September 18, 2023 • 10 mins
On today's MedEvidence Monday Minute, Dr. Michael Koren skillfully untangles the complex contradicting medical information on the hot topic - recommendation on COVID booster. Have you ever found yourself puzzled by the intricate world of medical research, especially when it comes to making informed decisions about your own health? Buckle up, as we bring you a riveting discussion with Kevin Geddings and Dr. Michael Koren.Â
We delve into the crucial risk-benefit principle, the bedrock of every healthcare decision, and further illuminate the controversy surrounding the COVID booster. Dr. Koren elucidates who might benefit from it and who might be better off without it, underscoring the importance of understanding your personal risk profile and exposure level. So tune in today and seize this opportunity to gain an insightful look into the world of medical research, arm yourself with expert advice, and navigate your health decisions with confidence!
Be a part of advancing science by participating in clinical research.
Have a question for Dr. Koren? Email him at askDrKoren@MedEvidence.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Gettings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by Angkor Research Group.
Each Monday morning, dr MichaelCoran 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 andhealth care.
This is MedEvidence.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So some music amateurs out there might think
that's the music of the BeachBoys, but of course Dr Michael
Coran knows that that's Jan andDean.
Right, dr Coran?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Of course yeah, A little old lady from Pasadena
imitating the Beach Boys.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
What an amazing imitation, right Gosh.
No shame there at all.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh hey, it's a old fair in love with the music
industry.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah apparently so.
Well, dr Michael Coran is withus.
He's a big friend of WSOS andwe're fortunate to have him join
us on Monday mornings and weget some good information about
what's happening with clinicalresearch and medical information
, health information out there.
And, of course, dr Coran, amedical doctor, cardiologist,
research scientist, and he'sright here locally, although
this morning he's not.
(01:15):
He's up in New Jersey thismorning, but normally he lives
here with us 904-7300166 is thenumber for Encore Docs, where
you can learn how you canparticipate in leading edge
medical research.
And, of course, all the buzz inthe media over the last 48
hours has been about the newCOVID booster, dr Coran, and
whether or not we should take itor not.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, it's been interesting debate, discussion
and political theater.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
But let's break it down to just what the medical
facts are.
So the most basic concept inmedicine, kevin, is the concept
of risk versus benefit.
Everything we do in health care, everything we do in medicine,
is to evaluate that risk versusthe benefit of whatever
intervention we're recommending,whether it's a drug, whether
it's a surgery, whether it's aprocedure, imaging, whatever it
(02:05):
may be, it comes down to thatdecision and evaluation.
So something as simple astaking an aspirin has a risk and
also the benefit.
So I believe that the best wayto understand and make sense of
all this controversy is justthink of it in those terms.
So what do we know?
We know that the COVID vaccineswere certainly very, very
(02:28):
important breakthrough inmedicine and that they saved
many, many lives.
We know that the disease COVIDhas evolved, that at first it
was an absolutely devastatingdisease, particularly for older
and vulnerable people, and nowthe variants we're looking at
fortunately are not quite aslethal in most people, but in
some people it's still lethal.
(02:49):
So the question then is who isat high risk and who is at low
risk?
The other part of the puzzle,of course, is what is the risk
of the intervention, andfortunately, the risk of taking
a booster is very, very, verylow, not zero, of course it's
not zero.
So if you've had previousproblems with vaccines or if you
(03:09):
had a reaction to previousCOVID vaccines, you should take
pause before taking a booster.
But for the vast majority of us, people have done just fine
taking the booster without aserious problem and,
interestingly, older people tendto have pure side effects for
an interesting reason, which isthat our immune responses aren't
quite as robust, so we'reunlikely to have a reaction due
(03:32):
to an overactive immune system.
So, having said that, how doesthe average person decide?
Well, you decide based on whatyour personal risk is and also
what your exposure risk is.
So your personal risk is basedon your medical background and
what illnesses you may have orwhat your vulnerabilities are.
(03:52):
So if you're older, bydefinition for COVID you're at
higher risk.
So people over age 60, over 65,should, in general, get the
booster because their risk ofgetting sick is very, very high.
People who are younger say lessthan 40, tend to have less
severe illnesses.
So you have to look at yourindividual circumstances with
(04:14):
your physician and your lovedones, of course, people who are
younger, who have preexistingconditions such as asthma,
diabetes, cancer, etc.
They need to consider thosefactors when they're deciding
what their personal risk is.
And then you have your exposurerisk.
Your exposure risk is what youdo for living, the people you're
hanging out with, that youinteract with, etc.
(04:35):
So for somebody like myself, inthe healthcare industry, I'm
constantly dealing with sickpeople, so my exposure risk is
quite high and because of that Iwill take vaccines to protect
myself and my family.
Right, not everybody has thatexposure.
So if you work at a office oryou work virtually, well, your
(04:55):
exposure risk is lower.
But part of your exposure riskis also do you interact with
vulnerable people?
So, for example, if you have ateenager who may not be at high
personal risk, but that teenagerlives with that 80-year-old
grandparent, well, that changesthe whole dynamic and not you're
doing things not only forconsideration of the teenager
(05:17):
but also for consideration ofthe grandparent, so that person
is not exposed to the virus.
So these are all things thatshould be in your consideration
when you decide whether to getthe boosters or not.
And unfortunately, when thegovernment gets involved,
there's this false premise thatthe government can decide what
our risks are and the governmentreally can't.
So, even though the CDCrecommended it broadly and the
(05:41):
state of Florida specificallydid, not recommend it.
Both of these recommendationsdon't consider everybody as
individual circumstances.
And the government cannotpossibly make a good
recommendation withoutunderstanding the individual
circumstances.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Hey, if you just go ahead.
If you're just tuning in,that's the voice of Dr Michael
Corn once again, and he is withEncore Docks and we're talking
about the new COVID booster thatjust became available, really
within the last couple of days.
Dr Corn, if I guess it wouldmake a lot of sense too for
people to maybe give a quickcall to their physician's office
and maybe try to get theirsense of whether they should
(06:16):
take it or not.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Absolutely.
If there's any questions, thenyou should.
Now there's certain categoriesof people that can be pretty
straightforward.
So you know, if you're a75-year-old person and you've
had a heart attack before, youhave diabetes, it's pretty
straightforward that if youhaven't had a booster within the
year, go ahead and get it.
There's very little downsideunless you've had some reactions
to these things in the past,and so when I see patients who
(06:41):
have heard about theanti-vaccine information that's
out there and they don't protectthemselves in simple ways.
That's unfortunate.
So sometimes the messaging hasan unintended consequence.
Other people you know if you'rea young family and you haven't
had major illnesses in thefamily, thank God, and then
(07:02):
maybe you don't have to worryabout it as much.
But people in the middle youshould talk to your physicians.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, very good advice and good information too.
And, of course, speaking ofgood information, we can get
great health information,especially about medical
research that's been ongoing, bychecking out this website,
where they just focus on thefacts, the results of medical
research MedEvidencecom.
That's MedEvidencecom.
That's a website that Dr Cornand his team are very involved
(07:29):
with and they work veryaggressively to get you the best
and honest information.
So, and if you're interested inparticipating in clinical
research, you can go toOnCoreDoxcom.
That's OnCoreDoxcom.
Any particular studies you wantto highlight this morning?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, getting back to the point about risk versus
benefit, of course we're doinglots of different vaccine
studies.
We're doing studies that arelooking at combining COVID with
the flu.
We're looking at two seasonalviruses and it makes sense that
these vaccines should beeventually put into the same
treatment, and we are doingthose studies now.
We're working on Lyme diseasevaccines so people, especially
(08:07):
people like the outdoors, may beinterested in protecting
themselves against Lyme disease,and we also have non-vaccine
ways of protecting peopleagainst COVID.
So we have a study that'slooking at using antibodies to
protect high-risk people, forexample, people on dialysis or
people with cancer or people onmedicines that suppress their
immune systems.
They benefit from a study thatwe're doing that's using
(08:29):
antibodies to protect you fromCOVID during the cold and flu
season.
So there's a myriad of thingsthat we're doing at a given time
, and give us a call and we'llcheck it out.
Also point out that in ourclinical trial environment we're
always trying to minimize therisk and maximize the benefit
for patients.
We operate under an ethicalprinciple called beneficence,
(08:50):
which is that in every projectthat we're doing, our
responsibility is to make surethat that trade-off is as
favorable as possible for ourpatients.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Absolutely Well.
Once again, if you have anyquestions about participating in
those trials that Dr Coran justmentioned, you can call locally
.
There are offices right here inSt John's County at Flagler,
well near Flagler Hospital, thenew UF Flagler.
Hospital by the way,904-730-0166 is the telephone
number.
Punch that into your cell phoneand, just you know, ask some
questions.
There's no high-pressure sales,just you know information about
(09:20):
how you can participate inleading-edge medical research
here locally and maybe even getcompensated for it 904-730-0166.
So, dr Coran, what exit are youat on the turnpike?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I am about to go from the Gordon State Parkway to the
turnpike.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh, the big transition.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yes, I am fortunately going to be in Newark Airport
in about 30 minutes and thenheading back to back to home, so
looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Well, safe travels, dr Coran, and we'll speak with
you again next Monday.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
You bet.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Thank you.
Thanks for joining theMedEvidence Podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidencecom or subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast platform.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Gettings ofWSOS St Augustine Radio and
powered by Angkor Research Group.
Each Monday morning, dr MichaelCoran 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 andhealth care.
This is MedEvidence.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
So some music amateurs out there might think
that's the music of the BeachBoys, but of course Dr Michael
Coran knows that that's Jan andDean.
Right, dr Coran?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Of course yeah, A little old lady from Pasadena
imitating the Beach Boys.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
What an amazing imitation, right Gosh.
No shame there at all.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Oh hey, it's a old fair in love with the music
industry.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah apparently so.
Well, dr Michael Coran is withus.
He's a big friend of WSOS andwe're fortunate to have him join
us on Monday mornings and weget some good information about
what's happening with clinicalresearch and medical information
, health information out there.
And, of course, dr Coran, amedical doctor, cardiologist,
research scientist, and he'sright here locally, although
this morning he's not.
(01:15):
He's up in New Jersey thismorning, but normally he lives
here with us 904-7300166 is thenumber for Encore Docs, where
you can learn how you canparticipate in leading edge
medical research.
And, of course, all the buzz inthe media over the last 48
hours has been about the newCOVID booster, dr Coran, and
whether or not we should take itor not.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, it's been interesting debate, discussion
and political theater.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
But let's break it down to just what the medical
facts are.
So the most basic concept inmedicine, kevin, is the concept
of risk versus benefit.
Everything we do in health care, everything we do in medicine,
is to evaluate that risk versusthe benefit of whatever
intervention we're recommending,whether it's a drug, whether
it's a surgery, whether it's aprocedure, imaging, whatever it
(02:05):
may be, it comes down to thatdecision and evaluation.
So something as simple astaking an aspirin has a risk and
also the benefit.
So I believe that the best wayto understand and make sense of
all this controversy is justthink of it in those terms.
So what do we know?
We know that the COVID vaccineswere certainly very, very
(02:28):
important breakthrough inmedicine and that they saved
many, many lives.
We know that the disease COVIDhas evolved, that at first it
was an absolutely devastatingdisease, particularly for older
and vulnerable people, and nowthe variants we're looking at
fortunately are not quite aslethal in most people, but in
some people it's still lethal.
(02:49):
So the question then is who isat high risk and who is at low
risk?
The other part of the puzzle,of course, is what is the risk
of the intervention, andfortunately, the risk of taking
a booster is very, very, verylow, not zero, of course it's
not zero.
So if you've had previousproblems with vaccines or if you
(03:09):
had a reaction to previousCOVID vaccines, you should take
pause before taking a booster.
But for the vast majority of us, people have done just fine
taking the booster without aserious problem and,
interestingly, older people tendto have pure side effects for
an interesting reason, which isthat our immune responses aren't
quite as robust, so we'reunlikely to have a reaction due
(03:32):
to an overactive immune system.
So, having said that, how doesthe average person decide?
Well, you decide based on whatyour personal risk is and also
what your exposure risk is.
So your personal risk is basedon your medical background and
what illnesses you may have orwhat your vulnerabilities are.
(03:52):
So if you're older, bydefinition for COVID you're at
higher risk.
So people over age 60, over 65,should, in general, get the
booster because their risk ofgetting sick is very, very high.
People who are younger say lessthan 40, tend to have less
severe illnesses.
So you have to look at yourindividual circumstances with
(04:14):
your physician and your lovedones, of course, people who are
younger, who have preexistingconditions such as asthma,
diabetes, cancer, etc.
They need to consider thosefactors when they're deciding
what their personal risk is.
And then you have your exposurerisk.
Your exposure risk is what youdo for living, the people you're
hanging out with, that youinteract with, etc.
(04:35):
So for somebody like myself, inthe healthcare industry, I'm
constantly dealing with sickpeople, so my exposure risk is
quite high and because of that Iwill take vaccines to protect
myself and my family.
Right, not everybody has thatexposure.
So if you work at a office oryou work virtually, well, your
(04:55):
exposure risk is lower.
But part of your exposure riskis also do you interact with
vulnerable people?
So, for example, if you have ateenager who may not be at high
personal risk, but that teenagerlives with that 80-year-old
grandparent, well, that changesthe whole dynamic and not you're
doing things not only forconsideration of the teenager
(05:17):
but also for consideration ofthe grandparent, so that person
is not exposed to the virus.
So these are all things thatshould be in your consideration
when you decide whether to getthe boosters or not.
And unfortunately, when thegovernment gets involved,
there's this false premise thatthe government can decide what
our risks are and the governmentreally can't.
So, even though the CDCrecommended it broadly and the
(05:41):
state of Florida specificallydid, not recommend it.
Both of these recommendationsdon't consider everybody as
individual circumstances.
And the government cannotpossibly make a good
recommendation withoutunderstanding the individual
circumstances.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Hey, if you just go ahead.
If you're just tuning in,that's the voice of Dr Michael
Corn once again, and he is withEncore Docks and we're talking
about the new COVID booster thatjust became available, really
within the last couple of days.
Dr Corn, if I guess it wouldmake a lot of sense too for
people to maybe give a quickcall to their physician's office
and maybe try to get theirsense of whether they should
(06:16):
take it or not.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Absolutely.
If there's any questions, thenyou should.
Now there's certain categoriesof people that can be pretty
straightforward.
So you know, if you're a75-year-old person and you've
had a heart attack before, youhave diabetes, it's pretty
straightforward that if youhaven't had a booster within the
year, go ahead and get it.
There's very little downsideunless you've had some reactions
to these things in the past,and so when I see patients who
(06:41):
have heard about theanti-vaccine information that's
out there and they don't protectthemselves in simple ways.
That's unfortunate.
So sometimes the messaging hasan unintended consequence.
Other people you know if you'rea young family and you haven't
had major illnesses in thefamily, thank God, and then
(07:02):
maybe you don't have to worryabout it as much.
But people in the middle youshould talk to your physicians.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Well, very good advice and good information too.
And, of course, speaking ofgood information, we can get
great health information,especially about medical
research that's been ongoing, bychecking out this website,
where they just focus on thefacts, the results of medical
research MedEvidencecom.
That's MedEvidencecom.
That's a website that Dr Cornand his team are very involved
(07:29):
with and they work veryaggressively to get you the best
and honest information.
So, and if you're interested inparticipating in clinical
research, you can go toOnCoreDoxcom.
That's OnCoreDoxcom.
Any particular studies you wantto highlight this morning?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Well, getting back to the point about risk versus
benefit, of course we're doinglots of different vaccine
studies.
We're doing studies that arelooking at combining COVID with
the flu.
We're looking at two seasonalviruses and it makes sense that
these vaccines should beeventually put into the same
treatment, and we are doingthose studies now.
We're working on Lyme diseasevaccines so people, especially
(08:07):
people like the outdoors, may beinterested in protecting
themselves against Lyme disease,and we also have non-vaccine
ways of protecting peopleagainst COVID.
So we have a study that'slooking at using antibodies to
protect high-risk people, forexample, people on dialysis or
people with cancer or people onmedicines that suppress their
immune systems.
They benefit from a study thatwe're doing that's using
(08:29):
antibodies to protect you fromCOVID during the cold and flu
season.
So there's a myriad of thingsthat we're doing at a given time
, and give us a call and we'llcheck it out.
Also point out that in ourclinical trial environment we're
always trying to minimize therisk and maximize the benefit
for patients.
We operate under an ethicalprinciple called beneficence,
(08:50):
which is that in every projectthat we're doing, our
responsibility is to make surethat that trade-off is as
favorable as possible for ourpatients.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Absolutely Well.
Once again, if you have anyquestions about participating in
those trials that Dr Coran justmentioned, you can call locally
.
There are offices right here inSt John's County at Flagler,
well near Flagler Hospital, thenew UF Flagler.
Hospital by the way,904-730-0166 is the telephone
number.
Punch that into your cell phoneand, just you know, ask some
questions.
There's no high-pressure sales,just you know information about
(09:20):
how you can participate inleading-edge medical research
here locally and maybe even getcompensated for it 904-730-0166.
So, dr Coran, what exit are youat on the turnpike?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I am about to go from the Gordon State Parkway to the
turnpike.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh, the big transition.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yes, I am fortunately going to be in Newark Airport
in about 30 minutes and thenheading back to back to home, so
looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Well, safe travels, dr Coran, and we'll speak with
you again next Monday.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
You bet.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Thank you.
Thanks for joining theMedEvidence Podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidencecom or subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast platform.
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