Causes or Cures

Send us Fan Mail Can We Prevent Muscle Loss While Taking GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs? GLP-1 medications like Zepbound have changed the way we treat obesity. But as more people lose significant amounts of weight, another question has emerged: What happens to your muscle? It's normal to lose some lean mass—including muscle—during weight loss. But researchers are now asking whether preserving more m...

Send us Fan Mail Can using your smartphone on the toilet increase your risk of hemorrhoids? In this episode of WTF Health News, Dr. Eeks explores one of the strangest health headlines of the year—and yes, it's based on a real scientific study. Researchers found that adults who reported using smartphones while sitting on the toilet had a 46% higher likelihood of hemorrhoids compared with peopl...

Send us Fan Mail Many people living with migraines say they can "feel a storm coming" before an attack. But is there scientific evidence that environmental exposures can influence migraine risk? In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks talks with Professor Gal Ifergane, neurologist and headache specialist, about his research on migraines and the environment. The conversation explores...

Send us Fan Mail Can listening to music help protect your brain as you age? In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks talks with Professor Joanne Ryan about her research on music, dementia risk, cognitive decline, and healthy aging. Drawing on data from thousands of older adults participating in the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP), Professor Ryan discusses findings suggesting...

Send us Fan Mail A recent asthma attack in a pet store sends Dr. Eeks down a rabbit hole of thoughts about breathing, chronic illness, menstruation woes, panic versus biology, strangers helping strangers, an anxious dog that needs emotional support during human emergencies, the cost of ambulance rides, and how the day rarely goes the way you think it will. A story, a reflection...and a reminder th...

Send us Fan Mail Can you be genuinely happy and, even thrive,  as a single person?  In this episode, Professor Elyakim Kislev, author of Happy Singlehood: The Rising Acceptance and Celebration of Solo Living , discusses the growing global trend toward singlehood and what the research says about happiness, loneliness, marriage, and solo living.  We explore the difference between being alone and bei...

Send us Fan Mail Today's Causes or Cures' WTF Health News with Dr. Eeks starts with olive oil and somehow ends with the microbiome. A recent study suggests that older adults consuming more virgin olive oil may perform better on cognitive tests than those consuming more refined olive oil. Researchers also found differences in the gut microbiome because, at this point, the microbiome appea...

Send us Fan Mail What makes you you ? Is it your memories? Your personality? Your sense of humor? Your motivation? What happens when a neurological disease changes one of those things? In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks talks with neurologist, neuroscientist, and author Dr. Masud Husain about his new book, Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist's Patients Taught Him About the B...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Judson Brandeis, a board-certified urologist, sexual medicine specialist, surgeon, author, and founder of BrandeisMD, about erectile dysfunction, sexual wellness, aging, intimacy, and the rapidly growing men’s penile enhancement industry. Dr. Brandeis discusses his recent clinical research exploring whether nitric oxide...

Send us Fan Mail Do you cough a lot?  Does someone you know cough a lot?  What if you could actually measure it, continuously?   For people with chronic cough, those question matters.  Because right now, most of what we know about cough comes from self-report. And that’s not very precise. In this episode, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Peter Small from Hyfe , a company using AI to continuously detect an...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Amrita Vijay , a gut microbiome scientist who studies how diet shapes the microbiome and influences inflammation, mood, and overall health. Her research tested three different dietary approaches over six weeks: a prebiotic fiber (inulin), omega 3 supplementation, and a synbiotic combining fermented kefir with prebiotic f...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks sits down with transplant surgeon and author Dr. Josh Mezrich to talk about xenotransplantation—the use of animal organs, primarily from pigs, to try to address the massive shortage of human donor organs. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for a transplant. For many, time runs out. Xenotransplantation offers a po...

Send us Fan Mail Can what you eat influence your risk of colorectal cancer? In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Fred Tabung, PhD, MSPH, a researcher studying diet, metabolism, and cancer prevention, about how certain dietary patterns may reduce colorectal cancer risk. Drawing on data from nearly one million people across the United States and Europe, Dr. Tabung explains ho...

Send us Fan Mail Can a plant-derived polysaccharide formula affect Alzheimer’s symptoms? A researcher explains his study, and its limits.   In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with researcher Dr. John Lewis about his study investigating an aloe polymannose multinutrient supplement in Alzheimer’s disease. We discuss what polymannose is, why he feels mainstream wellness gets sugar w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with neurologist and neuroscientist Dr. Majid Fotuhi about brain aging, memory, intelligence, Alzheimer’s disease, and his new book: The Invincible Brain: The Clinically-Proven Way to Age-Proof Your Brain and Stay Sharp for Life We explore whether Alzheimer’s is being overdiagnosed and the idea that what we call Alzheimer’s may...

Send us Fan Mail Exploring the Spiritual Realm Where spiritual belief meets health, culture, and skepticism  Disclaimer: This episode discusses spiritual and metaphysical beliefs that are not evidence-based medical treatments. Nothing in this conversation is medical or public health advice. If you have a health concern, please seek care from a licensed clinician. This is entertainment only.  In th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with Gil Bashe, author of Healing the Sick Care System , about why the US healthcare system is failing the very people it is meant to serve. Bashe argues that the problem isn’t a lack of innovation or investment, but a system that has drifted away from empathy, human connection and patient-centered care. We discuss the growing d...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Causes or Cures Podcast, Dr Eeks speaks with Dr. Sam West, a researcher at the University of Oxford, about his study on what happens after people stop taking GLP 1 weight loss medications. While much of the attention has focused on how these drugs work while people are taking them, this conversation looks at what happens when people stop. Dr West discusses h...

Send us Fan Mail "So how'd that person die?" In this episode of Causes or Cures, I’m joined by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Byard , an internationally recognized expert who has spent decades investigating deaths that are rare, misunderstood, and often deeply unsettling. We talk about what really happens at the edges of life and death, including: Fatal animal encounters involving k...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Dr. Eeks talks with Joel Stanley , entrepreneur and biotech founder, about the long and often misunderstood road from plant based therapies to FDA approved medicines. Joel shares the personal story behind building Charlotte’s Web, the company named after a young girl whose experience with severe epilepsy helped spark a global conversation about medical cannabis. H...

Send us Fan Mail Healthcare corruption doesn’t just happen in broken systems or far away countries. It happens in hospitals with shiny floors. In billion dollar healthcare industries. In systems filled with rules, audits, and professionals sworn to protect patients. It happens quietly. And it happens everywhere. In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with Professor Graham Brooks, an...

Send us Fan Mail Exploring the Spiritual Realm Where spiritual belief meets health, culture, and skepticism  Disclaimer: This episode discusses spiritual and metaphysical beliefs that are not evidence-based medical treatments. Nothing in this conversation is medical or health advice. If you have a health concern, please seek care from a licensed clinician. This is entertainment only.  Recent surve...

Send us Fan Mail What if cancer didn’t have to be eradicated, but could be remembered, monitored, and controlled by the immune system itself? In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Zachary Hartman, the lead researcher who revisited an extraordinary breast cancer vaccine trial conducted over 20 years ago. The trial involved a small group of women with advanced breast cancer....

Send us Fan Mail *Disclaimer*   This episode is part of the Causes or Cures Public Health Is Weird bonus series and is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you’re worried about a child or pet eating a poinsettia, contact a medical professional or veterinarian. This podcast is not a poison control center.  :) Every December, poinsettias show up, and so does the panic. Suddenly, a fes...

Send us Fan Mail Microplastics are everywhere—but what are they doing inside the human body? In this episode of Causes or Cures , Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Christian Pacher-Deutsch about his lastest study and the growing evidence that micro- and nanoplastics may affect the digestive system, the gut microbiome, and long-term health. He explains why this problem has reached crisis level.  Rather than...