Causes or Cures
"For the Nerds and the Nerd Nots" Causes or Cures is a health podcast hosted by Dr. Eeks—an independent, grassroots show driven by curiosity and a passion for breaking down complex health topics into bite-sized, easy-to-understand insights. Dr. Eeks (ErinKate Star, MD, MPH) is a public health professional specializing in applied epidemiology and health communication. She works as a federal contractor on complex and timely public health issues and is all about making science relatable, often using a blue-collar sense of humor to drive the message home. . On this podcast, Dr. Eeks talks with experts from around the world (doctors, researchers, public health pros, and more) to dive into the latest hot topics in health and research, all in a down-to-earth kind of way. She also includes people with compelling stories of healing and "characters" because life is too boring and short to leave out characters. ;) DISCLAIMER: Some topics are more controversial than others, so keep in mind that this is information only and not health advice. If you are battling an individual health issue, always check in with your doctor & don't run with anything on podcast as advice. Dr. Eeks doesn't endorse any of her guests' views, and despite a strict health routine, nor does she endorse any products, supplements, oils, magic socks or potions. (If an episode is sponsored by a company she likes, she will say so in the show notes.) While she has a MD, she does not practice medicine (she's a full-time public health nerd) so she does not give out medical advice nor should you treat anything on this podcast as medical advice. Causes or Cures is not a "news site." It's about having conversations, and Dr. Eeks is confident that she can have a respectful conversation with anyone, even people who think far differently than she does. (At least that's been her experience at hole-in-the-walls & on the NYC sidewalks.) The point is to not take anything here as Gospel. Sometimes Dr. Eeks' dog Barnaby makes his opinion known, but the good news is that he's a smart dog. Most importantly, she hopes this podcast encourages folks to stay curious, empathic, hopeful, compassionate, honest, open-minded, and engaged. Freedom of discussion is a beautiful thing, delightfully messy, and one that many take for granted. *The views on this podcast do not reflect the views of anyone she contracts with or consults for on various public health projects. You can help keep Causes or Cure independent and ad-free by hitting the "Support" button in the upper corner. You can contact Dr. Eeks through her website, bloomingwellness.com. SIGN UP for her Newsletter HERE: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/xnqmy06
Episodes
In this episode of the Causes or Cures Podcast, Dr Eeks speaks with Dr. Sam West, a researcher at the University of Oxford, about his study on what happens after people stop taking GLP 1 weight loss medications.
While much of the attention has focused on how these drugs work while people are taking them, this conversation looks at what happens when people stop. Dr West discusses how quickly weight tends to return (and how...
"So how'd that person die?"
In this episode of Causes or Cures, I’m joined by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Byard, an internationally recognized expert who has spent decades investigating deaths that are rare, misunderstood, and often deeply unsettling.
We talk about what really happens at the edges of life and death, including:
- Fatal animal encounters involving kangaroos, roosters, cattle, and...
In this episode, Dr. Eeks talks with Joel Stanley, entrepreneur and biotech founder, about the long and often misunderstood road from plant based therapies to FDA approved medicines.
Joel shares the personal story behind building Charlotte’s Web, the company named after a young girl whose experience with severe epilepsy helped spark a global conversation about medical cannabis. He reflects on what it was like to grow a fa...
Healthcare corruption doesn’t just happen in broken systems or far away countries.
It happens in hospitals with shiny floors.
In billion dollar healthcare industries.
In systems filled with rules, audits, and professionals sworn to protect patients.
It happens quietly. And it happens everywhere.
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Professor Graham Brooks, an international expert on healthcare co...
Exploring the Spiritual Realm
Where spiritual belief meets health, culture, and skepticism
Disclaimer: This episode discusses spiritual and metaphysical beliefs that are not evidence-based medical treatments. Nothing in this conversation is medical or health advice. If you have a health concern, please seek care from a licensed clinician. This is entertainment only.
Recent surveys suggest around 69% of Americans say...
What if cancer didn’t have to be eradicated, but could be remembered, monitored, and controlled by the immune system itself?
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Zachary Hartman, the lead researcher who revisited an extraordinary breast cancer vaccine trial conducted over 20 years ago. The trial involved a small group of women with advanced breast cancer. Women who, remarkably, are all still alive ...
*Disclaimer* This episode is part of the Causes or Cures Public Health Is Weird bonus series and is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you’re worried about a child or pet eating a poinsettia, contact a medical professional or veterinarian. This podcast is not a poison control center. :)
Every December, poinsettias show up, and so does the panic.
Suddenly, a festive red plant is treated like antifreeze w...
Microplastics are everywhere—but what are they doing inside the human body?
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Christian Pacher-Deutsch about his lastest study and the growing evidence that micro- and nanoplastics may affect the digestive system, the gut microbiome, and long-term health. He explains why this problem has reached crisis level.
Rather than focusing on dramatic claims or quick fixes,...
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Zohar Rubinstein, a clinical psychologist, researcher and trauma expert about an early and deeply sensitive study examining how different substances may have influenced early trauma responses among survivors of the October 7 Nova music festival attack.
Many survivors had taken substances just hours before the traumatic event — including classic psychedelics, MDM...
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks talks with Dr. Claudia Suemoto in Brazil about her new 8-year study looking at whether artificial sweeteners are linked to changes in thinking and memory.
We cover:
• How she started studying dementia and why she became curious about sweeteners.
• What the research team hoped to learn and what they actually found.
• Why these results are different from older, one...
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks talks with Dr. Jaap de Roode, an evolutionary biologist and author of Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves, about one of the most fascinating corners of biology: the ways animals use plants, minerals, insects, and even toxins as medicine.
They talk about:
- What sparked his interest in animals treating their own illnesses
- Why medicine isn’t only...
Episode: Why Single Women Are Happier than Single Men, with Elaine Hoan
Guest: Elaine Hoan, PhD Candidate, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto
Forget the “sad cat lady” cliché. In this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with researcher Elaine Hoan about her new study showing that single women are, on average, happier than single men. They explore what that says about modern love, independence, and the pressure to cou...
Episode: Psychedelics and Prolonged Grief with Dr. Greg Fonzo
Guest: Greg Fonzo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Charmaine and Gordon McGill Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at Dell Medical School.
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks speaks with Dr. Greg Fonzo about how psychedelics might help people suffering from prolonged grief, a form of grief that lasts longer and feels hard...
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Debbie Dobbins, international prosperity consciousness speaker/teacher and author of Your Inner Billionaire.
Why listen: Debbie’s origin story isn’t a soft-focus vision board. It's not feel-good Instagram or TikTok reels. It’s making millions..., then dollar-store cookies on food stamps; addiction, cancer, and IRS debt..., followed by a rebuild grounded in daily...
Dr. Acosta returns to Causes or Cures to talk about the next big leap in obesity research: using genetics and machine learning to predict which patients will get side effects to popular GLP-1 weight-loss medications like Wegovy and Zepbound. Previously, he was on Causes or Cures to discuss your individual obesity type.
He and his team are uncovering why some people experience major weight loss while others face tough sid...
Disclaimer: Entertainment only. Eeks is not a public health historian; just a gremlin who reads too much and asks weird questions
BONUS Episodes are part of the "Public Health is Weird" Causes or Cures Series.
What’s inside
- The myth of “truth serum” and why scopolamine never earned the badge
- From twilight sleep in childbirth to spy stories and interrogation lore
- What scopolamine actually does: amnesia, confusi...
On this episode, Dr. Eeks chats with Dr. Carlijn Wagenaar about the Plants for Joints research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA), exploring how a plant-centered lifestyle (not just diet) was tested and what changed in disease activity, inflammation, pain, and function.
Episode at a glance:
- Study design, plainly: who enrolled, program length, and how PFJ was evaluated for RA (disease activity & in...
What if cancer could be detected years before symptoms ever appear? In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks sits down with Dr. Yuxuan Wang, cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins, to discuss her team’s promising work on multicancer early detection (MCED) blood tests.
These ultra-sensitive sequencing tests can spot tiny fragments of tumor DNA circulating in the blood. In their recent study, the MCED test flagged early can...
In this episode of Causes or Cures, Dr. Eeks chats with Katie Stewart, Holistic Nutritionist and founder of The Clear Skin Solution, about the emotional and physical toll of breakouts and unhealthy skin, and why lasting healing requires more than just spot treatment.
Katie shares how her own struggles with acne led her to ditch conventional prescriptions and create a protocol focused on addressing root causes like hormona...
Psychedelics are in the spotlight. Some call them dangerous, others call them life-saving, and many believe they could reshape the future of mental health care. In this episode, Dr. Eeks talks with Martín Polanco MD, founder of The Mission Within Foundation and considered the most experienced ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT physician in North America. Over the past 25 years, he has treated more than 5,000 people — including over ...
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