Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 6-12-2025:

• Dr. Dawn opens with alarming news about NIH budget cuts devastating cancer research just as breakthrough CAR-T cell therapy shows promise for gastrointestinal cancers. This personalized immunotherapy extracts patients' T cells, engineers them to target specific cancer antigens, and makes them essentially immortal before reinfusion. While previously successful only for blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, researchers achieved tumor shrinkage in 25% of solid GI tumor patients. However, devastating layoffs forced removal of two patients from trials due to staff shortages and supply chain disruptions.
• Dr. Dawn emphasizes how pregnancy can worsen hidden cancers due to immune suppression, explaining why aggressive metastasized cancers often appear shortly after childbirth.
• Dr. Dawn takes a call from Bob about concerning forehead growths his dermatologist examined. She speculates they're likely seborrheic keratoses - benign, stuck-on appearing growths common in sun-exposed areas that look like crumpled brown paper "spit-wads". These aging-related changes are harmless and can even be picked off, though she warns against repeatedly traumatizing any skin area as this increases cancer risk through accumulated DNA damage. She explains how repetitive trauma in occupational settings creates statistically higher cancer risks, comparing it to filling a bingo card of cellular errors.
• She addresses an email about Joe Tippens' cancer cure protocol involving fenbendazole, an anti-parasitic drug. Dr. Dawn explains this viral social media phenomenon began when Tippens claimed his lung cancer was cured by fenbendazole, but he was simultaneously receiving Keytruda immunotherapy at MD Anderson. The story spread rapidly in South Korea, causing pharmacy shortages. Unvalidated internet health information can spread dangerously. Dr. Dawn compares it to old-fashioned medicine show scams. trend
• Dr. Dawn warns about a recent vitamin B6 toxicity misdiagnosis trend affecting her patients who were told they had dangerous levels of B6 despite lacking neuropathy symptoms. Accuracy requires fasting 12 hours before blood draws, otherwise creating false elevations from recent vitamin consumption. More critically, she alerts listeners about biotin(Vitamin B7) interference with laboratory tests using biotin-streptavidin techniques. High-dose biotin supplements are often used in hair and nail health growth formulas. This can falsely alter tests for thyroid hormones, vitamin D, sex hormones, cortisol and dangerously, troponin levels that diagnose heart attacks. This could lead to missed myocardial infarctions in emergency rooms, potentially causing fatal outcomes.
• Dr. Dawn takes a call from Richard seeking information about a previous radio program guest. She guides him to use on-line resources at ksqd.org to find program details, pivoting into praise for libraries as community centers offering far more than internet access. She emphasizes libraries provide serendipitous discovery that algorithms can't match, encouraging people to explore their local library systems for events, historical collections, and personal assistance from knowledgeable librarians eager to help visitors navigate both physical and digital resources.
• She discusses the concerning trend of giving melatonin to children, calling it "the Grinch that stole children's bedtime." While used prescription-only for severe developmental disorders in Denmark and EU countries, American children receive melatonin gummies regularly, with one in five preteens using it occasionally. Dr. Dawn explains melatonin is a hormone affecting pancreas, heart, fat tissue, and reproductive organs still developing in children. Supplemental doses create blood levels 10 times higher than natural peaks, representing an uncontrolled medical experiment on developing brains and bodies. Poison control calls for melatonin ingestion increased 530% between 2012-2021, with one tragic case involving a three-month-old death where 20 melatonin bottles were found in the home.
• Dr. Dawn concludes by debunking food expiration date myths, explaining that Americans waste a third of food ($7 billion annually) due to misunderstanding labels. Most shelf-stable foods simply degrade in quality rather than becoming dangerous after printed dates. She notes acidic dairy products like yogurt resist bacterial contamination due to protective bacteria,and even surface mold can be scraped off safely. However, she emphasizes trusting expiration dates on lunch meats and deli products, which pose real listeria risks when stored improperly. California will soon simplify labeling laws to reduce confusion between quality and safety dates.

Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 6-05-2025:

• Dr. Dawn answers an email about Dupuytren's contracture treatment, explaining her clinic experience using acupuncture anesthesia combined with Traumeel injections directly into palm nodules. She describes how this anti-inflammatory homeopathic compound, when injected into tendon sheaths, can break the cycle of fibrosis formation. Dr. Dawn explores fascinating quantum physics concepts involving collagen microstructure, water molecules, and hydrogen ion movement that may explain how acupuncture and homeopathy work through crystalline formations in collagen tubules.
• She discusses vitamin A's critical role in measles complications, explaining how deficiency dramatically increases risks of encephalitis and cardiac damage. Dr. Dawn covers two forms of dietary vitamin A - beta carotene from plants requiring enzymatic conversion, and vitamin A from animal products. She warns about vitamin A toxicity risks, particularly birth defects in pregnancy, while noting that typical American diets are adequate unlike vitamin D.
• Dr. Dawn examines vitamin D deficiency affecting 68% of children in a South Florida study, linking inadequate levels to bone health, immune function, and gut barrier integrity. She explains how vitamin D receptors throughout the body regulate cell differentiation, insulin secretion, and tight junction formation that prevents leaky gut syndrome. There are higher deficiency rates in darker-skinned populations and the historical context of rickets during industrialization when urban environments blocked sunlight exposure.
• She highlights revolutionary medical technology, the world's smallest pacemaker for newborns, half the size of a rice grain. This injectable device dissolves naturally after hearts self-repair, controlled by light-emitting patches communicating through the baby's skin. This breakthrough eliminates risky surgical removal procedures that caused complications, such as Neil Armstrong's death from pacemaker wire infections.
• Dr. Dawn discusses research showing shingles vaccination reduces dementia risk by 20%, particularly in women. She explains the natural experiment in Wales where universal healthcare created clear vaccination cutoff dates, allowing researchers to compare dementia rates. Dr. Dawn hypothesizes that cross-immunity against herpes viruses may protect brain tissue, noting even stronger protection with newer Shingrix vaccines compared to older Zostavax.
• She covers alarming increases in invasive Group A Streptococcus infections, with cases more than doubling from 2013 to 2022. Dr. Dawn explains how flesh-eating bacteria secretes enzymes that dissolve epithelial barriers in throats and lungs, allowing systemic spread that destroys tissue. She links rising cases to increasing diabetes and obesity rates that compromise immune function, noting devastating mortality rates approaching 10,000 deaths nationwide.
• Dr. Dawn celebrates a breakthrough antibiotic discovery of Lariocidin which works against highly drug-resistant bacteria through novel protein synthesis inhibition. She explains how antibiotic resistance spreads between bacterial species just like social media memes, emphasizing the urgent need for new treatments as 4 million people die annually from resistant infections. Dr. Dawn advocates for public funding since pharmaceutical companies avoid antibiotic development due to poor profit margins.
• She answers an email about Epstein-Barr virus detection, explaining its role in mononucleosis, Burkitt's lymphoma, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Dawn describes how EBV can remain dormant and reactivate during stress or immunocompromise, potentially triggering autoimmunity. She discusses similarities between EBV reactivation, Lyme disease, and long COVID, suggesting they may represent variations of the same inflammatory syndrome with different triggers.
• She explores the nocebo effect - how negative expectations worsen outcomes - and its amplification through social media. Dr. Dawn cites studies showing people warned about erectile dysfunction or altitude headaches experience these symptoms more frequently. She discusses recent phenomena like TikTok-induced tics and vaccine side effect amplification, warning that online health information creates dangerous nocebo loops that spread faster than traditional word-of-mouth.

Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 5-30-2024 and 5-29-2925:

• Cognitive errors in medicine dismissing unusual presentations as psychological
• A case of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS)
• Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis causing psychiatric symptoms
• Failures of genetic research to identify causes
• Need for integrating neurology and psychiatry; Importance of testing for antibodies and using MRI scans
• Detailed explanation of immune tolerance, peripheral tolerance, and the phenomenon of molecular mimicry in diseases like multiple sclerosis and celiac disease
• Importance of addressing root causes rather than just symptoms
• Historical context and current advancements in treating autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, lupus, and multiple sclerosis using reprogrammed immune cells and iron oxide nanoparticles
• Explanation of how the liver filters blood and helps establish immune tolerance by processing cellular debris and antigens
• Advances in engineering regulatory T cells to target specific disease sites and calm inflammatory responses
• Exploration of new diagnostic tools and the potential of AI in understanding complex psychiatric conditions
• Detection of colds and other diseases by analysis of voice frequency patterns