June 2, 2025 • 7 mins
Dr. Michael Koren joins Kevin Geddings to discuss how Knowledge is Power - especially when it comes to medicine. The doctor explains how diagnostic tests like high sensitivity C-reactive protein (HSCRP) empower physicians and patients by giving insight into heart attack and stroke risk. Dr. Koren also tells us that even simple things like knowing you are in a research study can improve patient outcomes, and that knowledge is the guiding principle in medicine.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, dr MichaelKoren calls in to bring you the
latest medical updates withinsightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:31):
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us, as henormally is around this time on
Monday mornings and he helpsmake us a little bit smarter.
Knowledge is indeed power,right, Dr.
Koren?
Dr. Michael Koren (00:41):
It is Kevin, it is Good morning, and that's
one of my favorite quotes.
I think Francis Bacon firstsaid it, but I'm not 100% sure.
Do you know off hand who wascredited with that idea?
Kevin Geddings (00:54):
I don't but talk about sounding like an educated
guest, Sir Francis Bacon.
That's really good, doc.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:00):
Yeah, so again, it's probably been around
for about 500 years.
This concept that when you haveknowledge, you empower yourself
is so important and thecorollary to that, by the way,
is what you don't know, canreally hurt you.
There you go.
That's a good one too.
Yeah, that'll be my corollary,the 21st century corollary, to
(01:23):
what Francis Bacon said 500years ago.
But that's really very importantin health care, as you know,
and we find that over and overwhen people get involved in
clinical research or just engagethe health care system, they
gain knowledge, and thatknowledge helps them in many
different ways, some of whichare very tangible and some of
which are not so tangible, andsometimes just the process of
(01:46):
learning about something inhealthcare will translate into
something that people kind offigure out by themselves.
So I find it fascinating, andthe net effect, Kevin, is what
we call the Hawthorne effect,which is that when people get
observed in healthcare and whenpeople participate in clinical
trials, they always do betterthan expected.
So studying things, looking atthings, understanding your
(02:09):
health situation, results inbetter outcomes for everybody,
and that's been shown over andover again in lots of research.
And an example of that thatwe're working on right now as we
speak is this concept of hsCRP,or high sensitivity C-reactive
protein, and this is a marker, aprotein that indicates when
(02:29):
there's inflammation ongoing inyour blood vessels, and more and
more of our studies arechecking that, and it turns out
that that has a lot ofpredictive value.
If people have high levels ofhsCRP, there's a higher risk for
having a heart attack or astroke, and this is a risk that
could be predicted 30 years inadvance.
(02:50):
A recent study actually cameout that was led by one of my
medical school classmates wholooked at data from the women's
health study, which wasconducted 30 years ago, and
their levels of CRP predictedwhat would happen over the next
30 years.
So it's pretty remarkable, and,as we speak, we're doing
studies right now that helppeople have their CRP checked
(03:11):
for free.
In fact, if you qualify for thestudy, you may get a little bit
of a payment for being involvedin the research, and this is
something that's really quiteimportant to know, particularly
if you have a history of heartdisease, and not knowing about
this again can hurt you, becauseyou may have silent
inflammation that you're noteven aware of.
Kevin Geddings (03:30):
Wow.
And how about if you perhapsmaybe haven't had a cardiac
incident, but in your familythere's a history of heart
disease.
Dr. Michael Koren (03:39):
Absolutely.
Those are people that shouldknow what it is.
But we find, for the studiesthat we're doing now and for the
shortest term, predictive riskis to look at people that have
had some history.
So, again, as I mentioned, thestudy that was done in the
Women's Health Initiative lookedat people who were completely
healthy 30 years ago and thishsCRP was predictive of their
(04:03):
overall risk.
But again, that took decades toplay out.
In the short term, over thecourse of months and years, we
can look at your CRP and have apretty good idea if that stable
heart situation could get worse,right.
Kevin Geddings (04:16):
All right.
Well, if people would like toparticipate, if they've had some
sort of a cardiac issue andthey'd like to be tested for
this inflammation marker, theycan get in touch with ENCORE
Research Group, right?
Dr. Michael Koren (04:26):
You got it, that's right, very simple.
Kevin Geddings (04:27):
Yeah, very simple.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
That's EncoreDocs.
com.
You can also call locally.
They have offices here in St.
John's County and St.
Augustine, near UF FlaglerHospital in the Whetstone
Building.
Call 904-730-0166, 904-730-0166.
And in addition to this studythat's going on, there's
(04:49):
countless other studies dealingwith all sorts of other health
challenges, so you can geteducated about all those and
other ways that you canparticipate in leading-edge
medical research.
Speaking of knowledge beingpower which, by the way, yes,
you did get it exactly rightthat was Sir Francis Bacon's
quote by the way, Doctor.
Dr. Michael Koren (05:06):
Excellent.
I'm glad that part of my brainis still working.
Kevin Geddings (05:11):
Well, technically he said "ipsa
scientia potestas est," becausehe was speaking in Latin, but
the translation holds.
Let's put it that way Speakingof knowledge being power.
You know, med evidence.
That's a good way for just therest of us who are not med
school graduates to get somegood health care information,
Right, doc?
Dr. Michael Koren (05:32):
Yeah, and again this gets the same concept
of knowledge is power, and whatwe do in MedE vidence is tell
you what we know about an issue,importantly, what we don't know
about an issue.
And again, knowledge is power,and the lack of knowledge can be
very dangerous, and especiallytrying to do things and make
changes based on a lack ofknowledge can be something that
(05:53):
leads to the downfall of a lotof people.
So we both tell you what weknow and what we don't know, and
, of course, we're talking aboutthe process of how you learn
about the things that you don'tknow process of how you learn
about the things that you don'tknow.
So we think it's a powerful wayfor people to gain knowledge
and ultimately make good healthcare decisions for themselves
and their family.
So give me an example of thatis we just recently did a
(06:13):
podcast with Dr.
Rothstein, Mitch Rothstein, whodid a really nice job of
breaking down insomnia.
So people, when they're up atnight and they can't get to
sleep, they might want to thinkabout what do you know about
your situation, what don't youknow about your situation and
what can you do to figure outhow to make things better?
Kevin Geddings (06:31):
Yeah, now, there's good information there
and it's in a variety ofdifferent methods, if you will,
media that you can easily access.
But before you allow yourselfto go down the Google rabbit
hole of searching out healthcare information, we strongly
recommend that you use themedevidence.
com website.
Medevidence.
com the Truth Behind the Data,medevidence.
com.
And, like we said, if you'rejust tuning in or you're getting
(06:53):
to a point where you can jotsomething down, go check out the
website encordocscom foropportunities where you can
engage in some leading medicalresearch and benefit yourself
and others in the process.
Encoredocs.
com, Dr.
Koren.
Any closing thoughts before welet you go on this beautiful
Monday morning?
Dr. Michael Koren (07:09):
We'll stick with knowledge is power, so
that'll be our mantra for theweek.
Kevin Geddings (07:13):
There you go.
Thank you, Doc.
Announcer (07:15):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedEvidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, dr MichaelKoren calls in to bring you the
latest medical updates withinsightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:31):
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us, as henormally is around this time on
Monday mornings and he helpsmake us a little bit smarter.
Knowledge is indeed power,right, Dr.
Koren?
Dr. Michael Koren (00:41):
It is Kevin, it is Good morning, and that's
one of my favorite quotes.
I think Francis Bacon firstsaid it, but I'm not 100% sure.
Do you know off hand who wascredited with that idea?
Kevin Geddings (00:54):
I don't but talk about sounding like an educated
guest, Sir Francis Bacon.
That's really good, doc.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:00):
Yeah, so again, it's probably been around
for about 500 years.
This concept that when you haveknowledge, you empower yourself
is so important and thecorollary to that, by the way,
is what you don't know, canreally hurt you.
There you go.
That's a good one too.
Yeah, that'll be my corollary,the 21st century corollary, to
(01:23):
what Francis Bacon said 500years ago.
But that's really very importantin health care, as you know,
and we find that over and overwhen people get involved in
clinical research or just engagethe health care system, they
gain knowledge, and thatknowledge helps them in many
different ways, some of whichare very tangible and some of
which are not so tangible, andsometimes just the process of
(01:46):
learning about something inhealthcare will translate into
something that people kind offigure out by themselves.
So I find it fascinating, andthe net effect, Kevin, is what
we call the Hawthorne effect,which is that when people get
observed in healthcare and whenpeople participate in clinical
trials, they always do betterthan expected.
So studying things, looking atthings, understanding your
(02:09):
health situation, results inbetter outcomes for everybody,
and that's been shown over andover again in lots of research.
And an example of that thatwe're working on right now as we
speak is this concept of hsCRP,or high sensitivity C-reactive
protein, and this is a marker, aprotein that indicates when
(02:29):
there's inflammation ongoing inyour blood vessels, and more and
more of our studies arechecking that, and it turns out
that that has a lot ofpredictive value.
If people have high levels ofhsCRP, there's a higher risk for
having a heart attack or astroke, and this is a risk that
could be predicted 30 years inadvance.
(02:50):
A recent study actually cameout that was led by one of my
medical school classmates wholooked at data from the women's
health study, which wasconducted 30 years ago, and
their levels of CRP predictedwhat would happen over the next
30 years.
So it's pretty remarkable, and,as we speak, we're doing
studies right now that helppeople have their CRP checked
(03:11):
for free.
In fact, if you qualify for thestudy, you may get a little bit
of a payment for being involvedin the research, and this is
something that's really quiteimportant to know, particularly
if you have a history of heartdisease, and not knowing about
this again can hurt you, becauseyou may have silent
inflammation that you're noteven aware of.
Kevin Geddings (03:30):
Wow.
And how about if you perhapsmaybe haven't had a cardiac
incident, but in your familythere's a history of heart
disease.
Dr. Michael Koren (03:39):
Absolutely.
Those are people that shouldknow what it is.
But we find, for the studiesthat we're doing now and for the
shortest term, predictive riskis to look at people that have
had some history.
So, again, as I mentioned, thestudy that was done in the
Women's Health Initiative lookedat people who were completely
healthy 30 years ago and thishsCRP was predictive of their
(04:03):
overall risk.
But again, that took decades toplay out.
In the short term, over thecourse of months and years, we
can look at your CRP and have apretty good idea if that stable
heart situation could get worse,right.
Kevin Geddings (04:16):
All right.
Well, if people would like toparticipate, if they've had some
sort of a cardiac issue andthey'd like to be tested for
this inflammation marker, theycan get in touch with ENCORE
Research Group, right?
Dr. Michael Koren (04:26):
You got it, that's right, very simple.
Kevin Geddings (04:27):
Yeah, very simple.
Go to EncoreDocs.
com.
That's EncoreDocs.
com.
You can also call locally.
They have offices here in St.
John's County and St.
Augustine, near UF FlaglerHospital in the Whetstone
Building.
Call 904-730-0166, 904-730-0166.
And in addition to this studythat's going on, there's
(04:49):
countless other studies dealingwith all sorts of other health
challenges, so you can geteducated about all those and
other ways that you canparticipate in leading-edge
medical research.
Speaking of knowledge beingpower which, by the way, yes,
you did get it exactly rightthat was Sir Francis Bacon's
quote by the way, Doctor.
Dr. Michael Koren (05:06):
Excellent.
I'm glad that part of my brainis still working.
Kevin Geddings (05:11):
Well, technically he said "ipsa
scientia potestas est," becausehe was speaking in Latin, but
the translation holds.
Let's put it that way Speakingof knowledge being power.
You know, med evidence.
That's a good way for just therest of us who are not med
school graduates to get somegood health care information,
Right, doc?
Dr. Michael Koren (05:32):
Yeah, and again this gets the same concept
of knowledge is power, and whatwe do in MedE vidence is tell
you what we know about an issue,importantly, what we don't know
about an issue.
And again, knowledge is power,and the lack of knowledge can be
very dangerous, and especiallytrying to do things and make
changes based on a lack ofknowledge can be something that
(05:53):
leads to the downfall of a lotof people.
So we both tell you what weknow and what we don't know, and
, of course, we're talking aboutthe process of how you learn
about the things that you don'tknow process of how you learn
about the things that you don'tknow.
So we think it's a powerful wayfor people to gain knowledge
and ultimately make good healthcare decisions for themselves
and their family.
So give me an example of thatis we just recently did a
(06:13):
podcast with Dr.
Rothstein, Mitch Rothstein, whodid a really nice job of
breaking down insomnia.
So people, when they're up atnight and they can't get to
sleep, they might want to thinkabout what do you know about
your situation, what don't youknow about your situation and
what can you do to figure outhow to make things better?
Kevin Geddings (06:31):
Yeah, now, there's good information there
and it's in a variety ofdifferent methods, if you will,
media that you can easily access.
But before you allow yourselfto go down the Google rabbit
hole of searching out healthcare information, we strongly
recommend that you use themedevidence.
com website.
Medevidence.
com the Truth Behind the Data,medevidence.
com.
And, like we said, if you'rejust tuning in or you're getting
(06:53):
to a point where you can jotsomething down, go check out the
website encordocscom foropportunities where you can
engage in some leading medicalresearch and benefit yourself
and others in the process.
Encoredocs.
com, Dr.
Koren.
Any closing thoughts before welet you go on this beautiful
Monday morning?
Dr. Michael Koren (07:09):
We'll stick with knowledge is power, so
that'll be our mantra for theweek.
Kevin Geddings (07:13):
There you go.
Thank you, Doc.
Announcer (07:15):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedEvidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
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