Blooming Wellness
Dr. Eek's Health & Wellness Blog
I love a good food story in public health. Especially one that feels simple. Eat this. Not that. Save your brain. This one tries to do that. But it’s a little messier. And more interesting. A recent study followed older adults at higher risk for cognitive decline. They looked at what people were eating, what …
We tend to think of inflammation as something slow. Something that builds quietly over years and only shows up when it’s already a problem. But what if it’s more responsive than that? What if your body is shifting in real time based on what you eat? In this episode of Causes or Cures, I speak …
On a recent episode of Causes or Cures, I sat down with transplant surgeon and author Josh Mezrich to explore one of the most unsettling and potentially life-saving frontiers in modern medicine: xenotransplantation. At its core, xenotransplantation is the use of animal organs (most often from pigs) to address a problem that hasn’t gone away …
How powerful is diet, really? Can diet prevent colon cancer? These are timely questions considering the rise in colorectal cancer in people under 50. Why are colorectal cancers rising in younger adults? It’s a question that concerns everyone. One possible clue may lie in the way diet affects inflammation, insulin, and metabolism. In this “Spotlight …
A plant based compound. A nutritional intervention. Something that might influence a disease as complex as Alzheimer’s without relying on traditional pharmaceuticals. But how much of that is grounded in evidence—and how much is still early, uncertain, and open to interpretation? In this episode of Causes or Cures, I speak with researcher Dr. John Lewis …
We tend to think of brain aging as inevitable. Slower thinking. Forgetting names. A gradual slide toward something we don’t fully understand but quietly fear. But what if the story is more complicated than that? In this episode of Causes or Cures, I speak with neurologist and neuroscientist Dr. Majid Fotuhi about what’s really happening …
High blood pressure is often described as a problem for older adults. But something is shifting quietly in the background. New research shows deaths related to high blood pressure are rising in younger women. Not slightly. Significantly. Between 1999 and 2023, deaths from hypertension-related heart disease in women ages 25 to 44 increased more than …
There are some guests you expect. And then there are guests who make you pause for a second and think: wait… how did we get here? This episode is the second kind. It’s part of my broader exploration of the spiritual realm on Causes or Cures, which is bound to take us to interesting, and …
A randomized trial tested whether vitamin D3 could help people with COVID-19 recover better or avoid severe outcomes. The answer, at least for the acute phase, was no. People who took vitamin D did not have fewer healthcare visits, hospitalizations, or deaths compared to those who took a placebo. In other words, vitamin D did …
Most of us don’t think twice about what happens to our skin when it touches water. Maybe a little wrinkling after a long bath. Nothing dramatic. But for one man in his 20s, water triggered something very different. After just minutes of exposure, the skin on the back of his hands would thicken, wrinkle excessively, …
These are all written by Dr. Eeks (ErinKate Stair, MD, MPH) and based on real-life encounters. ************************************************************************************************** My quest to add “spiritual health” to the Causes or Cures Podcast led me to an exorcist, an angel consultant, a Vegas gigolo turned enlightenment guru, reincarnation fans, spirit-animal gurus, and a couple of people who said they …
Uhoh! Using your phone on the throne may backfire in a big, itchy way! Smartphones are everywhere. Including, for many people, the bathroom. Scrolling the news. Scrolling the doom. Checking social media. Answering emails. Comparing ourselves to others to make ourselves feel bad.It has quietly become part of the routine. ;) But could this habit …
