Today, I’m thrilled to repost the conversation with Ken Cook, President and Co-Founder of the Environmental Working Group, a powerhouse built to protect human health and the planet. For over 30 years, he’s been a leading voice challenging industrial agriculture, flawed U.S. food policies, and the toxic threats facing families—especially women and k…

Here is an article that I wrote for Rupa Fullscript in order to lay the ground work for effective preventative medicine. In order to get a longer runway to preventing disease, targeted lab screening is becoming very important.Classical medical training often relies on a traditional, binary approach to patient care: either a disease is present, or i…

Welcome to Dr. M's Women and Children First, the podcast where we dive deep into the science of health, wellness, and prevention—especially for women, children, and families. Today, we have a truly special guest, Dr. Joe Pizzorno.Dr. Joe Pizzorno is a world-renowned leader in functional and naturopathic medicine, a trailblazer in environmental heal…

This is a repost of the most listened to podcast with Richard J. Johnson, M.D.. Dr. Johnson is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minne…

"Life forms on our planet have evolved under the strong influence of a daily light/dark cycle. Sunlight being the primary source of energy for photosynthesis, the daily production of photosynthetic biomass has a predictable diurnal rhythm. The daily cyclical production of photosynthesized chemical energy is at the base of the food chain. Daily chan…

Over the next few weeks, I will be doing a deeper dive into the world of eczema or atopic dermatitis. In the greek language where we derive many of our medical terms, eczema is spelled ἔκζεμα or ékzema which means to bubble up. This weeks podcast guest is Dr. Ana Maria Temple, an expert in eczema. We go all over the place in the pod and it is so wo…

Welcome back to Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, where we dive deep into the latest research and expert insights on health, nutrition, and optimizing well-being. Today, we sit down with an influential voice in prenatal and fertility nutrition, Lily Nichols, RD.Lily is a registered dietitian, researcher, and best-selling author known for he…

Holidays and ConnectionThe Christmas and winter holiday season is a unique time to sit back reflect on the past year. To behold the timeless beauty of life. The shared time offers us an opportunity to pause and connect with those who matter or should matter most in our lives. I love the bathroom plaque that says at the end of life it won't matter w…

Today, we have an extraordinary guest joining us—Dr. Francis Koster, a man who has spent decades uncovering the invisible forces that shape our environment and, ultimately, our health.Dr. Koster is the founder of Pollution Detectives, an initiative that combines data-driven science, community collaboration, and advocacy to address environmental iss…

Sulfurophane and health - It is clear now that SFN stands out as a powerhouse phytochemical with profound effects on human health through the pathway of nurclear factor erythroid related 2 (NRF2). It is found abundantly in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, broccolini, kale, and brussels sprouts. SFN is a bioactive compound with impressive cl…

Lymphatics - RefresherLymphatics - a plumbing system that follows the circulatory system throughout the body including the brain where it is called the glymphatics. The function of these passively moving tubes is to transport fats around the body, clear cellular debris returning it to the liver and spleen, move fluid in and out of tissue to maintai…

VaccinesIn the coming months, I am going to take a deeper look at vaccines. I am fielding lots of questions in the office about the safety of vaccines. People are scared. Are they wrong? Should they be?Let me start here: first off, I am solidly pro vaccine. That is not the same as to be in agreement with the current vaccine schedule or that vaccine…

Dr. Ana-Maria Temple, MD, is an integrative pediatrician known for her whole child approach to children's health. She studied medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine before pursuing pediatric residency training at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In 2017, Dr. Temple further specialized by completin…

Treatment - sometimes it is just better to watch and wait.Warts are a common ailment of childhood. Mostly a nuisance, sometimes a hindrance to function when located on the fingers and or areas of high use. There are two major types of wart type skin lesions - typical verrucous warts and molluscum contagiosum.Google has great molluscum and wart Imag…

Megan Lyons, is a distinguished expert in personalized nutrition and wellness, with over a decade of experience in the field. As the founder of The Lyons’ Share Wellness, she has dedicated more than 14,000 hours to one-on-one nutrition consulting, assisting clients with diverse goals such as weight loss, overcoming emotional eating, managing thyroi…

Finding a relational balance with any person or persons can be a struggle if one side of the relationship dyad has a strong need for a gain to feel safe or whole. For example, a parent in a poor quality marriage or with significant childhood wounding may turn to the child for happiness and love when it is missing otherwise. A child in turn being yo…

Today, we are honored to have Dr. E. John Wherry, a leading expert in the field of immunology, joining us. Dr. Wherry is the Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also directs the Institute for Immunology. His undergraduate degree was obtained at Penn State Univers…

Review of Dr. Casey Means’ Good EnergyIn her book, Good Energy, Dr. Casey Means explores the complex relationship between our metabolic health and the quality of energy we experience in daily life. Dr. Means is an ENT surgeon that graduated from Stanford University Medical School before eschewing it all to dive into the world of disease prevention.…

Literature Review WeekWhy do some people react to mosquitoes so vigorously? There is fascinating data for me in the Nature article, as I see lots of kids that react strongly to mosquitoes while others do not at all. A hyper primed immune reaction makes a lot of sense as the immune system is extra sensitive to the insult in individuals that have chr…

Obesity and Change - The Tech IntersectionWelcome to the podcast! Today, I am thrilled to host Dr. Deborah Tate, a distinguished professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with joint appointments in Health Behavior and Nutrition. She also holds a faculty appointment at the Nutrition Research Institu…

Section IUnderstanding the Action and Use of GLP-1 Agonists in Children – A Pediatrician’s ViewpointThe United States, like much of the developed world, is facing increasing rates of childhood obesity and related health concerns. Despite years of research and various efforts, addressing this public health issue remains a complex challenge.This arti…

Section IAre Smart Phones a benefit or a curse for the teenager in school? This is becoming a huge topic this past year or so. Logic would seem to dictate that this is a curse more than a benefit, but what does the data and expert opinion show?The Scientific American article "Do Phone Bans Help Students Perform Better in School?" examines the growi…

Welcome to the podcast! Today, I am thrilled to have a true pioneer in the field of metabolic health, Dr. Robert Lustig, MD, joining us. Dr. Lustig is a neuroendocrinologist and Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on the inters…

Upcoming Podcast and Current Book Review.For all parents who love the content of this newsletter, I have a book for you to enjoy. It is a comprehensive look at parenting a child in modern times through the struggles of food, technology, stress and life in general.My good friend Elisa Song is a Stanford, NYU and UCSF trained pediatrician and lover o…

Section ILiterature Review1) Long Covid in children - the symptoms are getting more clarity in who has what . From JAMA: 898 school-age children (751 with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and 147 without) and 4469 adolescents (3109 infected and 1360 uninfected) were included in the analysis. The time between infection and symptom analysis was 1.5 year…

Children are and always will be a marker of a society’s quality and focus on their health. When we look at the landscape of childhood health trajectories, we see a declination in quality and an inclination toward diseases of immune dysregulation and underlying chronic unchecked inflammation. What is the genesis point, or where is ground zero?For me…

David L. Katz, MD, MPH is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, with particular expertise in nutrition.He earned his BA at Dartmouth College (1984); his MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1988); and his MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health (1993). He completed sequential residency training and board…

Literature Review1) Does oral health affect your life if you are sick and in intensive care? According to a new study in JAMA, the answer is yes. From the study: 10,742 patients - "toothbrushing was associated with significantly lower risk for Hospital Acquired Pneumonia and ICU mortality. Reduction in pneumonia incidence was significant for patien…

This week I sit down with Dr. Elisa Song to discuss her new book, Healthy Kids, Happy Kids. Dr. Song is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in political Science. She then attended New York University for her medical degree and finally a stop at the University of California San Francisco for pediatric residency training. In her own words…

Sleep Part IVContinuing the sleep education from a few weeks ago.Sleep is a most special event that we all need to continue to focus heavily on in order to live a healthy and long life. It may be the single most important event that we do daily.Here are a few more quick hits on sleep from the Matthew Walker's Book and other publications.1) Aim for …

Sleep Part IIIFinally, the other elephant in the room related to sleep is STRESS. Stress alters the function of the hormone cortisol and can significantly alter night sleep function. There are three major chemicals that affect sleep: cortisol, adenosine and melatonin.In normal conditions, adenosine rises during the day making you sleepy, cortisol h…

This weeks guest is Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe.Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe is a researcher and a thinker with persistence. Throughout history, these are the human qualities that lead people to develop amazing products and lead projects for the world to benefit from. Her story is one of discovery, passion and caring.Dr. Cutcliffe holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry …

Epigenetics and PregnancyEpigenetics is the study of environmental signals and their effects on our genes. Our genes are not altered so much as they are read and used differently based on the environmental inputs. Epigenetic effects are critical during the pregnancy period as the environmental signals can alter an offspring’s outcome both in good a…

Sleep Part IILet us pause here! So far we now know that humans at all ages will suffer from memory dysfunction and brain sewage cleanup problems leading to inflammation and damage long term. What ages are most at risk? They are likely mirrored by other physiologic events that are at risk based on age. Teenagers, infants and toddlers are rapidly gro…

Kenneth R. Pelletier, MD, PhD is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Department of Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco. He is Director of the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP) which is a collaborative research program b…

Sleep Update for 2024Sleep has always been a necessary function of everyday life for all mammals. From an evolutionary perspective this cannot be a mistake as during the period of sleep you are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, there has to be a really good reason for mammals to sleep for extended hours. What is that reason? Why are toddlers and …

Klotho Part IILast week we discussed Klotho as a protein that has pleotrophic effects in the body as it relates to cellular aging. This week let us focus specifically on the brain. What are the effects of klotho as it relates to cognition and function over time? Klotho has neuroprotective effects based on studies that show that better cognitive per…

Jeff Kessler, FACHEAllergy ChoicesThis week I sit down with Jeff Kessler to discuss allergies and sublingual immune therapy.Jeff Kessler is a business leader and a thought leader in the allergy therapy space. His relevant backstory goes back to 1999 when he had the fortunate opportunity to work on a project to select and implement an Electronic Med…

Klotho Part IOk, it is time for a potential log step shift in the human understanding of neurological decline with age starting from birth.Enter the peptide, (C)Klotho, named after the greek goddess of fate who spins the thread of life for all. The Klotho protein was discovered by researchers looking at mice that aged faster than the general mouse …

Sleep Restriction and Immune HealthIt has long been known that sleep is a truth teller of mood. The poorer the sleep quality, the poorer the emotional response. Every parent knows this with a child short on sleep. What are the cellular effects?From an abstract looking at catch up sleep and human inflammation we find the following: "Despite its prev…

Reading Part IILet us follow up on last weeks newsletter on reading as a cultural advantage and a human need in truth. What do we know about the neuroscience of reading dysfunction or weakened ability to achieve the goal of reading proficiency? What is the frequency of concern?Depending on the study, 5-10% of children have reading issues like dysle…

ReadingIf you want to spend any amount of time with your child beyond hugs, feeding and basic life duties, I would recommend reading above all else. I find it hard to believe that this is the first article that I have written on reading. I pondered that for a minute and concluded that this, in effect, was me taking this information for granted. Tha…

This week I sit down with Philip Bugaiski to discuss ocular tracking, reading difficulties and vision therapy.Dr. Bugaiski was born in New York and first developed an interest in optometry as a result of childhood vision challenges, requiring vision therapy. He studied science as an undergraduate at the Penn State University graduating with honors.…

Stress and a Woman's Ability to Conceive - The Healthy Mind Is Key.How was it meant to be? Humans were designed to be excellent at handling acute stress while chronic stress on the other hand was never expected to be part of our day to day existence. We run from the tiger and survive the event or we die. That being said, chronic mental stress is th…

Demographic DeceptionThis week I sit down with Dustin Whitney to discuss population growth and its relevance to everyday life.Dustin is an author, an entrepreneur and a man looking at the world through a different lens. He recently published book the Demographic Deception which outlines the reality that the global population is contracting as oppos…

What are the main preventable etiologies for childhood death under the age of five years?According to the data compile by UNICEF, we see the following for the world:1) Prematurity 18%2) Pneumonia 14%3) Birth Asphyxia 12%4) Malaria 9%5) Diarrhea 9%6) Congenital anomolies 8%7) Injuries 5%8) Blood infections/sepsis 3%9) Tuberculosis 3%10) all othersFr…

Excess Weight Gain, Obesity and Immune Related Diseases in 2 casesI want to share a few recent case experiences that shed light on the patient provider experience in the context of a collaborative clinic model based on prevention and the patient first mentality.In the struggle against the US based disease onslaught that is excess weight gain, longe…

This week I sit down with Dr. Blaine Leeds to discuss oral health, sleep apnea, bedwetting and more.Dr. Leeds is a leader in the dental field. He speaks nationally on tele-dentistry, oral health and dental treatments for sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnea. He is a graduate of Arkansas Tech with a Bachelors degree in Chemistry before attendi…

“It is your reaction to an adversity not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story develops.”Dieter UchtdorfWHY?What are the Underpinnings of Disease?What have we really learned over the last one to two hundred years of medicine?We left an era where infections killed the majority of children and adults, especially during childbirth…

The Book that I never published. It is time for me to take another look at the mother child story in book form. In 2019, I embarked on a project of writing a book about maternal health and WHY it matters tremendously that we address the issues driving offspring dysregulation. The time since has ushered in an era of podcast guests that in some insta…