Episodes

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...

Sleep Part IV Continuing 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...

Sleep Part III Finally, 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. Unf...

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 ...

Epigenetics and Pregnancy Epigenetics 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 f...

Sleep Part II Let 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. Go...

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 an...

Sleep Update for 2024 Sleep 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 un...

Klotho Part II Last 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 ele...

Jeff Kessler, FACHE Allergy Choices This 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 pr...

Klotho Part I 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, hype...

Sleep Restriction and Immune Health It 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...

Reading Part II Let 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 th...

Reading If 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...

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 doctora...

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 an...

Demographic Deception This 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...

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 others From a global perspective, we are on the right track as deaths have decreased significantly from 12 million in 1990 to less than 5 million a...

Excess Weight Gain, Obesity and Immune Related Diseases in 2 cases I 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 wonde...

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 compa...

“It is your reaction to an adversity not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story develops.” Dieter Uchtdorf WHY? 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...

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...

Enuresis, Encopresis and Constipation This 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 a...

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Amygdala: A review of a section of the book Behave by Robert Sapolsky In 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...