Joe Alcock talks about the Surviving Sepsis Campaign's recent recommendation to use acetaminophen in patients with COVID-19. Can we bring concept from evolutionary medicine to help us decide what to do in the pandemic? Spoiler alert: yesโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

This week, we get some background on co-host and polymath Coffee Brown. Coffee talks about his philosophy of teaching and a bit on evolution in education.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

This episode introduces listeners of the Evolution Medicine podcast to a brand new podcast started by Athena Aktipis PhD, of the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. Download Zombified and give it a review. Athena interviewed me for this episode. The topic? How gut microbes can make us into zombies. Listen and learn how the Zombifi…

Coffee and Joe spend the day before the 4th of July talking about probiotics. Is there enough evidence to prescribe probiotics full time? Listen and find out.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Cars kill a lot of people. We see the consequences every day in the Emergency Department. These accidental deaths result from a mismatch between our brains and the modern environment. We routinely pilot 3500 lb automobiles at speeds in excess of 75 mph, a task the human brain was not evolved to perform, especially when drunk or while texting. Can w…

This is a bonus podcast, a recording of a lecture from the 2019 Mountain and Emergency Medicine Conference March 22nd at Taos Ski Valley, new Mexico. At this high elevation location (10,200 feet) I discuss three high altitude people - Andeans, Himalayans, and Ethiopians - their genetic changes to altitude, and what that means for genetic lowlanders…

Is self deception a bug or a feature? Coffee Brown shares his thoughts on the topic, focusing on a paper co-authored by evolutionary theorist Robert Trivers. Coffee dissects this topic in a memorable and incisive fashion, with a few epic rants in between. Also, we discuss how modernity and new technology has offered myriad new opportunities for dec…

In this Evo Med podcast #39, Coffee Brown and I discuss Mary Jane West Eberhard's paper on the evolutionary function of fat and a developmental explanation for the obesity epidemic. Her paper lays the groundwork for understanding why some early life experiences make us more likely to have chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.…

Joe Alcock takes a time out for short podcast to talk about a paper published this month on fever. Paul Young's group looked for, and could not find, any group of patients who do better from aggressive fever control. This result fits with expectations from evolutionary medicine.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock talk about the recent paper by Mark P. Mattson, "An Evolutionary Perspective on Why Food Overconsumption Impairs Cognition" published in the journal Cell. Does overeating make us dumb as a culture? Can fasting make us smarter? We lay out the evidence and add our own thoughts. Plus Coffee talks about his new venture Inter…

Are our bodies the enemy in sepsis? I argue no. Decades of experiments in sepsis show that most interventions focused on the host have been either ineffective or harmful. With this track record of failure, it is time to consider the alternative hypothesis—regulation instead of dysregulation—and the possibility that the events of sepsis are adaptive…

Why we sleep is not well understood. The study of sleep is one of the last frontiers in human biology. In addition to smoking and bad diet, we can add sleep loss to the list of risk factors for chronic disease. But is modern sleep all that different from that of our ancestors? Joe Alcock, Kate Rusk, Coffee Brown, and Gandhi Yetish explore the myste…

Why do we sleep? Why did sleep evolve? How much is enough? Do we die if we don’t get enough? Kate Rusk, Joe Alcock, Coffee Brown and special guest Gandhi Yetish discuss these topics in this episode of the EvolutionMedicine podcast. Gandhi has studied the Tsimane, a hunter horticulturalist group in Bolivia. This group, as well as hunter gatherers in…

In this age of Marvel comics, superheroes with superpowers have attained a high degree of cultural fascination. But some superpowers exist in real life, courtesy of natural selection. In part two of this episode, originally livestreamed on Inertia TV, Kate, Joe and Coffee talk about the superpower of the Bajau, a sea nomadic people, to dive longer …

In this episode, originally livestreamed on Inertia TV, Kate Rusk and Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock discuss whether humans can have actual superpowers. Some human groups have unique abilities to survive underwater, and at the highest altitudes, or deal with temperature extremes. We talk about Tibetans, Andeans, Ethiopian highlanders, and Sea Nomads. …

Kate Rusk and Joe Alcock discuss the evolutionary reasons why pregnancy is so dangerous, both for fetus and for mother. Genetic conflicts of interest between paternal and maternal genes may give rise to gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Evolutioanry theorist David Haig came up with these ideas, inspired by Robert Trivers "parent offspring conf…

Kate Rusk and Joe Alcock recorded this for Inertia TV in March 2018. We talk about the reasons for resistance evolution, alternatives to antibiotics, and which drugs predispose to Clostridium difficile. What to do if no antibiotics work? Fecal transplants of course.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Does evolution matter in the emergency department? Joe Alcock describes why it does. This episode was recorded for Joe Tomkins Darwinian Revolution class in University of Western Australia on April 5, 2018 at the Inertia TV studio, thanks to Kate Rusk.Find more at https://evolutionmedicine.com/ and the EvolutionMedicine podcast on iTunes…

In part two Joe Alcock, Coffee Brown, Paul Watson talk about how evolution might guide the treatment of patients with mood disorders. We talk about the evolution of sickness behavior, the utility of antidepressant drugs, and the role of the microbiome in depression and anxiety.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock are joined by evolutionary biologist and theorist Paul Watson to discuss whether depression is a feature or a bug. Paul Watson developed the social navigation hypothesis along with Ed Hagen, Paul Andrews, and others to explain depression as a unconscious way to break social contracts and make new ones. Watson now calls t…

Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock talk about the obesity paradox? Why do some obese patients live longer than normal weight patients? Why do we collect fat in massive quantities? Is obesity bad? Why did obesity evolve? Answers and more questions aboundโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Kate Rusk and I continue our discussion about food, vitamins, the iron supplements, and what happens to the microbiome of hibernating bears.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Kate Rusk and Joe Alcock discuss the evolutionary biology of food. This episode is part one, originally recorded by Inertia TV, a science channel on Twitch.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

This is part two of a recording that originally appeared on Inertia TV https://www.twitch.tv/inertiatv_Kate Rusk, Coffee Brown and I discuss why back surgery is the ultimate placebo, what makes our brains work the way they do, and how doctors can harness the placebo effect in our practice. We riff on martial arts, religion, and of course, evolution…

Kate Rusk of Inertia TV, along with Joe Alcock and Coffee Brown of the EvolutionMedicine podcast do a deep dive on the placebo effect. Why did this capacity evolve in the first place? How can we harness the placebo effect? This is part one. originally recorded and live streamed on Twitch on March 20, 2018. Also check out part 2. Show notes for all …

This year, evolutionary anthropologist Kate Rusk began a streaming video science channel, called Inertia TV, that streams great science programming, including this program: Evolutionary Medicine with Joe Alcock MD. This episode was an introductory conversation on EvoMed between me, Joe Alcock, and Kate Rusk, recorded and live streamed in February 2…

Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock discuss the perils and pitfalls of too much oxygen. We discuss the recent IOTA study - a metaanalysis done by Paul Young's team and the upcoming ICUROX trial. This evidence is going to change how we practice medicine. It also has insights for evolutionary biology - our bodies can be self destructive, as in heart attacks …

Joe Alcock and Coffee Brown have a discussion about evolution, medical decision making, and cognitive biases. We focus on a few major cognitive biases - achor bias, attribution bias, immediacy bias, halo effect, among others. We consider how our cognitive and sensory apparatus evolved in ways that can lead us to make mistakes. We explore the idea t…

This week Joe Alcock and Coffee Brown get into the weeds of the ADRENAL trial - a huge study designed to answer the question - does giving steroids to patients with sepsis help or hurt? I say it hurts, Coffee is not so sure. We talk about why anti-inflammatory treatments have always failed in patients with septic shock. The lesson, it turns out, is…

Joe Alcock and Coffee Brown discuss evolution, creationism, race and plenty of other hot topics while trying to explain why evolution gets no love in medical schoolโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

This is a previously episode first recorded in early 2017. It is timely, though, because a major trial on the effects of corticosteroids - the ADRENAL trial - will soon be made public. In this podcast I make the case that steroids are no bueno for patients with sepsis. I also discuss trauma in Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa. Enjoy…

Joe Alcock is joined by evolutionary anthropologist Kate Rusk of InertiaTV and Science Happy Hour to talk about a recent JAMA article studying fluids for adults with sepsis. Do we give too much fluids for these patients? The JAMA article suggests we do. In both randomized controlled trials, both performed in Africa, patients died more when given IV…

Coffee Brown and Joe Alcock return to talk about epigenetics. Does it pose a challenge to Darwinian evolution? Does epigenetics vindicate Lamarkism, the inheritance of aquired characteristics? We mix up Lamark and his most famous adherent, Trofim Lysenko, but get it straight by the end.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

In this 13th episode of the EvolutionMedicine 'cast Joe Alcock discusses the recent New England Journal of Medicine article about intensive insulin treatment for hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) in critically ill kids. The failure of this trial has important implications for emergency and critical care, and for evolutionary medicine…

Can a little vitamin C given IV help cure sepsis. Recently this idea got a lot of press, and a trial of hydrocortisone and vitamin C was published in the journal Chest. Does this make any sense? What can evolution tell us about this idea. The EvolutionMedicine 'cast is back to give this a critical eye, with your host, Joe Alcock…

Coffee Brown MD joins Joe Alcock to discuss whether stress is good or bad for us. We also discuss the election and the idea that stress hormones play a role in political choices.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Joe Alcock and Melissa Franklin PhD explain why some diets cause inflammation and others don't. The answer, as usual, involves the microbiome, and in our evolutionary biology. We also discuss how the microbiome affects sleep, and implications of this for night shift workers.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Joe Alcock is joined by guest Darryl Macias who describes his recent expedition to Shishapangma to help with a body recovery at high altitude. We also discuss the brain at its limits in extreme environments, gut microbes, and zombiesโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Native people of the Andes can cope with high altitude better than the rest of us genetic lowlanders. How is this so? We cover the evolutionary biology of high altitude peoples of the Andes, Himalayas, and Ethiopian highlandersโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

How evolution can teach students healthy skepticism in medicine. Will robots replace doctors?โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Are we a mammal-microbial collective? Is our interaction with our resident microbes as a harmonious, mutually helpful partnership, or a relationship gone sour?โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Does poop from farm animals protect Amish kids from asthma? Apparently so. Too much hygiene is a bad thingโดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Can an evolutionary approach save us from the the epidemic of opioid overuse? Evolutionary medicine dovetails with evidence based medicine to provide a compelling case for change?โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

For doctors and nurses taking care of sick patients: can evolution inform the question: “when to intervene, and when to leave alone?”โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD

Eli Lilly had a blockbuster drug for sepsis that would save millions of lives. 10 years later, the FDA recommended that Xigris be withdrawn from the market. Remarkably, Eli Lilly profited from this ineffective drug most of the time it was under patent. What lesson from Xigris’s failure can we learn about the immune system, about sepsis, and evoluti…

Here is the inaugural EvolutionMedicine ‘cast: The State of the Science of Evolutionary Medicine. Many more to come.โดย evolution and medicine by Joe Alcock MD