Dr. M's Women and Children First Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Chris Magryta, "Dr. M"
Chris Magryta, M.D., commonly known as Dr. M, has been studying the effects of human lifestyle decisions on disease risk and longevity for decades. He has decided to take this information and specifically hone down the focus to mothers and their children with a desire to improve longevity and health outcomes. How do we set up a mother for ideal health and prepare a child for a great start at life? How do we then provide the best environment for a child to succeed mentally and physically throughout childhood? These are many other questions will be addressed in the Women and Children podcast. So sit back, download a few podcasts, and let us learn together today!
Welcome back to Dr. M's Women and Children First.One of the recurring themes on this podcast is that the future of medicine won't be discovered through faster-paced healthcare alone. It will be discovered by slowing down, listening more carefully, and embracing a patient-centered approach that seeks to understand the whole person—not just the disease. Ultimately, the future of medicine begins with a better question: How do we truly hear a patient's story so that we can better serve the person sitting in front of us?Today's guest has spent his entire career helping answer that question.Our conversation today centers on one of the most overlooked aspects of healing: why so many people struggle to begin the healing process in the first place—and more importantly, how we, as clinicians, parents, and patients, can help that process finally move forward.Dr. Russell Greenfield is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and a Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine whose career has been dedicated to transforming healthcare from a disease-centered model into one focused on whole-person health. He has served as Medical Director of Integrative Medicine for major health systems, including Novant Health and the Weisiger Cancer Institute, held national leadership positions within the Veterans Health Administration's Whole Health Initiative, and continues to advise organizations across the country that are reimagining what healthcare can become.What makes Dr. Greenfield's journey especially unique is that he was one of the select physicians chosen to complete a residential fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Weil at the University of Arizona—the birthplace of academic integrative medicine. At a time when very few physicians were willing to challenge the traditional boundaries of healthcare, Dr. Greenfield immersed himself in a model that recognized nutrition, movement, sleep, stress, relationships, purpose, and environment as fundamental pillars of health, while embracing the remarkable advances of modern medical science.For me, this conversation is especially meaningful because many of us in medicine are asking the same question: How do we move upstream? How do we stop waiting for chronic disease to develop and instead create the conditions where health can flourish?Today we'll explore the art of becoming an experienced listener in service of the patient before us. We'll discuss why curiosity often matters more than certainty, why healing frequently begins long before the prescription pad comes out, and how understanding a person's story can unlock opportunities that laboratory tests and imaging studies alone may never reveal.Whether you're a clinician, a parent, or simply someone searching for a deeper understanding of health, I think you'll come away from this conversation with a renewed appreciation for one of medicine's most powerful tools: listening.Enjoy,Dr. M
Failing ThemWhy Are We?We are failing our children, the next generation.I have been spending an inordinate amount of time studying cellular biology and mitochondrial function in order to understand worsening disease trends. Thus, I want to revisit a landmark study that is one of the most comprehensive assessments of pediatric health ever conducted in the United States. Rather than examining a single disease or health outcome, Dr. Forrest and colleagues integrated data from multiple nationally representative surveys, mortality databases, and electronic health records encompassing millions of children to evaluate whether the health of American children has changed over the past 17 years. The answer was strikingly consistent: across virtually every major health domain, children in the United States are becoming less healthy. The investigators examined mortality, chronic physical and mental health conditions, obesity, functional status, sleep, puberty, physical symptoms, and emotional well-being between 2007 and 2023. Nearly every indicator worsened over time."From 2007 to 2022, infants (
PainDo we listen to its signal?Pain: Your Body's Built-In Warning SystemPain is one of the body's oldest and most important protective mechanisms. It isn't your enemy. It is a messenger.Imagine walking barefoot across your living room and accidentally kicking the corner of the coffee table. The sharp pain that shoots through your toe isn't there to punish you, it is there to protect you. Within fractions of a second, nerves carry a signal to your brain, telling you that cells and tissue have been injured. Your body immediately encourages you to stop what you're doing. Protect the area and allow it to heal.This is acute pain, and it serves an essential purpose for both protection and survival.The problem arises when we stop thinking of pain as information and begin viewing it as something that simply needs to be eliminated. Over the past several decades, this mindset has increasingly influenced modern medicine. Around the turn of the century, pain was widely promoted as the "fifth vital sign," emphasizing the importance of recognizing and treating it. While this movement helped address the undertreatment of pain, it also contributed, in some settings, to an emphasis on suppressing pain rather than understanding why it existed in the first place.From an evolutionary perspective, pain is not a design flaw, it is a sophisticated communication system. It evolved to capture our attention, protect us from further injury, and encourage behaviors that promote healing. When we focus solely on silencing the signal without investigating its source, we risk missing the very message our bodies are trying to deliver, and deliver it will.Pain is informationEvery pain signal is your body's way of saying, "Something isn't quite right."Sometimes the cause is obvious like a sprained ankle, a cut, a burn, or a broken bone.Other times the message is much more subtle.....Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M's Women and Children First Podcast, where we explore the science, stories, and strategies that help children thrive and families flourish.Today, we're diving into something that affects every parent, every marriage, every friendship, and really every human being: our emotional triggers. Why do seemingly small moments sometimes provoke such big reactions? Why do we repeat the same patterns even when we know better? And perhaps most importantly, how do we become the kind of adults who respond with wisdom instead of reacting from old wounds?To help us answer those questions, I'm thrilled to welcome Michelle Chalfant. Michelle is a licensed therapist, holistic life coach, creator of The Adult Chair® model, and author of the bestselling book The Adult Chair. Her work has helped hundreds of thousands of people understand how childhood experiences shape adult relationships and how emotional healing doesn't require becoming someone new—it requires reconnecting with the healthiest version of ourselves.As a pediatrician, I spend my days thinking about children's physical health, but I've become increasingly convinced that emotional health deserves equal attention. The way parents regulate their own emotions becomes the blueprint for how their children learn to navigate disappointment, conflict, fear, and joy. In many ways, raising emotionally healthy children begins with becoming emotionally healthy adults.Whether you're a parent trying to break generational patterns, someone hoping to improve your relationships, or simply curious about why certain situations seem to push your buttons, I think you're going to find today's conversation both practical and deeply hopeful.Dr. M
Autism and DiagnosisMetabolites and PhenotypesIn a brand new paper entitled. “Elevated Microbially-Derived Metabolites in Autism: A Possible Diagnostic Screening Test for a Distinct ASD Phenotype,” Dr. Flynn and colleagues investigated whether specific urinary metabolites produced by intestinal microbes could serve as predictive biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder. The study proposes that a large subset of children with autism may represent a biologically distinct phenotype characterized by markedly elevated microbial metabolites, which the authors term ASD-MDM (Autism Spectrum Disorder associated with Microbially-Derived Metabolites).The investigators analyzed urine samples from 52 children with ASD and 47 typically developing (TD) controls, ages 2–11 years. They measured microbial metabolites derived primarily from phenylalanine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and yeast metabolism. These were chosen because decades of autism, microbiome, and metabolic research have repeatedly implicated abnormalities in microbial metabolism of aromatic amino acids, especially phenylalanine and tryptophan, along with evidence of elevated fungal/yeast metabolites in subsets of children with ASD.The findings were striking. Children with ASD demonstrated significantly higher concentrations of many microbial metabolites than controls. Some metabolites were elevated by hundreds to thousands of percent, and in certain children concentrations were reported to be 100–1000 times higher than the highest levels observed in any control participant. Twenty-three of twenty-four measured microbial metabolites were higher in ASD participants. Ninety percent of the ASD participants (45 of 50) had one or more extremely elevated MDMs. Particularly notable were elevations in compounds related to p-cresol, p-cresol sulfate, phenylacetylglutamine, indole derivatives, and arabinitol, suggesting abnormalities in microbial metabolism involving aromatic amino acids and yeast overgrowth.... Also, Inflammation and Allergy. Enjoy, Dr. M
DEATHor Better Yet, Live for TodayRecently, there has been more death and morbidity in my life than usual.There is no easy way to discuss this topic. Death is finite and simultaneously infinitely painful for the survivors. Everyone learns in the moment how to deal with death. There is no on-the-job training. We are not born ready to accept this reality.It is simply thrust upon us.While I deal with illness and death more frequently than the average American, an occupational reality, it never becomes easy. Each loss has its own weight. Each reminds us of truths we would rather not face.I found myself sitting quietly with these recent events and wondering what I would want for myself and my family if this had happened to me today. What would I have wanted for my friends and family if I had died at 17? At 35? At 55?What words would I say to my parents if I could speak to them one final time?What would I want my children to know?What would I hope my friends remembered?As these thoughts swirled in the sadness of loss, I kept returning to one simple idea:Live every day as if it could be your last, with honor and respect for yourself and others.....Dr. M
Today's podcast guest is Dr. Aimie Apigian, a physician who has become one of the leading voices in helping us understand the biology of trauma.Dr. Aimie is double board-certified in Preventive Medicine and Addiction Medicine, with advanced training in biochemistry, public health, and functional medicine. She earned her medical degree from Loma Linda University, where her education also included behavioral health, child psychiatric therapy, play therapy, and addiction family counseling. Before medical school, she studied Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Washington, where she worked in the laboratory of renowned cancer researcher Dr. Larry Loeb.She is the national bestselling author of The Biology of Trauma, featuring a foreword by Dr. Gabor Maté. The book has appeared on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Book List and has received multiple national book awards.What makes Dr. Aimie's work unique is her ability to bridge neuroscience, functional medicine, attachment science, and trauma therapy into a practical framework that explains how our bodies store survival patterns after stress and adversity. Rather than viewing trauma as simply a psychological experience, she teaches that it is a biological state—one that can be identified, measured, and, importantly, healed.She is the creator of the Biology of Trauma® framework, which integrates somatic therapies, parts work, nervous system regulation, and targeted biological interventions into a structured sequence designed to restore the body's innate capacity for healing. She is also the founder of Trauma Healing Accelerated™ and the host of the popular Biology of Trauma® Podcast, where she has educated thousands of clinicians and individuals around the world.Today, we're going to explore what trauma actually is from a biological perspective, how it influences immune function, metabolism, chronic disease, and childhood development, and perhaps most importantly, what it truly takes to move from surviving to thriving.Dr. M
Fake It Till You Make It?One of the most misunderstood pieces of advice in our culture is the phrase "fake it until you make it."At face value, it sounds dishonest. It sounds like pretending to be something you are not. It sounds like confidence without competence.But after nearly three decades in medicine, I have come to believe there is a deeper truth hiding inside that phrase.Most success in life is not built on pretending. It is built on being willing to step into situations where you are not yet fully prepared, knowing that growth happens only when you are slightly or deeply beyond your comfort zone.If I am being honest, much of my professional life has felt this way, and the depth vacillated based on the context.When I finished my pediatric residency at the University of Virginia, I was 29 years old and knew just enough to realize how much I did not know. Medical school and residency provide an enormous foundation, but they also expose you to the staggering volume of knowledge that exists in the world. And that volume has only skyrocketed in the past 30 years.The farther I traveled in medicine, the more I realized the horizon kept moving, often unattainable. One experience from those early years remains crystal clear, almost like a scar from a wound.I had been asked to give a lecture to the pediatric residents at UVA on electrolyte solutions and exercise physiology. I spent time preparing and thought I knew the material reasonably well. I walked into the room feeling confident.Then the questions started..... and a literature review. Enjoy,Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First.Today, we are joined by one of the leading voices in the world of vagus nerve health, functional medicine, and autonomic nervous system regulation, Dr. Navaz Habib.Dr. Habib is a chiropractor, educator, international speaker, and author of the bestselling books Activate Your Vagus Nerve and Upgrade Your Vagus Nerve. His work has helped bring the science of the vagus nerve from the research world into practical clinical medicine, helping providers and patients better understand the powerful connection between the brain, immune system, gut, metabolism, and overall health.On today's episode, we take a pediatric lens to this fascinating topic. We explore how vagal tone influences inflammation, stress resilience, digestion, sleep, emotional regulation, and neurodevelopment. We discuss what happens when the autonomic nervous system becomes dysregulated, how chronic stress can shape a child's physiology, and why the vagus nerve may be one of the most important communication highways in the body.We'll also dive into practical strategies that families and clinicians can use to support vagal function, including breathing techniques, movement, nutrition, social connection, sleep, and other evidence-informed interventions that can help children build greater resilience in an increasingly stressful world.If you've ever wondered how the nervous system intersects with immune health, behavior, gut function, and chronic disease risk, this conversation is for you.Please join me in welcoming Dr. Navaz Habib.Dr. M
Should You Feed A Viral Illness?This Nature news article discusses emerging evidence that eating may acutely enhance immune responsiveness, particularly through effects on T cells, the learning part of the adaptive immune system. The paper centers on the old saying “feed a cold, starve a fever,” suggesting there may actually be biologic truth behind at least the “feed a cold” half of the proverb. The article reviews a new study in mice and humans showing that T cells, key adaptive immune cells responsible for recognizing and attacking pathogens, behave differently depending on recent nutritional status. Researchers found that T cells from recently fed organisms proliferated more rapidly and mounted stronger activation responses compared with those from fasting states. In essence, nutrient availability appears to act as a metabolic “permission signal” for immune activation. ....Enjoy, Dr. M
The Adult Chair, the Adolescent Chair and the Child's ChairThe Adult Chair by Michelle Chalfant is a practical framework for emotional maturity, self-awareness, and healing old patterns that unconsciously drive adult behavior. The central premise is that most people move through life reacting not from their grounded adult self, but from unresolved emotional states formed during childhood and adolescence. She organizes this idea into what she calls the “three chairs”: the Child Chair, the Adolescent Chair, and the Adult Chair.The Child Chair represents the emotional self formed in early childhood. This is the place of vulnerability, fear, shame, abandonment, loneliness, and unmet needs. When people react from this chair, they often feel helpless, emotionally flooded, overly dependent on validation, or afraid of rejection. Many adult relationship conflicts, according to Chalfant, are actually wounded children (in adult bodies) interacting with each other while wearing grown-up clothing and carrying iPhones. Same child like nervous system. Better accessories. Think of the statement: lipstick on a pig, you cannot dress up dysfunction and make it disappear.The Adolescent Chair reflects the defensive coping strategies people develop to protect the wounded child. This includes control, perfectionism, blame, avoidance, rebellion, people-pleasing, passive aggression, and emotional shutdown. The adolescent self seeks power and protection but often creates disconnection and conflict. Chalfant argues that many high-achieving adults unknowingly operate from this chair, appearing successful externally while internally driven by fear, insecurity, or the need for approval.The Adult Chair is the goal....Enjoy, Dr. M
Birth OrderBirth Order Is Biology, Not Birthright - so says a new paper in MedRxIV (Kramer et. al. 2026)Here is a short field guide to how sequence shapes the immune system, and maybe the brain in children.We’ve treated birth order like personality trivia.First-borns are “responsible.” Youngest are “free spirits.” Middle children… well, we forgot them.This paper suggests something more interesting: birth order is a biologic exposure.Not destiny. Not diagnosis. But signal.Across a very large dataset, the researchers mapped birth order against hundreds of diseases. The effects are small for any single child. But the pattern is consistent at a population level.Children are not born into identical biology, even within the same family.Each pregnancy changes the mother. Meaningfully. Immunologically. Successively.Each fetus inherits a slightly different environment.Epigenetics in full swing.It turns out that sequence matters.What Changes Across Pregnancies?Three levers move, quietly, predictably:1) The Maternal Immune System LearnsPregnancy is not passive. It is negotiation. The first pregnancy = naïve immune system learning tolerance. Subsequent pregnancies = trained, adapted immune responsesThat training alters: cytokine tone, antibody profiles, placental signalingThe fetus is downstream of all of it.2) The Placenta Is Not a Copy-Paste Organ...Dr. M
Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First, we welcome one of the most important voices in modern child development and behavioral science, Mona Delahooke.Dr. Delahooke is a licensed clinical psychologist, internationally recognized speaker, and the author of groundbreaking books including Beyond Behaviors and Brain-Body Parenting. Her work challenges one of the deepest assumptions in modern parenting and education: that difficult behaviors are simply choices to be corrected. Instead, she invites us to ask a radically different question, what is the nervous system trying to communicate?This conversation sits right at the crossroads of neuroscience, attachment theory, polyvagal theory, developmental psychology, and the lived experience of parenting. In many ways, Mona’s work gives language to something clinicians and parents often feel intuitively but struggle to articulate: behavior is not merely compliance or defiance, behavior is biology expressed through the body.We explore how stress physiology, early attachment, sensory processing, trauma, neurodivergence, and autonomic nervous system states shape the way children interact with the world around them. We discuss why punishment-based models often fail vulnerable children, how “bad behavior” may actually represent adaptive survival responses, and why safety and connection are foundational to learning, resilience, and emotional regulation.For me personally, this conversation resonates deeply with the broader themes we often discuss on this podcast, the interaction between environment, physiology, immune health, metabolism, and neurodevelopment. Mona helps bridge the gap between cellular stress and relational stress, between body and mind, between physiology and behavior.If you’ve ever cared for a child with anxiety, ADHD, autism, sensory challenges, explosive behavior, school struggles, or chronic dysregulation, this episode offers both compassion and a fundamentally different framework. One that moves away from blame and toward curiosity. Away from control and toward connection.This is a conversation about seeing children more clearly. And perhaps, seeing ourselves more clearly too.Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Mona Delahooke.Dr. M
Creatine and MicrobiomesA new 2026 Cell Metabolism study explores a compelling and increasingly central idea in modern biology: the gut/brain/immune/metabolism axis is not just associative, it is mechanistic. Specifically, Dr. Lu and colleagues investigate how the gut microbiota can directly influence depressive behavior by reshaping systemic and neural metabolism. This is another in a long running list of papers describing the amazing work that bacterial commensal microbes do for us. In this case, our minds and moods."Although peripheral-brain crosstalk regulates energy metabolism, its role in depression remains unclear. Here, we used metabolic profiling to reveal elevated fecal creatine alongside reduced plasma and cerebrospinal fluid creatine in both patients with depression and mouse depression models. Exogenous creatine produced antidepressant-like effects mediated by gut microbiota. Bifidobacterium pseudolongum was identified as a significantly reduced gut bacterial species in depression, correlating with impaired creatine absorption. Subsequent supplementation with Bifidobacterium enhanced the antidepressant effects of creatine. Mechanistically, B. pseudolongum-derived acetate promoted the creatine transporter (Slc6a8) expression in intestinal epithelial cells via histone acetylation. The Slc6a8 mediated the antidepressant-like effects of creatine. Neuronal creatine deficiency influenced energetic metabolism and neurophysiological function. In patients with depression taking antidepressants, co-administration of creatine and Bifidobacterium increased plasma creatine levels and reduced depression scores. These findings identify the Bifidobacterium-creatine combination as a promising antidepressant strategy and highlight the critical role of gut-brain energy metabolism in depression." "The brain, as an energy-intensive organ, relies on precise metabolic regulation to maintain synaptic plasticity, neurotransmitter synthesis, and stress response systems. Accumulating evidence implicates energy metabolism dysregulation as a hallmark of depression. Neuroimaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) have identified marked glucose hypometabolism in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of patients with depression. Cerebral mitochondrial dysfunction and ATP imbalance have been mechanistically linked to depression progression. Notably, emerging studies emphasize the bidirectional interplay between peripheral metabolic signals and central energy regulation, which is fundamental to neural metabolism. Clinical observations such as fatigue, appetite dysregulation, and unexplained weight fluctuations in patients with depression further suggest systemic metabolic disturbances spanning peripheral organs and the CNS.." (Lu et. al. 2026)This is next-level medicine. Mental health can no longer be framed as a disorder of genetics, experience, or circumstance alone. This work opens a clearer window, showing how the microbiome participates as an active partner, shaping brain function through the metabolites it helps produce and deliver. Compounds like creatine are no longer just peripheral players. They become signals, fuel, structure, and information, bridging gut and brain, metabolism and behavior.... and more Enjoy, Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First. Today’s conversation moves into one of the deepest layers of human development: attachment, relationship, and the way early experiences shape the architecture of our emotional lives.My guest today is Duey Freeman, a licensed therapist, teacher, mentor, and internationally respected voice in attachment theory, human development, and relational psychology. Duey has spent decades teaching therapists, graduate students, and helping professionals around the world, developing a practical framework for understanding how connection, or the absence of it, shapes the nervous system, identity, and the capacity for intimacy.He has logged nearly 80,000 direct clinical hours and co-founded both the Gestalt Equine Institute and the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies. What makes Duey’s work unique, and it is unique, is that he does not approach attachment as a sterile academic theory. He approaches it as lived human experience. His work centers on a simple but profound truth: what is injured in relationship is often only healed in relationship. In this episode, we explore how attachment patterns emerge in childhood, how they quietly shape adult relationships, parenting, stress physiology, and even our sense of safety in the world. We discuss the roots of attachment theory through the work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, and we move into modern concepts involving trauma, nervous system regulation, emotional attunement, and relational repair. We also touch on an uncomfortable reality in modern culture: many people are surrounded by communication yet starving for authentic connection. Children especially do not simply need instruction or behavioral management. They need co-regulation, attunement, eye contact, emotional presence, and secure relational anchors.This conversation is not just for therapists. It is for parents, physicians, educators, coaches, and anyone trying to understand why humans behave the way they do under stress, conflict, intimacy, or loss.Duey brings an unusual combination of wisdom, groundedness, tenderness, and clinical depth to this discussion. I have heard him frequently called Yoda, and if you knew him, you would immediately understand and agree with that moniker. You can feel that he has spent a lifetime studying not just psychology, but people.So sit back and enjoy this remarkable conversation with Duey Freeman on attachment, psychology, and the relational foundations of being human.Dr. M
ScreenshotMagnesiumMagnesium is a major cofactor in over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body, less a supplement than a piece of physiologic infrastructure. It is required for energy production (ATP), insulin signaling, protein synthesis, blood pressure regulation, and proper muscle and nerve function, essentially touching every major system we care about.And it goes deeper: magnesium is necessary for the creation and protection of DNA and RNA and for the production of glutathione, one of our most important intracellular antioxidants/detox mechanisms. About half of our magnesium is stored in bone and most of the rest in soft tissues, with less than 1% circulating in the blood, tightly regulated by the kidneys, so the serum level we commonly measure is a very limited window into total body status....Enjoy, Dr. M
Covid 6 Years LaterWhat Should We RememberThe COVID Post-Mortem: What We Missed (and What We Still Can Fix)We ran the largest public health experiment of our lifetime.We failed.Not everywhere.Not always.But in the places that mattered most, children, truth, and upstream health, we got it wrong.And if we don’t name it clearly, we’ll do it again.The First Mistake: Forgetting the ChildWhen the world shut down, we told ourselves it was temporary.Two weeks.Flatten the curve.Regroup.Then two months became a season.A season became a year.For some kids, it became a disappearance.Over 230,000 children vanished from the school system across 21 states. Not lost like keys.Lost like opportunity.Lost like trajectory.And here’s the uncomfortable truth:The kids who disappeared were not the kids with options.The well-resourced adapted:Private schoolsLearning podsReliable internetParental supportThey bent. Some even thrived.The vulnerable?They absorbed the shock.Education lost → structure lost → nutrition lost → safety net lost.and more....Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M's Women and Children First Podcast. Today’s conversation is a little different.Six men. One table. No scripts. Just a shared commitment to something that doesn’t come with a manual—fatherhood.We’re talking about what it means to show up as a dad when you’re tired, when you’re stretched thin, and when the stakes feel higher than anything else you do.And we’re grounding that conversation in the ethos of F3 Nation—fitness, fellowship, and faith—where men gather early, push each other physically, and, more importantly, build something deeper: accountability, purpose, and community.Because strong fathers don’t happen by accident. They’re forged—day by day, rep by rep, conversation by conversation.Let’s get into it.Dr. M
Brene Brown - LeadershipTools to Teach Your Children and SELF“Stand firmly enough to lead, loosely enough to listen.”Strong Ground by Brené Brown published in 2025Breaking down this new book by the excellent Brene Brown, we find that strong leaders don’t eliminate tension or risk. They hold it. And this is key! What does the hold look like? How does it show up to the team?The theme in my mind is "toughness with tenderness"Clarity is kindness. Vagueness is avoidance dressed as politeness.You can be both confident and uncertain. That’s not weakness, it’s reality.Values are not what you believe. They’re what you do under pressure.Most leadership failures are emotional avoidance, not strategic failure.Accountability without empathy is cruelty. Empathy without accountability is chaos.People don’t disengage because work is hard, they disengage because trust erodes.The goal is not control. The goal is grounded presence in uncertainty.You can’t build brave cultures with armored leaders.Paradox is not a problem to solve, it’s a condition to manage.If you’re always comfortable, you’re not leading. You’re maintaining.I especially, like the last one. Discomfort is the path to growth in all things. Think euthermia for temperature, not a recipe for human cellular health or plants for that matter. Temperature through environmental swings are keys to protein elaboration for handling the cold and the heat. The lack of swing equates to a lack of adaptability.... and a piece on the Stakeholder.Dr. M
Nothing in biology is random.Not growth.Not metabolism.Not disease.What we will explore today is the reality that the earliest inputs in life: nutrition, environment, signaling,don’t just influence outcomes…They shape them.They write the first draft.And if you understand that, if you truly let that land,then everything about how we approach pregnancy, childhood, and prevention begins to shift.From reaction…to intention.From downstream management…to upstream design.Why This Conversation MattersThis episode is not just another discussion.In many ways, it is ground zero.Because if you don’t understand this layer, the imprinting, the epigenetic programming, the responsiveness of biology to environment, then everything that follows in this podcast…becomes harder to fully see.But once you do see it, the picture sharpens.You begin to understand:why trajectories diverge early, why children present so differently and why the same diagnosis can have completely different roots.This is the beginning of a new map.And maps matter.Gratitude to Today’s GuestsI want to take a moment to acknowledge the voices you heard today—because this kind of thinking doesn’t happen by accident.Lucia AronicaDr. Aronica is a Stanford scientist and a global authority in nutritional epigenetics, helping clinicians understand that food is not simply fuel—it is biological information that actively programs gene expression.She created Stanford’s first courses in nutritional epigenetics and pioneered the Epinutrition framework, a clinical model that reframes nutrition as signaling, not supplementation. You may recognize her from the Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, and she is now launching the world’s first Clinical Epinutrition Certification, training health professionals to use food as epigenetic medicine.Emily Stone RydbomEmily is a clinical nutritionist, researcher, and digital health founder working at the frontier of precision maternal nutrition.As Founder and CEO of GrowBaby Health, and through her work with GrowHealth Technologies, she is building AI-enabled systems that integrate nutrition directly into standard obstetric care. With over 14 years of clinical experience, she has helped pioneer the “Standard of Care PLUS” model, demonstrating meaningful reductions in preterm birth and gestational diabetes in high-risk populations.She is also a co-investigator on the ROOT Study—bringing this work directly into real-world maternal care here in North Carolina.Samantha N. FesslerDr. Fessler brings a deep scientific lens to the intersection of metabolism, inflammation, and perinatal nutrition.With a PhD in Exercise and Nutritional Sciences from Arizona State University, her work has focused on how nutritional strategies can modulate the interplay between immune signaling and metabolic function to improve outcomes for mothers and children.As Director of Scientific Affairs at Needed, she helps translate rigorous science into actionable, evidence-based approaches that clinicians and families can actually use.Randy L. JirtleAnd finally, Dr. Randy Jirtle—joining us again—whose work, quite simply, changed how we understand biology.A pioneer in epigenetics and genomic imprinting, Dr. Jirtle’s research on the agouti mouse model demonstrated for the first time that environmental inputs—particularly nutrition and chemical exposure—could directly alter gene expression across generations. His work reframed the gene from a fixed sentence…to a responsive system.In fact, Time Magazine once described it this way:“A gene represents less of an inexorable sentence and more of an access point for the environment to modify the genome.”He is a Professor of Epigenetics at North Carolina State University and Senior Scientist at University of Wisconsin–Madison and remains, at his core, a deeply curious thinker.And that curiosity… is what moved this field forward.Final Thought: If there is one takeaway from today, it is this: The environment is not acting on the child. The child is responding to the environment.And that response…is being written into biology.Dr. M
THE FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE STORYDR. JEFF BLAND"Change occurs from the outside in"Dr. BlandMedicine has a habit of believing it has arrived. Every generation of physicians looks around the room, surveys the white coats and microscopes and MRI machines, and quietly assumes the puzzle is mostly solved. History laughs at that assumption. The truth is that medicine is always mid-sentence in a very long story.Dr. Jeff Bland has spent decades helping rewrite that sentence.In a recent conversation on The Root Cause Business of Medicine Podcast, Dr. Bland’s life work comes into focus. Not as a rebellion against medicine, but as an expansion of it. His influence on nutrition science, biochemical individuality, and what we now call functional medicine has helped move the field away from the narrow idea that disease is simply something to suppress or worse just name. Instead, he has pushed a more interesting question forward: why did the disease appear in the first place?That sounds obvious. It is so far from obvious that most physicians do not ask the question.Bland’s career sits at the intersection of nutrition, biochemistry, genetics, and what he calls systems biology. Over the decades he has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and written many books aimed at both clinicians and the public. But numbers don’t tell the story. What matters is the conceptual shift he helped introduce.For most of modern medical history, the dominant model has been reductionist. And reductionism is the scientific approach of breaking complex systems into their smallest parts. It has given us antibiotics, vaccines, and surgical techniques that save lives every day. But it has also left a blind spot. When we zoom too far in, we sometimes lose the map of the entire ecosystem.Human biology is not a machine made of replaceable parts. It is a network.It is supremely interconnected.... and a literature reviewDr. M
Elk Antlers - What a StoryAfter returning from Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week, I was struck by the beauty of the Elk refuge, a place where thousands of elk relax in the winter lowlands. Staring at them, I pondered a question: why do the elk shed their antlers yearly? Seems like a lot of wasted energy in a resource scarce world.The answer, mating.Nature has a peculiar sense of theater. When reproduction is the goal, evolution doesn’t whisper, it builds costumes, props, and entire stage productions. Sometimes expensive ones. Across the mammalian world, attracting a mate often requires a spectacular display of biological investment. Energy is spent not just surviving, but advertising survival.The elk might be the most dramatic example.Every year, a male elk grows a massive set of antlers, sometimes weighing 30–40 pounds. These structures are not permanent. They are built from scratch annually, making them one of the fastest-growing tissues in the entire animal kingdom. At peak growth, antlers can elongate nearly an inch per day. To accomplish this feat, the animal diverts enormous metabolic resources into bone growth, calcium mobilization, and vascular supply.Then, after the breeding season, the antlers are shed and the process begins again.From an engineering standpoint, it seems wildly inefficient. Why build something so energetically expensive only to discard it months later?Because in evolutionary terms, reproduction is the ultimate metric of success. If an animal fails to reproduce, its genes disappear from the story entirely, Darwinian failure.Antlers function as a biological billboard: I am strong enough to waste energy....and moreDr. M
ScreenshotOn today’s episode of Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, we welcome Halie Hauser, a pediatric clinician, storyteller, and quiet architect of early childhood connection.Halie is the creator of Storytime Explorers, a storytelling platform designed for toddlers and preschoolers that sits at the intersection of language, emotion, and human development. With a Doctor of Nursing Practice focused on pediatric primary care, she brings both clinical depth and creative intuition to the way she reaches children—and just as importantly, their parents.\Her work lives in the small moments: friendship struggles, big feelings, daily routines, the courage to try again. The ordinary terrain of childhood—where, if we’re paying attention, the most important wiring is happening.Halie understands something we often forget in modern pediatrics: before a child can regulate, they must feel safe; before they can learn, they must feel connected; and before they can speak, they must be spoken to in a language that meets them where they are.Through storytelling, she’s building that bridge.This is a conversation about early brain development, emotional scaffolding, the power of narrative in shaping behavior—and how something as simple as a story can become a tool for resilience, attachment, and lifelong learning.Dr. M
Why Don't They WinThere are moments, usually late, usually quiet, when honest thinking can be had. When you zoom out and see the ecosystem around children not as a collection of caring institutions, but as a set of incentive machines. And incentive machines, unlike grandmothers, do exactly what they’re built to do.MAKE MONEYTonight I sat with some difficult thoughts about the state of primary services for children in the United States. The deeper I look, the clearer it becomes that money, not well-being, drives most decisions shaping a child’s life. And the imbalance is not trending in a positive direction.Children Continue To Lose From My ViewpointApproximately two-thirds of a child’s daily nourishment comes from school food programs, which too often rely on ultra-processed, calorie-dense, nutrient-poor products. Outside of school, the dominant food environment is similarly saturated with highly engineered foods that optimize profit, shelf life, and palatability rather than health. Kids are micronutrient starved, but calorically overfed. Biological systems begin to fray early. Biochemistry no longer meets cellular needs. Children develop disease and we are asked to medicate or worse rationalize away that this is NORMAL.....Enjoy Dr. M
Finding Relational BalanceRelational balance falters when one person needs the other to feel safe or whole. A parent in a strained marriage or carrying childhood wounds may lean on a child for comfort. The child, loyal and loving, tries to meet that need. Over time, this can harden into dysfunction.Years ago, I cared for a mother and son locked in a budding enmeshed relationship. She could not draw boundaries. She absorbed his pain, projected her own trauma onto him, and smothered him with anxious love and control. She tightly managed his world yet set no limits on how he treated her or others. By four, he was out of control. She was exhausted and indignant, insisting he was sweet while enabling every behavior. Her fear of becoming her own restrictive parents left him both fused to her and furious. Therapy was suggested. It was rejected....Enjoy,Dr. M
On today’s episode of Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, we welcome a scientist whose work has quietly shaped the cardiovascular health of millions around the world.Dr. Sundeep Dugar is a pharmaceutical innovator, inventor, and industry leader with more than three decades at the forefront of drug discovery. He is best known as a co-inventor of ezetimibe — marketed as Zetia® — a landmark cholesterol-lowering medication that transformed lipid management by targeting intestinal cholesterol absorption. He also co-inventor of the combination therapy Vytorin® (ezetimibe plus simvastatin), expanding treatment options for patients at high cardiovascular risk. For this groundbreaking work, Dr. Dugar and his colleagues received the prestigious 2005 National Inventor of the Year Award from the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the Heroes of Chemistry award from the American Chemical Society. Across his career, Dr. Dugar has contributed to more than 140 patents and has authored over 70 scientific publications, reflecting a lifetime devoted to translating chemistry into real-world therapies.He is currently the founder of Aayam Therapeutics, where he leads efforts to develop innovative, accessible medicines through collaborative global research. He also serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Blue Oak Nutraceuticals, advancing a novel mitochondrial-targeted compound known as Mitokatlyst™, designed to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis and cellular energy — with potential implications for muscle strength, metabolic health, cardiovascular function, and inflammation. He is the first one to decipher the mechanism by which exercise induces mitochondria levels. Mitokatlyst mechanism of action mimics this process.Dr. Dugar’s scientific journey spans continents and some of the world’s premier institutions. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Organic Chemistry from the University of Delhi, completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of California, Davis, and pursued postdoctoral research at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and at Cornell University.Today, we’ll explore the story behind major pharmaceutical breakthroughs, the science of mitochondrial health, and what the future of therapeutics may look like when innovation meets global accessibility.Please join me in welcoming Dr. Sundeep Dugar.
ScreenshotLiterature Review:A) "Establishment of the gut microbiome during early life is a complex process with lasting implications for an individual’s health. Several factors influence microbial assembly; however, breast-feeding is recognized as one of the most influential drivers of gut microbiome composition during infancy, with potential implications for function. Differences in gut microbial communities between breast-fed and formula-fed infants have been consistently observed and are hypothesized to partially mediate the relationships between breast-feeding and decreased risk for numerous communicable and noncommunicable diseases in early life. Despite decades of research on the gut microbiome of breast-fed infants, there are large scientific gaps in understanding how human milk has evolved to support microbial and immune development." (Davis et. al. 2022)Main Takeaways:First 1000 days matter a lot for microbial and immune development: Infancy is a critical window when the gut microbiome is assembled and the immune system is learning to respond to microbes and external exposures. Patterns set early can ripple into infection risk, inflammatory diseases, and atopy later in life. Enjoy, Dr. M
Chapter 4 of Beyond Behaviors is often read as a continuation of the neuroscience laid out in the first three chapters. That’s understandable, but it slightly misses the point. By the time Dr. Delahooke gets to Chapter 4, she’s largely done making the physiological argument. She now pivots to a far more practical and, frankly, more uncomfortable question: What does this mean we actually do as caregivers?This chapter is less about how the nervous system works and more about how we work, how we observe, interpret, and respond to children in real time. It’s a chapter about attunement, not theory. About shifting from reflexive reactions to intentional caregiving. About learning to read the child in front of you, not the rulebook in your head.The first major move of Chapter 4 is the insistence on personalized attunement, ditching the plural child. Or better yet, focused on the N of 1 child. There is no “average child” in her framework. There is only this child, with this nervous system, in this moment, in this space and time. How beautiful! Integrative Functional Medicine's credo, treat the whole person as you find them and as they are biologically.Attunement here is not sentimentality. It’s data gathering. Dr. Delahooke asks caregivers to become skilled observers of patterns rather than judges of behavior. What time of day does dysregulation tend to show up? After which transitions? After eating? After playing video games? In which environments? With which sensory demands? With which people? It is sleuthing the underwater potion of the iceberg of behavior.Importantly, she pushes caregivers to stop assuming intent. The question is not “Why is my child doing this to me?” but “What is my child’s nervous system experiencing right now?” That single frame shift collapses an enormous amount of unnecessary conflict. It moves the adult from adversary to ally. It walks away from shame and blame towards love and support.....Enjoy, Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M's Women and Children Firsts Podcast. Today’s conversation sits at the crossroads of chemistry, skepticism, and clinical innovation.Our guest is Nayan Patel, a pharmacist with more than three decades inside the world of drug formulation and delivery. He is an alumnus of the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, where he now serves as adjunct faculty, teaching advanced biochemistry and compounding science. Over the years, he has become an international educator on one molecule that refuses to stay quiet: glutathione.Dr. Patel is the founder of Auro Wellness, launched in 2011 with a specific mission—stabilize glutathione and solve its delivery problem. His work led to the development of the Auro GSH™ Antioxidant Delivery System, a topical approach designed to improve absorption of this notoriously fragile molecule. He is also the author of The Glutathione Revolution, a deep dive into how glutathione influences detoxification, aging, energy production, and immune resilience.If you’ve spent time in integrative medicine, you’ve heard glutathione called the “master antioxidant.” That phrase can sound like marketing, but the biology is real. Glutathione is a three–amino acid peptide central to redox balance, mitochondrial function, immune signaling, and cellular survival. It does not just neutralize oxidative stress; it regulates how cells respond to it.The challenge is delivery. Oral glutathione is largely broken down in the gut. IV glutathione works, but it’s impractical for most families. Precursors like NAC depend on intact metabolic pathways that may not be operating optimally in states of chronic stress or inflammation.Dr. Patel asked a disruptive question: what if the bottleneck isn’t production—but delivery?Today we unpack the science and the skepticism around transdermal glutathione. Can a molecule like this meaningfully cross the skin barrier? What does stabilization actually require? And how does independent pharmaceutical innovation differ from traditional drug development pathways, which are often constrained by economics as much as biology?For those of us caring for women and children—where oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial strain, and toxic burden intersect in everything from complicated pregnancies to neurodevelopmental challenges—this conversation matters. Not as a silver bullet. Not as a miracle spray. But as an exploration of foundational physiology and thoughtful delivery science.This is a discussion about how molecules move, how systems adapt, and how asking better questions can reshape clinical practice.Let’s dive in.Dr. MAuro Wellness
School Based Nutrition - Why is it happening this way?There is a quiet experiment happening in American childhood, and we should stop pretending it’s benign.In the 1970s and 1980s, when I attended school, school food was far from perfect, but it existed in the context of something essential: it was mostly prepared on site, minimally processed (but changing in that direction) and not laden with additives and chemicals (Yet). Oh, and most children still ate meals prepared at home at almost every other occasion. Dinner wasn’t aspirational or Instagram-worthy, but it was routine. Real food. Cooked by someone who knew the child, at a table where nervous systems could downshift. School lunch was a supplement to that structure, not the metabolic foundation of a child’s life. That has all changed in a short 50 years. Mirroring the change in weight and childhood disease prevalence.• 1970s – some processed foods begin to enter school cafeterias at scale• 1980s – preservatives and additives become routine• 1990s – ultra-processed foods dominateIn 1994, new standards were added: This table lays out how much of each food group schools were supposed to offer over a week under the 1994 standards. These were the first nutrition-focused meal standards the USDA put into place:For Breakfast (all grades K–12):Fruit: 2.5 cups/weekVegetables: 0 cups/weekGrains/Bread: 0–10 oz equivalent/week (depending on combinations of grains and protein)Meat/Meat-alternative: 0–10 oz equivalent/weekMilk: 5 cups/weekFor Lunch (split by grade levels):Fruit: K–3 also 2.5 cups; grades 4–12 get 3.75 cups/weekVegetables: still 0 cups/week (no separate vegetable requirement yet)Grains/Bread: at least 8 oz eq/weekMeat/Meat-alternative: 7.5 oz eq/week for breakfast; 10 oz eq/week for lunchMilk: 5 cups/week(Hopkins 2015)What’s notable, reflected in the structure of this table, is that vegetables weren’t required at all yet, and the standards were very much food-group based, not ingredient-level nutrient quality checks. That created space for schools to rely on industrially produced entrées and sides that technically met volumes of grains or proteins but could still be ultra-processed products with long ingredient lists, many of these foods would meet a NOVA class 4 classification (the worst type). Think fruit cup in sugary syrup.....Dr. M
Dr. Carrie Jones, ND, MPHHormone LiteracyWelcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First, where we step back from symptoms and ask a more interesting question: how does the female hormonal system actually develop, adapt, and sometimes struggle across a lifetime?Today’s conversation spans that entire arc, from early life, to puberty, to fertility and more with someone who has spent more than two decades living inside that complexity.My guest is Dr. Carrie Jones, an internationally recognized speaker, consultant, author, and educator in women’s health and hormones. Many know her as the “Queen of Hormones,” but what really defines her work is not titles, it’s her ability to translate very complex endocrinology into biology that actually makes sense.Dr. Jones is a naturopathic physician who completed a two-year residency focused on women’s health and endocrinology. She holds a Master of Public Health, was one of the very first clinicians to become board certified through the American Board of Naturopathic Endocrinology, and is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner.She helped shape how an entire generation of clinicians think about hormone testing and interpretation as the first Medical Director at Precision Analytical, the creators of the DUTCH test, and later as the first Head of Medical Education at Rupa Health. She’s served on Under Armour’s Human Performance Council, consulted for multiple women’s health and laboratory companies, and now serves as Chief Medical Officer at NuEthix Formulations.Many of you will recognize her voice from the Root Cause Medicine Podcast, which reached more than ten million downloads, and she now hosts her own show, Hello, Hormones, where she continues to explore how hormones shape mood, metabolism, immunity, fertility, and aging.But what makes today’s conversation especially important is this: we’re not just talking about menopause, or cycles, or lab values.We’re asking a bigger question.How have female hormones changed across generations?How early life nutrition, stress, environment, and metabolic health shape the hormonal story from birth forward.And how modern exposures, from ultra-processed diets to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may be quietly rewriting the biology of women long before symptoms ever appear.This is a systems-level conversation about development, resilience, and adaptation, and few people are better equipped to guide us through it than Dr. Carrie Jones.Dr. M@dr.carriejones@dr.carriejoneshttps://www.youtube.com/@drcarriejoneshttps://open.spotify.com/show/0QMOu9ma6Xljf5omizAhNz?si=4dbaaf83a8cf4508https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hello-hormones-with-dr-carrie-jones/id1813934931 www.drcarriejones.com
ScreenshotChapter 3 - Individual DifferencesDr. Delahooke starts Chapter 3 by allowing Margaret Mead to remind us that each child is absolutely unique: “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” This is more than a witty paradox, it is the hinge upon which all effective pediatric care swings. When we take individual differences seriously as neurobiological fact, we can finally stop confusing adaptive survival responses with defiance, stop labeling children as problems, and begin the real work of supporting the mind body systems that shape behavior from the inside out. Let us review what we have learned in Beyond Behaviors so far - We are invited to descend below the waterline of the behavioral iceberg. What we see at the surface: the tantrum, withdrawal, rigidity, hyperactivity, the refusal to transition is merely a set of observable outputs from deeply personal internal variables. The sensory wiring, physiological states, immune triggers, thoughts, feelings, memories, and the child’s moment-to-moment sense of safety. Without diving into these subterranean layers, we risk treating smoke while ignoring the fire, which is the general state of current pediatric psychiatric medical therapeutics. We mostly treat the smoke. We don’t often ask about the fire. Her central thesis is simple, clinically robust, and profoundly humane:Children behave according to the state of their nervous system, and their nervous system is shaped by individual biological, emotional, and sensory differences.Once we understand this, behavior becomes not a moral test but a window into the child’s internal world..... Dr. M
The Year in Review - 2025Articles and Points of Interest:1) Microplastics in the Brain - From Science Advances: "Human health is being threatened by environmental microplastic (MP) pollution. MPs were detected in the bloodstream and multiple tissues of humans, disrupting the regular physiological processes of organs. Nanoscale plastics can breach the blood-brain barrier, leading to neurotoxic effects. How MPs cause brain functional irregularities remains unclear. This work uses high-depth imaging techniques to investigate the MPs within the brain in vivo. We show that circulating MPs are phagocytosed and lead these cells to obstruction in the capillaries of the brain cortex. These blockages as thrombus formation cause reduced blood flow and neurological abnormalities in mice. Our data reveal a mechanism by which MPs disrupt tissue function indirectly through regulation of cell obstruction and interference with local blood circulation, rather than direct tissue penetration. This revelation offers a lens through which to comprehend the toxicological implications of MPs that invade the bloodstream." (Huang et. al. 2025)2) From Nature Medicine: "Brain insulin responsiveness is linked to long-term weight gain and unhealthy body fat distribution. Here we show that short-term overeating with calorie-rich sweet and fatty foods triggers liver fat accumulation and disrupted brain insulin action that outlasted the time-frame of its consumption in healthy weight men. Hence, brain response to insulin can adapt to short-term changes in diet before weight gain and may facilitate the development of obesity and associated diseases." (Pullman et. al. 2025)....Dr. M
Today, I’m joined by Dr. Maeve O’Connor, a board-certified allergist and immunologist practicing in Charlotte, North Carolina.Dr. O’Connor’s training reflects both rigor and range. She completed dual undergraduate degrees at the University of South Carolina Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish before earning her medical degree at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She then completed her internship and residency at the University of Texas and its affiliated hospitals in Houston, where she served as Chief Medical Resident.Her subspecialty training in Allergy and Immunology was completed at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver consistently ranked the number one respiratory hospital in the United States where she developed deep expertise in asthma, allergic disease, and immune dysregulation. She further expanded her clinical lens through fellowship training in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona from 2013 to 2015.Clinically, Dr. O’Connor works at the intersection of pediatrics, immunology, and real family life where eczema isn’t just a rash, food reactions aren’t just labels, and immune symptoms rarely fit neatly into algorithmic boxes. Her work emphasizes careful diagnosis, evidence-based treatment, and avoiding both over-medicalization and missed pathology.In a time when allergy medicine is often reduced to test results and avoidance lists, Dr. O’Connor brings a grounded, thoughtful approach helping families and clinicians distinguish what’s truly allergic, what’s inflammatory, what’s developmental, and what’s simply noise.Today, we’ll explore how allergic disease actually presents in children, why mislabeling is so common, how early immune signals shape long-term health, and how pediatricians and specialists can collaborate more effectively without fear-based medicine.This is a conversation about immune literacy, clinical nuance, and doing better for children in a world where their immune systems are under increasing pressure.I’m excited to welcome Dr. Maeve O’Connor.Dr. M
I think that this is an important time to pause and relook at Polyvagal Theory before continuing with Beyond Behaviors.Polyvagal Theory: Current Status, Clinical Applications, and Future Directions (Porges, S. 2025)"Social behavior and the capacity to manage challenge are dependent on the neural regulation of physiological state." S. PorgesWhen I dove into Stephen Porges’s 2025 review of the Polyvagal Theory (PVT), I felt like I’d stepped into a crossroads where neurobiology, clinical practice, trauma science, and human experience collide. This paper isn’t merely a summary of three decades of work (all of which I have read); it’s a spirited defense of a paradigm that’s been both celebrated (by me) and contested (by others). What follows is an honest appraisal of what the article teaches us, where it sparks real insight, and where it may fall short, especially through the lens of evidence-based medicine and developmental neurophysiology. (I also went deeper into his 2022 paper in Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience for the biophysiology of the ANS)At its heart, the article argues that the autonomic nervous system (ANS), through a set of hierarchically organized circuits centered on the vagus nerve, is not just a background player in stress and homeostasis, but a core regulator of social engagement, physiological flexibility, and behavior. Dr. Porges situates his theory as an alternative and expansion to classical views that treat sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) branches as functional opposites. Instead, he proposes a three-component hierarchy: the ventral vagal complex (VVC) supporting social engagement, a mobilization circuit mediated by the sympathetic nervous system or fight or flight state, and a dorsal vagal circuit that facilitates shutdown or immobilization under extreme threat..... Enjoy, Dr. M
This week I sit down with Dr. Stephen Porges, a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland.He served as president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse. In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.He is the author of multiple books on his Polyvagal Theory: including the Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation, as well as Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation. His newest book cowritten with his son is called Our Polyvagal World, How Safety and Trauma Change Us. Dr. Porges is the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol ™ (SSP), which is used by therapists to improve social engagement, language processing, and state regulation, as well as to reduce hearing sensitivities.This is such a fascinating conversation. He brings the worlds of psychiatry and anthropological physiology into union for us to understand the why of trauma reactions and the future unwinding that is now possible. This is a must listen to conversation if you know anyone with trauma history.Please enjoy my conversation with Professor Porges,Dr. M
Review of Chapter 2 of Beyond Behaviors by Mona Delahooke, PhD"Social behavior and the capacity to manage challenge are dependent on the neural regulation of physiological state." S. PorgesTop Down or Bottom Up?"Before We Respond to Behavior, We Need to Understand Its Origin."With a deceptively simple observation, Dr. Delahooke reshapes the entire field of behavioral intervention: children’s actions come from two very different places in the brain. Some behaviors are top-down, intentional, planned, thoughtful. But many, especially the ones adults find most perplexing, arise bottom-up from stress responses generated by the body’s autonomic nervous system. We often think of this state in terms of fight or flight, however, it is not that simplistic. It is truly any significant response to the outside environment that leads to a neuroceptive reaction that is not governed by the neocortex, top down. If we don’t distinguish the source, our interventions are guesswork at best and often counterproductive at worst.She illustrates this through a case, a child whose impulsive, disruptive behaviors were treated as failures of will or desire. School teachers and teams repeatedly urged him to “use his words,” as though language were a faucet he simply refused to turn on. What no one stopped to ask was the foundational question: Was his nervous system regulated enough to access language at all? Was he gated at the level of the amygdala blocking the ability to use his mind consciously and even have the opportunity to respond to a meaningful request? Is he capable of the ask, not in terms of willingness, but in terms of physiological access to the skill itself?..... and moreEnjoy,Dr. M
Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First, we’re joined by Dr. Sam Yanuck, a clinician-educator who has spent more than three decades translating immunology from the bench to the bedside. Dr. Yanuck has been in private practice since 1992 and is the creator of Cogence Immunology, one of the most widely respected functional immunology training programs in the world. Through Cogence, he has trained over 9,900 clinicians internationally to think mechanistically about immune signaling, chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, and the complex, often nonlinear patterns that define chronic disease.What sets Dr. Yanuck apart is his insistence on precision. His work focuses on understanding the immune system as a dynamic network—one shaped by timing, context, feedback loops, and individual biology—rather than a collection of isolated lab values or diagnoses. In his clinical model, chronic illness is not random; it reflects an identifiable matrix of immune, metabolic, environmental, and regulatory factors that can be mapped, understood, and addressed.In today’s conversation, we’ll explore how modern immunology reshapes clinical thinking around autoimmunity, chronic inflammatory disease, and long-term health—especially in complex patients where standard frameworks fall short.This is a deep dive. If you care about mechanism, signal over noise, and treating patients with both scientific rigor and biological humility, this episode is for you.Today, we’re stepping outside the sterile lab and into the wild world of evolutionary biology — where our immune system didn’t emerge in a vacuum, but in dirt, in danger, and in the delicate dance between microbe and mammal.Join me and Dr. Sam Yanuck -the clinician, the teacher, and one of the best translators of complex immunology into something both clinically useful and biologically beautiful.Dr. M
Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First, we’re joined by Dr. Sam Yanuck, a clinician-educator who has spent more than three decades translating immunology from the bench to the bedside. Dr. Yanuck has been in private practice since 1992 and is the creator of Cogence Immunology, one of the most widely respected functional immunology training programs in the world. Through Cogence, he has trained over 9,900 clinicians internationally to think mechanistically about immune signaling, chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, and the complex, often nonlinear patterns that define chronic disease.What sets Dr. Yanuck apart is his insistence on precision. His work focuses on understanding the immune system as a dynamic network—one shaped by timing, context, feedback loops, and individual biology—rather than a collection of isolated lab values or diagnoses. In his clinical model, chronic illness is not random; it reflects an identifiable matrix of immune, metabolic, environmental, and regulatory factors that can be mapped, understood, and addressed.In today’s conversation, we’ll explore how modern immunology reshapes clinical thinking around autoimmunity, chronic inflammatory disease, and long-term health—especially in complex patients where standard frameworks fall short.This is a deep dive. If you care about mechanism, signal over noise, and treating patients with both scientific rigor and biological humility, this episode is for you.Today, we’re stepping outside the sterile lab and into the wild world of evolutionary biology — where our immune system didn’t emerge in a vacuum, but in dirt, in danger, and in the delicate dance between microbe and mammal.Join me and Dr. Sam Yanuck -the clinician, the teacher, and one of the best translators of complex immunology into something both clinically useful and biologically beautiful.Dr. M
Review of Chapter 1 of Beyond Behaviors by Mona Delahooke, PhD"When we see a behavior that is problematic or confusing, the first question we should ask isn't "How do we get rid of it?" but rather "What is this telling us about the child?" (MD 2019)The opening chapter sets the stage for a quiet revolution in how we understand children who struggle. Dr. Mona Delahooke invites us to take a step back from the culturally and medically ingrained belief that children’s outward actions are reliable windows into their inner intentions - or what they really mean and want based on their actions. Instead, she asks, nay implores, us to adopt a more biologically accurate, compassionate, and clinically effective lens from which to view each child as they present themselves. Their behavior is communication from a developing nervous system striving for regulation and often stuck somewhere else, either frozen or in flight.....Dr. M
Food in InfancyWhat do we know?"Humans are the only mammals who feed our young special complementary foods before weaning and we are the only primates that wean our young before they can forage independently. There appears to be a sensitive period in the first several months of life when infants readily accept a wide variety of tastes and this period overlaps with a critical window for oral tolerance. As a result, infants should be exposed to a wide variety of flavors while mother is pregnant, while mother is nursing and beginning at an early age. There also appears to be a sensitive period between 4 and 9 months when infants are most receptive to different food textures. There remains debate about when it is best to begin introducing solid foods into an infant's diet however, the available evidence suggests that provided the water and food supply are free of contamination, and the infant is provided adequate nutrition, there are no clear contraindications to feeding infants complementary foods at any age. There is emerging evidence that introduction of solid foods into an infant's diet by 4 months may increase their willingness to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables later in life, decrease their risk of having feeding problems later in life, and decrease their risk of developing food allergies, and the early introduction of solid foods into an infant's diet does not appear to increase their risk of obesity later in childhood." (Borowitz S. 2021)Food Introductions — What’s the best way to approach it?As infants begin the shift from exclusive milk feeding to solid foods, a range of opinions inevitably emerge on how to navigate that transition. It’s tempting to get lost in modern guidelines, but an anthropological lens is often more revealing. Long before the age of purées in jars and puffed snacks in canisters, human infants ate what their parents ate. It was delivered in whole-food form and mechanically softened by chewing, cooking, or crushing. These early first foods carried important evolutionary advantages...Plus a piece on Hell Yeh or No by Derek SiversEnjoy,Dr. M
This weeks Guest is Dr. Jeremy Goldberg. He styles himself as a compassion cultivating day making change agent/empathy collecting not quitting word wizard/chief burrito appreciator aspiring to inspire/struggle overcoming ranter in charge/ferocious idealist/never giver upper/a love bombing kindness pirate. What he really does, in my mind, is write and teach the world to project love and kindness where it is not layered enough. On his website he writes: My mission is to make kindness cool, empathy popular, and compassion commonplace. As part of that purpose, I write articles, send emails, host retreats and workshops, give TEDx talks, coach clients, host a podcast, write books, and make spoken word poetry videos. My name is Jeremy, I founded Long Distance Love Bombs, and I am fucking stoked to meet you. Send me an email and let's get going: LongDistanceLoveBombs at gmail dot com. We breakdown words, relationship, connection and being happy in a world of silly tribal divisiveness!In this conversation we discuss his experience as a new father and the initiation of fatherhood. "I have been wiped out and annihilated by parenting and the initiation of fatherhood. Hands down, brutally, face dragged along the hot coals of the initiation...." There are so many real, honest, open truths dropped along the winding road of this discussion. If you are young and ready to understand the world of fatherhood, this is a conversation for you!Dr. M
THANKSGIVING THOUGHTSEvery year, as the leaves turn and the air gets that crisp bite, I’m pulled back to 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts where a group of English Pilgrims, religious refugees who had crossed an ocean to breathe free, and their Wampanoag neighbors sat down together for three days of feasting. No treaties, no agendas, just gratitude for a successful harvest and the simple miracle that two very different peoples could share a meal in peace. Food and friendship. That was the entire point. At least, that is what history tells us.Fast-forward two centuries and Abraham Lincoln, in the middle of the bloodiest war this country has ever known, paused on October 3, 1863 to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving.His words still ring true: “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God....Dr. M
The Evolutionary Tug-of-War - Inflammation’s Double-Edged Sword"Environmental factors, particularly infections, have fundamentally shaped human evolution by selecting for protective inflammatory response mechanisms that enhance survival. This evolutionary pressure has created a core biological paradox: inflammation is indispensable for host defense, yet its dysregulation significantly heightens disease and mortality risk. This fundamental tension raises three fundamental questions about human aging and immunity: (1) How have selective pressures driven the evolution of mechanisms to balance inflammation's protective benefits against its harmful consequences? (2) Why does substantial variability in healthspan persist despite historically stable rates of aging? (3) Does evolutionary prioritization of reproductive fitness inherently limit longevity?" (Manoharan et. al. 2025)Let’s talk about the fire inside us. Inflammation is our body’s 911 system: lightning-fast, life-saving when a bug invades or a thorn rips skin. But leave that alarm blaring 24/7 and the fire torches the house.Evolution faced this paradox: crank the immune dial high enough to survive infection and childbirth, yet install brakes so we don’t self-destruct by 40. Manoharan’s team just mapped those brakes in 17,500 humans and called it immune resilience (IR) or the ability to fight hard, clean up fast, and stay cool afterward... and linguistic aging associations...Dr. M
Today’s conversation takes us upstream—to the source—of one of the most pressing and emotionally charged topics in modern pediatrics: the rise in autism spectrum disorders. Autism rates have continued to climb in 2025, but what if much of what we call “the epidemic” isn’t simply genetics or better diagnosis, but a reflection of deeper biological, environmental, and developmental changes affecting the human organism before birth?To explore this critical question, I’m joined by three extraordinary clinicians who have dedicated their lives to understanding the roots of children’s health and disease.Dr. Sandy Newmark, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF, has spent the past two decades at the intersection of conventional and integrative medicine—focusing specifically on children with autism and ADHD. His approach blends deep compassion with scientific rigor, examining how nutrition, toxins, inflammation, and the microbiome shape the developing brain.Dr. Elisa Song, Stanford-, NYU-, and UCSF-trained integrative pediatrician and author of Healthy Kids, Happy Kids, is one of the leading global voices in pediatric functional medicine. As founder and Chief Medical Officer of Healthy Kids Happy Kids and Tiny Health, she’s pioneering microbiome-centered strategies to reverse chronic disease in children and reshape how we think about wellness from the inside out.Dr. Leslie Stone, family physician, obstetrician, and co-founder of GrowBabyHealth.com, brings a lifetime of experience delivering and caring for over 5,000 babies. Her groundbreaking work in the science of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease—the DOHaD model—shows how what happens before and during pregnancy programs a child’s long-term health, resilience, and risk for conditions like autism.Together, we’ll discuss the emerging evidence that the autism epidemic is not a mystery of genetics alone, but a story written in inflammation, metabolic disruption, environmental exposures, and the developmental stressors of modern life. We’ll explore how integrative and functional medicine are reframing prevention—not just treatment—and what it will take to truly turn the tide for the next generation.This is a conversation about hope, science, and the possibility of rewriting the future—one mother, one child, and one generation at a time.
Back to Sleep and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is defined as “the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.”During my time at the University of Virginia, I trained under neonatologist Dr. John Kattwinkel, a champion for newborn health and one of the leading figures in shaping national safe sleep policies. In the early 1990s, he chaired the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Infant Sleep Position and SIDS, which laid the foundation for the landmark Back to Sleep campaign.At that time, SIDS claimed roughly 14 infants per 10,000 live births in 1988. Following the campaign’s launch in 1994, the rate plummeted by over 60%, reaching about 5 deaths per 10,000 live births by 2006. Despite this dramatic improvement, recent data suggest that the decline has plateaued.....Dr. M
Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, we welcome Dr. Wayne Koontz, a founding partner at Salisbury Pediatric Associates in Salisbury North Carolina, where he has spent over 5 decades caring for generations of families with compassion, wisdom, and a deep commitment to community health.Dr. Koontz earned his Undergraduate degree and his Doctor of Medicine from Wake Forest University, where his early love of science and service began to take shape. He went on to complete his pediatric residency at Dallas Children’s Medical Center, part of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he received outstanding training in both academic and clinical pediatrics.As one of the founding physicians at Salisbury Pediatrics, Dr. Koontz helped to build a model of child-centered, family-oriented care that has served the Rowan County. His commitment to children’s well-being extends beyond the clinic, reflecting a lifelong dedication to preventive medicine, developmental health, and the nurturing of strong physician–family relationships.It’s an honor to have Dr. Koontz with us today to share his clinical insights as they relate to infection and vaccination from a longevity based pediatric career. Dr. Koontz has a unique perspective to share as his 50 plus years of experience cover the prevaccine infectious disease based practice of pediatric medicine all the way to the current vaccine centric and reduced infectious disease burden reality. That is a timeline worthy of exploration.So lets explore.Dr. M
Speaking Truth in Love: The Weight of Avoidance in Pediatric Metabolic HealthAfter completing the second round of our Asthma and Obesity Metabolic Pilot Program at Salisbury Pediatrics, I left the clinic reflecting deeply on what I witnessed. It crystallized a truth that is uncomfortable but undeniable: the greatest health threats to our children today are not infectious or accidental, they are metabolic. Diseases once reserved for adulthood: insulin resistance, fatty liver, hypertension, early vascular aging are now appearing in children who should be free to run, play, and thrive.In modern society, conversations about weight and metabolic dysfunction have become relatively taboo. This is not to say that children of normal or low weight are immune; they, too, can be at risk. However, the excess-weight group carries the highest statistical burden. Too often, clinicians hesitate to speak truth to families for fear of offending, shaming, or overstepping. In doing so, we risk silence becoming complicity and allowing preventable disease to take root in the very children we are charged to protect.Much of this epidemic is not born of individual failure but of systemic neglect. Government-funded, poor-quality school meals, cheap processed foods, and relentless marketing of sugar and refined carbohydrates have built an environment where metabolic injury is almost inevitable. When a child’s daily fuel is engineered for shelf life instead of cell life, the outcome is not accidental, it is predictable. Our pilot program lab results are a painful window into that truth.... and a literature review on eczema and anaphylaxis.Enjoy Dr. M
Review Part III - after the Attia PodcastAfter completing the interview with Dr. William Parker and now listening to Peter Attia's analysis, let us look again at this question. I repeat that the initial question has not changed for me. The first and most fundamental question to ask is this: What is the true value of acetaminophen in health compared with the potential risk if the associated findings are indeed correct?My response to this question has been altered by the analysis so far.I love this from Dr. Attia: "Some people might be wondering, why did you just take so long to explain all this to us? Why don’t you just give us the answer? I just want the sound bite, manPeter’s reply, “If you just want sound bites, you’re never going to learn.”Honestly, if you just want sound bites, this isn’t the podcast for you. But if you actually want to be able to learn to think for yourself, then that’s what we’re here to do. And that’s the reason we killed ourselves over the past week to put together the most thorough gathering of all the data we could find and the most intense night-weekend analysis possible. "I agree! I believe that the science and data are key. So here goes - round three!.....Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M’s Women & Children First Podcast, where we engage with pioneering voices at the intersection of science, healthcare, and the well-being of families.Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First, we welcome Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, a physician, educator, and thought leader whose career has profoundly influenced the practice of integrative pediatrics.Dr. Mumper earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Bridgewater College, graduating magna cum laude, before attending the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, where she received her medical degree. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Virginia and served as Chief Resident in Pediatrics. She remained at UVA as an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics from 1997 to 2005, mentoring future physicians and advancing holistic, evidence-based approaches to child health.Following her time in academia, Dr. Mumper founded The Rimland Center for Integrative Medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia, a clinic dedicated to children with autism spectrum disorders, PANS/PANDAS, allergies, and complex chronic illnesses. Her practice integrates the best of conventional pediatrics with biomedical and functional medicine principles, always guided by compassion and curiosity.She has been a leading educator with the Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) and a frequent international lecturer, teaching clinicians how to recognize and treat the root causes of immune dysregulation, inflammation, and neurodevelopmental challenges.Dr. Mumper is also the author of the new book Kids and COVID, an insightful exploration of how the pandemic impacted children, physically, emotionally, and developmentally, and what lessons medicine must learn moving forward. In our conversation, we discuss her book in depth, as well as the broader implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for pediatric care, resilience, and future public health policy.Finally, we dive into the complex topic of vaccines, considering what we’ve learned from the pandemic years and expanding the conversation begun with Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Joel Warsh.Dr. Mumper’s lifelong dedication to children, her fearless pursuit of truth, and her balanced, science-driven voice make her one of the most respected figures in functional medicine.Please join me in welcoming my friend and colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Mumper.Dr. M
Flu season is around the corner and we should take a look at the virus for preparation purposes.InfluenzaEvery few years, I revisit this virus in my writing, not only to keep it on your radar in preparation, but also because of the significant illness and death it continues to cause. It’s never wise to dismiss its potential impact. Influenza reliably returns each year, difficult to escape even with strict isolation.The flu is different from the common cold in many ways as the flu has:1) Rapid onset with high spiking fevers2) Muscle and headaches3) Little to not sneezing and sore throat4) Rapid and robust cough onsetInfluenza season is beginning in the United States this fall. Who gets sick? In short, people of all ages. Seasonal influenza has a reproductive rate of just over one, meaning that each infected person typically spreads the virus to one or two others through coughing or sneezing in close proximity. The virus also survives on surfaces for up to 24 hours, creating another common route of transmission, especially in children. Young kids frequently touch surfaces and each other, then touch their faces, providing the perfect pathway for infection. Because of this, schools remain a major hub for flu transmission across the country.Preventing the virus from taking root in your body is the key to avoiding a bad outcome.Things that I think of as critical to avoiding or preventing this infection:1) Keeping your vitamin D level greater than 50 ng/ml is an important way to prevent influenza infections. Get tested and supplement accordingly. As always the sun is your natural route to normal D levels2) Get adequate sleep based on your age to keep your immune system in great shape. Sleep is very important for immune health...... and more on asthma driving mental health issues.Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M’s Women & Children First Podcast, where we engage with pioneering voices at the intersection of science, healthcare, and the well-being of families.Today, I’m honored to introduce Dr. William Parker, PhD. Dr. Parker is perhaps best known for discovering the function of the human appendix, but his contributions to science extend far beyond that single discovery. He studied biology and chemistry as an undergraduate before earning his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1992. Since the 1980s, he has conducted innovative research, publishing more than 150 peer-reviewed articles that span immune function, microbiome science, and human health.Dr. Parker was the first to compare immune systems in wild animals with those of their laboratory counterparts, and among the first to conclude that changes in the human “biota”, the symbiotic organisms living within us, brought on by modern society can contribute to depression and anxiety. After nearly three decades at Duke University, where he served as associate professor and research leader, he founded WPLab, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and educating about the causes of chronic inflammatory diseases in high-income societies.Currently a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina, Dr. Parker collaborates widely with colleagues from Duke University, University of Montreal, Czech Academy of Sciences, University of Groningen, University of Colorado Boulder, and scientists across the pharmaceutical industry.In recent years, he has turned his attention to a provocative and urgent question: the potential links between early acetaminophen exposure and autism spectrum outcomes. His current work combines mechanistic and epidemiologic approaches to explore how acetaminophen’s effects on human physiology at critical stages of development might influence neurodevelopment.In our conversation, we’ll explore: The evidence and hypotheses behind acetaminophen’s potential role in autism risk What families and clinicians should know: what’s plausible, what remains speculative, and where research is heading nextI’m thrilled to share this episode with Dr. Parker, whose intellectual curiosity, scientific rigor, and courage to ask difficult questions embody the spirit of this show.Dr. M
For parents of special needs children, I honor you today.I witness your strength every day in clinic.You rise to meet challenges that many cannot begin to imagine, truly. You navigate medical appointments, therapy sessions, school meetings, and the unpredictable rhythms that come with raising a child with special needs.Often without pause, without adequate rest, and without the recognition you deserve. For those single parents carrying this day to day reality, a double level of gratitude for you.I want to pause for a moment and say what is too rarely said: you are extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.Your love is not passive, it is an active force. It shows up at 2 AM when a child can’t sleep, in the quiet patience during a meltdown, in the persistence to advocate for services in a dysfunctional system requiring resilience summoned when the system says “no” but you know your child needs a “yes.”.... and a discussion of nutritional dark matter.Enjoy,Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women & Children First, where we explore the front lines of children’s health and what matters most for our families.Today I’m honored to bring you Dr. Paul A. Offit, the Director of the Vaccine Education Center and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He also holds the Maurice R. Hilleman Professorship of Vaccinology at the University of Pennsylvania.Dr. Offit is a globally recognized expert in virology and immunology. He has served on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. He’s co-editor of the seminal vaccine textbook Vaccines, and for decades has been one of the clearest scientific voices defending evidence, transparency, and children’s health.This week, we’ll dig into COVID, vaccine policy, and what’s ahead for children in light of the latest shifts. Among current headlines: Healthy children and pregnant women are no longer being uniformly recommended for COVID vaccines by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a decision that’s stirring debate among pediatricians and public health experts like Dr. Offit. He’s sharply voiced concerns about removing key vaccine recommendations without new data, and about the broader implications of loosening vaccine guidance for the public good.In this conversation, we’ll cover: What the science says now about bivalent COVID vaccines in kids How recent policy changes affect vaccine access, trust, and safety What parents need to know—what’s changed, what’s stable, and what remains uncertainThis is my third time talking with Dr. Offit, and as always, I expect you’ll leave with clarity, evidence, and questions worth sharing.I hope you enjoy this conversation.Let’s dive in.Dr. M
Breastmilk is DynamicCellular and transcriptional diversity over the course of human lactationThis recent 2022 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Nyqiust and colleagues is a site for sore eyes.It offers a remarkable, high-resolution portrait of how the cellular landscape of human breast milk (hBM) shifts over time. The authors capture something both scientifically rich and uniquely human: the dynamic, living composition of milk as it adapts to the changing needs of mother and child.The abstract: "Human breast milk is a dynamic fluid that contains millions of cells, but their identities and phenotypic properties are poorly understood. We generated and analyzed single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data to characterize the transcriptomes of cells from hBM across lactational time from 3 to 632 d postpartum in 15 donors. We found that the majority of cells in hBM are lactocytes, a specialized epithelial subset, and that cell-type frequencies shift over the course of lactation, yielding greater epithelial diversity at later points. Analysis of lactocytes reveals a continuum of cell states characterized by transcriptional changes in hormone-, growth factor-, and milk production-related pathways. Generalized additive models suggest that one subcluster, LC1 epithelial cells, increases as a function of time postpartum, daycare attendance, and the use of hormonal birth control. We identify several subclusters of macrophages in hBM that are enriched for tolerogenic functions, possibly playing a role in protecting the mammary gland during lactation. Our description of the cellular components of breast milk, their association with maternal–infant dyad metadata, and our quantification of alterations at the gene and pathway levels provide a detailed longitudinal picture of hBM cells across lactational time. This work paves the way for future investigations of how a potential division of cellular labor and differential hormone regulation might be leveraged therapeutically to support healthy lactation and potentially aid in milk production." (Nyquist et. al. 2022)And more information on breastmilk immunology and a recipe.Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First podcast where we look at the world of Women and Children's Health through an anthropological lens with the humble understanding that we have a lot to learn.Today, I’m joined by Dr. Joel “Dr. Gator” Warsh, a pediatrician, author, and advocate for a whole-child approach to healthcare. Dr. Warsh earned his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College and completed his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Along the way, he also obtained a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Queen’s University in Canada, giving him a strong foundation in both clinical care and population health. These educational pursuits make him uniquely suited for today's conversation on vaccines.He is the author of Between a Shot and a Hard Place. In his own words, he says: I’ve dedicated my career to helping families navigate complicated health topics with clarity. My book addresses vaccine questions in a calm, data-driven, and practical way, offering parents guidance that steers clear of extremes. Parents face unprecedented pressure to make the "right" choices, often without enough balanced information. He has been featured on major platforms sharing his message with more than 400,000 parents through social media. We discuss his passion for empowering families to make informed, individualized decisions, including in areas that have been challenging or even taboo to discuss.Today, we’ll dive into his latest work, his perspectives on vaccines and preventative care, and how he envisions a future of pediatrics that is proactive rather than reactive. This is a conversation about rethinking the foundations of child health and it’s one you won’t want to miss.Enjoy,Dr. M
Inflammaging from a Population ViewIn a landmark study published in Nature Aging on July 7, 2025, researchers challenge a cornerstone of modern gerontology by showing that inflammaging, chronic, age-associated low-grade inflammation, is not universal across all human populations. The abstract states the following: "Inflammaging, an age-associated increase in chronic inflammation, is considered a hallmark of aging. However, there is no consensus approach to measuring inflammaging based on circulating cytokines. Here we assessed whether an inflammaging axis detected in the Italian InCHIANTI dataset comprising 19 cytokines could be generalized to a different industrialized population (Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study) or to two indigenous, nonindustrialized populations: the Tsimane from the Bolivian Amazon and the Orang Asli from Peninsular Malaysia.We assessed cytokine axis structure similarity and whether the inflammaging axis replicating the InCHIANTI result increased with age or was associated with health outcomes. The Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study was similar to InCHIANTI except for IL-6 and IL-1RA. The Tsimane and Orang Asli showed markedly different axis structures with little to no association with age and no association with age-related diseases. Inflammaging, as measured in this manner in these cohorts, thus appears to be largely a byproduct of industrialized lifestyles, with major variation across environments and populations." (Franck et. al. 2025)The research team analyzed 19 cytokines in over 2,800 individuals from four diverse populations: two industrialized cohorts: Italy's InCHIANTI and the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS); two non-industrialized, Indigenous groups: the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.In Italy and Singapore, the industrialized regions noted classic inflammaging signatures with inflammatory markers like IL‑6, TNF-α, and CRP increased with age, and correlated strongly with age-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and kidney disease..... and more on inflammaging...Dr. M
A Rooted Approach to Modern Medicine: The Vision ForwardMy emerging and chronically iterating philosophy of medicine is a rising structural entity rooted between ancient healing wisdom and modern scientific insight. It is layered with root cause immunometabolomic thinking and built upon anthropological foundations. As a pediatrician, educator, and onion peeling thinker, I believe that a medical approach grounded in compassion, prevention, and the pursuit of root causes is the way forward. Medicine is not just about treating disease but about reshaping the very terrain in which illness arises. This can and must start with our women and children.At the heart of this vision is a belief in the power of systems biology and our deep interconnectedness. The human body cannot be understood or healed through isolated parts or siloed provider experiences. We must move beyond symptom suppression and toward an understanding of the why behind disease. Why does a child struggle with allergies, ADHD, or autoimmune illness? What factors in the environment, diet, stress response, or microbial ecosystem have altered their trajectory? Why are the governmental and NGO leaders not guiding us towards a benevolent goal of whole child health? These are the questions that shape and guide our practice....and a literature review.Dr. M
Today’s guest is Dr. Sanjay Bhojraj, a powerful voice at the crossroads of advanced interventional cardiology and root-cause wellness. Dr. Bhojraj is board-certified in Cardiovascular Diseases and Interventional Cardiology, and one of only a small number of interventional cardiologists in the United States who is also certified in Functional Medicine through the Institute for Functional Medicine.Dr. Bhojraj earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine, trained in internal medicine at Northwestern, and completed a cardiology fellowship at the renowned Henry Ford Health System. For over two decades, he practiced in conventional cardiology, saving lives daily with stents, angioplasties, and transcatheter valve replacements.But along the way, something essential began to stir. He found himself asking bigger questions: Why do people arrive in the cath lab in the first place? Why are we not doing more to prevent the first or second heart event? And what role do nutrition, sleep, stress, and emotional health truly play in long-term cardiovascular outcomes?These questions led Dr. Bhojraj to Functional Medicine, not as an alternative, but as an evolution, a model that restores agency to patients and equips the body to heal through comprehensive lifestyle optimization. He now leads the Well12 Program, a transformational experience that guides individuals in upgrading the foundational systems of their health from metabolism to mindset, so they can live not just longer, but better.Today, Dr. Bhojraj and I explore the remarkable protein Klotho and the emerging science linking it to human longevity and health span. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss, a glimpse into what may become a defining frontier in upstream disease prevention.Enjoy,Dr. M
Systemic Maternal Inflammation and Neurodevelopment: The Role of IL-6 and IFN-γ in Autism Spectrum DisorderI just returned from Estes Park, Colorado where I presented a lecture on the Growing Brain/Mind - a tour through the underpinnings of childhood neurological changes that we call Autism. The timing is perfect for this article to be written.In an era when chronic disease in children is rising at an unprecedented pace, the search for root causes must include an honest inquiry into the conditions present during fetal development. The review article by Majerczyk and colleagues, Systemic Maternal Inflammation Promotes ASD via IL-6 and IFN-γ, brings forward a critical piece in this puzzle that I began to explore a few years ago when writing a book. It connects the dots between maternal immune dysregulation and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, specifically autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through a synthesis of clinical data and animal research, the authors make a compelling case for the centrality of two inflammatory messengers, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), in shaping fetal brain development during gestational stress. The key words here being GESTATIONAL STRESS, the recurring scientific theme for ASD development, not vaccines... and some literature reviews.Dr. M
Today, we explore the intersections of cutting-edge science, compassionate care, and the future of pediatric and maternal health with Dr. Melinda Elliott, MD, FAAP, a leading neonatologist and the Chief Medical Officer at Prolacta Bioscience. Dr. Elliott has dedicated her career to advancing the care of our most vulnerable patients, premature and medically fragile infants, through both clinical excellence and research-driven innovation.Dr. Elliott earned her medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine. She went on to complete her residency in pediatrics and her fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at the University of Florida, where she also served as chief resident and a faculty member, helping to train the next generation of pediatricians and neonatologists.Throughout her clinical and leadership career, Dr. Elliott has been deeply involved in advancing evidence-based care in the NICU, improving nutritional strategies for preterm infants, and advocating for human milk as a therapeutic intervention in neonatal health. Her work with Prolacta Bioscience supports NICUs around the globe in providing 100% human milk–based nutrition to reduce complications such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating condition that disproportionately affects preterm infants.Please join me in welcoming Dr. Melinda Elliott, a champion for babies and a voice for innovation in neonatal medicine.Dr. M
As I have told many of my patients, I would write immediately when NC sees its first Measles case.Well, North Carolina has its first measles case: The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed a case of measles in a child who was visiting Forsyth and Guilford counties. The child became ill while traveling to NC from another country where measles outbreaks have recently been reported. To protect the individual and their family’s privacy, no additional information about this individual will be released. This is the first confirmed case of measles in the state in 2025. NCDHHS is recommending all unvaccinated individuals ages one year and older receive measles vaccination to protect themselves and those around them. (NCDHHS)So, it is finally in NC. If you are still on the fence of whether to vaccinate, the issue is now truly pressing.From the CDC:U.S. Hospitalizations in 202512% of cases hospitalized (148 of 1227)Percent of Age Group HospitalizedUnder 5 years: 20% (72 of 355 cases) 50% of the total hospitalized. Highest risk bucket.5-19 years: 8% (35 of 455)20+ years: 10% (40 of 404)Age unknown: 8% (1 of 13)Deaths 3And a story on Insurance Hell.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) An exciting phase three trial with the CETP inhibitor Obicetrapib has shown serious promise for ASCVD and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). "In BROADWAY, a pre-specified AD sub-study was designed to assess plasma AD biomarkers in patients enrolled in the BROADWAY trial and evaluated the effects of longer duration of therapy (12 months) with a prespecified population of ApoE3/4 or 4/4 carriers. The sub-study included 1727 patients, including 367 ApoE4 carriers. The primary outcome measure was p-tau217 absolute and percent change over 12 months. Additional outcome measures included neurofilament light chain (“NFL”), glial fibrillary acidic protein (“GFAP”), p-tau181, and Aβ42/40 ratio absolute and percent change over 12 months. NewAmsterdam observed statistically significant lower absolute changes in p-tau217 compared to placebo over 12 months in both the full ITT population (p
Today’s guest is Lisa Danahy, a powerhouse in the world of yoga therapy, trauma-informed education, and social-emotional learning. With over three decades of experience as a school administrator, curriculum designer, and wellness educator, Lisa brings a rare blend of clinical insight, compassion, and practical tools to help children and the adults who care for them find calm in a chaotic world.Lisa holds a Master of Science in Yoga Therapy, is a certified yoga therapist and educator, and is the founder of Create Calm, a nationally recognized nonprofit that’s transformed wellness access for neurodiverse, disabled, and underserved youth across the country. Since 2016, Create Calm has delivered evidence-based programs to thousands of students, educators, and families in school systems nationwide.Lisa’s approach integrates the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, and movement science into accessible practices that support emotional regulation, resilience, and whole-person healing. She's a Hay House author, international speaker, and a trusted trainer for clinicians, caregivers, and teachers alike.Stay with us as we explore how her work is redefining wellness in schools, clinics, and communities.You can learn more about Lisa’s work at www.CreateCalm.org and www.MondayMindfulness.com.Let’s dive in.Please Enjoy,Dr. M
There is a quiet truth written in the tomes of family life that science keeps confirming over and over. It’s worth pausing to reflect on.A warm bond between a father and child lights a path toward a steady, grounded adulthood. Studies show kids with an emotionally present dad, someone who’s there with a hug or a knowing nod, are less likely to stumble into behavioral trouble. Boys, especially, often look to their fathers as a mirror, shaping themselves in the image of a dad they feel close to. It’s a simple gift: presence breeds strength, presence breeds exploration of self, presence breeds knowing, presence breeds growth in all things for men.Now, here’s a twist you might not expect. The old-school image of the rugged, masculine dad, stoic and commanding, was once thought to mold boys into the same mold. But research, like a wise teacher, reveals otherwise. A boy’s masculinity isn’t forged by a father’s stern hand; it’s an innate spark, flickering or bold regardless of style. As a Stoic father might counsel, we can’t control the nature we’re given, only how we nurture it. So, let’s release the pressure to force a mold and instead guide with patience. This theory follows the excellence of The Carpenter and the Gardener by Gopnik.... and a recipe.EnjoyDr. M
\Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First podcast where we look at the world of Women and Children's Health through an anthropological lens with the humble understanding that we have a lot to learn.Today, we’re honored to welcome Kristin Jones, a seasoned occupational therapist from Mooresville, North Carolina, whose career reflects both deep compassion and bold innovation in the service of neurodivergent children. Kristin brings 24 years of clinical and educational experience, including the past 14 spent working in a K-12 public charter school. Recently, she shifted gears in the most personal of ways—taking time away from school-based therapy to homeschool her daughter, who has Down Syndrome.Kristin earned her Master of Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University in 2000 and has spent her career supporting children and families across a broad spectrum of settings from early intervention and outpatient sensory clinics to schools and feeding therapy. Her passion lies in translating complex concepts from brain development and the Autistic lived experience into practical, accessible strategies for educators.In addition to her clinical work, Kristin is committed to the education of future therapists. She serves as adjunct faculty at Misericordia University and teaches with Education Resources Inc. Her presentations with the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective reflect her ongoing mission to uplift neurodivergent voices and move beyond outdated therapeutic norms.Kristin’s voice is one of clarity and respect for children, for families, and for the evolving science of how we learn, communicate, and thrive.Let’s dive in,Dr. M
Heat Exhaustion Prevention and AwarenessIt is that time of year in many parts of the country. Planning ahead of an event or extended time out in the heat is very important especially as we age or while pregnant.Summer break does not end the competitive athletics. Kids of all ages are playing sports during the heat of the day all over the country this summer. This time of year poses a major risk of overheating for children and adolescents engaged in aggressive aerobic outdoor exercise. It is prudent to try to have vigorous workouts during the early morning hours preferably or later in the evening for the older kids who get to bed later by nature.In our clinic, we have had admissions to the hospital for heat exhaustion and muscle breakdown known as rhabdomyolyisis. For example, a young man was practicing on the football field and overheated due to a combination of under hydration and excessive ambient temperature. Symptoms included excessive sweating, rapid pulse, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and dizziness... and a literature review.Enjoy, Dr. M
Today, I’m diving into a fascinating article by Scott Zimmerman and Russel J. Reiter, titled Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body, published in Melatonin Research (2019). This piece flips the script on what we thought we knew about melatonin, light, and how our bodies interact with the sun’s rays. It’s a game-changer, especially for how we think about kids’ health in our modern, screen-filled indoor living world.First, what is melatonin? Melatonin is a hormone made from the essential amino acid, tryptophan. It was first isolated from a cow's pineal gland. It is an old molecule as primitive bacteria made melatonin probably 2.5 billion years ago. Its synthesis in bacteria and eukaryotes is a common linkage. Most of us know that melatonin is the “sleep hormone,” produced by the pineal gland in the brain when it gets dark at night, signaling to our bodies that it’s time to wind down and prepare to sleep. It’s the chemical expression of darkness, driving our circadian rhythms and helping us catch those precious brain cleansing moments. Zimmerman and Reiter argue that this is only half the story or maybe even less than half. For decades, research has hyper-focused on pineal melatonin that is regulated by visible light hitting our retinas. Blue visible spectrum light in the early morning suppresses pineal melatonin, which is why we should dim those screens before bed. But here’s where it gets interesting, the pineal gland isn’t the only place melatonin is made, and darkness isn’t its only trigger. Our bodies are producing melatonin in ways we’re just starting to understand, and it’s tied to light in a way that was unexpected and evolutionarily fascinating. As with all things in science and evolution, we learn what we did not know and it all makes sense once the aha moment occurs.... and a literature review. Oh and a recipe.Dr. M
I’m thrilled to bring you a conversation with a visionary leader whose work is reshaping healthcare innovation—Vic Gatto.Vic is the driving force behind Elevate Health 2050, a bold initiative exploring the transformative potential of Web3, AI, and biotech to redefine healthcare’s future, with a special focus on accessibility and impact—areas that touch the lives of women and children every day. Before this, Vic carved his path as the founder and Managing General Partner of Jumpstart Capital, where he’s invested in over 200 early-stage healthcare startups, proving that innovation thrives beyond Silicon Valley’s shadow, right here in Middle America.Vic’s journey began with a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College, giving him a broad foundation, followed by a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, equipping him with the strategic insight to navigate the complex world of venture capital.His entrepreneurial roots trace back to the 1990s, when he co-founded a software company in Boston, growing it from a small team to over 250 employees before selling it—a testament to his ability to build from the ground up.But Vic’s story isn’t just about credentials or exits; it’s about a man who sees healthcare as a mission, not just a market. With Elevate Health 2050, he’s pushing boundaries to ensure that the next generation—our women and children—benefits from cutting-edge solutions tailored to their needs. Today, we’ll explore how his vision bridges technology and human health, and what it means for families everywhere.So, grab a cup of tea, settle in, and let’s welcome Vic Gatto to the show.Enjoy,Dr. M
Itaconate, what is it and why does it matter?Science Heavy - skip to the bold for take home if you want to avoid the science.The biggest takeaway from this complex science is this: High fat, high sugar diets (Ultra Processed Foods) are associated with decreased itaconate activity and increased inflammation. The science further answers the question of whether we should allow ultra processed food in schools.Ultra Processed Foods likely reduce itaconate production driving inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, and gut dysbiosis, which could worsen active disease. Lower itaconate levels likely impair your body’s ability to resolve inflammation, potentially leading to prolonged issues with healing and repair. To support itaconate's anti inflammatory activity, shift away from UPFs toward an anti-inflammatory diet (e.g., Mediterranean, rich in vegetables, omega-3s, and fiber) to reduce inflammation, support gut health, and enhance itaconate’s immune-regulating effects.Science:.....Enjoy,Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M's Women and Children First, where we dive into the latest insights on health and wellness for women and children. Today, we’re honored to have Dr. Peter Rowe, a world-renowned expert from Johns Hopkins University, joining us to unravel the complexities of chronic fatigue. Dr. Peter Rowe is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the inaugural Sunshine Natural Wellbeing Foundation Professor of Chronic Fatigue and Related Disorders and serves as the Director of the Chronic Fatigue Clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. His areas of clinical expertise include chronic fatigue syndrome and other disorders characterized by fatigue and orthostatic intolerance. Dr. Rowe and his colleagues were the first to describe the relationship between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and treatable orthostatic intolerance syndromes, as well as the association between Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and CFS. In this episode, Dr. Rowe and I dive deep into CFS and long Covid for both the parent and the clinician. We set the stage for a better understanding of this complex disorder in order to encourage earlier diagnosis and better therapy. From its impact on daily life to cutting-edge approaches for management, Dr. Rowe brings decades of expertise to help us understand this challenging condition. Please Enjoy,Dr. M
Let's dive into articles that have been critical to understanding type 2 diabetes and Insulin Resistance: the Ominous Octet and now the Egregious Eleven from the BMC Medicine paper and the 2009 Diabetes paper by Dr. Ralph DeFronzo. Peter Attia recently interviewed Dr. Defronzo and I am on listen #3 because it is so good and yet incredibly complicated. This piece is a compilation of that interview and reviewing Dr. DeFronzo's papers.“…all too often, the risk factors for these disorders are not addressed promptly in clinical practice, leading to irreversible pathologic progression… Traditional approaches to treatment involving sequential therapy, in which agents are added only after one has failed, contribute to clinical inertia and often prevent goal attainment, leading to adverse outcomes…. in turn contributing to increased morbidity and mortality. In contrast, early diagnosis and prompt, intensive intervention, often with initial combination therapy, leads to faster goal attainment and improved outcomes for at-risk patients.” (Handelsman et al. 2023)(Schwartz et. al. 2024)...literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
This is such an important topic to cover, even for a pediatrician. Dementia!This problem is slated to exponentially worsen in the coming decades. And it starts at birth!In the intricate landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD), emerging research underscores a pivotal yet under explored facet for the why?, the brain's energy immunometabolism. A recent study by Patel et al., titled "Global Energy Metabolism Deficit in Alzheimer Disease Brain," delves into this domain, revealing significant metabolic disruptions that may illuminate novel upstream causes and possible therapies. For the better part of the last few decades, all AD research centered on the amyloid and tau plaques as the causative problem. However, billions of dollars and many drugs later, this hypothesis has crashed and burned. Failed therapies coupled to the skyrocketing volume of AD patients in the US over the next few decades will burden the US healthcare system and families alike. Folks, we need better answers and therapies rapidly. Thus, I have been following this information on and off over the years looking for answers. Last month, Dr. David Perlmutter gave an excellent lecture on microglial cells in the brain and their impact on AD and neurocognition in general. One paper that he cited was the Patel paper. Let's look at it.Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, where we explore groundbreaking approaches to health and wellness for women and children. Today, we’re honored to introduce Dr. Kevin Boyd, DDS, MSc, a board-certified pediatric dentist and a trailblazer in the field of evolutionary oral medicine. With an illustrious career spanning over three decades, Dr. Boyd practices in Chicago and serves as an attending instructor at Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program, where he also consults for the Sleep Medicine service.Dr. Boyd’s unique perspective is rooted in his undergraduate work in Biological Anthropology at Northeastern University as well as a Masters of science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Michigan State University.As a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology, he conducts pioneering research into how dietary and lifestyle changes since the Industrial Revolution have impacted craniofacial and respiratory development. His work in Darwinian Dentistry draws on anthropological insights, examining prehistoric fossil records to understand modern systemic diseases, particularly those affecting airway health in children.A passionate advocate for early intervention, Dr. Boyd focuses on preventing and treating craniofacial-respiratory issues in young children, often under age 7, to promote healthy breathing, sleep, and neurocognitive development. Through his global lectures on early childhood malocclusion, pediatric sleep-breathing hygiene, and evolutionary oral medicine, Dr. Boyd is educating clinicians and parents alike.Join us as Dr. Boyd shares his anthropological insights, clinical expertise, and vision for revolutionizing airway health to help women and children thrive. Let’s dive in!Dr. M
Picture this, a tiny, 30 nm, relentless RNA virus named norovirus slips into your life, uninvited, and turns your gut into a battlefield. It’s not the flu. Forget that “stomach flu” misnomer. It’s a Caliciviridae family member, a nonenveloped, single-stranded RNA ninja that thrives in making chaos. As a pediatrician, I’ve seen it wreak havoc in kids and parents alike, and it’s a master of surprise.It just played Risk in my GI tract last week. Not Fun!Let’s unpack how it infects, spreads, and toys with us humans, straight from the AAP’s Red Book (2024) and other research. Norovirus causes an estimated 1 in 15 US residents to become ill each year as well as 71,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths annually, predominantly among young children and the elderly.Norovirus doesn’t knock, more so it sneaks in, needing under 100 viral particles to ignite trouble. You’re sipping contaminated water, munching an oyster from a shady bay, or your toddler’s unwashed hands after a playdate deliver the payload. It’s mostly fecal-oral, stool to mouth via food, water, or surfaces. But don’t sleep on aerosolized vomit. One hurl in a crowded daycare, and airborne particles linger, landing on toys, doorknobs, you name it for days. Did I say lingering! Smart viral spread!Gorilla warfare is on!Dr. M
What is measles - a refresher?Measles is a serious, highly contagious and potentially deadly viral infection. It is caused by an RNA paramyxovirus. It is spread by contact with droplets from an infected person's nose, mouth or throat. Sneezing and coughing can aerosolize the droplets and increase the range of infectious spread. Symptoms usually develop 8 to 10 days following exposure to an infected individual. A sick individual is contagious for 4 days before and 4 days after symptom onset. The reproductive rate is very high at 12+ meaning that 1 person will infect 12 and those 12 will get 12 more sick (144) and then 144 X 12 = 1728 X 12 = 20,736 and you are off to the exponential races....Plus, The Shock of a New Diagnosis: A Stoic Path Through the Storm.Enjoy,Dr. M
Today we are joined by a remarkable guest, Dr. Trenna Sutcliffe, a board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatrician and the founder of the Sutcliffe Clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her educational history is impressive. She completed her undergraduate education in Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics followed by a masters degree in Biophysics at The University of Toronto. She obtained her Medical degree at McMaster University before her pediatric residency and training finished at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. And oh by the way, she then did a year of pediatric Neurology residency and a Fellowship in Developmental Pediatrics. And finally, another Masters degree in Epidemiology at Stanford University. Thus, her educational path has allowed her to see the developmental landscape through a wider lens covering many disciplines. Dr. Sutcliffe started the first Developmental Pediatrics Clinic at Stanford and played the role of trailblazer throughout her career.With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Sutcliffe specializes in supporting children with autism, ADHD, and anxiety, offering a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and treatment. In this episode, she’ll share her insights on the rising prevalence of these conditions, the importance of personalized care, and practical strategies for parents navigating developmental challenge. Fundamentally, Dr. Sutcliffe is a going to educate us on a better way to deliver whole person care to the developmentally challenged and beautiful children of this country.Two words encapsulate her work: empowering and thoughtful.Let’s dive into this conversation with Dr. Sutcliffe to learn how we can help our children thrive!Dr. M
Literature Review1) Microplastics in the Brain - From Science Advances: "Human health is being threatened by environmental microplastic (MP) pollution. MPs were detected in the bloodstream and multiple tissues of humans, disrupting the regular physiological processes of organs. Nanoscale plastics can breach the blood-brain barrier, leading to neurotoxic effects. How MPs cause brain functional irregularities remains unclear. This work uses high-depth imaging techniques to investigate the MPs within the brain in vivo. We show that circulating MPs are phagocytosed and lead these cells to obstruction in the capillaries of the brain cortex. These blockages as thrombus formation cause reduced blood flow and neurological abnormalities in mice. Our data reveal a mechanism by which MPs disrupt tissue function indirectly through regulation of cell obstruction and interference with local blood circulation, rather than direct tissue penetration. This revelation offers a lens through which to comprehend the toxicological implications of MPs that invade the bloodstream." (Huang et. al. 2025)This weeks podcast is a direct look at the world of toxicology and the human consequences of exposure over time. Microplastics are the new and next trouble maker on the planet. This study raises the concern that micro and nano plastics can and do enter the brain and will disrupt and thus alter brain physiological processes. More time to answer the true risk reality. Not good. and more....Plus a letter about MAHA from Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a serious take on preventative medicine as opposed to disease pharmaceutical centric medicine.Dr. M
Klotho Protein and LongevityI am reposting this information from last year because it is going to stay on my mind and I would like everyone to be aware of this peptide and the future of healing and what we can do now to be healthy. The science here is one part fascinating, one part complicated and equal parts necessary.Ok, it is time for a potential log step shift in the human understanding of neurological decline with age starting from birth.Enter the peptide, (C)Klotho, named after the greek goddess of fate who spins the thread of life for all. The Klotho protein was discovered by researchers looking at mice that aged faster than the general mouse population. These mice were noted to have a shortened lifespan, stunted growth, renal disease, blood vessel calcification, cardiac hypertrophy, hypertension, pulmonary disease, cognitive impairment, multi-organ atrophy and fibrosis. (Prud'homme et. al. 2022) When they looked closer, these mice were found to have hypoactive klotho proteins leading to an explosion of research over the past two decades to understand why. The next question was, could the hyperactive state provide an anti aging effect? To be clear the word anti aging should really say delayed inevitable aging.The answer was a resounding yes!.....Dr. M
Today we’re tackling a topic that hits close to home for so many of us, sugar addiction and its impact on our kids and ourselves.We’ve got an incredible guest joining us: Michael Collins, the author of The Last Resort Sugar Detox Guide: Learn How To Quickly and Easily Detox from Sugar and Stop Cravings Completely. Michael is a former sugar addict who’s been sugar-free for over 30 years, and he’s helped thousands break free from sugar’s grip through his work as the founder of SugarAddiction.com. He’s also raised two children sugar-free from the womb to age six—a feat that’s as inspiring as it is eye-opening. In this episode, Michael will share his journey, the science behind sugar’s addictive pull, and practical strategies to detox for good, especially for families navigating the modern food landscape. Whether you’re a parent worried about your child’s sugar intake or someone struggling with cravings yourself, you won’t want to miss this.Dr. M
Some Key Literature Review Studies from Year 14This is a bit of a long newsletter. That is intentional. This will be a repository for some of the best research for us to look back on from time to time this coming year to solidify the learning moving forward.1) Time restricted eating patterns are known to help physiology and metabolism by initiating a pause in the action of mTOR and muscle synthesis as well as inducing autophagy. Autophagy is critical to the clearance of broken or damaged cells following injury or disease.....Plus a to do list and recipe of the week.Dr. M
Welcome back to Women and Children First, where we dive into the science, policies, and practices that shape the health of our families and communities. Today, we are honored to have Dr. Tasha Stoiber, a leading scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), whose work is at the forefront of protecting public health from environmental contaminants. Dr. Stoiber is a distinguished environmental scientist dedicated to understanding the impact of chemical exposures on public health.Dr. Stoiber earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She furthered her expertise through postdoctoral research in the ecotoxicology of nanoparticles in human tissues at the University of California, Davis. She brings a wealth of expertise to the conversation on how exposures to harmful substances, such as PFAS, heavy metals, and endocrine disruptors, can affect human health, especially in vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women.Currently, as a Senior Scientist at EWG, she focuses on researching contaminant chemicals in consumer products. At EWG, she plays a critical role in translating complex scientific research into actionable knowledge for consumers and policymakers. Her efforts help drive regulatory change and empower individuals to make safer choices for themselves and their families. Whether it's uncovering hidden contaminants in food, advocating for cleaner drinking water, or guiding parents on reducing toxic exposures, Dr. Stoiber’s work is reshaping how we think about environmental health.Dr. Stoiber has contributed significantly to scientific literature, with publications addressing critical issues such as the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water and freshwater fish. Her research has shed light on the widespread contamination of these "forever chemicals" and their potential health risks.Today, we’ll explore the pressing issues surrounding chemical exposures, how they influence childhood development and long-term well-being, and, most importantly, what we can do to protect ourselves. Join me as we tap into Dr. Stoiber’s deep knowledge and practical insights on creating a healthier world for the next generation.Dr. M
Here are 20 takeaways from year 14 of the SPA Newsletter1) Diet significantly impacts respiratory health – Reducing processed foods and increasing anti-inflammatory nutrients can help manage asthma and allergies.2) Consistent sleep routines improve cognitive function – Children who maintain a regular sleep schedule have better emotional regulation, learning capacity, and immune health.3) Environmental toxins affect child development – Reducing exposure to air pollutants, pesticides, and household chemicals lowers the risk of chronic illnesses and delayed learning.4) Chronic stress in children is rising – Teaching mindfulness, outdoor play, and limiting academic overburden will support mental well-being. Over stressing a child leads to little in the positive realm. Align their learning with their passions and watch them thrive.5) Processed foods are linked to behavior issues among so many issues – High sugar and ultra-processed diets may contribute to ADHD-like symptoms and mood instability.....Dr. M
Today, I’m thrilled to repost the conversation with Ken Cook, President and Co-Founder of the Environmental Working Group, a powerhouse built to protect human health and the planet. For over 30 years, he’s been a leading voice challenging industrial agriculture, flawed U.S. food policies, and the toxic threats facing families—especially women and kids. From pushing the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act to shield children from pesticides to creating tools like the Skin Deep Database and Dirty Dozen list, Ken’s work empowers moms with science to make safer choices.His latest venture is a podcast entitled Ken Cook Is Having Another Episode where he digs into endocrine disruptors and environmental health, issues hitting close to home for every parent.I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Ken Cook!Dr. M
Here is an article that I wrote for Rupa Fullscript in order to lay the ground work for effective preventative medicine. In order to get a longer runway to preventing disease, targeted lab screening is becoming very important.Classical medical training often relies on a traditional, binary approach to patient care: either a disease is present, or it is not. Functional medicine builds on this perspective by examining a continuum of potential dysfunction within lab results. Rather than waiting for a definitive diagnosis, functional medicine practitioners look for subtle “breadcrumbs” in the data—early indicators that might signal an evolving health issue long before it fully manifests. Routine lab panels remain a foundational tool, but their deeper insights are frequently underutilized. In functional medicine, we dig into each lab marker more thoroughly, considering it a potential clue to underlying imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, or early disease processes. This more granular interpretation goes beyond the standard understanding of “normal” values, seeking patterns that can inform more personalized and preventive care.By viewing “normal” lab ranges through a more nuanced lens, functional medicine aims to identify previously overlooked indicators. The ultimate goal is to narrow our concept of “optimal” health ranges, enabling a more attentive and individualized approach that supports the patient’s best possible health outcomes.....plus a section on literature reviews.Dr. M
Welcome to Dr. M's Women and Children First, the podcast where we dive deep into the science of health, wellness, and prevention—especially for women, children, and families. Today, we have a truly special guest, Dr. Joe Pizzorno.Dr. Joe Pizzorno is a world-renowned leader in functional and naturopathic medicine, a trailblazer in environmental health, and the founding president of Bastyr University, one of the most prestigious natural health institutions in the world. With decades of research, policy advocacy, and clinical expertise under his belt, Dr. Pizzorno has been at the forefront of reshaping modern medicine by emphasizing the critical role of nutrition, detoxification, and whole person health in preventing and reversing disease.He is the author of these books: Textbook of Natural Medicine, The Toxic Solution, Clinical Environmental Medicine, Clinical Pathophysiology and Total Wellness. He is an incredible teacher and sought after speaker worldwide.Today, we’ll be discussing metabolism and the hidden impact of environmental toxins on women and children’s health, practical detox strategies, and how we can take charge of our well-being in an increasingly toxic world. If you’re looking for science-backed insights and actionable tips to help your family thrive, you won’t want to miss this conversation!I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Dr. Joe Pizzorno!Dr. M
This is a repost of the most listened to podcast with Richard J. Johnson, M.D.. Dr. Johnson is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, he is a physician and nephrologist whose research has focused on the role of sugar, and especially fructose, in driving obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Much of this work has explored the role of fructose metabolism, especially the generation of uric acid, in driving this phenotype, and his work has included studies ranging from molecular biology, integrative physiology, and evolutionary biology. He is the author of The Sugar Fix which introduced the first low fructose diet, and also The Fat Switch which explores the role of fructose in driving the obesity epidemic. His newest book, Nature Wants Us To Be Fat, is a tour de force of the entire pathway of survival via metabolic events in the body related to fructose and the polyol pathway. This is a must read book. This podcast will introduce you to the exceptional work of Dr. Johnson and how we are now mismatched metabolically for the environment of modern America and our food systems.Please enjoy this wide ranging conversation.Dr. M
"Life forms on our planet have evolved under the strong influence of a daily light/dark cycle. Sunlight being the primary source of energy for photosynthesis, the daily production of photosynthetic biomass has a predictable diurnal rhythm. The daily cyclical production of photosynthesized chemical energy is at the base of the food chain. Daily changes in light and darkness result in diurnal rhythms in other environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity. Such a predictable and robust daily rhythm in food availability and environmental factors has led to the evolution of a ~24 h internal timing mechanism or circadian rhythm to enable organisms to anticipate daily changes and to optimize fitness. Fundamental to this 24 h rhythms is the ability to acquire food when it is available and to store a portion of these resources for utilization during the rest of the day (i.e. the fasting period) without compromising fitness and vitality. The fasting period also serves as a time for standby and repair so that the organism is fit and competent to harvest energy when light (for photosynthetic organisms) or food becomes available. While many non-photosynthetic lifeforms with short lifespan (< a few days) may not derive profound benefit from a circadian timing system, they share fundamental biochemical mechanisms for acquiring and storing food when it is available and then utilizing this stored energy during a quiescent period of fasting for repair, stress resistance and vitality." (Longo et. al. 2016)This is the crux of the understanding that we, the homo sapiens on Earth, need to realize that biology trumps any desire that we may have to fight against it. We are and have been moving in the wrong direction for quite some time as it relates to what we were meant to do biologically as children and then adults. Not coordinating activity with the sun is a negative recipe for health. Third shift workers are the canary's in the coal mine for the risks of working and being awake when the sun is down and sleeping when it is up. This population has some very high risks for metabolic disease based on the data. (Biggi et. al. 2008)Plus a section on filaggrin genes and skin function.Dr. M
Over the next few weeks, I will be doing a deeper dive into the world of eczema or atopic dermatitis. In the greek language where we derive many of our medical terms, eczema is spelled ἔκζεμα or ékzema which means to bubble up. This weeks podcast guest is Dr. Ana Maria Temple, an expert in eczema. We go all over the place in the pod and it is so worth your time if your child suffers from eczema.Eczema is a multifactorial skin condition that affects millions worldwide, manifesting as red, itchy rash due to inflamed skin. Its prevalence has been steadily rising, particularly in industrialized nations, which suggests a complex interplay of genetics, environmental factors (epigenetics), and immune dysregulation. As we unpack the root causes of eczema over the coming weeks, an integrative functional medicine approach highlights not only the "what" but the "why" behind this condition—providing opportunities for both prevention and healthier management.....plus a section on Skin pH.Dr. M
Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, where we dive deep into the latest research and expert insights on health, nutrition, and optimizing well-being. Today, we sit down with an influential voice in prenatal and fertility nutrition, Lily Nichols, RD.Lily is a registered dietitian, researcher, and best-selling author known for her groundbreaking work on real food nutrition for pregnancy. Her previous books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, have redefined how we think about maternal nutrition, blending ancestral wisdom with cutting-edge science. Now, with her latest book, Real Food for Fertility, she expands her expertise to help couples optimize their chances of conception and support a healthy pregnancy from the very start.In this conversation, we’ll explore the critical role of nutrient-dense, whole foods in fertility, how conventional dietary advice may be missing key elements, and why blood sugar balance, gut health, and micronutrient status are essential for reproductive success. Lily’s research-driven approach challenges outdated dogma and offers practical, evidence-based solutions that can make a real impact on fertility outcomes.Whether you're planning for pregnancy, supporting a loved one on their journey, or simply interested in how diet shapes reproductive health, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways.Join me in welcoming Lily Nichols, RD, to the podcast!Dr. MReal Food for Fertility
Holidays and ConnectionThe Christmas and winter holiday season is a unique time to sit back reflect on the past year. To behold the timeless beauty of life. The shared time offers us an opportunity to pause and connect with those who matter or should matter most in our lives. I love the bathroom plaque that says at the end of life it won't matter what you owned or what you knew, but rather the impact you had in a child's life. Fortunately, for us, the holidays bring a chance to foster authentic human connections. To actually sit in conspiracy together. These moments are more than just traditions, they are essential for our emotional, mental, and even physical health. In the hustle of modern existence, where schedules dominate and technology often mediates relationships, we are losing this skill set, especially for the younger generations, making it more important to stay focused now.Let us define human connection: Human connection is the act or feeling of being seen, heard, cared for and valued by another person or group. It is a most primary need for humans starting in infancy when a child needs a mother's touch and milk. It arises from the countless meaningful interactions that foster mutual understanding, trust, empathy, and shared emotional experiences that ultimately lead to a child's feeling of safety. The critical time period to establish attachment and connection is the first 2 to 3 years of life. Plus a section of literature review and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Today, we have an extraordinary guest joining us—Dr. Francis Koster, a man who has spent decades uncovering the invisible forces that shape our environment and, ultimately, our health.Dr. Koster is the founder of Pollution Detectives, an initiative that combines data-driven science, community collaboration, and advocacy to address environmental issues that impact the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the ecosystems that support our lives. With a focus on actionable solutions, Dr. Koster empowers communities to identify and combat environmental risks, especially those affecting children, who are often the most vulnerable to pollutants.Through his tireless work, Dr. Koster has inspired countless individuals to take charge of their surroundings and has highlighted the profound connection between environmental stewardship and public health. Today, we’ll dive into his groundbreaking efforts, the stories behind the data, and how we can all become part of the solution to ensure a healthier, safer future for the next generation.So, without further ado, let’s welcome the innovative and inspiring Dr. Francis Koster to the show!Enjoy,Dr. MPollution Detectives
Sulfurophane and health - It is clear now that SFN stands out as a powerhouse phytochemical with profound effects on human health through the pathway of nurclear factor erythroid related 2 (NRF2). It is found abundantly in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, broccolini, kale, and brussels sprouts. SFN is a bioactive compound with impressive clinical potential for preventing chronic disease and optimizing cellular health, especially in oxidant impaired/overloaded states. At its core, SFN is a sulfur-rich molecule derived from glucoraphanin, a glucosinolate precursor. The transformation occurs when the enzyme myrosinase, released during the chopping or chewing of cruciferous vegetables, catalyzes the reaction. Interestingly, this enzymatic activation can also be achieved via gut microbiota when raw vegetables are absent from the diet, emphasizing the remarkable adaptability of our biology to source essential nutrients as needed for survival. (Ali et. al. 2023)Nrf2 is a master regulator of cellular defense, orchestrating the production of detoxification enzymes, antioxidants, and other cytoprotective proteins. By activating Nrf2, sulforaphane enhances the body’s resilience to oxidative stress, a key contributor to aging, inflammation, and the development of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Studies reveal that sulforaphane also induces Phase II detoxification enzymes, such as glutathione S-transferase, which play a vital role in neutralizing and excreting harmful toxins.
Lymphatics - RefresherLymphatics - a plumbing system that follows the circulatory system throughout the body including the brain where it is called the glymphatics. The function of these passively moving tubes is to transport fats around the body, clear cellular debris returning it to the liver and spleen, move fluid in and out of tissue to maintain fluid balance, transport and help immune cells function. By transporting fats , lymph is involved in vitamin movement to tissues and cells for Vitamins A, D, E, K. These are critical functions of metabolism, immunity and detoxification that when disrupted lead to chronic diseases of aging including edema, hypertension, autoimmunity and cardiovascular disease."Traditionally considered a passive route for transport of fluid, immune cells, and lipoproteins, lymphatics are now known to be active players in major physiological and pathophysiological processes. Until recently, lymphatic vessel dysfunction was mainly associated with primary and secondary lymphedema. Unexpectedly, however, lymphatic vascular defects have been uncovered in conditions such as obesity, cardiovas- cular disease, inflammation, hypertension, atherosclerosis, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma and various neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease." (Oliver et. al. 2021)...and a discussion on chemicals in school food.Enjoy,Dr. M
VaccinesIn the coming months, I am going to take a deeper look at vaccines. I am fielding lots of questions in the office about the safety of vaccines. People are scared. Are they wrong? Should they be?Let me start here: first off, I am solidly pro vaccine. That is not the same as to be in agreement with the current vaccine schedule or that vaccines are without risk. I believe that the vaccine schedule and the risk should be questioned on a rolling basis in perpetuetum. This is the function of medical science. Question dogma always. Look for errors of past thinking and reassess on a continual basis.I think that on the face of it, the skepticism is well placed as the organizations tasked with our safety have made a mess of being honest during the COVID pandemic vaccine rollout..... plus a literature review.Dr. M
Dr. Ana-Maria Temple, MD, is an integrative pediatrician known for her whole child approach to children's health. She studied medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine before pursuing pediatric residency training at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In 2017, Dr. Temple further specialized by completing a fellowship in Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She combines conventional medicine with functional and lifestyle-based strategies to address common childhood conditions such as eczema, asthma, and allergies. Dr. Temple has a particular focus on helping families reduce dependence on medications by making sustainable health and wellness changes.With decades of clinical experience, Dr. Temple has been a vocal advocate for preventive care, emphasizing nutrition, environmental changes, and integrative treatments. She is the author of the two bestselling books Healthy Kids in an Unhealthy World and Ending the Eczema Epidemic. Additionally, Dr. Temple is a sought-after speaker and podcast guest, sharing her expertise on holistic pediatric care through various platforms. Today, we focus on her approach to eczema and children’s health.Enjoy,Dr. M
Treatment - sometimes it is just better to watch and wait.Warts are a common ailment of childhood. Mostly a nuisance, sometimes a hindrance to function when located on the fingers and or areas of high use. There are two major types of wart type skin lesions - typical verrucous warts and molluscum contagiosum.Google has great molluscum and wart ImagesWARTS/MOLLUSCUM - To Treat Or Not To Treat?Common warts and molluscum contagiosum lesions are benign, but bothersome viral skin lesions that are common in children. We see them all the time in clinic. A common viral wart is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infects the epithelium of the skin, leading to keratinocyte proliferation in the skin’s outer layer. This uncontrolled growth of the keratinocytes results in a thickened rough round lesion that we see. If the immune system fails to fully clear the virus, we see this lesion for months to years. Molluscum, caused by an unknown virus, follows a similar course with a dissimilar appearance. Neither molluscum nor warts have roots despite the myth propagated over the years. Molluscum lesions have a turbid white appearance under the umbilicated skin papule with the virus located within the upper skin layer. They are 1-4 mm in diameter. Viral warts are a little larger usually 3 -10 mm in size. They form a protective cap of dead skin (keratinocyte) cells and invade the deeper skin layer. The protective cap is rough like sand paper. Molluscum lesions peak around ages 2-7 years and for common warts the peak age is 7-15 years.... and more on a literature review.Dr. M
Megan Lyons, is a distinguished expert in personalized nutrition and wellness, with over a decade of experience in the field. As the founder of The Lyons’ Share Wellness, she has dedicated more than 14,000 hours to one-on-one nutrition consulting, assisting clients with diverse goals such as weight loss, overcoming emotional eating, managing thyroid dysfunction, and reversing prediabetes and cholesterol issues.Her academic credentials are extensive: Doctorate of Clinical Nutrition from the University of Western States Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition from Hawthorn University Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University Undergraduate degree from Harvard UniversityMegan is double board-certified as a Clinical and Holistic Nutritionist, and she is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.In 2016, she authored the Amazon Top 10 bestseller, Start Here: 7 Easy, Diet-Free Steps to Achieve Your Ultimate Health and Happiness. Additionally, she hosts the popular podcast Wellness Your Way, where she shares actionable and motivational health information with thousands of listeners each week.Our goal today is to highlight the realities of women's health, hormones and breastfeeding.Enjoy,Dr. MThe Lyons Share
Finding a relational balance with any person or persons can be a struggle if one side of the relationship dyad has a strong need for a gain to feel safe or whole. For example, a parent in a poor quality marriage or with significant childhood wounding may turn to the child for happiness and love when it is missing otherwise. A child in turn being young will often, out of filial love, try to meet the needs of the parent. These types of relationships can take on many forms and can become dysfunctional over time.I remember a parent child dyad from many years ago that was a budding enmeshed/codependent relationship between a mother and her son. Mom was absolutely unable to draw boundaries with her son as she felt all of his pain and reflected all of her childhood trauma onto the child's life with boundary-less smothering love and control. She simultaneously would restrict any behavior that she perceived as unsafe controlling his environment while drawing zero boundaries with regard to his behavior toward her and others within this controlled small world. He was a holy terror by 4 years of age. His mother was crying for help while being indignant that he was sweet and well meaning while she enabled every choice that he made. Her fear of drawing boundaries because of her own childhood restrictive parenting wounding left this child completely attached to her yet abusive because he felt completely out of control. The psychological pathology was exhausting for all in the room. Recommendations for therapy and interventions were met with scorn....plus a literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
Today, we are honored to have Dr. E. John Wherry, a leading expert in the field of immunology, joining us. Dr. Wherry is the Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also directs the Institute for Immunology. His undergraduate degree was obtained at Penn State University before completing his PhD in Immunology at the Thomas Jefferson University.A thought leader in T cell biology and immune memory, Dr. Wherry’s work has been instrumental in improving therapies for viral infections, vaccines, and immunotherapy treatments. His discoveries in the field of immune exhaustion have had a profound impact on the way we approach treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Widely published in top academic journals including Nature, Cell, and Science, Dr. Wherry is a heavy contributor to Covid research and especially the understandings of long Covid.Today, we discuss Covid and the current state of the science regarding vaccines, long covid and what we can do better next time there is a pandemic.Enjoy,Dr. M
Review of Dr. Casey Means’ Good EnergyIn her book, Good Energy, Dr. Casey Means explores the complex relationship between our metabolic health and the quality of energy we experience in daily life. Dr. Means is an ENT surgeon that graduated from Stanford University Medical School before eschewing it all to dive into the world of disease prevention. Drawing from her background in integrative medicine and her deep understanding of metabolic science, Dr. Means presents a compelling case for why energy levels are not merely a factor of rest and diet, but a direct reflection of how well our cells are functioning on a biochemical level. And this is the key, the understanding of the biochemistry of the why!In today’s modern world, so many of us feel sluggish, fatigued, or burned out, and the causes are often elusive. We live in a time where external stressors, processed foods, environmental toxins, and sedentary lifestyles disrupt our body’s ability to produce and regulate energy efficiently. Dr. Means calls for a paradigm shift in how we view energy: it’s not just about getting more sleep or drinking another cup of coffee. It’s about restoring the metabolic health of our cells to optimize the energy they generate.....plus a literature review and a recipe.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review WeekWhy do some people react to mosquitoes so vigorously? There is fascinating data for me in the Nature article, as I see lots of kids that react strongly to mosquitoes while others do not at all. A hyper primed immune reaction makes a lot of sense as the immune system is extra sensitive to the insult in individuals that have chronic allergic phenotypes. They are in effect polarized to see the outside world through an irritant lens and thus react in a more robust way. The cell called GD3 releases Interleukin 3 or IL-3 which is a cytokine signaling molecule that tells skin based sensory neurons to become more sensitive to allergens like house dust mites, environmental molds, and in this case mosquito saliva. Thus, the mosquito saliva induces more of the itch scratch cycle. The effect is to increase the gain sensitivity on the skin to 10. This is likely a main reason why having an allergic child take immunotherapy against allergens that they react to lowers the rheostat for all irritants. It is like a global check on the sensory system. This is another reason to consider SLIT and or SCIT immunotherapy in allergic children... Plus a discussion on the Joe Rogan podcast with Callie and Casey Means.Enjoy,Dr. M
Obesity and Change - The Tech IntersectionWelcome to the podcast! Today, I am thrilled to host Dr. Deborah Tate, a distinguished professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with joint appointments in Health Behavior and Nutrition. She also holds a faculty appointment at the Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis, North Carolina where she explores innovative approaches to improve lifestyle behaviors that impact obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease risk. Dr. Tate is a behavioral scientist, receiving her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on two main areas: (a) strategies for improving both short and long-term body weight regulation to reduce disease risks and (b) the development and translation of programs as alternatives to clinic-based care using digital and wearable technologies. She is known internationally for her work has published many papers in major nutrition and medical journals. Her work spans the intersection of behavioral health and obesity whereby she is a pioneer in digital health interventions. Her work has been pivotal in developing digital tools and online programs that support sustainable health changes, making access to wellness resources more inclusive and effective.Dr. Tate has been at the forefront of harnessing technology to create lasting change, blending behavioral science with digital advancements to empower individuals and families to make improved choices. Her contributions have transformed how we think about health interventions in today's digital age, offering scalable solutions that reach beyond traditional boundaries. Get ready for an insightful conversation with Dr. Tate as we dive into the science and the potential of digital health to foster resilience and well-being.Enjoy,Dr. M
Section IUnderstanding the Action and Use of GLP-1 Agonists in Children – A Pediatrician’s ViewpointThe United States, like much of the developed world, is facing increasing rates of childhood obesity and related health concerns. Despite years of research and various efforts, addressing this public health issue remains a complex challenge.This article reviews the potential mechanisms, benefits, and considerations for using GLP-1 agonists in children based on the current scientific understanding. While early research is promising, the application of these treatments in children requires careful consideration and should always be done in consultation with a healthcare provider.As a pediatrician, I recognize that while the science behind these treatments is evolving, it's important to remember that individual responses to treatments can vary. For children, every approach needs to be carefully weighed, considering their unique developmental needs.....Enjoy,Dr. M
Section IAre Smart Phones a benefit or a curse for the teenager in school? This is becoming a huge topic this past year or so. Logic would seem to dictate that this is a curse more than a benefit, but what does the data and expert opinion show?The Scientific American article "Do Phone Bans Help Students Perform Better in School?" examines the growing trend of banning smartphones in schools to enhance student performance and well-being. Numerous U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles, have recently implemented or are considering bans on phones in classrooms. Schools use tools like the Yondr pouch, which locks phones away during school hours, to enforce these bans. These measures are popular with educators and parents, with 60% of likely voters in New York State supporting such restrictions. Charlotte Schools has this policy: "In accordance with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Student Code of Conduct, personal technology devices, including cell phones must remain off and put away during school hours. Violations will result in confiscation of the personal technology device. The district is not responsible (monetary value or replacement) for theft, loss or damage to personal technology or other electronic devices brought onto CMS property." (CMS) My informal poll has a higher number of parents interested in phone ban restrictions in North Carolina....plus a section on teen anxiety.Enjoy,Dr. M
Welcome to the podcast! Today, I am thrilled to have a true pioneer in the field of metabolic health, Dr. Robert Lustig, MD, joining us. Dr. Lustig is a neuroendocrinologist and Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on the intersection of diet, obesity, and metabolic disease, particularly his deep dive into the role of sugar as a driving force behind many of today’s chronic health issues.As the author of several influential books, including Fat Chance, The Hacking of the American Mind and Metabolical, Dr. Lustig has been a vocal advocate for public health, helping to raise awareness about the harmful effects of processed foods, particularly refined sugars. His research has been instrumental in shifting the conversation around nutrition, focusing on the biological impacts of sugar and the ways it contributes to insulin resistance, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. His most recent paper entitled Obesogens, A Unifying Theory for the Global Rise in Obesity in the International Journal of Obesity - Nature is a ground stirring take on the current research.We are excited to explore his latest insights into metabolic health and the science of obesity, and how we can apply this knowledge to improve our own well-being. Let’s welcome Dr. Lustig to the show!Dr. M
Upcoming Podcast and Current Book Review.For all parents who love the content of this newsletter, I have a book for you to enjoy. It is a comprehensive look at parenting a child in modern times through the struggles of food, technology, stress and life in general.My good friend Elisa Song is a Stanford, NYU and UCSF trained pediatrician and lover of children. In her recently published book, Healthy Kids, Happy Kids, she offers a comprehensive and integrative approach to pediatric health that will resonate deeply with today’s parents who seek to navigate the complexities of modern healthcare and modern life. Dr. Song’s dual expertise as a pediatrician and a mother is evident in her compassionate and practical guidance. Much like the work of our mentor Sandy Newmark, her book is relatable but more importantly scientifically grounded.At the heart of Dr. Song’s philosophy is the idea that optimal health for children is not just the absence of disease but a state of overall well-being or optimal health, including: physical, emotional, and mental states. She emphasizes the importance of nutrition, advocating for whole, unprocessed foods while addressing the impacts of common allergens/intolerances, sugar, and artificial additives on children’s health. Her dietary recommendations are backed by a solid understanding of how nutrition influences immunity, inflammation, behavior, long-term development and ultimately chronic disease.Plus, a discussion on cancer, autoimmunity in children post Covid...Enjoy,Dr. M
Section ILiterature Review1) Long Covid in children - the symptoms are getting more clarity in who has what . From JAMA: 898 school-age children (751 with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and 147 without) and 4469 adolescents (3109 infected and 1360 uninfected) were included in the analysis. The time between infection and symptom analysis was 1.5 years. In models adjusted for sex and race and ethnicity, 14 symptoms in both school-age children and adolescents were more common in those with SARS-CoV-2 infection history compared with those without infection history, with 4 additional symptoms in school-age children only and 3 in adolescents only. These symptoms affected almost every organ system. The cumulative data shows us that neurocognitive (Headache, attention concerns, sleep dysregulation), pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms in school-age children were common, but changed to loss of smell and/or taste, body aches and pain, focus struggles and fatigue related symptoms in adolescents. (Gross et. al. 2024) Age has a huge effect on these outcomes as the older population has more frequent and problematical disease findings. Mood disorder is highly associated with worsened findings. I suspect from the historical data set over the last four years that children with chronic mental stress, poor quality diets, sleep issues, and poor activity levels at baseline have worsened acute and long term prognosis.Plus a section on a book review for Change Your Genes, Change Your Life.Enjoy,Dr. M
Children are and always will be a marker of a society’s quality and focus on their health. When we look at the landscape of childhood health trajectories, we see a declination in quality and an inclination toward diseases of immune dysregulation and underlying chronic unchecked inflammation. What is the genesis point, or where is ground zero?For me, that answer is the newly understood ecosystem called the intestinal infantile microbiome.What is the Intestinal Microbiome?The intestinal microbiome is a complex and dynamic community of microorganisms that plays a crucial role in all mammalian health, particularly in the early stages of life. The development of the human infant intestinal microbiome has profound implications for the child's immune system, tolerance to the outside world, metabolism, and health trajectory.Understanding the factors that influence the establishment and evolution of this microbiome can help in devising strategies to promote optimal health from infancy through adulthood. This article dives deep into the key aspects of the development of the infant intestinal microbiome, highlighting the critical stages, influencing factors, and long-term health implications.How Do Infants Establish Their Gut Microbiome?.....
David L. Katz, MD, MPH is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, with particular expertise in nutrition.He earned his BA at Dartmouth College (1984); his MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1988); and his MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health (1993). He completed sequential residency training and board certification in Internal Medicine (1991) and Preventive Medicine/Public Health (1993). Katz is the founder and former director of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (1998-2019); Past President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine; President and Founder of the non-profit True Health Initiative; and Founder and CEO of Diet ID, Inc. The recipient of numerous awards for teaching, writing, and contributions to public health, Katz was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in health journalism, has been a widely supported nominee for the position of U.S. Surgeon General, and has received three honorary doctorates. Katz has served as a nutrition columnist for O, the Oprah Magazine; an on-air contributor for ABC News/Good Morning America, and with appearances on most major news programs and contributions to most major magazines and leading newspapers, including OpEds in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.His most recent book, How to Eat, co-authored with Mark Bittman, is a 2021 IACP Awards finalist and is worth your time. I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak many times over the years and he is an amazing orator and I am blessed to have this hour with him. Today, we dive into the science of childhood obesity and what are the public health pain points that can be pressed on to change the negative trajectory.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) Does oral health affect your life if you are sick and in intensive care? According to a new study in JAMA, the answer is yes. From the study: 10,742 patients - "toothbrushing was associated with significantly lower risk for Hospital Acquired Pneumonia and ICU mortality. Reduction in pneumonia incidence was significant for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation but not for patients who were not receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. Toothbrushing for patients in the ICU was associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation and a shorter ICU length of stay. Brushing twice a day vs more frequent intervals was associated with similar effect estimates....Non-ICU hospital length of stay and use of antibiotics were not associated with toothbrushing." (Ehrenzeller et. al. 2024)Why does this matter? In effect, what this study shows is that patients with oral hygiene needs that are not met will have increased bacterial burdens leading to infectious disease risk via systemic inflammation and possibly bacterial translocation. At the end of the day, oral hygiene is very important to lower the total burden of inflammation in everyone, but especially in the most ill patient. It is super important for everyone to brush 2-3 x daily and floss daily at night.....Plus a discussion on Back to School.Enjoy, Dr. M
This week I sit down with Dr. Elisa Song to discuss her new book, Healthy Kids, Happy Kids. Dr. Song is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in political Science. She then attended New York University for her medical degree and finally a stop at the University of California San Francisco for pediatric residency training. In her own words, Dr. Song is a holistic pediatrician. She founded Whole Family Wellness, an integrative pediatric practice in Belmont, CA – one of the first and most highly regarded holistic pediatric practices in the country. She created Healthy Kids Happy Kids – dedicated to empowering parents to take charge of their kids’ health … naturally! She lectures around the world for the Center for Education and Development in Clinical Homeopathy (CEDH), Academy for Pain Research, Institute for Functional Medicine, and Holistic Pediatric Association, A4M among others. In this interview we look at health through a prevention first lens with a deep look at the intestinal microbiome and nutrition. Dr. Song's immense fund of knowledge is on full display in her book and this interview.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Elisa Song,Dr. M
Sleep Part IVContinuing the sleep education from a few weeks ago.Sleep is a most special event that we all need to continue to focus heavily on in order to live a healthy and long life. It may be the single most important event that we do daily.Here are a few more quick hits on sleep from the Matthew Walker's Book and other publications.1) Aim for a minimum of 7 hours nightly to maintain adequate memory consolidation, immune health and emotional regulation. Young children and teens need 8-14 hours depending on age.2) Do not eat close to bedtime. Stop eating three hours before you plan to go to sleep. Avoid rapidly digesting refined carbohydrates as they turn into energy quickly raising core temperature which makes it harder to fall asleep as we need our body temperature to drop 3 to 4 degrees F at night to fall asleep. Heavy protein meals at night are not a great idea. Eat the heavier proteins early (before 6 pm) if at all in the evening....plus a section on summer Covid surge.Enjoy,Dr. M
Sleep Part IIIFinally, the other elephant in the room related to sleep is STRESS. Stress alters the function of the hormone cortisol and can significantly alter night sleep function. There are three major chemicals that affect sleep: cortisol, adenosine and melatonin.In normal conditions, adenosine rises during the day making you sleepy, cortisol hits its low point at night and melatonin rises as the sun goes down. This combination puts pressure on you to feel sleepy and want to go to bed. Unfortunately, modern life has made many of us feel stressed and sympathetically fired up which affects cortisol function. Instead of being at its nadir at night, the stress response causes cortisol to rise at inappropriate times disrupting sleep onset and maintenance. Couple this stress with facebook addiction and screen induced melatonin suppression and you have a recipe for insomnia and disrupted sleep. (Hanson et. al. 2010)....Plus, a section on cellphones and driver knowledge.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe.Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe is a researcher and a thinker with persistence. Throughout history, these are the human qualities that lead people to develop amazing products and lead projects for the world to benefit from. Her story is one of discovery, passion and caring.Dr. Cutcliffe holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Wellesley College. Her scientific background is complemented by her experience in managing both research and operations teams in the biotech sector. Before founding Pendulum Therapeutics, she held senior positions at Pacific Biosciences and Elan Pharmaceuticals, where she was instrumental in developing various technological platforms. She is the co-founder and CEO of Pendulum Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative solutions to improve gut health through microbiome-based interventions. With over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, Dr. Cutcliffe has become a recognized leader in microbiome science, applying her expertise to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and practical, consumer-facing health solutions. At Pendulum Therapeutics, Dr. Cutcliffe has led the development of novel probiotic formulations specifically designed to address metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes. Her work has been pivotal in the growing recognition of the microbiome's role in human health, pushing forward the concept of targeted probiotics as a potential therapeutic option. Under her leadership, Pendulum Therapeutics has gained recognition for its scientific rigor and innovative approaches to personalized nutrition.Today, we discuss the story of her discovery and the fact that her work is the beginning of a hopeful wave of change for humans through gut microbiome manipulation. Dr. Cutcliffe helps us understand the basics of the microbiome, what helps it stay balanced and conversely, what upsets it. How does it support our metabolism and health in general. The main thrust of her work comes into the spotlight with Akkermansia mucinophilia, a keystone species for positive health.Please Enjoy my conversation with Dr. Cutcliffe,Dr. M
Epigenetics and PregnancyEpigenetics is the study of environmental signals and their effects on our genes. Our genes are not altered so much as they are read and used differently based on the environmental inputs. Epigenetic effects are critical during the pregnancy period as the environmental signals can alter an offspring’s outcome both in good and bad ways. Making sure that we control for better environmental signal exposure while pregnant can go a long way to protecting our children’s DNA from dysfunction and thus their outcome with health. It is well known that chemicals are generally negative insults to our epigenome while anti-inflammatory whole foods are positive. These epigenetic marks can be conserved over multiple generations making them extraordinarily beneficial or dangerous. Here we will discuss the lifestyle mitigating factors for a positive pregnancy and newborn outcome....plus an ode to Brenda Wassum.Dr. M
Sleep Part IILet us pause here! So far we now know that humans at all ages will suffer from memory dysfunction and brain sewage cleanup problems leading to inflammation and damage long term. What ages are most at risk? They are likely mirrored by other physiologic events that are at risk based on age. Teenagers, infants and toddlers are rapidly growing creatures requiring more macro/micronutrients, water, and toxin avoidance for success. It is likely that sleep follows these same principles.Going to a simple google scholar search for "sleep deprivation age risk" brings up countless articles on the effects of sleep deprivation in mothers and children on risk of obesity, diabetes, premature birth and much more.....Plus more on gender and emotion as well as a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Kenneth R. Pelletier, MD, PhD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Department of Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco. He is Director of the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP) which is a collaborative research program between CHIP and 15 of the Fortune 500 corporations including Ford, Oracle, Prudential, Apple, Dow, Lockheed Martin, Pepsico, IBM, American Airlines and NASA.Dr. Pelletier served as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine and Stanford University School of Medicine. He was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, studied at the CG Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland and has published over 300 professional journal articles in behavioral medicine, disease management, worksite interventions, alternative/integrative medicine, and epigenetics.At the present time, Dr. Pelletier is a medical and business consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Business Group on Health, the Federation of State Medical Boards, and major corporations including Cisco, IBM, American Airlines, Prudential, Dow, Disney, Ford, Mercer, Merck, Pepsico, Ford, Pfizer, Walgreens, NASA, Microsoft ENCARTA, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Health Net, the Pasteur Institute of Lille, the Alpha Group of Mexico, and the Singapore Ministry of Health.Dr. Pelletier is the author of fifteen (15) major books, including the international bestseller Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer and Change Your Genes – Change Your Life: Creating Optimal Health with the New Science of Epigenetics.Today we enjoy the amazing viewpoint that Dr. Pelletier has for humanity. We have control over our destinies individually and collectively. This conversation is the culmination of years of incredible study.Enjoy,Dr. M
Sleep Update for 2024Sleep has always been a necessary function of everyday life for all mammals. From an evolutionary perspective this cannot be a mistake as during the period of sleep you are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, there has to be a really good reason for mammals to sleep for extended hours. What is that reason? Why are toddlers and frankly all of us more cranky when we do not sleep enough? Why are our genes tied so tightly to circadian rhythms? Why are people so metabolically unwell when they are sleep deprived?...plus updates on heat exhaustion and covid.Enjoy,Dr. M
Klotho Part IILast week we discussed Klotho as a protein that has pleotrophic effects in the body as it relates to cellular aging. This week let us focus specifically on the brain. What are the effects of klotho as it relates to cognition and function over time? Klotho has neuroprotective effects based on studies that show that better cognitive performance in translational models over time occur with the injections of klotho. Klotho is also shown to have neuroprotective effects if naturally elevated, i.e. individuals with host genetics that promote more klotho production over time without being taken or given.The pivitol research occurred in 2015 in a mouse model of Alzheimers Disease (AD) where Dr. Dena Dubal and colleagues looked at two groups of intervention mice with and without higher levels of Klotho. and a literature review on micro plastics and screentime.Enjoy,Dr. M
Jeff Kessler, FACHEAllergy ChoicesThis week I sit down with Jeff Kessler to discuss allergies and sublingual immune therapy.Jeff Kessler is a business leader and a thought leader in the allergy therapy space. His relevant backstory goes back to 1999 when he had the fortunate opportunity to work on a project to select and implement an Electronic Medical Record system for the Allergy Associates of La Crosse (AAOL) clinic in La Crosse WI. Fortuitously for his daughter who at the time suffered profoundly with allergies, asthma and eczema, this opportunity presented a new course of therapy that would eventually be taken for the entire family leading to allergic disease modification. Enthralled with the therapy and company, Jeff dedicated his career in the healthcare industry from that point on to the allergy treatment approach that he witnessed change thousands of lives including his families. The growing AAOL organization became linked to Allergychoices, an education company dedicated to teaching healthcare providers around the U.S. on the protocol (La Crosse Method - LCM) that had been perfected since 1970. Jeff has served as President of Allergychoices since its formation and its services have grown to help providers deliver immunotherapy using the LCM to their patients directly at the primary care level. Bringing together AAOL, the most advanced allergy immunotherapy clinic in the U.S. and Allergychoices, capable of delivering the benefits of disease modifying allergy immunotherapy to anyone, anywhere, the distinctive competencies of these companies continue to help hundreds of thousands of allergy sufferers of all types, including foods.Jeff earned a bachelors in science from the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse before he received his MBA in Strategic Planning from University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management in 1987.Please enjoy my conversation with Jeff Kessler,Dr. M
Klotho Part IOk, it is time for a potential log step shift in the human understanding of neurological decline with age starting from birth.Enter the peptide, (C)Klotho, named after the greek goddess of fate who spins the thread of life for all. The Klotho protein was discovered by researchers looking at mice that aged faster than the general mouse population. These mice were noted to have a shortened lifespan, stunted growth, renal disease, blood vessel calcification, cardiac hypertrophy, hypertension, pulmonary disease, cognitive impairment, multi-organ atrophy and fibrosis. (Prud'homme et. al. 2022) When they looked closer, these mice were found to have hypoactive klotho proteins leading to an explosion of research over the past two decades to understand why. The next question was, could the hyperactive state provide an anti aging effect?The answer was a resounding yes!and a discussion on fast food.Enjoy,Dr. M
Sleep Restriction and Immune HealthIt has long been known that sleep is a truth teller of mood. The poorer the sleep quality, the poorer the emotional response. Every parent knows this with a child short on sleep. What are the cellular effects?From an abstract looking at catch up sleep and human inflammation we find the following: "Despite its prevalence in modern society, little is known about the long-term impact of restricting sleep during the week and ‘catching up’ on weekends. This common sleep pattern was experimentally modeled with three weeks of 5 nights of sleep restricted to 4 h followed by two nights of 8-h recovery sleep. In an intra-individual design, 14 healthy adults completed both the sleep restriction and an 8-h control condition, and the subjective impact and the effects on physiological markers of stress (cortisol, the inflammatory marker IL-6, glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity) were assessed. Sleep restriction was not perceived to be subjectively stressful and some degree of resilience or resistance to the effects of sleep restriction was observed in subjective domains. In contrast, physiological stress response systems remain activated with repeated exposures to sleep restriction and limited recovery opportunity...... and a section on literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
Reading Part IILet us follow up on last weeks newsletter on reading as a cultural advantage and a human need in truth. What do we know about the neuroscience of reading dysfunction or weakened ability to achieve the goal of reading proficiency? What is the frequency of concern?Depending on the study, 5-10% of children have reading issues like dyslexia. This has profound lifelong consequences if these issues are not dealt with in the early years of education.Let us start again by looking at the neuroanatomy of the human reading interface. The first point of human involvement in reading is visual acceptance of the written word on page. In order to complete this task one must be able to see the word clearly in the order that it is displayed on the page and then send the neuroception to the brain via the optic nerve to the visual cortex. Then the angular gyrus interprets the words leaving the frontal lobes to engage in decoding and comprehending the information. This intricate interplay of neural networks not only facilitates the understanding of written language but also strengthens cognitive functions such as memory in the hippocampus, attention in the prefrontal cortex, and critical thinking in the neocortex...plus a piece on exercise.Enjoy,Dr. M
ReadingIf you want to spend any amount of time with your child beyond hugs, feeding and basic life duties, I would recommend reading above all else. I find it hard to believe that this is the first article that I have written on reading. I pondered that for a minute and concluded that this, in effect, was me taking this information for granted. That ends today.When I reflect on my journey on the road to reading literacy, I note that I was not an avid reader. Nay, I hated reading for most of my childhood. My first self chosen pleasure book was The Firm when I was 23 years old. Why would this be? To sit for me was and is akin to mild torture. While other kids loved to dive into a book, that was not for me. Run, play, drum, hike, yes sir. All in....plus a Literature Review and section on Memorial Day.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week I sit down with Philip Bugaiski to discuss ocular tracking, reading difficulties and vision therapy.Dr. Bugaiski was born in New York and first developed an interest in optometry as a result of childhood vision challenges, requiring vision therapy. He studied science as an undergraduate at the Penn State University graduating with honors. He was awarded one of six national scholarships for optometry from the US Air Force. He served his country with distinction. He finished his doctoral work at the State University of New York College of Optometry. He completed fellowships in Synotic Optometry and Vision Therapy. He worked as Chief of Pediatrics and Vision Therapy for a multi-doctor practice until he founded The Developmental Vision Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. He specializes in Vision Development, Vision Therapy, Pediatric Optometry, and Vision Rehabilitation.Dr. Bugaiski is also North Carolina’s only Fellow of the College of Syntonic Optometry. He is a sought-after guest speaker for various groups on a local, national, and international level.All too often, children and adults are told that their eyes are healthy, they have 20/20 eyesight or their glasses are the correct power, and there is nothing else to be done. They are told that their reading issues are inborn dyslexia and other reductionistic diagnosis. At The Developmental Vision Center, Dr. Bugaiski looks beyond 20/20 eyesight. His team is there to treat the person, not just their eyes. Vision therapy is a program of progressive visual activities performed under doctor supervision, individualized by a vision therapist to fit the needs of each patient. In a statement, he is treating the child not a diagnostic name.Please enjoy my conversation with Philip Bugaiski,Dr. MDr. Bugaiski WebsiteLinkedIn Link
Stress and a Woman's Ability to Conceive - The Healthy Mind Is Key.How was it meant to be? Humans were designed to be excellent at handling acute stress while chronic stress on the other hand was never expected to be part of our day to day existence. We run from the tiger and survive the event or we die. That being said, chronic mental stress is the greatest disruptor of human balance and health. To truly know this fact and work towards alleviating it is the immediate route to a healthy life and a healthy pregnancy. Mental stress has profound negative effects on immune and hormonal function to the detriment of mom and her babe. Chronic mental stress is known to disrupt pregnancy conception and perinatal events. Perception of one’s stress is often more important than the event itself. Becoming aware of your perceptions and working toward a minimally stressed mind is a key to a healthy pregnancy. A woman should be honored and protected while pregnant to keep external stress levels low. In this chapter, you will learn why and how stress has the ability to hurt a pregnancy. The to do section gives tools to reverse the negative process......plus a graduation note.Enjoy,Dr. M
Demographic DeceptionThis week I sit down with Dustin Whitney to discuss population growth and its relevance to everyday life.Dustin is an author, an entrepreneur and a man looking at the world through a different lens. He recently published book the Demographic Deception which outlines the reality that the global population is contracting as opposed to the rapidly expansion that has been espoused by many over the past 40 years. He gives us a politically agnostic but incredibly optimistic view of the demographic problem.Dustin graduated from Boston College with a BA in marketing from Carrol School of Management in 1995. He subsequently entered the business world achieving business acumen while growing various companies. He is described as a modern-day business executive with balance in his life. Innovative thinking and good use of common sense have helped his businesses succeed. As a people person as well as a business person, Dustin has always been interested in what people do, and how they do it. Dustin is focused on building teams and fostering collaboration. The goal is to bring people and ideas together to facilitate progress and success.Dustin brings his 25+ years of business executive experience paired with a passion and mission to uncover and analyze global trends to help us understand how those trends impact long-term business growth and human life. We dive into all things population based covering healthcare, history and an optimistic future. In a word, this conversation is expanding.Please enjoy my conversation with Dustin Whitney,Dr. MDustin Whitney WebsiteLinkedIn Link
What are the main preventable etiologies for childhood death under the age of five years?According to the data compile by UNICEF, we see the following for the world:1) Prematurity 18%2) Pneumonia 14%3) Birth Asphyxia 12%4) Malaria 9%5) Diarrhea 9%6) Congenital anomolies 8%7) Injuries 5%8) Blood infections/sepsis 3%9) Tuberculosis 3%10) all othersFrom a global perspective, we are on the right track as deaths have decreased significantly from 12 million in 1990 to less than 5 million annually in 2022. This is a massive improvement in global childhood health. More work to be done as pneumonia and diarrhea based death should be less than 1%. Access to clean water, clean medicines and adequate medical care could crush these issues....plus a literature review as well as an ode to mothers.Enjoy,Dr. M
Excess Weight Gain, Obesity and Immune Related Diseases in 2 casesI want to share a few recent case experiences that shed light on the patient provider experience in the context of a collaborative clinic model based on prevention and the patient first mentality.In the struggle against the US based disease onslaught that is excess weight gain, longevity with the patient remains the greatest winner for a quality outcome. What do I mean when I say this? Let me tell you a story. I care for a wonderful young man who is about to turn 17 years old. I have known him since birth and his struggle with weight has been profound for most of these 17 years...... Plus an article review about weight loss and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week I sit down with Dr. Blaine Leeds to discuss oral health, sleep apnea, bedwetting and more.Dr. Leeds is a leader in the dental field. He speaks nationally on tele-dentistry, oral health and dental treatments for sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnea. He is a graduate of Arkansas Tech with a Bachelors degree in Chemistry before attending the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry where he graduated with honors. His skills in dentistry have also spurned many technological companies to help dentistry reach far locations. He is the author of, What happens when your child doesn't sleep? a book exploring the connection between oral motor function, anatomy and sleep. This is a very important topic as poor sleep will dominate a child's behavior in a negative way. He has been a guest on many major news networks sharing this wisdom.Today we sit down to dissect the issues of oral health, sleep and a whole child approach. The exploration is exactly what we need, root cause analysis and treatments based on the reasons not the symptoms.Please enjoy my conversation with Blaine Leeds,Dr. M
“It is your reaction to an adversity not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story develops.”Dieter UchtdorfWHY?What are the Underpinnings of Disease?What have we really learned over the last one to two hundred years of medicine?We left an era where infections killed the majority of children and adults, especially during childbirth and the first 5 years of life. Science gave us antimicrobial medicines and vaccines that altered this landscape and humans began to live decades longer.Medicine had conquered disease. However, it was not so. Insidiously, these victories were met with new problems called diseases of aging - heart disease, asthma, autoimmunity, diabetes, cancer, obesity, dementia and others...... and a literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
The Book that I never published. It is time for me to take another look at the mother child story in book form. In 2019, I embarked on a project of writing a book about maternal health and WHY it matters tremendously that we address the issues driving offspring dysregulation. The time since has ushered in an era of podcast guests that in some instances have solidified my beliefs on knowns while also shattering some beliefs leading to new ideas. Over the coming weeks, I am going to relook at this topic.Part of this project is going to be taking a page out of the Derek Sivers' book writing style, brevity and meaning are paramount. I am naturally hyper verbose and my writing style follows this reality. Thus, I am going to fight my natural style and desires in an effort to make this book shorter, much shorter and still powerful in delivery.Here goes!WHY?The story of normal maternal health and how we are disrupting it in modern America.......Also a Literature review and recipe of the week!Enjoy,Dr. M
Enuresis, Encopresis and ConstipationThis week I sit down with Dr. Steve Hodges to discuss bedwetting, constipation and more.Dr. Steve Hodges is a Urological surgeon and expert in the field of enuresis, encopresis and child urological health. He received his BA in classical and ancient studies from Duke University before completing medical school and residency at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He completed further Pediatric fellowships in Urology at the University of San Diego and again at Wake Forest. From there his career is one of exploration, questioning and seeking new answers to old questions. He has authored multiple books including It’s No Accident, Emma and the E Club: An Epic Episode About Eliminating Enuresis and Encopresis, and the MOP book anthology. He is widely published in top Urological Journals.Today we sit down to dissect the issues of enuresis(Bedwetting), encopresis (self stooling) and chronic constipation. The exploration is exactly what we need, root cause analysis and treatments based on the reasons not the symptoms.Please enjoy my conversation with Steve Hodges,Dr. M
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Amygdala: A review of a section of the book Behave by Robert SapolskyIn the world of neuroscience, Robert Sapolsky stands as a luminary, a maestro of unraveling the intricate dance of our brain's circuitry. Among the many deep dives that he delves into, his perspective on the amygdala resonates profoundly for me. The amygdala emerges not as a mere anatomical curiosity as he decides that rather than reducing the amygdala to a simplistic seat of fear and aggression, he highlights its diverse functions, emphasizing its involvement in the vast array of behaviors and experiences. It is a narrative view of the why the brain developed as it did to aid us in the fight against pathogens, predators and stress. Sapolsky's take on the amygdala is nothing short of revelatory, akin to a seasoned detective peeling away layers of a perplexing case. There are diverse neuronal pathways in this almond-shaped structure nestled deep within our temporal lobes and they have profound purpose. The amygdala emerges not merely as a primal seat of fear and aggression, but as a nuanced orchestrator of our emotional lives. All mammals have emotional responses that are split second to threat, joy and relationship. This is mediated......Plus a section on DNA and memory. Finally, a recipe.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) In a first of its kind study in mice, we see concrete evidence for how the mitochondria in obese individuals are a root cause of disease based on nutritional input. This fascinating animal translational study gives us insight into how a high fat diet is also a major component of mitochondrial damage through fission and fragmentation leading to worsened cell bioenergetics. The cells have reduced fatty acid oxidation or fat burning capacity due to a single gene's actions. The end result is a tilt toward fat cell production, fat storage and fat cell inflammation which are associated with diabetes and insulin resistance and ultimately metabolic syndrome. This starts to explain the paradox that is obesity where the person has a ton of stored energy, but has limited capacity to utilize it. It is like having a gas tank of fuel with a gas line that only allows for 1/10th of the flow required for optimal function. Science Daily has an excellent review of this paper. Link below. 2) Women's brains change during pregnancy as per a new study. The authors looked at brain changes before and after birth as well as with or without a vaginal delivery route. Their study findings noted transient changes in some brain regions as well as permanent changes in other brain regions that turn on self-reflection and empathy for others...... and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week I sit down with Dr. Stan Gabryszewski to discuss allergies from multiple angles.Dr. Gabryszewski graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Molecular Biology before attending Columbia University for his MD as well as a PhD degree in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies. He then completed his pediatric residency and is a senior allergy immunology fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he now teaches and performs research in the lab of Dr. David Hall. His research is focused on better understanding the epidemiologic and immunologic features among pediatric allergic disorders, in particular the food allergies IgE-mediated food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis.In this conversation, Stan and I sit down to discuss his recent paper in Pediatrics entitled, Patterns in the Development of Pediatric Allergy. This article is a much needed look at the true prevalence of allergy and allergic diseases in children. We discuss the statistics as well as the thoughts behind the why this is occurring. The upstream reasons are very important, hard to tease out but worthy of discussion.Please enjoy my conversation with Stan Gabryszewski,Dr. MHis recent paper in pediatrics.
Teenagers and tweens are a challenge to any parent as they embark on their identity development. These are years filled with angst, joy, love and pain, as our kids develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. As we attempt to guide but not control, we struggle watching them make and maybe repeat obvious mistakes. We, so dearly, want them to make the right choices (in our mind) and respect their bodies.What can we do to help?Dictating to teens will never work. They are more likely to sabotage their own lives in order to prove that they are in control. The tighter parents squeeze, the more the adolescent rebels.I think of this stage of parenting as motivational interviewing.... and a literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
Micro/nano-plastics (MNP) - the new ultra threat to our healthIn a first of its kind study, a group out of Italy has found quite disturbing results in the hearts of a few hundred tested individuals. From the study: 257 patients completed a 35 month study where they detected polyethylene in the 59% of the patient's heart's carotid artery plaque. In addition, 12% of the patients had detectable amounts of polyvinyl chloride. "Electron microscopy revealed visible, jagged-edged foreign particles among plaque macrophages and scattered in the external debris. Radiographic examination showed that some of these particles included chlorine." (Marfella et. al. 2024) Individuals with micro/nanoplastics in the carotid atheroma were at significantly higher risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, or death than those without detectable MNP. The hazard ratio is 4.5 which is to say that the risk is 4.5 X higher for the plastic exposed people.....plus a literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week I sit down with Dr. Stephen Porges,He is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland.He served as president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse. In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.He is the author of multiple books on his Polyvagal Theory: including the Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation, as well as Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation. His newest book cowritten with his son is called Our Polyvagal World, How Safety and Trauma Change Us. Dr. Porges is the creator of a music-based intervention, the Safe and Sound Protocol ™ (SSP), which is used by therapists to improve social engagement, language processing, and state regulation, as well as to reduce hearing sensitivities.This is such a fascinating conversation. He brings the worlds of psychiatry and anthropological physiology into union for us to understand the why of trauma reactions and the future unwinding that is now possible. This is a must listen to conversation if you know anyone with trauma history.Please enjoy my conversation with Professor Porges,Dr. MHis recent paper in Frontiers in Integrative NeuroscienceWebsite for Dr. PorgesNewest Book - Our Polyvagal World
Allergy Season and School - What is your plan?Spring is coming and maybe even here already in Carolina. School is in full swing for kids and they are filled with joy and excitement. They are back outside enjoying sports and play. For the parents of allergy suffering kids, this is a time for check ups, medicines and the countless forms required by school. I know! What a pain!The goal for parents and educators is to limit missed or unproductive school days due to asthma and allergies and to get the most out of the learning environment for all children. My goal is to help children be symptom free or as close as possible while also focusing on reducing mucous development which is a direct precursor to bacterial sinus and ear infections....and moreEnjoy,Dr. M
To ForgiveThe act as defined as I see it - to release consciously another person from your negative feelings based on an event that was hurtful toward you from them whether it is perceived on your part or known by both parties.What I find fascinating is that often the act of forgiveness may have to push past an unconscious threat injury in order to take root. This is to say that we can be harmed at a conscious and an unconscious level. The unconscious harm is understood at the vagal nerve level which is a primitive emotional safety response state that all mammals have that developed a long time ago. This is the essence of polyvagal theory which states that when humans feel safe, their nervous system supports the homeostatic functions of health, growth and restoration, while simultaneously become accessible to others without feeling or expressing threat and vulnerability. (Porges S. 2022) Thus, the opposite exists, when humans are threatened, their nervous system supports a break in homeostasis that can be short lived or long persistent based on the severity and chronicity of the harm. This break can lead to persistent mental and physical health challenges..... and a section on sleep followed by the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week we sit down with Dr. John Warner, an Emeritus professor of Pediatrics at the Imperial College of London in the United Kingdom and also at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. We discuss his recent paper entitled: Strategies and Future Opportunities for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Cow Milk Allergy. Dr. Warner completed his undergraduate medical training in the School of Medicine, University of Sheffield and his initial pediatric experience was at the Children''s Hospital, Sheffield in the United Kingdom. He moved to London as Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Department at Imperial College St Mary's hospital campus. He is also Hon Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Cape Town.In 2008 he became Director of Research for the Women and Children's Clinical Programme Group, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT). He was the lead for pediatrics in both the Biomedical Research Centre in ICHT and the NW London CLAHRC (Collaboration for Applied Health Research and Care) and was President of the Academic Pediatrics Association.Professor Warner's research has focused on the early life origins of asthma and related allergic and respiratory disorders. He has published over 500 papers in scientific journals on these topics. He was Editor in Chief of the journal Paediatric Allergy and Immunology from 1997-2010 and chairman of the paediatric section of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology for 5 years until 2010. He was also a member of the Speciality and Training committee of the World Allergy Organisation and a past Trustee of the charity known as The Anaphylaxis Campaign. He was a member of the Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes of the Food Standards Agency for 12 years until 2012 and was recognised for his work in food allergy research by the award of an OBE in 2013. Please enjoy my conversation with Professor Warner,Dr. M
Pregnancy is a super important time. Do not take by inhalation, ingestion or other exposure anything that is a potential toxin for the body.Things to avoid:1) Caffeine - in low to minimal doses, it is clear that caffeine is safe for pregnant women and their offspring. Caffeine easily crosses into the placenta and thus the baby's circulation. In utero babies cannot metabolize caffeine well putting them at risk with increasing exposure. The data does not support the same reality for more moderate to high doses. Caffeine is known to raise blood pressure and heart rate in all users in variable numbers based on metabolism capabilities...... plus a literature review and a recipe.Enjoy,Dr. M
Measles Overview AgainFrom the CDC: As of this week, there have been 35 cases of measles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported including seven direct importations of measles by international travelers and two outbreaks with more than five cases each. Most of these cases were among children and adolescents who had not received a measles-containing vaccine (MMR or MMRV), even if age eligible. (Site) In 2023, there were 58 total cases. A far cry from the 1274 cases in 2019, but still a sign that risk persists for some unvaccinated and immune compromised people.What is measles - a refresher?Measles is a serious, highly contagious and potentially deadly viral infection. It is caused by an RNA paramyxovirus. It is spread by contact with droplets from an infected person's nose, mouth or throat. Sneezing and coughing can aerosolize the droplets and increase the range of infectious spread.Enjoy, Dr. M
Dr. Kate Kresge is the Head of Medical Education at RUPA Health and host of the Root Cause Medicine Podcast. Dr. Kate collaborates with clinicians to bring leading-edge root-cause medicine information to the world through bootcamps, courses, podcasts, articles and more. Before joining RUPA, Dr. Kate was the founding Director of Functional Medicine at Sanare Today, a multi-location practice on the east coast of the U.S. that combines therapy, coaching, natural medicine and more to help people thrive. Dr. Kate’s training in naturopathic medicine began at Bastyr University where she learned how to approach a patient through a prevention focused lens. She focuses on therapies like biofeedback, micronutrient cofactor support and nutrition, allowing her to emphasize root-cause treatments that are both low-cost and effective in order to help keep functional medicine accessible to all.Today, we look at ADHD and the upstream levers that can be pulled on to help reduce the symptom burden. What are the nutritional, lifestyle and other mitigating factors for symptom amelioration? How does Dr. Kate approach a child and the family? What is a meal plan and so much more.Please enjoy my conversation with Kate Kresge.Dr. M
APOE4 and the history of human diseaseApolipoprotein E, discovered in 1973, is derived from a polymorphic gene called ApoE that encodes for a signaling protein on a class of fatty proteins that primarily carry cholesterol and other molecules around the body. We find ApoE primarily on VLDL, very low-density lipoproteins and HDL, High density lipoproteins. It primarily helps to shuttle cholesterol from the periphery of the body back to the liver. ApoE proteins are also involved in neuronal signaling, neuroinflammation and glucose metabolism making them especially critical for brain activity. This is becoming a critical part of the story for understanding dementia and neurodegeneration. (Williams T. 2020) ApoE is most famous for an isoform, APOE4/4, being highly associated with Alzheimer’s dementia in modernity. Unfortunately, as we do with many things in medicine, we have been focused on this genetic protein variant as a net negative in humans because we look at things as black and white. Either good or bad. A binary choice. Rubish! .....Enjoy,Dr. M
Light and It's Impacts on Health - Circadian RhythmsCircadian comes from the latin Circa Diem or about the dayI have long believed that indoor sedentary behavior is profoundly bad for us beyond just the lack of movement and outdoor natural education. Today, we will look at another major concern: light. We will also get into a circadian rhythm post looking at Dr. Panda's work. A final addition of a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
ADHD without Drugs - This is a reboot of this podcast from 2022 as it aligns with the podcasts of Dr. James Greenblatt and Dr. Kate HenrySandy Newmark, MD is the Director of Clinical Programs at the University of California at San Francisco's Osher Center for Integrative Health. He is an Integrative Pediatrician and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSF with the title of Osher Foundation Endowed Chair in Clinical Programs in Integrative Medicine. To me, he is an amazing teacher and onion peeler in the world of attention deficit.I met Sandy back in 2006 as he was the lead Pediatric teacher in the University of Arizona's Integrative Medicine Fellowship. He immediately made an impact in my career as a leader in this new way of seeing the world of medicine.His bio lists: Dr. Sanford Newmark specializes in integrative neurodevelopmental pediatrics including autism, ADHD, and related conditions. Dr. Newmark lectures widely on both autism and ADHD and has authored three chapters in integrative medicine textbooks. He is the author of the book “ADHD Without Drugs, a Guide to the Natural Care of Children with ADHD.” His online video, “Do 2.5 Million Children Really Need Ritalin? An Integrative Approach to ADHD,” has been viewed over 4.5 million times.Know this, this is an hour of your life that you will want to dedicate to Dr. Newmark's thoughts. Especially, if you or your child has ADHD.Enjoy my conversation with Dr. Newmark,Dr. M
Literature Review1) Cancer is now a unique risk factor for Cardiovascular disease according to recent research. This is being discussed as a point of emphasis for those that have been diagnosed with cancer as the knowledge is a wake up alarm to the biological underpinnings of these disparate immune based diseases. (Melchiori R. et. al. 2023) If you have a strong family history of cancer and heart disease as I do, this data needs to be understood for a prevention lens focus. In a few weeksx I will be discussing APOE genotypes for understanding these realities.2) In a translational model, sulphurophane increases mitochondrial biogenesis.....Plus a continuous glucose monitor experiment and more from Alison Gopnik's book.Enjoy,Dr. M
{display_podcast]Attention Deficit and Upstream Personalized TreatmentsThis week we sit down with Dr. James Greenblatt, a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine/psychiatry. He obtained his MD and completed his psychiatry residency at George Washington University School of Medicine. This training was followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He has been studying and educating providers on functional psychiatry for 4 decades. Dr. Greenblatt has served as the Chief Medical Officer at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, MA for nearly 20 years, and is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine.His focus is on the scientific evidence for nutritional interventions in psychiatry and mental illness. This is the essence of going upstream to right the wrongs of the biochemical pathways of the brain. He is the author of eight books, including the best-seller, Finally Focused: The Breakthrough Natural Treatment Plan for ADHD. His updated edition of Answers to Anorexia was released in October 2021 and his newest book, Functional & Integrative Medicine for Antidepressant Withdrawal is available now.Dr. Greenblatt is the founder of Psychiatry Redefined, an educational platform dedicated to the personalized, evidence-based treatment of mental health. Psychiatry Redefined offers continuing online education, CME-approved courses, and webinars, and boasts the most comprehensive and scientifically-based professional fellowship for mental health providers, The Psychiatry Redefined Fellowship in Functional & Integrative Psychiatry.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. James Greenblatt.Dr. M
This weeks podcast turned out to be so much more than expected when I first heard about Dr. David Clarke. His work transcends much of what I see in clinic and has given a name to the reality of puzzling chronic illness. From the PPDA website: Psychophysiologic disorders (PPD) are stress-related, brain-generated pain or illness. Even people who handle stress well can have PPD. This occurs when the stress is not fully recognized. The resulting symptoms are completely real. That is why the term we use is a blend of Psychology (the processes of the mind) and Physiology (the processes of the body).....and a discussion on oral allergy syndrome.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) Psilocybin is showing further signs of great promise in the fight against depression and PTSD. Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy has gained a foothold in the mainstream of treatment interventions for treatment resistant depression and PTSD. Psilocybin comes from a mushroom that has serotonergic effects on the receptor 5HT2A in the human brain. The results of the studies were net positives in reducing major mood disorder symptoms that are known to be long term in effect. (Haikazian et. al. 2023) I am very excited to see this therapeutic space expand into traumatized teens and other subsets to see outcome benefits. 2) Nanoplastics in the research in the Journal PNAS..... And a section on Antibiotic resistance.Enjoy,Dr. M
Dr. Mark Houston is a thinker and researcher into the root causes of cardiovascular disease and metabolism. He graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee summa cum laude in Chemistry before graduating with honors from Vanderbilt Medical School. He completed his medical internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, then returned to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he was chief resident in medicine and served on the full- time faculty until 2012. He is the current director of the hypertension Institute where he and his team develop novel approaches to hypertension and ASCVD by attending to root biological causes of disease. He also has a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a Masters of Science degree in Functional and Metabolic Medicine from the University of South Florida in Tampa Florida. He has written hundreds of papers, books and chapters on cardiovascular disease. He is one of the top researchers in the preventative cardiology space and he is here today to share his wisdom.His book credits:Handbook of Antihypertensive TherapyVascular Biology for the ClinicianWhat Your Doctor May Not Tell You About HypertensionHypertension Handbook for Students and CliniciansThe Hypertension HandbookWhat Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Heart Disease.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Mark Houston,Dr. MHypertension Institute
Sugar, Immune Health and Two StudiesLet us start right out of the gate with two studies. #1: Here is the abstract from European Journal of Clinical Nutrition: "Milk contributes with saturated fat, but randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the effects of dairy on the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) where dairy is given as whole foods are scarce. The objective of our study was to investigate the long-term effects of semi-skimmed milk on insulin sensitivity and further to compare milk with sugar-sweetened soft drinks (SSSD). A secondary analysis of a 6-month RCT with 60 overweight and obese subjects randomly assigned to 1 L/d of either milk (1.5 g fat/100 mL), SSSD, non-calorie soft drink (NCSD), or water was conducted. Insulin sensitivity was evaluated by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and plasma free fatty acids. Second, fasting blood lipids, blood pressure, and concentration of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were assessed......and more on antibiotic resistance.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) In an excellent paper by Dr. Harlan and colleagues, we see a group looking at how to modify ultra processed foods to remain tasty for consumption but also healthy. The lead author is Dr. Rob Lustig, a pioneering Pediatric Endocrinologist from UCSF and upcoming podcast guest. From the paper: "Ultraprocessed food is established as a metabolic disruptor acting to increase adiposity, reduce mitochondrial efficiency, drive insulin resistance, alter growth, and contribute to human morbidity and mortality. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are beginning to understand the detrimental impact of the food they market, and have employed substitution strategies to reduce salt, sugar, and fat. However, the harms of ultraprocessed foods are far more complex than any single component, and are not ameliorated by such simple substitutions." (Harlan et. al. 2023)......as well as information on Why ask why? and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Dan Shapiro is a man on a mission to help physicians, other providers and the medical healthcare administrators understand the reality of healthcare provider burnout. He is currently the Director of the Chartis Center for Burnout Solutions, where he and his team assist leaders of multi-hospital systems with efforts to reduce burnout and the turnover of high-value physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and other staff.Dan’s education goes back to my alma mater, Vassar College. He graduated with a BA in Psychology before going to the University of Florida for his doctorate in clinical psychology. He completed a post doctoral degree in Medical Crisis Interventions at Harvard University. He held faculty positions at the University of Arizona as well as at Penn State rising to the Chair and Professor of Humanities at Penn State College of Medicine. In 2017, he developed a systematic method for assessing and addressing burnout leading to consulting services focused on multi-hospital systems. In 2023, he left his role as Vice Dean and Chair to pursue the reduction of burnout full time with colleagues at Chartis.Dan is a frequent contributor to thought leadership in the physician burnout space. In 2003, Random House published his landmark memoir about one physician’s burnout, titled, “Delivering Doctor Amelia,” which was required reading at some colleges and medical schools. He’s written two other books, also for Random House. Dan’s additional writings have appeared or been featured in, among others, the New York Times, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Academic Medicine, and NPR’s All Things Considered.As a hobby, he worked for ten years as a weekly consultant to the hit television shows Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, How to Get Away with Murder and on-camera for the Discovery, National Geographic, and FYI channels.Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Shapiro,Dr. M
Resolutions? Do we need them?The simple answer for me is this - if it causes beneficial change, then yes we need them. Ideally, change should occur real time as the need or knowledge of benefit becomes apparent.New Years is traditionally a time that we introspect and set new goals for a better life. What that means to each one of us is as varied as the plants that exist, save for human health. We all WANT to be healthy. We all WANT to be happy. The impediment to being is not changing.....plus audience questions answered and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. David D. Clarke. Dr. Clarke is President of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association where he teaches the science of the mind body connection as it relates to GI related diseases that do not fit a traditional diagnostic nor pathological framework. For three plus decades, he conducted detailed interviews with over 7000 people whose symptoms were not explained by diagnostic testing, but were significantly affecting their lives in a negative way. He realized that these individuals often suffered from severe traumas in childhood that built the foundation of current health struggles. We dive into his work and the successes built upon the recognition of, intervention for and resolution related to the issues and physiological manifestations of disease.Dr. Clarke graduated from Williams College with honors before attending the University of Connecticut School of Medicine where he received his medical degree and the Mosby Award for Clinical Excellence. He completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Clarke has lectured extensively on Psychophysiologic Disorders to specialists and the public across North America and Europe. He has appeared on syndicated broadcasts hosted by Rosie O'Donnell, by Montel Williams and by Michael Roizen(author of You: The Owner's Manual).He is the Author of "They Can't Find Anything Wrong" and co-author of "A Diagnostic Guide for Psychophysiological Disorders" and Psychophysiologic Disorders".Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. David Clarke,Dr. M
Literature Reviews have been very popular. Thus, 2024 will start with science update.1) Time restricted eating patterns are known to help physiology and metabolism by initiating a pause in the action of mTOR and muscle synthesis as well as inducing autophagy. Autophagy is critical to the clearance of broken or damaged cells following injury or disease. How does circadian biology play into this reality? From Cell Metabolism: "Circadian disruptions impact nearly all people with Alzheimer’s disease....plus a discussion on water, dehydration and prevention as well as a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Christmas, Tradition and Holidays in General.When I think about the holidays, I think about large family gatherings, fake birds chirping in the Christmas tree, my Babcia cooking pierogis in butter, bacon and onions and serving me a huge plate, my cousin tripping and falling into the tree trying to turn off the chirping bird. I think of Christmas eve singing Polish and English carols. I remember the long table with 30 people sitting around the room celebrating togetherness. Life was pure as a child. Being the youngest of the generation, I seemed to see everything from the lowest viewpoint. I heard everything that was said that may or may not have been appropriate.......................plus a piece on genes and mental health. Recipe of the week is here as well.Enjoy,Dr. M
Podcast #62Jeff Bland, Ph.D.This week I have the absolute pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Jeff Bland. He is in a word, incredible.Dr. Bland is supreme thinker in the field of medicine and biology. He is a teacher, product developer, thought leader, unifier of minds and so much more. He obtained his BS in Biology at the University of California at Irvine and then a PhD from the University of Oregon. Dr. Bland was thinking about medicine from a root cause perspective decades before it became more vogue to believe in Integrative medicine. He is the founder of the Institute for Functional Medicine as well as his new company Big Bold Health, a company on a mission to transform the way people think about one of nature’s greatest innovations — the immune system. With Big Bold Health, he is pushing for the power of cellular immuno-rejuvenation through food to enhance immunity at a human level. The key is the rediscovery of ancient food crops and superfoods that have these properties of health promotion.We wander the landscape of human health through bramble and brook without a care in the world. It is a most enjoyable conversation to share.Enjoy,Dr. M
What have I learned over the last 13 years?1) That medicine is an onion peel that never ends! We keep learning and evolving into newer and more mature ways to understand the physiology of balance in all things human. When in balance, disease is stymied. When not so balanced, disease has a chance to start and flourish. After interviewing 68 guests, one common theme has arisen - that we have a layer of control to prevent disease and strife that is huge when young and gets smaller and less nimble as we age. Thus, prevention remains the best source of therapy for the human species to overcome the current negative trajectory on human health. Starting at the individual level appears to be the best answer as the collective, especially in government, is not aligned with health. When many of the most wealthy companies are insurers, hospitals and pharmaceuticals, we have our incentives upside down. The wealth should pour into companies preventing illness.......
Literature Review1) High resting cardiac vagal tone or control, CVC, is associated with more flexible emotional responding to external stressful stimuli. With regard to vagal changes the evidence shows us that stress will decrease CVC . (Balzarotti et. al. 2017)Being relaxed and not stressed out is always associated with better cellular physiology. CVC is a marker of relaxation and thus emotional control. Whenever you find yourself emotionally dysregulated, there is a good chance that your vagal tone is off. Work to meditate, exercise and relax which will increase CVC and help you cope.2) Continuing on the same theme..... plus a discussion on maternal neural hormonal rewiring, and a recipe of the week.
This is the third story of hope for us as a species. We have a level of control over our outcome that is baked into our DNA.Bridget R. Briggs, M.D. and I sit down today to discuss the clinical approach to epigenetics in patients especially women. She is a physician who specializes in Women’s Health. Dr. Briggs received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Los Angeles in Psychobiology. She then completed her medical degree from University of California San Diego School of Medicine before completing her residency in family medicine as well as internship in Obstetrics and gynecology. She has been in practice for 25 years in Southern California. She is the owner of two family medicine practices in California where she specializes in functional medicine and womens health. She is a well known speaker and educator on the topics of epigenetics and methylation in humans.Her story is personal regarding her deep dive into epigenetics and health based on her family's history and experiences to date. We take a winding road looking at the clinical applications of epigenetic understandings as laid out by the experts and trailblazers of DNA methylation and phenotypic change in animals and humans. We get into some controversial topics including vaccination, preparation for, avoidance of and much more. The conversation is open, honest and thoughtful. We finish with a hard look at the pregnancy state and how to achieve optimal outcomes for our offspring. It is another story of hope for humanity.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Bridget Briggs,Dr. M
Literature Review1) Pericytes are critical cells that sit around the tiny blood vessels called capillaries of the body especially in the brain. They are involved in regulating blood vessel activity. They communicate directly with the endothelial cells making them super important in the activity of the blood vessel and metabolism at the local tissue interface. From the journal Cell Death and Disease we see: "Crosstalk mechanisms....And some other discussions on Cancer detection at physicals as well as the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Respiratory Syncytial VirusRSV is a 150 nanometer RNA virus that comes from a human orthopneumovirus that circulates in the winter primarily. Young children and infants infected with RSV mostly have upper respiratory tract symptoms where a subset develop lower respiratory tract disease known as bronchiolitis with the primary infection. It is the most common reason for hospitalization in infants between 0 and 6 months of age. Bronchiolitis appears as a wheezy, cough centric illness that rarely may progress to increased respiratory effort noted by wheezing, rales (lung crackles - sounds like stepping on leaves), chest wall rib retractions, grunting, fast breathing, nasal flaring and eventually respiratory hypoxia. If it persists, the event can rarely lead to respiratory collapse and death. Annually, 150 children under 5 years of age die from RSV in the US. Most of these children are premature births and have cardiopulmonary disease issues. Term healthy children rarely succumb to RSV in a serious way. A recent study of German infants and children hospitalized with RSV identified these risk factors: age
Covid 19 Post Mortem Part IIThe story of the Standard American Diet and its directional connection to death from Sars2 - Covid.Post Covid population health data has shown us that humans that chronically consume more meat, sugar, animal products and highly processed foods were associated with more death and morbidity if they contracted early versions of Covid19. The effect of consuming sugar products on mortality was considerable, and obesity has affected increased death rates and reduced recovery rates. (Kamyari et. al. 2021) (Greene et. al. 2021) (Merino et. al. 2021) - also a Recipe of the Week.EnjoyDr. M
This week's guest is Professor Moshe Szyf.This is the second story of hope for us as a species. We have a level of control over our outcome that is baked into our DNA.Dr. Moshe Szyf joins the show today to discuss the social programming of the epigenome. Dr. Szyf and his colleague Dr. Meaney proposed over two decades ago the first set of evidence that the “social environment” early in life can alter DNA methylation launching the emerging field of “social epigenetics”. He also has illustrated that DNA methylation is a prime therapeutic target in cancer and other diseases to be explored and potentially manipulated for health."Together, they discovered that our genetic code, the actual sequential structure of our DNA, can pretty much shrug off the influence of any external environmental factors, short of massive radiation. However, the expression of individual genes within that sequence can be permanently altered by such seemingly innocuous influences as diet or how others treat us. Once triggered, a group of molecules called a methyl group attaches itself to the control centre of a gene, permanently switching on or off the manufacture of proteins that are essential to the workings of every cell in our body. In most tumours, this DNA methylation pattern has been knocked awry, leading to a gene being completely deactivated or triggered to abnormally high activity." (McGill Reporter)Dr. Szyf received his Ph. D from the Hebrew University and did his postdoctoral fellowship in Genetics at Harvard Medical School before he joined the department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He currently holds the James McGill Professorship in Pharmacology. He is the founding co-director of the Sackler Institute for Epigenetics and Psychobiology at McGill and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Experience-based Brain and Biological Development program. Szyf has been the founder of the first “Pharma” to develop epigenetic pharmacology “Methylgene Inc.” and the first journal in epigenetics “Epigenetics”.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Moshe Szyf,Enjoy,Dr. M
Covid 19 Post MortemAs you all know, after reading countless articles that I have posted about COVID and the policies that were put in place by "well meaning" bureaucrats, I have been highly critical of the events that took place and the US Government's failure on so many fronts. There are two seminal articles that have been written on these topics to date: 1) COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab, 2) COVID Lockdowns Were a Giant Experiment. It Was a Failure. A key lesson of the pandemic. 3) The third and equally critical article that remains unpublished is the story of the Standard American Diet and its direct connection to death from Covid.....also conversations on picky eaters and a recipe of the week.Enjoy, Dr. M
Delaying Gratification and DopamineWhen we think of our current societal view on raising children, we have a conundrum. We want our children to experience the world as it is progressing through a technological viewpoint, a growth mentality. What does that mean? . When technology enters the learning process, we progress at log rates. We can process more information and incorporate it into our memory. For a simple example, let's look back in time. When I was in school, I had to go to the library and search through the library's archaic dewey decimal system to find a book to reference for information for a project or assignment. Time wasting to say the least compared to the internet age. It took forever to accumulate old data that was in a book. No real time action...Also a mini literature review and a recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Randy Jirtle, Ph.D.This week's guest is Professor Randy Jirtle.Dr. Randy Jirtle joins the show for the second time today to discuss his new research on the imprintome, the regulatory regions that at the earliest stages of fetal development control our epigentic and thus our genetic outcome. This is the Hope locus.Time Magazine nominated him for person of the year in 2007 and had this to say about him: “Dr. Jirtle’s pioneering work in epigenetics and genomic imprinting has uncovered a vast territory in which a gene represents less of an inexorable sentence and more of an access point for the environment to modify the genome. His trailblazing discoveries have produced a far more complete and useful understanding of human development and diseases” — Time Magazine. This interview is ground zero for the Women and Children First Podcast as we discuss the underpinnings or mechanisms of disease risk for all humans as it relates to the environmental inputs of our lives that are driving health or disease at both the pregnancy and post natal periods. We look specifically at how maternal nutrition and later chemical exposure directly affected the health of the agouti mouse offspring. This experiment was the first of its kind and paved the way for a complete shift in human disease understanding. For parents, this podcast is really the beginning of everything that I am trying to convey regarding a healthy pregnancy and childhood. Without this interview, the following interviews will be more difficult to understand. The picture becomes very clear once his research is cemented in our minds.His biography is as follows: Professor of Epigenetics at the Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and a Senior Scientist at McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. He was previously professor of radiation oncology and associate professor of pathology at Duke University, Durham, NC, where he had been a faculty member since 1977. He graduated with a B.S. degree in nuclear engineering in 1970 and a Ph.D. degree in radiation biology in 1976, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His awards list is long but the key to Dr. Jirtle is that he is a curious thinker and we are grateful for this.Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Randy Jirtle,Enjoy,Dr. M
Nature Deprivation Disorder: As we are getting closer to the end of the year and the cold strikes us hard in the face, we have a tendency to hunker down indoors and avoid the outside. Video games and screens are omnipresent in many of our children's lives. They pervade their thoughts. They significantly limit their self-driven need and desire to explore, imagine and be present with nature, silence and life as it exists around them. Nature and natural actions are some of the best teachers of rational action and normalcy in any ecosystem....Autism etiology and a recipe round out the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
In a Nature study by Dr. Chassaing and colleagues we see a data set raising a legitimate concern regarding synthetic emulsifiers. Let us look at the title, dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome.....Emulsifiers are the topic today. Also, some information with a mini literature review and a discussion on power struggles. Enjoy,Dr. M
This week's guest is Professor Mahmoud Ghannoum. For over four decades, Dr. Ghannoum has been exploring a critical but neglected inhabitant of the human body, the fungus. Born and raised in Lebanon, Dr Mahmoud Ghannoum is the current Director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve University. He began his scientific journey at Loughborough University in England where he studied the fungus candida and its health associated diseases. Coupling this work to his curiosity about the whole area of intestinal microorganisms in the human body, he has become one of the leading researchers in the world in this space.His discoveries include the knowledge that fungal organisms constitute an essential part of the microbiome. In fact, in 2010, Dr Ghannoum was the first scientist to identify over 100 native species of fungi in the oral cavity and that they are mostly friendly to us. Like with bacteria, there are good fungi as well as bad fungi. And just as it was startling to discover that we need positive bacteria in our guts, most people today are shocked to learn that their health depends on flourishing colonies of helpful fungi. Symbiosis in all things seems to be the flavor of the day and history has proven this to be what we should have always assumed.He is widely published in top journals as well as being the founder and director of Biohm, a company dedicated to microbiome analysis and management from the perspective of fungal and bacterial communities. He is the author of Total Gut Health. This week, Dr. Ghannoum and I look critically at the microbiome of humans from the well trafficked bacterial road to the less travelled fungal road.Enjoy,Dr. M
The Power of SuggestionCan our thoughts affect us at a biological level not just a subjective level?In a new study published in pre print in BioRxIV entitled: A thalamic circuit represents dose-like responses induced by nicotine-related beliefs in human smokers, we see some new research looking at the power of suggestion well beyond the placebo effect......Plus a mini literature review as well as a discussion on autism etiology.Enjoy,Dr. M
Musk and RandElon Musk by Walter Isaacson is a book worthy of your time. He is an amazing writer and the context and content are so timely for the happenings of today. The story of Elon Musk remains one to be completely written, but it is being partially displayed in this new book that I am in the early stages of reading. The truth of the matter remains that Elon suffered some significant traumas as a child that have vexed him throughout his life. However, the triumph of his story that is an amazing lesson for all is that the traumas do not define your trajectory nor final outcome. Elon has proven what many others have before him. That in this country, you are the architect of your destiny. Your are NOT defined by your past in anyway. You are NEVER a victim unless you choose that path. You can always choose to rise above trauma and pain to be your best self. This is not to say that the trauma does not weigh on you and your psyche. To the contrary, as Elon clearly demonstrates, the past is in all of us. It will rise up at times to haunt us. Therein lies your work, to witness, work through and rise above it.....Plus a mini lit review as well as the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review: Over the past 15 years we have noted a connection between the intestinal microbiome and allergic/autoimmune disease activity in humans. This study continues to pull on this thread of knowledge. We see a direct correlation between a dysbiotic microbiome and human disease risk as young as 5 years of age. The upstream targets remain the same. Healthy food, avoidance of chemicals, consistent daily movement, exposure to normal macrobes and microbes, chronic stress mitigation, vaginal deliveries, breast feeding, avoidance of antibiotics/antacids and more.....Then Section II with - Are we addicted to food? and the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week's guest is Chef Mark Allison, a highly accomplished culinary artist known for his innovative and healthy creations. Born and raised in England to a family with a deep appreciation for food, Mark developed a passion for cooking at an early age. He honed his skills by attending prestigious culinary schools and gaining practical experience in renowned restaurants around the world. He counts current and past job titles as the Corporate Executive Chef at Forever Oceans, the former Director of Culinary Nutrition at the Dole Food Company and the former Dean of Culinary Arts Education at Johnson & Wales University.With an unwavering commitment to excellence, Chef Mark has earned a stellar reputation for his meticulous attention to detail and creative flair. Throughout his career, Chef Mark has received numerous accolades and awards for his culinary expertise. His dishes have been featured in prominent culinary publications, and he has appeared as a guest chef on various television shows, where he shares his expertise and passion with a wider audience.Beyond his culinary prowess, Chef Mark is also dedicated to sustainable and ethical practices in the culinary world. He actively promotes the use of locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, and supports initiatives that minimize food waste and protect the environment. In two words, he is a culinary scientist. He looks at food through two windows, taste and cellular health. Both of which are important to my patients and me. We dive into why and how he does this effectively in a society that is not aligned in the same direction.He is the author of these books: 3 boys & a chef, 3 boys & a chef 2, Lets get smart about diabetes and 150 projects to get into culinary arts.Chef Mark Allison continues to push the boundaries of culinary artistry, captivating diners with his extraordinary creations and leaving a lasting impact on the culinary industry. His passion for food, commitment to excellence, and dedication to nutrition and sustainability make him a true culinary visionary.Please enjoy my conversation with Chef Mark,Dr. M
Maternal Microbiome Part IIMom has a gut microbiome that directly seeds her babies microbiome. This microbiome dictates human long term and short term health. Eating a diet loaded with fiber based fruits, legumes and vegetables will cause a highly diverse bacterial microbiome to exist and this existence is correlated with better long term health......plus a section on mate matching as well as the recipe of the week!Enjoy,Dr. M
Maternal Nutrition and the Microbiome - Part IThis was a tricky topic to drill down into one article - so I split it into two. Bear with me on this topic as it is so important in the grander scheme of maternal and child health.The microbiome by definition: the microorganisms that reside in a particular environment.Pregnancy is a dynamic event where a woman's body changes radically, including epigenetically, hormonally, immunologically and physiologically in order to conceive and carry a baby to term. Pregnancy has always been a scientific fascination because of these changes. Now, we add the microbiome to the list, as it is the latest area of research that is shedding light on how pregnancy outcomes are determined.Part IThis was a tricky topic to drill down into one article - so I split it into two. Bear with me on this topic as it is so important in the grander scheme of maternal and child health. The microbiome by definition: the microorganisms that reside in a particular environment. Pregnancy is a dynamic event where a woman's body changes radically, including epigenetically, hormonally, immunologically and physiologically in order to conceive and carry a baby to term. Pregnancy has always been a scientific fascination because of these changes. Now, we add the microbiome to the list, as it is the latest area of research that is shedding light on how pregnancy outcomes are determined...... also two sections on covid vaccines and disease...Enjoy,Dr. M
Robert Roundtree, MDThis weeks guest is Bob Roundtree.Robert Rountree, MD, received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill in 1980 before completing a residency in family and community medicine at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. He augmented his medicine training with extensive postgraduate studies in nutritional and herbal pharmacology along with certification as a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming. Dr. Rountree has provided his unique combination of traditional family medicine, nutrition, herbology, and mind-body therapy in Boulder, CO, since 1983. He has recently opened Boulder Wellcare, a private practice specializing in individual healthcare consulting. He is coauthor of three books on integrative medicine,Immunotics: A Revolutionary Way to Fight Infection, Beat Chronic Illness, and Stay Well (Putnam, 2000); Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child (Avery Publishing, 1994); and A Parent’s Guide to Medical Emergencies (Avery, 1997). He is an amazing teacher about all things disease prevention based through a functional medicine lens.This week we dive into the world of autoimmunity and human health. Why is it happening? How can we stem the tide of immune auto reactivity? What are some treatment options? And so much more....Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common mental behavioral disorder in children. Alterations in gut microbiota composition are associated with neurological disorders....Also discussions on CTE, Covid, Omega 3 Fats, and more...Part II is about learning how to talk to your children and finally the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review1) What has happened in the realm of cancer incidence over the last decade? As one would expect, it is climbing especially for breast cancer and GI cancers....studies on plant compounds and neuronal health in babies, covid statistics and more. Also, information on nutritional misinformation and how to spot it. Plus a recipe of the week.Enjoy Dr. M
This weeks guest is Ryan Conklin a self described - light chasing, storytelling, thread puller, adventure bound tracker and student of myth and maps. He is transformational coach by day, and bartender and hospitalitarian by night. He is a thinker that has a beautiful way of seeing grief and leaning into it in a grounding and therapeutic way. We dive into the deep end of the pool as it relates to grief processing and life after a death. Dr. M
Literature Review this Week1) From Cell Host and Microbe - "The microbiomes of cesarean-born infants differ from vaginally delivered infants and are associated with increased disease risks. Vaginal microbiota transfer (VMT) to newborns may reverse C-section-related microbiome disturbances. Here, we evaluated the effect of VMT by exposing newborns to maternal vaginal fluids and assessing neurodevelopment, as well as the fecal microbiota and metabolome. Sixty-eight cesarean-delivered infants were randomly assigned a VMT or saline gauze intervention immediately after delivery in a triple-blind manner...... and much more about the cutting edge science of today. Also a piece on napping followed by the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Today’s guest is Dr. Doug Thompson, a 27 year veteran of dentistry since he graduated from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1996. Dr. Thompson is a teacher, researcher and trail blazer in the field of modern dentistry. Today we travel down paths that lead to explanations as to why oral health is so important to systemic and truly whole human health. We look back in time and follow a timeline to the present-day research that says that we have scientific knowledge through laboratory study that the oral microbiome, the bacteria that reside with the oral cavity, as well as the oral system’s function has far reaching effects on the heart, the intestines, pregnancy and general metabolic health. Over the decades, Dr. Thompson realized that the science needed a portal to the masses and other dental professionals. Usher in the project called the Wellness Dentistry network circa 2015 which is an internet-based community of dentists with a keen awareness of how oral conditions affect whole-body health. It is a forum for Dr. Thompson and colleagues to use research to develop advanced practice ideas to thwart systemic health concerns that may arise from oral health dysfunction. On his website, Integrative Oral Medicine, Dr. Thompson states that he believes in an interdisciplinary treatment model that coordinates dental care with other medical practitioners for total body health care for his patients. He employs advanced DNA bacterial testing methods and other leading-edge dental science to enable early risk assessment and personalized treatment planning. To me this remains the future of all healthcare disciplines, collaboration, cooperation and patient centered. Let us dive into the oral cavity with Doug Thompson.Enjoy,Dr. M
Here is a short written version of the fructose story in tandem with the podcast with Dr. Rick Johnson where we go deep. We are going to discuss the survival switch and fructose metabolism in specific as it relates to pregnancy. It will be another life changing discussion for many of us. Fructose is the natural sugar found in fruit, honey and root vegetables. Historically, humans consumed fructose in these natural whole foods and did so moderately. Since the 1970's, there has been a major rise in fructose consumption, primarily as a beverage.... Also, a discussion of fiber and neurodevelopment as well as a review of the book the Carpenter and the Gardener by Alison Gopnik.Enjoy,Dr. M
Asthma and Nutrition Part VCase presentation: DM is a 12 yo caucasian male who presented to integrative pediatric clinic for the first time at age 8 years with the chief complaint of moderate persistent asthma and allergic rhinitis. His past medical history relates one to three severe asthmatic flairs per winter requiring steroids and overnight hospital stays over the past few years. He had relatively mild disease in between major flares and was well controlled with a high dose inhaled corticosteroid making it difficult to predict these severe respiratory events. His mother brought him to our clinic for a different approach since they had failed to stop the flairs over the last 5 years.... and a blurb on choking prevention. Enjoy, Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Peter Ungar. Dr. Ungar serves as Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Environmental Dynamics PhD Program at the University of Arkansas. He received his PhD in Anthropological Sciences from Stony Brook University and taught Gross Anatomy in the medical schools at Johns Hopkins and Duke before joining the University of Arkansas faculty in 1995. He is an Honorary Research Fellow of the Center for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.Ungar has written or coauthored more than 200 scientific works on ecology and evolution for journals like Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Scientific American, and more. His work has focused on teeth, food choices and feeding in living primates, and the role of diet and environmental change in the evolution of human ancestors and other fossil species.We dive into the world of teeth, evolution and out current state of existence in modern society. Are our teeth matched for this environment?Enjoy,Dr. M
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition Part IV - The Story - MicronutrientsZinc is a mineral involved in over 100 enzymatic reactions in the body! It is necessary in adequate levels for cellular metabolism and is critical for the function of our immune system, our skin and our gut lining. At the cellular level, zinc is necessary for protein synthesis, DNA synthesis and cellular repair in wound healing.....as well as sections on the book the courage to be disliked and Derek Sivers recent work.Enjoy,Dr. M
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part III - THE NUTRITION STUDIES - THE TO DOThere is good quality data on specific parts of a diet or nutritional plan as it relates to asthma. This section will detail these micronutrient and macronutrient benefits and how to implement them in an overall asthma plan. We will start by looking at a list of high quality nutritional interventions and then follow with an expanded view of a few critical players...... and a second section of mothers and death risk perinatally.To your health,Dr. M
This weeks guest is my former classmate and good friend, Dr. Jacquelyn Paykel. Jax, as I call her, is a tour de force in the world of Integrative Medicine at the Armed Forces level. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with a degree in Anthropology. She then obtained medical and residency degrees in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. To round out her degrees, she completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona as well as an MBA at the UNC Kenan Flagler Business School.
She is the Chief of the Whole Health Service (WHS) at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, leading the first-of-its-kind VA WHS within the U.S. where they develop and implement novel patient-centered clinical and well-being services for patients and employees. A U.S. Navy Veteran, Dr. Paykel has mentored and consulted with VA Medical Centers across the country on implementation of Whole Health. She leads the development and national spread of THRIVE – a virtual Whole Health healing program.
This week we discuss her work with the Veterans Administration Department and Whole Health Service. This work is a model for the entire country.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIES
We know that the foods that we consume affect our intestinal microbiome, our immune system, our metabolism and therefore have a significant effect on inflammation. Is this knowledge translatable to asthma? Let us look specifically at nutrition as it relates to Asthma. Are there specific diet studies available that lead us toward a unified diet for better asthma health? Can we make good recommendations for our patients on a macronutrient basis with fats, carbohydrates and protein ratios and types. Do we have data to support certain micronutrient needs in asthma and how a diet could provide these nutrients? How much can we trust the data?..... Enjoy, Dr. M
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story
Here is a long form look at asthma and allergies as I am preparing a lecture on asthma and allergies for a conference in October. I will break it up into a few parts for your consumption.
Asthma is now well known to be an inflammatory disease based on the response to anti-inflammatory medications and pathophysiological evidence making it a prime candidate for anti-inflammatory nutritional interventions. The Standard American Diet is filled with pro-inflammatory highly refined and processed foods that are laden with excessive amounts of sugar and unhealthy fats thus promoting inflammatory pathways that exacerbate disease. The genesis of the inflammation is now believed to start in part in the intestinal and pulmonary microbiomes with the loss of immune tolerance. The intestinal microbiome is highly responsive to whole food dietary alterations. Uric acid, a by product of fructose metabolism, is becoming a known driver of inflammasome activation and local tissue inflammation We will discuss in depth the food choices that lower the inflammatory burden, the asthma phenotype and the food immune reactions that exacerbate disease........
Enjoy,
Dr. M
This weeks guest is my friend, Dr. Paul Smolen, also known as Doc Smo by his friends, is a pediatrician with 38 years of experience caring for children and families. He is a graduate of Duke University (1974), Rutgers Medical School (1978), and Wake Forest University-N.C. Baptist Hospital (1982). At Wake Forest University he completed a residency in general pediatrics, served as chief resident, and completed a fellowship in ambulatory pediatrics. For over 38 years, he was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill helping to train a generation of medical students and pediatric residents as well as author several research papers. He is also the author of two parenting books, Can Doesn’t Mean Should (2015) and Great Kids Don’t Just Happen (2019). Doc Smo is a bona-fide expert in knowing what parents want and need to know about parenting and child health. Imparting practical and useful advice is the goal of every “Pedcast” that he produced over his podcasting career.
This week we discuss his book Great Kids Don't Just Happen.
Enjoy, Dr. M
Literature Review:
1) Is loneliness tied to an increase in death risk? A new study in Nature says yes to a degree of the pooled effect size of 1.32 for all cause mortality. (Wang et. al. 2023) In effect, that is a very large effect of the variable loneliness on death risk. Why would this be? Many reasons come to mind. The greatest of which is the control that our mind wields on our immune system. If we think in negative and in sad terms over a period of time, the immune system will shift into a pro inflammatory state and weakened pathogen killing which has massive downstream effects on physiology. 2) In an impressive inoculation study in the UK, researchers gave the ancestral strain of SARS2 to test subjects and then followed them for 2 weeks in quarantine........
Enjoy Dr. M
Outdoor Yard Safety
Yard work season is here and for me, lots of happy times spent outdoors. I remember as a youth earning money mowing lawns. The work was fun and the money was happily accepted. My father was my mower safety coach. Unfortunately, despite good teaching, I still burned myself on the engine by not paying attention to where I was touching. I still spilt gasoline on myself. I still ran over projectile objects in the grass carelessly. Ah, youth....
Have a great day, Dr. M
Let us head back to the headwaters of HDL biology to find some more answers. If you did not read the original HDL piece or remember the basics of HDL biology, go back to Newsletter V13 #15 for a review. HDL as an associated biomarker of death risk has a U shaped curve with higher all cause mortality at very low and high levels of volume. Let us understand why? (Madsen et. al. 2017) Anything that causes more LDL, low density lipoproteins, to stay in circulation will raise one's risk of ASCVD or heart attack. The historical reality (as I have discussed for years) for why we would have these genomic mutations to have more LDL particles in circulation is 1) as a protection mechanism against bacterial infections which were common for thousands of years. The HDL and LDL particles have receptors on their surface to grab bacterial cell wall debris like LTE or LPS and remove them via the liver. This is a massive beneftit to the human species until recent times. 2) as a storage mechanism for calories/recirculation of metabolically expensive cholesterol. (Maile et. al. 2020)(Feng et. al.. 2019)(Trinder et. al. 2021).......
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Do you know if you have periodontal disease?
Do your gums bleed? Do your teeth hurt? Do you have red and beefy appearing gums? Do you floss daily? Do you brush two times a day? Do you have sleep apnea?
Why does this matter? Well it turns out that gingival and tooth related disease is highly associated with cardio metabolic diseases. The main reason is that the bacterial microbes in the oral cavity can travel via the bloodstream to places far and wide in the body leading to inflammation and heart disease when the oral cavity is damaged and then manipulated. This especially occurs during tooth decay and periodontal decay phases of oral disease. There are also associations with autoimmune diseases making your oral health very important.....
Enjoy, Dr. M
This weeks guest is my favorite researcher, Dr. Richard Johnson.
He is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, he is a physician and nephrologist whose research has focused on the role of sugar, and especially fructose, in driving obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Much of this work has explored the role of fructose metabolism, especially the generation of uric acid, in driving this phenotype, and his work has included studies ranging from molecular biology, integrative physiology, and evolutionary biology. He is the author of The Sugar Fix which introduced the first low fructose diet, and also The Fat Switch which explores the role of fructose in driving the obesity epidemic. His newest book, Nature Wants Us To Be Fat, is a tour de force of the entire pathway of survival via metabolic events in the body related to fructose and the polyol pathway. This is a must read book.
This podcast will follow up on the original conversation, podcast #14, and the exceptional work of Dr. Johnson this time looking at how we are mismatched metabolically for the environment of modern America and our food systems from the maternal health and perinatal perspective.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
This week we talk all about sweat and heat liberation. Sweating is a very important tool that the human body and most mammals use to eliminate unwanted stuff. In this case, the body primarily is eliminating heat and toxins via liquid sweat.
When we exercise vigorously or it is a hot day or we find ourselves overheating while fighting an infection, sweat will pour from our skin through glands and an endothermic reaction. The water that is released caries heat from the body with it. It evaporates into the air liberating the heat and thus cooling the body.
In this sweated liquid are electrolytes and toxins. Primarily, the sweat fluid has a natural release of small amounts of sodium and to an even lesser extent, potassium and calcium. This fluid will also facilitate the release of chemicals that the body does not like..... plus a few articles in a literature review.
Enjoy, Dr. M
Breastfeeding Versus Formula Science versus Opinion
I read with somewhat of a frustrated feeling a recent article in Scientific American entitled: It's Okay Not to Breastfeed by Kavin Senapathy. In principle, the reality of this statement is reasonable. Then you read the article as to what makes this reasonable. She states: "Exclusive breastfeeding is not imperative, and the “breast is best” mantra can be harmful to babies and parents, especially among marginalized people."(K. Senapathy 2023) Again, at first blush this may seem reasonable. Let's dig into the science and the truth of breast versus cow milk based formula for optimal health for a child. Does formula in all of its forms work for infant nutrition in order to grow and survive in a reasonable way? The answer is a resounding yes, however, this does not tell the whole story, far from it.....
Enjoy, Dr. M
This weeks guest is Professor Marcel Nold, MD. Dr. Nold is a clinician scientist in the research environment of neonatal immunology and microbiomes at Monash University in the city of Monash in Melbourne, Australia. Professor Nold received his Doctor of Medicine degree at the JW Goethe-University at Frankfurt am Main, Germany, including final year rotations in Zürich (Switzerland), Montréal (Canada) and Capetown (South Africa). For his biomedical research training he spent six years at the Pharmazentrum at Frankfurt am Main and three years as a research Fellow at the laboratory of Professor Dinarello, at the University of Colorado Denver. In 2009 he was recruited to The Ritchie Centre in Melbourne and finished his specialist training at Monash Newborn. Professor Nold is a leading researcher worldwide in the field of immune cytokine signaling and was the key contributor to identifying Interleukin 37 or IL37. His research has been published in the journals Nature Immunology, Science Immunology and many others. His academic Inflammation in Neonatal Diseases Research Group and his industry programs aim to characterise underlying pathways of inflammation in early life diseases, with a focus on interventional immunology in cardiopulmonary and intestinal diseases of the preterm.
For the purposes of this interview, Dr. Nold is a researcher with a view of the maternal child dyad that is prevention focused and health span conscious. His research has led to many critical discoveries in the neonatal health space that I find deeply intriguing. We get into some deep immunology at times which is critical for total understanding.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Literature Review: This week we discuss articles about the Inhalation of polyamides or nylon in microsizes, masking and effectiveness, cannabis use in youth and covid 19 versus influenza and more. Part two is a look at research related to pollution and the risk of cardiac disease.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Mental Health and Sleep for teens and college students, Mother's Day and a poem about mothers. Here are some highlights: Teenagers are sleep deprived and have been for decades. Nighttime sleep duration has consistently declined over the past few decades. Peak declinations occurred in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Girls were less likely than boys to sleep for 7 hours or more per night.... Enjoy, Dr. M
The Growing Brain and the Upstream Etiologies of Neurodevelopmental disorders - AUTISM
This weeks guest is me! I re-recorded a lecture that I gave in Florida this month at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine. My goal in this lecture is to look at the upstream reasons that we are seeing more Autism and neurological diversity in children year upon year. It is a wide ranging look at the current state of the science and my thoughts on a unifying theory. As with Dr. Stone's interview last week with Grow Baby, this is a follow up discussion that is a critical primer for "mother's to be" regarding disease avoidance measures that can be taken for the best health of the maternal child dyad.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Literature review this week: Plastics in the blood, dogs can sniff Covid, mental health and exercise, CT scans and brain cancer risk, aging and the microbiome. Also, a piece on mothers and the shaming from social media critics. Recipe is coconut curry fish.
For example: Brain Cancer - a single CT can raise the risk of cancer of the brain in children if the exposure occurs before age 22 years.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Section I - An Uncivilized Journey Part II (Being Vulnerable part II)
I continued my wandering journey of self discovery this year. Finding myself back in rural Austin, Texas, there would be no preconceived idea for me what this stop on the path would uncover and offer me in witness and self emotional understanding. Not to disappoint, this journey was easily 5X more mind and heart opening than last April. The past year has been tumultuous for me as you all may remember. I am still coming off the reality of losing my rock in the world, my father. It is a strange feeling. The knowing that he is gone and that I must live without his counsel, love and support. But, live we all must with loss, grief and existence.....
Best, Dr. M
This weeks guest is an expert in the prevention of maternal pregnancy related metabolic disease and the downstream risks of metabolic dysfunction if left unchecked.
Her bio: Leslie P. Stone MD, IFMCP, board certified in Family Practice, with a fellowship in Surgical Obstetrics. She is an international lecturer on Developmental Programming of Health and Disease (DOHaD) and application of individualized functional medicine care during pregnancy. Her passion is helping parents capture the miraculous before and during pregnancy by changing habits, their lives, and empowering lifelong resilience in their children, and their children’s children . She is a co-founder with Emily Rydbom CN, BCHN of GrowBabyHealth.com, an individualized nutrition and lifestyle program promoting generational health, and CMO for GrowBabyLifeProject.org. She has been delivering babies since 1982 and has delivered over 5000 children. She is owner of Ashland Comprehensive Family Medicine—Stone Medical in Ashland Oregon where she continues to practice.
Her ongoing clinical research centers on combining developmental programming of health and functional medicine applied pre-conceptually and during pregnancy to optimize maternal and neonatal outcomes, with the intention of reducing the global epidemic of non-communicable disease (clinicaltrials.gov NCT05436119).
Her undergraduate degree from Washington State University in Physiological Psychiatry was followed by her MD from University of Washington, Internship in OB/GYN Oregon Health Sciences University, residency at UCLA in Family Medicine, Surgical Obstetric Fellowship at UCLA Ventura, and further certification in Functional Medicine.
growbabyhealth.com, growbabylifeproject.org
This week is a literature review where we look at the topics of school mental health struggles, safetyism, crispr therapy, immune skin cell programming and rapid weight gain in infants. Part II we discuss kitchen safety. We finish up with part III and estrogen, the microbiome and women's health.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Last year, I wrote about an Uncivilized Journey that was very eye opening and transformative. This year, I went on a second journey deep in the fields of rural Austin, Texas where horses, turkeys and deer were living in peace. It was deeper and more moving than the first which is saying something. I am going to rerun last year's piece as it encapsulated the experiences well. Then I will tackle journey II in other weeks.Section II is more literature review.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. terry Wahls. Who is she?From her website: Dr. Terry Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she conducts clinical multiple sclerosis trials . She is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. Dr. Wahls restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and now pedals her bike to work each day.She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine, The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles, and the cookbook The Wahls Protocol Cooking for Life: The Revolutionary Modern Paleo Plan to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions.She conducts clinical trials that test the effect of nutrition and lifestyle interventions to treat MS and other progressive health problems. Learn more about Dr. Wahls’ clinical trials here. She also teaches the public and medical community about the healing power of the Paleo diet and therapeutic lifestyle changes that restore health and vitality to our citizens. She hosts a Wahls Protocol Seminar every August where anyone can learn how to implement the Protocol with ease and success. Follow her on Facebook (Terry Wahls MD) and on Twitter at @TerryWahls.For me, this is a story of revolution. The ability to stop a progressive disease and reverse it through upstream lifestyle trigger removal and the addition of substances known to fix defects in human biology. This is the story that we all need to look at from a prevention of all cause disease perspective. This is the how to not get sick over time starting at the earliest age of life.Enjoy,Dr. M
Literature Review - this week we look at topics like: Autism is linked to heart disease!; Machine learning algorithms are going to help us diagnose autism spectrum disorders earlier; Long term gastrointestinal issues post Covid are real and problematical;Celiac disease screening for first degree relatives of a person with celiac disease is warranted;Watching violent video content in early childhood is associated with mental health struggles at age 12 and more... Part two discusses the length of antibiotic needed for pneumonia clearance. And finally a link to a discussion on snakes and bite prevention.Enjoy,Dr. M
Cholesterol VII- Follow upIt is imperative that all readers know that any time you go against conventional wisdom, you run the risk of negative reactions from providers of care that disagree or do not know about this depth of hypothetical disease etiology. This set of lipid and cardiology articles was meant to stimulate the reader to think beyond the simple answer that "statin medications" and cholesterol lowering are the primary or only answers to coronary artery heart disease. The treatment of any disease must start at the headwaters of pathophysiological dysfunction. To wait until a medicine is the only way to a healthy home is not in anyones best interest.... Also, the Pollution Detectives leader Dr. Francis Koster pens an article.Enjoy,Dr.M
This weeks guest is Jake Hastings. Who is he? He is a man who has been on the front lines of human health with a diverse background in firefighting, EMS Care, and incident management. His adventures and jobs have carried him to 27 countries around the world. He served in the United States Air Force as a medic and mental health technician where he worked in clinics and hospitals with various military branches. After the military, Jake worked as a ski patroller in Mt. Hood Oregon, and a search and rescue park ranger for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. He eventually joined Clackamas Fire District #1 near Portland, OR and served 6 years as a Firefighter/ Engineer. Jake then joined the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Incident Management Team as a Public Information Officer and traveled the Pacific Northwest helping to manage large incident wildfires. Jake has worked in some large scale disaster incidents such as the Joplin Missouri Tornado in 2011, and the Riverside Fire in Clackamas County Oregon in 2020.Jake now teaches Emergency Medicine in Montana and also hosts wellness retreats part time. He is passionate about continuing to help others and advocates for mental health care amongst the first responder community. We discuss the reality of being a first responder, the trials that come along with the jobs and how we are working to live a more grounded and authentic life.Enjoy,Dr. M
High Density Lipoprotein - We are going to take a deep look at this very complex biological topic. Bear with me as in the end it will all make more sense as to why "good cholesterol" is not inherently good or bad as much as it just is. Our lifestyle decisions are in effect making a biological process good or bad. That is my scientific understanding at this time. We also look at COVID19 and the effects on the heart this week.Enjoy,Dr. M
Cholesterol Part V - What to do?I hope that over the last four weeks I have sufficiently laid the case for heart disease as a complex disorder that is far from just a cholesterol/lipoprotein issue. It is vastly more complex than this especially with the new emerging data on the actions of high density lipoproteins, HDL, in reverse cholesterol and other molecule removal from circulation. In the next weeks newsletter, we will look at HDL. Somewhere in the near future, I will synthesize further recent work linking CVD, immunobiology and obesity.Also, GLP Obesity drugs for teens and others....Enjoy,Dr. M
Briana Pobiner PhDThis weeks guest is super interesting. Briana Pobiner is a paleoanthropologist whose research centers on the evolution of human diet with a focus on meat-eating. Briana has a BA from Bryn Mawr College, where she created her own major called Evolutionary Studies. Then she completed a Masters degree followed by her PhD in Anthropology from Rutgers University. Briana is also an Associate Research Professor of Anthropology in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at the George Washington University.She has done fieldwork in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Indonesia and has been supported in her research by the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation and the Society for American Archaeology. We discuss some of her favorite field moments including a run in with a white rhino as well as discovering fossil bones that were last touched, butchered and eaten by one of her 1.5-million-year-old ancestors. Since joining the Smithsonian in 2005 to help put together the Hall of Human Origins, in addition to continuing her active field, laboratory, and experimental research programs, she leads the Human Origins Program’s education and outreach efforts which includes managing the Human Origins Program's public programs, website content, social media, and exhibition volunteer training. Briana has also more recently developed a research program in evolution education and science communication. She is the recipient of the 2021 American Association of Biological Anthropologists and Leakey Foundation Communication and Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla Smith, and a 2021 National Center for Science Education Friend of Darwin award.Enjoy,Dr. M
Cholesterol Lipid Hypothesis Part IV - Endothelial DysfunctionHow does an artery clog? Let us recap a little at this time. 1) Cholesterol and lipoproteins are significant and necessary for pathology to develop but not the only player in heart disease and atherosclerosis. I believe that inflammation is the root cause of the problem driving the lipid imbalance and plaque formation. 2) Lipoproteins are produced and recycled every day in order to deliver energy to tissues around the body via triglycerides and are a part of the ancient innate immune system. They are primed and ready to fight all systemic pathogens that are trying to hurt us. 3) Your genetic makeup may dictate whether you produce and/or recycle more cholesterol/lipoproteins than are advantageous in our current environment....Plus a discussion on acne.Enjoy,Dr. M
Cholesterol Lipid Hypothesis Part IIISo far, I have put forth some hypotheses that are controversial and raise questions about the American College of Cardiology guidelines. This is fine with me because this is about stimulating a conversation about disease etiology and treatment. Readers are never encouraged to go against their physician's recommendations. The choice to change a current therapeutic regimen is solely between the patient and their provider and frankly is likely predicated on how much damage has occurred over one's current lifetime coupled with genetic risk and the ability to alter lifestyle risk factors effectively.....and a discussion on avoiding inflammatory bowel disease.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is special to me as he is my nephew and Godson. In his own words: "I am an active seeker, student of life, and on a mission of helping others remember who they are and their innate self worth. It has been my passion of walking alongside others in their own healing and transformation that has brought me to this work.I am a currently a nomadic Young Mens coach currently based in South America. I earned my BS in Psychology from The California Institute of Integrative Studies, and have a certification in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy. My work with individuals varies greatly depending on who I am working with and what kind of support they are needing, but you can expect Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, compassionate listening, radical self acceptance, and practical tools and exercises in each session."We discussed the view of our current society from a young man's perspective. What is the crisis of "good enough?" What do we really want authentically as young persons? How can parents show up for their kids? And so much more...https://www.blakechalfant.comYoung Man's Toolbox CourseEnjoy,Dr. M
This week it is: Cholesterol Lipid Hypothesis Part IIThe hypothesis: cholesterol and lipoproteins like LDL are inherently good and necessary unless they become unbalanced either through genetics and most definitely lifestyle choices. From last week: It turns out that the carrier lipoproteins like LDL and HDL cholesterol are an ancient part of our innate immune system that have an important function in fighting infection. We have always used these lipoproteins to clear infectious material before they can do damage.... Plus some research on head trauma as well as the recipe of the week.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Subinoy Das. Dr. Das is the chief executive officer and medical director at US institute for advanced Sinus Care and research. He is the former Director of The Ohio State University Sinus and Allergy Center, and an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University. He is widely recognized as one of the nation's best sinus surgeons and has received multiple awards as a U.S. board-certified otolaryngologist including a Presidential Citation in 2015 from the American Rhinology Society. In addition, he is a former Research Associate of the Center of Microbial Pathogenesis at the Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His NIH funded research was awarded the 2013 Fowler Award (top basic science research award in otolaryngology) for his work on detecting the cause of sinus infections.We crossed paths at the University of Virginia where Dr. Das received the Alfred Burger Award for the top pre-medical student at the University before completing his medical degree at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he was elected President of his class, received Alpha Omega Alpha Honors, and received the Richard Bowman Scholarship for the top clinical performance. He then attended the University of North Carolina for residency and completed a fellowship in advanced sinus surgery and anterior skull base surgery at the Medical College of Georgia.He is a leader in minimally invasive sinus surgery, does not use nasal packing, and has helped to develop leading instruments/techniques used in sinus surgery including working on diagnostic tests and therapies to reduce the use of antibiotics for sinus disease, advanced computer guided surgery systems, hydrodebridement therapies for sinus disease, and custom molecular-based therapies to avoid sinus surgery.Today, we dive into the upstream causes of sinus and ear disease of children and adults. This is especially interesting because of the changes that occurred during COVID leading to new understandings of viral induced disease in humans.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week begins the cholesterol/lipid discussion as it relates to cardiovascular disease. We look at alternative ideas for elevated lipid levels in humans and why this might be so. History and nature had a plan. Could we be the reason for the mismatch of our genes and our health outcomes? We also look at men's work and some new research on autism spectrum disorders.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Bill Harris. Dr. Harris is an internationally recognized expert on omega-3 fatty acids and how they can benefit patients with heart disease. He obtained his Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from the University of Minnesota and did post-doctoral fellowships in Clinical Nutrition and Lipid Metabolism at the Oregon Health Sciences University.His interest in omega-3 fatty acids began with his postdoctoral work when he published his first study on the effects of salmon oil on serum lipids in humans (1980). Since that time he has been the recipient of five NIH grants for studies on the effects of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) on human health. He has more than 300 publications relating to fatty acids, including omega-3s, in medical literature and was an author on two American Heart Association scientific statements on fatty acids: “Fish Consumption, Fish Oil, Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease” (2002), and “Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease” (2009) both published in the journal Circulation.Dr. Harris is currently a Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota and the President and CEO of the company OmegaQuant.Our conversation today is wide ranging and highly focused on the need for omega 3 fats as well as the reasons why.Enjoy,Dr. M
Coronavirus Update 81 plus other stuffWe continue to have a highly infectious Omicron endemic national state with new strain XBB.1.5 accounting for 75% of our cases now with absolutely no signs of worsening disease severity or morbidity. Having had a previous Omicron natural infection is beneficial towards preventing moderate to severe disease from current circulating Omicron strains, but not helping against getting mild infection at all. This week we look at the residual data that is of interest. It is thinning out for me. We also look at men's health and the micronutrient iodine.Enjoy,Dr. M
What is it about Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity that we see a disease needing a drug to mitigate the problem versus first looking at the other possible root causes? (Some children do have a genetic or epigenetic condition that is not based on the following discussion.) I asked Dr. Sandy Newmark this question, here is his response: "I read Scattered minds a long time ago and thought it was a fantastic book. I agree with much of what he, and you, say. I do think he has a more of a narrow approach to etiology than I would support. I have many kids with clear ADHD who come from loving homes with 2 parents and little trauma history. There are genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors that are also important in etiology, and I would not want those to be overlooked."Well said! This week we look at the this topic as well as the micronutrients magnesium and sodium.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Pam Staples. She is a friend and as amazing therapist. Her Bio lists her as having received a master’s and a doctorate in the field of Psychology. For her entire 40 year career, she chose to work with a very special population—teenagers. Working with teens has been so incredibly rewarding for Dr. Pam. She could see the innate opportunities to help change the trajectory of a teenager’s life, which are so potent during this delicate developmental stage. She describes herself as the “temporary third parent” when working with teens alongside their parents. Dr. Pam shared many of the tools in her wide ranging “tool kit” with her beloved teen clients. As a result, many of them are flourishing as adults today and seek out Dr. Pam to share their stories to this day.It is a joyful conversation that goes all the way around the world of parenting teens.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week we look at the quick hits related to Covid science. This information stream is fading, however, I am still finding some important science worth sharing in the literature. We also look at the disease underpinnings from the perspective of Marty Makary. Finally, we finish up with the micronutrient selenium. Enjoy,Dr. M
This week week look at a piece by David Katz: "I imagine -and in select cases know- that many of my colleagues were encouraged and gratified to hear that the NIH is allocating a sizable sum to the pursuit of precision nutrition. Some number of my colleagues will be directly involved in those research efforts, and others are simply pleased to see nutrition getting some small measure of the attention we agree it warrants. I can appreciate these reactions, but in my case, the response felt more like a wave of nausea accompanied by echoes of “here we go again, again.....”We also look at some recent studies in the aging space. Two studies by Dr. Sinclair and Dr. Macip looking at age reversal ability. From the David Sinclair Lab at Harvard we see first of its kind data regarding the ability to identify epigenetic marks in mice as the etiology or biomarker of aging. This is nothing short of an amazing discovery. Listen to Podcast #2 with the father of epigenetics Dr. Randy Jirtle to gain a foothold in this world and then listen on.Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Kara Fitzgerald. What would say if I told you that you can reverse your biological aging process? What would you say to having some control over how you age from a health perspective? You would be all in right! Well I am and Dr. Fitzgerald is our teacher this week.She received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia.Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The first publication from the study focuses on reversal of biological aging and was published 04-12-2021 in the journal Aging. She has published a book titled Younger You as well as a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics and offers Younger You Programs, based on the study.Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website, www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.This is a podcast that you do not want to miss! This is an amazing discussion on methods to reverse and or stall biological aging.Enjoy,Dr. M
Covid update #79 - This week we do a literature review looking at Covid and the post illness effects on lipid metabolism, chemical clearance and general long term health. We look at the effects of different mask types. We have a lifestyle Covid illness mitigation strategy moving forward. We finish with a look at liver and a recipe using liver as a main ingredient. Enjoy, Dr. M
This week we do a literature review looking at Neurology with specific stops at sleep loss and emotional regulation, APOE4 and Alzheimer's Disease, memory consolidation with sleep versus wake, gaslighting and more . We also look at potassium as a mineral of necessity. We finish with obesity and Semaglutide. Enjoy, Dr. M
Dr. Paul A. Offit is Director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.Dr. Offit is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of virology and immunology, and was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, a member of the Institute of Medicine and co-editor of the foremost vaccine text, Vaccines.He is a scientist, a skeptic, a thinker and an individual deeply passionate about children's health.This week we sit down again to discuss the latest with Covid, vaccines and children's health as new data has prompted a new discussion.I hope that you enjoy my latest conversation with Dr. Offit, Dr. M
This week we do a literature review looking at epigenetics, exercise, time restricted feeding and the microbiome. We also look at Iron as a mineral of necessity. We finish with a recipe for Polish Beet Soup. Enjoy,Dr. M
Food in InfantsWhat do we know?"Humans are the only mammals who feed our young special complementary foods before weaning and we are the only primates that wean our young before they can forage independently. There appears to be a sensitive period in the first several months of life when infants readily accept a wide variety of tastes and this period overlaps with a critical window for oral tolerance." (Borowitz S.) We do a deep dive here plus some information on the mineral calcium and a segment on loneliness.Enjoy,Dr. M
Covid update #77 with quick hits on vaccines in young adults, POTS or hypotension following Covid 19 as well as obesity and Sars2. Non covid research looking at the brain.From Nature Communications: "Parkinson’s disease (PD) may start in the gut and spread to the brain. To investigate the role of gut microbiome, we conducted a large-scale study, at high taxonomic resolution, using uniform standardized methods from start to end... Here we show that over 30% of species, genes and pathways tested have altered abundances in PD, depicting a widespread dysbiosis."Enjoy,Dr. M
Donald Layman is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in the department of Food Science & Human Nutrition. Dr. Laymen earned his Bachelors Degree in Science in Chemistry and Masters Degree in Science in Biochemistry at Illinois State University. He then completed his Doctorate Ph.D. in Human Nutrition Nutrition and Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota.His laboratory is working to define protein and amino acid requirements and the interrelationship between dietary protein and carbohydrates in adult health. The research is focused on the impact of diet and exercise on adult health problems of obesity, type 2 diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome. Exercise is of obvious importance to health in maintenance of lean body mass, energy expenditure and weight control. Surprisingly little is known about amino acid requirements during exercise or the impact of amino acids on metabolic regulation. His group has helped to define roles of the branched chain amino acids (BCAA) in skeletal muscle metabolism. BCAA provide an important energy source for muscle during exercise and also serve as a critical regulator of muscle protein synthesis during recovery. During exercise, oxidation of BCAA increases, resulting in production of the amino acid alanine and a rapid decline in plasma levels of BCAA. Amino acid supplements prevent this decline in plasma amino acids, enhance recovery of muscle protein synthesis and interact with insulin to help stabilize blood glucose. They are continuing this research to define mechanisms for control of muscle protein synthesis and differences in dietary protein needs for men versus women and for adults with sedentary versus active lifestyles.A very important conversation for all to understand. All ages are impacted by this knowledge.Dr. M
12 years gone by! 624 newsletters down. So much has changed in the past 12 years since I began this journey of writing and learning. We wrap up the 12 year of the podcast with top ten things learned. Also touch on the mineral zinc as well as Long Distance Love Bombs.Best to all,Dr. M
Coronavirus Update 76 plus other stuffThe work around Covid research is fading for me. This is now mostly a highly contagious upper respiratory infection for most. The morbidity has faded to a level where we are seeing very limited disease in children and the hospital data remains completely plateaued. Unless there is a dramatic shift in this virus, we are moving toward a world where Covid will be like the other 4 circulating coronaviruses for most of the United States population save for the high risk individuals as described throughout the pandemic.Focus remains on self care to boost all immune activity to thwart all infections from all microbes.Dr. M
This weeks Guest is Dr. Jeremy Goldberg. He styles himself as a compassion cultivating day making change agent/empathy collecting not quitting word wizard/chief burrito appreciator aspiring to inspire/struggle overcoming ranter in charge/ferocious idealist/never giver upper/a love bombing kindness pirate. What he really does, in my mind, is write and teach the world to project love and kindness where it is not layered enough.On his website he writes:My mission is to make kindness cool, empathy popular, and compassion commonplace. As part of that purpose, I write articles, send emails, host retreats and workshops, give TEDx talks, coach clients, host a podcast, write books, and make spoken word poetry videos. I am also active on Facebook and Instagram, leading an online tribe of more than 35,000 badass humans. If you want to learn more about me, click here for a short list of my favorite shit on the planet.My name is Jeremy, I founded Long Distance Love Bombs, and I am fucking stoked to meet you. Send me an email and let's get going: LongDistanceLoveBombs at gmail dot com.We breakdown words, relationship, connection and being happy in a world of silly tribal divisiveness!This was a super fun conversation to have been a part of! Dr. M
The fundamentals are these: Age related changes that lead to neuronal loss and cognitive decline are related to loss or reduction of myokine release, systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, reactive oxygen induced mitochondrial stress, DNA mutations and poor protein intake.First, exercise releases chemicals called myokines which are cell signaling molecules that have the job of telling other cells what to do via changes in gene expression, protein transcription and much more. The prototypical change is the increase of a substance called brain derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, for short. BDNF is critical for brain cell mitochondrial biogenesis. BDNF promotes many developmental functions in the brain, including neuronal cell survival, differentiation, migration, dendritic arborization, and synaptic plasticity. Regular exercise promotes a progressive increase in BDNF protein for up to at least 3 mo.........Enjoy,Dr.M
Covid Update #75All new omicron based variants are extremely infectious but not really dangerous anymore to immunocompetent people. They are evading prior immunity as well as all vaccines to varying degrees. Morbidity remains very low now. The current bivalent vaccines are not showing any improvement over the ancestral vaccine. Death remains almost zero for all healthy previous infected or vaccinated individuals. This is likely the new norm from here on out.This week we cover covid, vaccine effectiveness, skeletal muscle and dementia, human protein needs and function.
This weeks guest is Dr. Nancy O'Hara, a leading expert in the field of basal ganglia encephalitis and pediatric abrupt onset autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. O’Hara graduated with highest honors from Bryn Mawr College and was part of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She earned her Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and completed her residency, chief residency and general pediatric fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.Before she began her medical career, Dr. O’Hara taught children with autism. From 1993 to 1998, Dr O’Hara was a practicing general pediatrician and partner in a group practice. In 1999, she began her consultative, integrative practice for children with special needs, dedicating her practice to treating children with neurodevelopmental disorders, ADHD, PANS/PANDAS and BGE, OCD, Lyme, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.She recently published a book, Demystifying PANS/PANDAS, a desktop reference on basal ganglia encephalitis. She spends a large bucket of her time training and teaching other clinicians how to treat these complex disorders in children.This is a very in-depth conversation that is a full pathway of cause to effect and resolution.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week we take a look at: Drug Induced Micronutrient Loss, Soleus Push Ups and Miror NeuronsTo function at the highest and most optimal state requires providing our human engine with nutrients, both macro and micro types. By macro, I mean fats, carbohydrates and proteins. By micro, I mean minerals and vitamins which are cofactors for enzymatic activity driving the machine to normalcy of action whatever that action is. What dictates sufficiency? How do drugs disrupt this optimization success?and much more...Enjoy,Dr. M
Covid Newsletter #74. Why are we seeing massive waves of RSV and Influenza A right now? These viruses normally circulate in the winter only. The answer is nuanced, but likely primarily because of the pandemics social distancing and hygiene activity. During the 2020-2022 cycle of Covid fear and mitigation of viral risk, most of us avoided the normal trappings of viral spread. We masked avoiding the viral droplet portal of entry most commonly used. We kept our children semi isolated from other children where most year to year viral transmission events occur. We practiced enhanced hand washing and sanitizing reducing natural viral spread through contact. In essence we stopped the normal propagation of respiratory virus for 2 years. A whole cycle of children between 0 and 2 years old are RSV and flu immune naive leading to a perfect host pool for spread. The 2 to 18 year olds have had a long pause in exposure reducing circulating virus specific antibodies to negligible levels leading to stronger infections and more spread. Anyone who has a child in college (me) has seen infection after infection pound these students this fall. It seems like they are always dealing with a viral illness. Immunity country wide will return in the coming year to these viral illnesses reverting to the old reality of winter predominance.Quick Covid Hits and other musings -Enjoy,Dr. M
This weeks guest is my good friend Dr. Sheila Kilbane. She is a fellow pediatrician and onion peeler of root causes of children's diseases. Her background found her studying Zoology at Miami University before attending The Ohio State University College of Medicine. After completing her Pediatric training she went on to obtain a Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. We share many desires to help families achieve immune and health solvency through upstream target manipulation that leads to happiness. Today we discuss Dr. Kilbane's view of this world as well as her book, Healthy Kids, Happy Moms.Enjoy,Dr. M
This week we look at PFAS Chemicals - Otherwise called "Forever Chemicals"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or forever chemicals are being found all throughout the world as their use has risen over the past 6 plus decades. PFAS are a family of chemicals known as POPS or persistent organic pollutants as they are reported to not break down easily. They have been found in products like Teflon based nonstick cookware, Scotch Guard and Gortex stain-resistant carpeting and clothing, dental floss, commercial firefighting foams and many types of food packaging. Unfortunately, these toxins have been detected in drinking water, house dust and foods/beverages of common consumption.....We will also discuss children's strengths and hospitals.Enjoy,Dr. M
Covid Update # 73:Omicron US strains: as of October 22nd data - variants make up: BA.4.6 is 11%, BA.2.75 is 2%, BF.7 is 7%, BA.5 is 62%, BQ.1 is 9%, BQ1.1 is 7%BA.5 is losing ground to many new Omicron variant offshoots. BF.7, BQ.1 and BQ1.1 are very interesting as they are apparently more infectious than BA.5. That is amazing.We look at new PASC Long Covid data as well as the world of vaccine effectiveness. And much more...Dr. M
This week, I sit down with Dr. Stephan J. Guyenet, a neuroscientist, thinker and educator. After earning a BS in biochemistry at the University of Virginia, he completed a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Washington, then went on to study the neuroscience of obesity and eating behavior as a postdoctoral fellow. He has over 12 years of history in the neuroscience research world studying neurodegenerative disease and the neuroscience of body fatness. His mission is to advance science and public health as a researcher, science consultant, and science communicator. Publishing a book, The Hungry Brain, in 2017, he laid out the framework for understanding how our brains work with food. It was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and called “essential” by the New York Times Book Review.
Finally, he is the founder and director of Red Pen Reviews, which publishes the most informative, consistent, and unbiased popular health and nutrition book reviews available.
This hour long conversation is very stimulating as we dive headlong into the upstream targets of food choice and body outcome.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
Medication errors are a major risk for morbidity and mortality nationally. The number affected skyrockets into the hundreds of thousands when we look at the countless side effects that do not cause death but leave us miserable and harmed.
When it comes to the children that we treat, physicians and care providers should refuse to give a medicine unless it is absolutely necessary. We explore these topics, a literature review and omega three fatty acids this week.
Enjoy, Dr. M
Coronavirus Update 72 plus other stuff
More data on the current Covid variants and how they are evading our immunity and vaccines. Morbidity and death remain completely reduced over the first 2 years of the pandemic. We tackle these and other topics this week.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. David B. Allison. Dr. Allison is the third guest to tackle the topic of childhood obesity for us. He received his Ph.D. from Hofstra University in 1990. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a second post-doctoral fellowship at the NIH-funded New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital Center. He became Dean and Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington in 2017.
He has authored more than 660 scientific publications and received many awards over his distinguished career. Dean Allison has provided regular service to the National Academies, including the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
His research interests include obesity and nutrition, quantitative genetics, clinical trials, statistical and research methodology, and research rigor and integrity.
"Dr. Allison coined "It's about knowing" as the tagline for the School of Public Health Indiana University Bloomington for which serves as Dean, and the extended moto "It's about knowing. Because conjecture is good, but knowing is better." He conceived a book by the title "It's About Knowing" written principally by Susan Brackney and co-authored by Dr. Allison. More information about the book is available here."
This week we tackle the difficulty of performing meaningful research in the Obesity landscape. This is a conversation primarily about the study process and the difficulties in teasing out the variables.
Enjoy, Dr. M
Literature review
1) Looking for a new sweetener that is natural and less toxic to your body? Usher in Allulose which is the enantiomer of fructose, is much less sweet to taste and does not spike blood glucose or insulin levels. In the British Medical Journal we find: "This is the largest study assessing the effects of D-allulose in Westerners demonstrating an early dose-dependent reduction in plasma glucose and insulin levels as well as decreased postprandial glucose and insulin excursion in subjects without DM. These pilot observations set the basis for large-scale investigations to support the anti-DM effects of D-allulose." (Franchi et. al. 2021).....
Enjoy, Dr. M
Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #32 - David Katz, MD - Childhood Obesity Part II
David L. Katz, MD, MPH is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, with particular expertise in nutrition. He earned his BA at Dartmouth College (1984); his MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1988); and his MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health (1993). He completed sequential residency training and board certification in Internal Medicine (1991) and Preventive Medicine/Public Health (1993). Katz is the founder and former director of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (1998-2019); Past President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine; President and Founder of the non-profit True Health Initiative; and Founder and CEO of Diet ID, Inc. The recipient of numerous awards for teaching, writing, and contributions to public health, Katz was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in health journalism, has been a widely supported nominee for the position of U.S. Surgeon General, and has received three honorary doctorates. Katz has served as a nutrition columnist for O, the Oprah Magazine; an on-air contributor for ABC News/Good Morning America, and with appearances on most major news programs and contributions to most major magazines and leading newspapers, including OpEds in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
His most recent book, How to Eat, co-authored with Mark Bittman, is a 2021 IACP Awards finalist and is worth your time. I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak many times over the years and he is an amazing orator and I am blessed to have this hour with him.
Enjoy, Dr. M
Coronavirus Update #71 A look at the next pandemic From a recent article, we see a 10 point series of mitigation measures for a future pandemic based on rational thought: "A more realistic public health approach is to adjust current mitigation goals to be more data-driven and to minimize unintended harms associated with unfocused or ineffective control efforts." a) Accelerate vaccinations, b) ease restrictions as fast as possible based on science, c) emphasize education and harm reduction, d) Encourage outdoor activity, e) reopen schools, f) avoid lockdowns, g) deemphasize ineffective mitigation measures, h) reassess testing, i) expand treatment and prophylaxis, j) prepare for future pandemics.
And more... Dr. M
Dr. Katz - "Human offspring come into this world much like the young of all other mammals, and like all the others, within minutes of our arrival, we are hungry. Food figures prominently in our lives ever after, but never is it more important than in childhood, when it serves as the literal construction material of those growing bodies and brains. The initial food choice for human babies should be self-evident, as it is for all other baby mammals: the milk of their mothers. The provision of that milk is among the defining characteristics of the mammalian class; it is part of what makes us what we are....
Also, we discuss marijuana and vaping as well as new work by Derek Sivers.
Enjoy,
Dr. M
This weeks guest is Dr. Sandra Hassink, an expert in pediatric obesity.
Dr. Hassink has spent her career looking into the pathophysiology and social determinants of childhood obesity. Her career began at the Univeristy of Deleware where she studied Chemistry before heading off to Vanderbilt University to study medicine. After completing her training in Pediatrics at St Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Hassink began a long trailblazing road to treating childhood obesity, starting a weight management clinic in 1988 at Alfred I. duPont Children’s Hospital in Delaware well before most pediatricians even realized there was an issue to address.
She is now internationally recognized as an expert in childhood obesity prevention, testifying before Congress and serving as chair of the Delaware Governor’s council on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and directing the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight. She has served as the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, chaired the AAP Obesity Leadership Workgroup, the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight Advisory Committee, and the AAP Strategic Planning Committee. Dr. Hassink is the chair of the Institute for Medicaid Innovation Child and Adolescent Subcommittee and a member of the National Advisory Board. She authored numerous articles for parents and pediatricians and two books: “Pediatric Obesity: Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment Strategies for Primary Care” and “A Clinical Guide to Pediatric Weight Management.”
In a word, she is a teacher.
Today, we have the privilege of learning.
Dr. M
Coronavirus Update #70 GOOD NEWS: This information is so important to help us all understand risk. Stratified risk is the only true way to measure personal risk. Let us look at some CDC data from the spring Omicron BA.1 and .2 spikes versus the fall 2021 delta wave.
Median age of hospitalization has increased from 60 years old with Delta to 64 with BA.1 and 71 with BA.2. Any underlying medical condition associated with hospitalization increased from 89% with Delta to 92% with BA.1 to 95% with BA.2 respectively. Length of hospital stay decreased from 4.8 to 3.9 to 3.3 days. ICU admission was down from 24% to 18% to 13% of admitted patients. Mechanical ventilation decreased from 14% to 8% to 6% of admitted patients. And Finally, death from 12% to 8% to 5% overall.
What we can glean from this data set is very clear. With successive SARS2 mutations coupled to increased population based exposure to virus via infection or vaccine, we are now seriously in a reduced risk state unless you are older than 65 years with a comorbid disease or younger than 65 with a serious disease. 95% of hospitalizations were related to a comorbid disease regardless of age. The other big takeaway was this: if you are in this high risk group, getting every available booster is vital to your survival based on the risk reduction data. For everybody else, the data is clear, you are ok - to boost or not to boost is up to you. But, absolutely work on your general health.
To your health, Dr. M