October 30, 2023 • 7 mins
Ever wondered how everyday medicines and even natural supplements can impact your health in unexpected ways? Ponder no more! On this week's MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio Show, Dr. Michael Koren, our resident medical expert, unravels the complex world of medication side effects.Â
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Narrator (00:00):
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Gettings ofWSOS St.
Augustine Radio and powered byENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful 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.
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us.
Of course.
He's a big part of our familyhere at WSOS and of course he
leads the efforts at ENCORE Docs, which they have offices right
here in St.
John's County in St Augustinewhere they do leading edge
medical research, advancing allsorts of different health issues
and concerns that we have wewere talking off the air about.
Somehow we get a littleobsessed with side effects.
(00:52):
When we hear about, maybe, newmedicines or even longstanding
medicines, we want to know aboutthe side effects.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthat, Dr.
Michael Koren (01:01):
It's interesting.
Before we got on you wereasking about the event we had at
the research center, which wasvery well attended, and we had
some great questions.
It was focused mainly on thelatest and greatest in vaccines,
including this neat trial thatwe're doing now that's combining
flu and COVID vaccines usingmRNA technology.
But there was a lot ofquestions about side effects and
(01:24):
I made the point and I thinkpeople appreciated it is that
you can't just talk about sideeffects.
You always have to talk aboutside effects in context with
benefits.
So medicine, everything is arisk-benefit tradeoff.
So even drinking water can haveside effects if you do it
recklessly.
And the simplest things eitherhave benefits and side effects,
(01:45):
and our job as physicians is tohelp people understand what that
tradeoff is.
So my advice to people is ifsomebody tells you, oh, don't
take that because of side effect, you should ask them well,
what's the upside, what's thebenefit and what's the
likelihood of the benefit versusthe side effect?
The flip side is, if somebodysays, oh, this is the greatest
thing on earth, you should ask,well, what is the side effect?
You know we measure risksversus benefits.
Kevin Geddings (02:06):
Yeah, it seems like even with our current sort
of I want to say obsession, butvery much focused on taking
additional natural supplementsor what have you other things
that we believe are quote fromnature, that's still messing
with our body chemistry a littlebit right.
Even taking something asinnocent as some plant-based
item is still going to have aquote "side effect, right?
Michael Koren (02:27):
Totally.
Everything that you take inyour body is a chemical and
obviously we need some of thesechemicals to live normal,
healthy lives, but sometimes, inparticularly if the dose is
wrong, they could have verydeleterious side effects.
So your point is well taken isthat these natural things can
actually cause a lot of sideeffects, and I'd like to remind
my patients who are into naturalthings that a snake bite is
(02:50):
natural, so be careful aboutnature.
Kevin Geddings (02:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us herelive.
Of course, we also want topoint out the website we'd love
for you to check out MedEvidence.
com.
MedEvidence.
com, and a lot of what we'redoing here, is part of that
overall mission, which is justto get good, accurate health
information out there,especially about leading-edge
advances that we're making inmedicine, right?
Michael Koren (03:13):
Yeah, yeah.
And the other side of the storyabout side effects, just to
point it out is some people arehaving side effects and they
don't even know it.
So I had a really interestingconversation over the weekend
with a vendor that's trying toget my refrigerator fixed and we
started getting into adiscussion and the woman on the
phone was telling me about someher medical issues and she
(03:34):
mentioned she was on a drugcalled Inderal or they're doing
for that's called propanolol,and that drug is sort of an
old-school drug.
It's one out of favor in a lotof cases and she was using it
because she was subject to fastheartbeat.
Well, it is true thatpropanolol or Inderal will help
fast heartbeat, but it alsocaused a lot of side effects.
(03:55):
And During the sameconversation she mentioned to me
that our biggest problem isthat her diabetes was completely
out of control.
And I asked her the questionWell, did you know that one of
the side effects of thepropanolol is making your
diabetes worse?
And she had no idea.
So hopefully that was aproductive conversation for her
and she gets switched over tosomething that's less likely to
(04:17):
cause that side effect.
But it's a good example of factthat sometimes we're obsessed
about side effects I'm not thereand other times we don't even
know about side effects thatwe're dealing with on a
day-to-day basis.
So that's why I love theresearch process, because we dig
into all these things andwhether or not you decide to do
a study or get involved, you'llhave an analysis of your
(04:37):
situation and leave our officeswith much more knowledge than
you came in with.
Kevin Geddings (04:42):
Well, Dr.
Michael Koren, I'm sure youhelped that lady with her
diabetes.
But probably just as important,Did you get your refrigerator
fixed?
Michael Koren (04:49):
Well, not yet, but uh, the rest of the story
will hopefully unfold in a in acool direction by the end of the
week.
Kevin Geddings (04:57):
It's always wonder you know?
Because Dr.
Koren, of course, is a researchscientist, Harvard Medical S
chool.
You know very amazingcredentials.
Do you ever look at arefrigerator that's broken and
just say you know, I bet I canprobably fix this if I really
focus on it.
Michael Koren (05:12):
Actually I'm smart because I realize I can't.
It's a funny point you make,but one of the most important
things about intelligence isknowing what you don't know, and
I think that's missing insociety nowadays.
Kevin Geddings (05:26):
Well, you're not the truth.
It's like when a plumber comesbecause my toilet is backed up,
I know that I need to step away.
You know, don't give him anyadvice.
This guy knows what he's doing.
You know, I have my little rolein the world, he has his, and
let's just stay in our lane,right?
Michael Koren (05:40):
Exactly Well, it's good to ask questions and
to assess, but don't assume youknow more.
Kevin Geddings (05:46):
There you go, Dr .
Michael Koren.
Of course, we always learn alot from our time with him.
You can learn a lot more andget a much deeper dive into what
we're talking about here eachand every week by going to the
website MedE evidence.
com.
That's MedE vidence.
com, and if you'd like toparticipate in some leading edge
you know medical research,clinical trials, you could even
be compensated for some of yourparticipation.
(06:08):
But more importantly, you'regoing to get a better health
status for yourself or a lovedone.
Go to on ENCOREd ocs.
com.
That's ENCORE docs.
com, spelled ENCOREdocs.
com, and the telephone numberhere locally 904 730 0166.
And before we let you go, Dr.
Koren, what are you going to befor Halloween tomorrow?
Michael Koren (06:31):
Um, I should have a snappy answer for that.
Um, I think I'm going to be anidea.
Kevin Geddings (06:40):
Oh, an idea.
Yeah, you could go dress as abig light bulb, right?
Michael Koren (06:44):
There you go.
Yeah, go ahead best things inthe world are great ideas.
So that's I'm gonna.
I'm gonna dress up as an ideatomorrow.
Kevin Geddings (06:53):
Very good.
Well, Dr.
Koren, thank you, as always,for all your time.
We appreciate you.
We'll talk soon.
Narrator (06:58):
Thanks for joining the med evidence podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform you.
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Gettings ofWSOS St.
Augustine Radio and powered byENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful 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.
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us.
Of course.
He's a big part of our familyhere at WSOS and of course he
leads the efforts at ENCORE Docs, which they have offices right
here in St.
John's County in St Augustinewhere they do leading edge
medical research, advancing allsorts of different health issues
and concerns that we have wewere talking off the air about.
Somehow we get a littleobsessed with side effects.
(00:52):
When we hear about, maybe, newmedicines or even longstanding
medicines, we want to know aboutthe side effects.
Talk to us a little bit aboutthat, Dr.
Michael Koren (01:01):
It's interesting.
Before we got on you wereasking about the event we had at
the research center, which wasvery well attended, and we had
some great questions.
It was focused mainly on thelatest and greatest in vaccines,
including this neat trial thatwe're doing now that's combining
flu and COVID vaccines usingmRNA technology.
But there was a lot ofquestions about side effects and
(01:24):
I made the point and I thinkpeople appreciated it is that
you can't just talk about sideeffects.
You always have to talk aboutside effects in context with
benefits.
So medicine, everything is arisk-benefit tradeoff.
So even drinking water can haveside effects if you do it
recklessly.
And the simplest things eitherhave benefits and side effects,
(01:45):
and our job as physicians is tohelp people understand what that
tradeoff is.
So my advice to people is ifsomebody tells you, oh, don't
take that because of side effect, you should ask them well,
what's the upside, what's thebenefit and what's the
likelihood of the benefit versusthe side effect?
The flip side is, if somebodysays, oh, this is the greatest
thing on earth, you should ask,well, what is the side effect?
You know we measure risksversus benefits.
Kevin Geddings (02:06):
Yeah, it seems like even with our current sort
of I want to say obsession, butvery much focused on taking
additional natural supplementsor what have you other things
that we believe are quote fromnature, that's still messing
with our body chemistry a littlebit right.
Even taking something asinnocent as some plant-based
item is still going to have aquote "side effect, right?
Michael Koren (02:27):
Totally.
Everything that you take inyour body is a chemical and
obviously we need some of thesechemicals to live normal,
healthy lives, but sometimes, inparticularly if the dose is
wrong, they could have verydeleterious side effects.
So your point is well taken isthat these natural things can
actually cause a lot of sideeffects, and I'd like to remind
my patients who are into naturalthings that a snake bite is
(02:50):
natural, so be careful aboutnature.
Kevin Geddings (02:53):
Yeah, that's right.
Dr.
Michael Koren is with us herelive.
Of course, we also want topoint out the website we'd love
for you to check out MedEvidence.
com.
MedEvidence.
com, and a lot of what we'redoing here, is part of that
overall mission, which is justto get good, accurate health
information out there,especially about leading-edge
advances that we're making inmedicine, right?
Michael Koren (03:13):
Yeah, yeah.
And the other side of the storyabout side effects, just to
point it out is some people arehaving side effects and they
don't even know it.
So I had a really interestingconversation over the weekend
with a vendor that's trying toget my refrigerator fixed and we
started getting into adiscussion and the woman on the
phone was telling me about someher medical issues and she
(03:34):
mentioned she was on a drugcalled Inderal or they're doing
for that's called propanolol,and that drug is sort of an
old-school drug.
It's one out of favor in a lotof cases and she was using it
because she was subject to fastheartbeat.
Well, it is true thatpropanolol or Inderal will help
fast heartbeat, but it alsocaused a lot of side effects.
(03:55):
And During the sameconversation she mentioned to me
that our biggest problem isthat her diabetes was completely
out of control.
And I asked her the questionWell, did you know that one of
the side effects of thepropanolol is making your
diabetes worse?
And she had no idea.
So hopefully that was aproductive conversation for her
and she gets switched over tosomething that's less likely to
(04:17):
cause that side effect.
But it's a good example of factthat sometimes we're obsessed
about side effects I'm not thereand other times we don't even
know about side effects thatwe're dealing with on a
day-to-day basis.
So that's why I love theresearch process, because we dig
into all these things andwhether or not you decide to do
a study or get involved, you'llhave an analysis of your
(04:37):
situation and leave our officeswith much more knowledge than
you came in with.
Kevin Geddings (04:42):
Well, Dr.
Michael Koren, I'm sure youhelped that lady with her
diabetes.
But probably just as important,Did you get your refrigerator
fixed?
Michael Koren (04:49):
Well, not yet, but uh, the rest of the story
will hopefully unfold in a in acool direction by the end of the
week.
Kevin Geddings (04:57):
It's always wonder you know?
Because Dr.
Koren, of course, is a researchscientist, Harvard Medical S
chool.
You know very amazingcredentials.
Do you ever look at arefrigerator that's broken and
just say you know, I bet I canprobably fix this if I really
focus on it.
Michael Koren (05:12):
Actually I'm smart because I realize I can't.
It's a funny point you make,but one of the most important
things about intelligence isknowing what you don't know, and
I think that's missing insociety nowadays.
Kevin Geddings (05:26):
Well, you're not the truth.
It's like when a plumber comesbecause my toilet is backed up,
I know that I need to step away.
You know, don't give him anyadvice.
This guy knows what he's doing.
You know, I have my little rolein the world, he has his, and
let's just stay in our lane,right?
Michael Koren (05:40):
Exactly Well, it's good to ask questions and
to assess, but don't assume youknow more.
Kevin Geddings (05:46):
There you go, Dr .
Michael Koren.
Of course, we always learn alot from our time with him.
You can learn a lot more andget a much deeper dive into what
we're talking about here eachand every week by going to the
website MedE evidence.
com.
That's MedE vidence.
com, and if you'd like toparticipate in some leading edge
you know medical research,clinical trials, you could even
be compensated for some of yourparticipation.
(06:08):
But more importantly, you'regoing to get a better health
status for yourself or a lovedone.
Go to on ENCOREd ocs.
com.
That's ENCORE docs.
com, spelled ENCOREdocs.
com, and the telephone numberhere locally 904 730 0166.
And before we let you go, Dr.
Koren, what are you going to befor Halloween tomorrow?
Michael Koren (06:31):
Um, I should have a snappy answer for that.
Um, I think I'm going to be anidea.
Kevin Geddings (06:40):
Oh, an idea.
Yeah, you could go dress as abig light bulb, right?
Michael Koren (06:44):
There you go.
Yeah, go ahead best things inthe world are great ideas.
So that's I'm gonna.
I'm gonna dress up as an ideatomorrow.
Kevin Geddings (06:53):
Very good.
Well, Dr.
Koren, thank you, as always,for all your time.
We appreciate you.
We'll talk soon.
Narrator (06:58):
Thanks for joining the med evidence podcast.
To learn more, head over tomedevidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform you.
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