Ask Doctor Dawn

KSQD 12-27-2023: The energy needed to make lab-grown meat is a big problem; Review of enlarged prostate biology and treatments; Benefits of mushrooms include help in remembering dreams? Advice to prevent or reduce long COVID; The promise of using organoids and cellular bots for health purposes; Neonatal brain development

KSQD 12-20-2023: Cold weather increases the tendency to have atrial fibrillation; Help interpreting an abdominal ultrasound; Should my wife and I get the RSV vaccine? Brain implant device greatly improves mental skills in traumatic brain injury patients; Singing to your baby helps develop language development; Recalling memories as therapy for PTSD and other brain problems; Medical alert for hair products that or toxic only when heated; Deep dive into the immune system’s involvement in postpartum depression; Stimulation in the vagus nerve to help stroke recovery and Parkinson’s disease; Baby talk by parents to their infants is universal; Take breaks and walk if you have to sit long hours each day

kSQD 12-13-2023: Interview with Dr. Jytan Sahni: the adventures of a doctor from India who is applying to the Dominican Hospital Family Practice residency program; Could COVID or the vaccine affect my menstrual cycle long term? Turmeric may cause some liver injury; Various forms of dermatitis and other skin rash conditions; Interesting wound-healing technique for a diabetic patient who burned his heel with a heat lamp

KSQD 12-06-2023: Advice for reducing gum disease; Guidelines for using statins in elderly women; Vigorous exercise can increase the risk of viral infections; 5 MTHFR can help treat depression if you have the appropriate gene variants; low folate levels can cause problems; Adequate vitamin D during pregnancy will improve the child’s neurological development; Dietary flavonoids help detoxify bad effects of smoking, including second-hand smoke; Low doses of oral naloxone can treat constipation caused by opiates; Do nootropics like adderall really improve cognitive skills? Toddler formulas are a silly idea; What prescription drugs affect my memory?

KSQD 11-29-2023: The problems with Medicare Advantage plans; An AI program to evaluate CT scans of stroke victims helps focus quicker treatment -- other AI applications are reviewed; Can I crush my calcium carbonate to increase its absorption? What are the side effects of taking a statin and what can I do about them? An interesting case of heart arrhythmias and possibly POTS after an ear infection; Advice to stave off osteoarthritis

KSQD 11-22-2023: Supplements and other advice to combat the side effects of the Shingrix vaccine for shingles; Surge in monkeypox during the summer; The many applications of AI in medicine, from drug interaction help to reading mammograms; Are calcium supplements for osteoporosis affecting my Hashimoto’s thyroiditis treatment? Using computational science to improve maternal mortalities during childbirth; New research shows how cadmium, an estrogen mimic, contributes to endometriosis; Fusobacterium levels in the uterus are probably another contributing factor for endometriosis; Kombucha drinks lower blood sugar levels, which is good for diabetes; Irregular sleep patterns affects your microbiome; Irregular sleep patterns affects your microbiome and hence health

KSQD 11-08-2023: Go to Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit group (sccbg.org) for Pancreatic Cancer information and awareness event in Santa Cruz on Nov. 19; The physiology of the pancreas; Prognosis for pancreatic cancer is poor; Genetic mutations, smoking, obesity and diabetes are major risk factors; The difficulties of early or any diagnosis of pancreatic cancer; Jaundice is an indicator, but only one out of 5 have the cancer; Lab tests are not very predictive, but circulating tumor DNA holds hope for detection; Can shingles vaccination help prevent dementia?More about genetic influences such as Brca1, Brca2 and KRAS genes; Can shingles vaccination help prevent dementia?

KSQD 11-01-2023: Bed Bug hysteria -- another consequence of global warming; The problems with mergers and monopolies in health care pharmacies, insurance companies, benefit manegers etc.; The importance of sleep for weight control and health in general; The details of interpreting HDL and LDL levels for cardiac disease risks; FODMAP diet advice; Are LED lights really worse than incandescent bulbs? Chronic pain is way more common than you may think; different types of pain are discussed

KSQD 10-25-2023: Various therapies for ocular and other eye melanomas; When is chiropractic care appropriate or not? Boric acid suppositories while pregnant; The best forms for calcium, iron and magnesium supplements; Reports of cadmium contamination in dark chocolate; Mupirocin is a drug to treat lichen sclerosus; Restless leg syndrome interferes with sleep -- check ferritin levels; Creamy texture is contributes to our avidity for fat; Oral versions of Semaglutide drugs are in the works; Denmark study found no cardiac effects from using Viagra; Health care for family members who are caring for a sick child

KSQD 10-18-2023: The primary care doctor crisis in the U.S.; More advances in robotic arms; Black cohosh is an alternative to hormone therapy for breast cancer -- anatomy of hot flashes; The Altman rule is a proxy for glycemic load in preventing diabetes; The difference between allergic,contact and other dermatitis conditions; The promise of using stem cells to regenerate tooth enamel; New evidence for recalling death experiences after recovery