The Dr. and Dad Healthcast

In our first podcast in over six months we chat about Nicole's experiences running her first (maybe last?) Boston Marathon.

Ever hear of the naked mole rat? He's as photogenic as his name implies but he also may hold the key to significantly longer healthspans.

After months of rigorous preparation, The Dr. completed her first marathon. We discuss her training regimen and the physical challenges she faced along with why in the world she wanted to do it.

Inflammaging is a mash-up of "Inflamation" and "Aging". It refers to chronic, sterile, low-grade inflammation that develops as we age. Researchers are discovering links to inflammaging and a number of cancers which may also lead to treatments.

Episode 1 of The Dr and Dad podcast was published on February 1 2019. A LOT has changed since then - In the world at large and especially in the world of medicine. We recap the highs and lows and make some predictions.

What do you do when you aren't feeling well? How long do you just take some ibuprofen and suck it up? When do you contact your doctor, or even go to the ER?

The Dr and Dad talk about Dad's project: To Love and To Grow - Our Common Purpose. If, as the Buddhists believe, life is inevitably full of pain, how can we transcend suffering. Listen in and find out.

We know that creatine is useful for muscles but it also turns out that research is indicating creatine can help our bones, brains and more!

Our guest Dr. (and brother) Bob joins to chat about his childhood idol - Dr. Red Duke and his experiences as an anesthesiologist.

Childhood vaccines cause autism, statins are dangerous, alcohol is good for your heart. Have you heard these claims and others? Confused about what to believe?

We're back! After a lengthy hiatus, we cover topics from DEXA scans to SSRI's for kids and a bunch more interesting medical topics.

We're back! After a summer hiatus, we're discussing claims that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic have beneficial effects beyond treating diabetes and obesity.

We’re all creatures of habit - sometimes good ones, sometimes bad ones. We share our favorite healthy habit hacks and provide some suggestions on how to create your own.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”. In the battle for our physical and emotional wellbeing, the enemy is the the disconnect between our modern environment and our evolutionary biology.

Amare e Crescere (To Love and To Grow): Our Common Purpose is “The Dad’s” new Substack publication exploring love and growth as the path to meaning and happiness.

We are in (the beginning stage of) the artificial intelligence (AI) era.  Ever since ChatGPT was released to the public in December 2020, this technology has captivated us with its possibilities, for better and for worse.  AI will undoubtedly affect our lives in profound and, as of now, inestimable ways.  This includes our economy - how we work to produce goods and services.  The healthcare sector...

There were 153,000 new cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in the US in 2023 and 52,500 people died due to the disease with another 1.4 million Americans living with it. However, colorectal cancer is also a disease which is almost assuredly avoidable - with proper screening.

Resistance training (RT) associated with various health benefits that are under-appreciated compared with the perceived benefits of aerobic-based exercise. For example, RT participation is associated with reduced all-cause mortality and reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, and symptoms of both anxiety and depression.

It was a year filled with amazing new treatments addressing some of the most challenging medical conditions as well as the continued battle against several intractable diseases.

There are several things happening within primary care medicine that are very interesting so wanted to have a general discussion around these trends and also get an update on the Dr’s direct primary care practice.

We’re fast approaching the 4 year anniversary of the emergence of Covid-19, the disease associated with the Sars-Cov-2 virus. And, although the US declared pandemic emergency ended three months ago, the disease is still with us – As we learned in our home last week when Nonna contracted it (for the first time). She’s recovering but it kicked her butt.

Going to the dentist has always been one of my least favorite things to do.  It seems people generally fall into 2 camps when it comes to dental hygiene – Some are like me.  They have problems with cavities, gum disease or both and dental visits are long, painful and somewhat shaming – “Do you floss? You should waterpick, etc, etc”. Others who have been blessed by genetics or disciplined maintenan...

The evolutionary basis for hypercholesterolmia. The Bayesian model of brain function. mRNA Cancer vaccine. A wristband hearing aid.

Are Rapamycin and Metformin safe (and effective) longevity drugs? Do the the new class of weight loss medications - Mounjaro and Wegovy, promote muscle loss? Where are we at with Covid and vaccines? Should we be worries about bird flu now?

We can’t fool ourselves any longer.  It’s becoming clear there are NO net health benefits to drinking alcohol. We’re generally all aware of the downsides of alcohol consumption: liver damage, impaired activities such as driving, risk of addiction, excess calories, hangovers and poor sleep quality.  But when we thought people who imbibed moderately lived longer than teetotalers, we could rationaliz...