? How do they know so much and where do they get their information? Dr. Suzanne Doyon, Medical Director at the Connecticut Poison Control Center and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut joins us to answer these questions and so many more. If last week’s episode didn’t turn you into a poison center superfan, this one certainly will. Tune in today!

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