July 23, 2025 • 7 mins
Dr. Gregory Poland talks with Mendte in the Morning about the recent outbreak of salmonella across the country and how they are being caused by an unlikely source.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Doctor Gregory Poll and leader in vaccines and infectious diseases
at the Mayo Clinic and president of the Atria Research
Institute in New York. He joins us every week at
seven point thirty five and doctor Gregory Pollen, good to
talk to you again. Have you ever been to a
waffle house?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I have? And you know, if it's red, yellow, green,
at least there's no waffling.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
H no, a dad joke. And it's only seven forty one,
so I'm surprised you go to a waffle house? Is
it healthy? No?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Only I've only been there once and it was the
only thing that was open and I was starving and
I had a waffle.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was delicious, though, wasn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It was?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah? Boy, what he has self control? He never went back.
I yearned to go to another one, and I've only
been to a couple when I was down south.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
This is really what I'm going to talk about that today.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Let's talk about geckos. Then, how about that I didn't
know this was a thing. I guess that insurance ad
get some get some people to think they're cute, but
geckos or pets and they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, they certainly can be you know, when I was
a kid, it was those little, you know, half dollar
sized turtles that you could buy, but those pet turtles
other amphibians. But right now, particularly geckos are leading to
a multi state outbreak. We've got cases in twenty seven states,
including New York. And this can be serious if you're older,
(01:38):
if you're immunocompromised. Who handles them the most out in
the wild, kids under the age of five or so,
so you really need to be careful about that. I
wouldn't let a kid under the age of five play
with them, wash your hands well, keep them away from
any food areas, or you may end up with a
Salmonellan fashion, which can be quite serious. Yeah, I blame
(02:01):
the commercials because they look so cute. That animated one
looks so cute, and that's that's why it's happening. So
it's you said, if people are outside and see a gecko,
I didn't even know they were in the United States.
But so it's not just pets, it's it's when they're
out in the wild as well, right, right, So you know,
leave them alone, let them eat the bugs and insects,
(02:24):
and don't bother them, all.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Right, good. I had a pet salamander that I grabbed
from the woods in the Poconos when I was a kid.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
See exactly we did.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We brought it home, We put it in a terrarium. Well,
that's interesting, is it? Is it? All reptiles, little tiny
reptiles are just specific to the gecko.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's it's amphibians are the primary issue right now, So
gecko's in particular.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Okay, Donald Trump recently had something that I hadn't heard
about before, but now I heard. It's very common chronic
vein in physicians in in physicio insufficiency. What is it?
How common is it? And what does it mean if
you get it?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, this is really common. In fact, about one out
of three of us as adults will develop it, especially
older adults. I have a bit of it when I'm
standing for long periods of time lecturing. What happens is
that those long veins in your legs, and remember gravity
is working against us, have valves in them, so that
(03:33):
blood gets pumped up by the calf muscles up those veins,
and then there are valves so the blood doesn't fall
back down and instead goes up to the heart. When
those valves are damaged or weakened, then the blood doesn't
drain well from the legs, particularly when we're standing or
sitting for a long time. The other thing that makes
(03:55):
it a problem, at least in the US, is we
have relatively high salt diets. So you take that salt
which accumulates fluid a lot of standing or sitting older age,
and you get venus insufficiency.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And there's really no cure for it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Once you get it, you've got it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
There's not a cure, right, but you know you can
elevate your legs low salt diet, walking and compression stockings,
and in more advanced stages. You've probably heard of people
who've had quote, vein stripping or had sclerosis therapy. Those
are all attempts to deal with those weakened valves and veins.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Is it one of those things? Good?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Sorry, it's not a dangerous type condition, but it's a
problematic one, and in bad cases people can get skin ulcers,
so you do want to deal with it when it's
more minor.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I thought it was interesting with the President that they
noticed it because there was blue veins in his hands,
so that is a symptom.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
No, they were talking about something else. Apparently he takes aspirin, okay,
and there was bruising on his hands. But where this
sort of came out, and I've looked at the pictures myself,
is he's sitting and he's got quite prominent swelling around
his ankles and calves.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
One of those things that if you live long enough,
you're going to get this.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Not everybody, but it's just really common, really really common.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Okay, let's talk about that. I love stories like this
because it's things we can all do to make ourselves healthier.
That lifestyle factors have a big have a lot to
do with getting cancer.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, you know, all of us. You hear that cancer
word and it sends a chill down our backs, whether
a physician or not. It's a disease, you know that
no one wants to contemplate. But it is a common disease.
And some very good studies now have looked at what
kind of risk factors can we attribute to cancer. So
(06:06):
this is a very large study. They looked and found
that forty forty percent of new cases and people over
the age of thirty and forty to fifty percent of
the deaths due to cancer were attributed to preventable risk factors.
Now I'm emphasizing this because you know you sometimes feel helpless.
(06:28):
Is this going to happen to me? Well, the best cure,
if you will, is prevention. And the big seven lifestyle
factors that every one of us has control over is smoking,
excess body weight, alcohol use, physical inactivity, diet, infections, and
(06:51):
protecting ourselves from solar radiation. You look at smoking one
in five cases, in thirty percent of cancer deaths due
to smoking alone.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, there goes waffle house. Doctor Gregory Poland lead in
vaccines and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic and president
of the Atria Research Institute in New York. He joins
us every other week at seven thirty five. Thanks so much,
Thank you, Doctor Gregory Poulan. Good to talk to you.
Doctor Gregory Poll and leader in vaccines and infectious diseases
at the Mayo Clinic and president of the Atria Research
Institute in New York. He joins us every week at
seven point thirty five and doctor Gregory Pollen, good to
talk to you again. Have you ever been to a
waffle house?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I have? And you know, if it's red, yellow, green,
at least there's no waffling.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
H no, a dad joke. And it's only seven forty one,
so I'm surprised you go to a waffle house? Is
it healthy? No?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Only I've only been there once and it was the
only thing that was open and I was starving and
I had a waffle.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It was delicious, though, wasn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It was?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah? Boy, what he has self control? He never went back.
I yearned to go to another one, and I've only
been to a couple when I was down south.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
This is really what I'm going to talk about that today.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Let's talk about geckos. Then, how about that I didn't
know this was a thing. I guess that insurance ad
get some get some people to think they're cute, but
geckos or pets and they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, they certainly can be you know, when I was
a kid, it was those little, you know, half dollar
sized turtles that you could buy, but those pet turtles
other amphibians. But right now, particularly geckos are leading to
a multi state outbreak. We've got cases in twenty seven states,
including New York. And this can be serious if you're older,
(01:38):
if you're immunocompromised. Who handles them the most out in
the wild, kids under the age of five or so,
so you really need to be careful about that. I
wouldn't let a kid under the age of five play
with them, wash your hands well, keep them away from
any food areas, or you may end up with a
Salmonellan fashion, which can be quite serious. Yeah, I blame
(02:01):
the commercials because they look so cute. That animated one
looks so cute, and that's that's why it's happening. So
it's you said, if people are outside and see a gecko,
I didn't even know they were in the United States.
But so it's not just pets, it's it's when they're
out in the wild as well, right, right, So you know,
leave them alone, let them eat the bugs and insects,
(02:24):
and don't bother them, all.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Right, good. I had a pet salamander that I grabbed
from the woods in the Poconos when I was a kid.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
See exactly we did.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
We brought it home, We put it in a terrarium. Well,
that's interesting, is it? Is it? All reptiles, little tiny
reptiles are just specific to the gecko.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's it's amphibians are the primary issue right now, So
gecko's in particular.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Okay, Donald Trump recently had something that I hadn't heard
about before, but now I heard. It's very common chronic
vein in physicians in in physicio insufficiency. What is it?
How common is it? And what does it mean if
you get it?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, this is really common. In fact, about one out
of three of us as adults will develop it, especially
older adults. I have a bit of it when I'm
standing for long periods of time lecturing. What happens is
that those long veins in your legs, and remember gravity
is working against us, have valves in them, so that
(03:33):
blood gets pumped up by the calf muscles up those veins,
and then there are valves so the blood doesn't fall
back down and instead goes up to the heart. When
those valves are damaged or weakened, then the blood doesn't
drain well from the legs, particularly when we're standing or
sitting for a long time. The other thing that makes
(03:55):
it a problem, at least in the US, is we
have relatively high salt diets. So you take that salt
which accumulates fluid a lot of standing or sitting older age,
and you get venus insufficiency.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And there's really no cure for it.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Once you get it, you've got it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
There's not a cure, right, but you know you can
elevate your legs low salt diet, walking and compression stockings,
and in more advanced stages. You've probably heard of people
who've had quote, vein stripping or had sclerosis therapy. Those
are all attempts to deal with those weakened valves and veins.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Is it one of those things? Good?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Sorry, it's not a dangerous type condition, but it's a
problematic one, and in bad cases people can get skin ulcers,
so you do want to deal with it when it's
more minor.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I thought it was interesting with the President that they
noticed it because there was blue veins in his hands,
so that is a symptom.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
No, they were talking about something else. Apparently he takes aspirin, okay,
and there was bruising on his hands. But where this
sort of came out, and I've looked at the pictures myself,
is he's sitting and he's got quite prominent swelling around
his ankles and calves.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
One of those things that if you live long enough,
you're going to get this.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Not everybody, but it's just really common, really really common.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Okay, let's talk about that. I love stories like this
because it's things we can all do to make ourselves healthier.
That lifestyle factors have a big have a lot to
do with getting cancer.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, you know, all of us. You hear that cancer
word and it sends a chill down our backs, whether
a physician or not. It's a disease, you know that
no one wants to contemplate. But it is a common disease.
And some very good studies now have looked at what
kind of risk factors can we attribute to cancer. So
(06:06):
this is a very large study. They looked and found
that forty forty percent of new cases and people over
the age of thirty and forty to fifty percent of
the deaths due to cancer were attributed to preventable risk factors.
Now I'm emphasizing this because you know you sometimes feel helpless.
(06:28):
Is this going to happen to me? Well, the best cure,
if you will, is prevention. And the big seven lifestyle
factors that every one of us has control over is smoking,
excess body weight, alcohol use, physical inactivity, diet, infections, and
(06:51):
protecting ourselves from solar radiation. You look at smoking one
in five cases, in thirty percent of cancer deaths due
to smoking alone.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, there goes waffle house. Doctor Gregory Poland lead in
vaccines and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic and president
of the Atria Research Institute in New York. He joins
us every other week at seven thirty five. Thanks so much,
Thank you, Doctor Gregory Poulan. Good to talk to you.
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