Critically Speaking Therese Markow

Sexual assaults of women, men, and children are always in the news. We know a lot about this when it comes to little children, but for adults, especially women, what constitutes a sexual assault? Lack of consent, forced intimate relations? How does one prove an assault took place? Often the information provided by medical forensic experts is brought to bear on these cases. Today's guest, Dr. Felice Gersh, is not only a distinguished OBGYN and Integrative Medicine Specialist, but she often serves as an expert witness when medical forensics are required to clarify if or what type of sexual assault took place. This is an important, interesting, and sometimes very fuzzy topic. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Gersh discuss this process and the challenges of sexual assault cases.
 
 Key Takeaways:
When reporting acute sexual assaults, there are special nurses in the hospital called SANE nurses, sexual assault nurse examiners, that will do a detailed forensic examination on the victim. These exams are standardized nationally. In the courtroom, you speak about genitalia as the body parts they are. It makes everyone feel more comfortable when you speak of things anatomically rather than treating them as hush hush.  As a forensic medical expert, it is important to report the facts and what can or cannot be possible, not to decide if someone is innocent or guilty.   
"My job [as a medical forensic expert] is really an educator. My job is to review the evidence, then explain everything in as clear, plain, and understandable language as I can to a jury so that they will understand what the evidence really means." —  Dr. Felice Gersh
 
Connect with Dr. Felice Gersh:
Professional Bio: https://integrativemgi.com/about-dr-felice-gersh/ 
Website: https://integrativemgi.com/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrFeliceGersh 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeMGI/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felice-gersh-md-b0422b13/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.felicegersh/ 
Book: PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist's Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness
https://www.amazon.com/Pcos-SOS-Gynecologists-Naturally-Happiness/dp/1911443119/ 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

As the world experiences the continuation of the COVID-19 virus, we see a growing number of COVID-19 survivors who continue to have symptoms for weeks and even months after the acute phase of their disease subsided. These individuals have gained the name COVID-19 Long Haulers. What's this all about? What's happening to these patients and how can they be helped? Well, there's no better person to address these issues than today's guest, Dr. Jason Maley. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jason Maley discuss just these questions and Dr. Maley’s research and clinical work focuses on recovery and the long term outcomes for these patients and their families after COVID-19.



Key Takeaways:
Long Haul COVID symptoms can manifest differently depending on each person. While there are common patterns, each patient is unique.  We know how to treat the symptoms of Long COVID-19, but we do not yet know how to treat the underlying conditions.  Currently, the best studies have found evidence of inflammation and injury in the brain, but not evidence of the virus itself, however, research is still ongoing.   
 
"There are theories, and some papers have been published that are early and not yet definitive, discussing the possibility of antibodies directed against other parts of patient’s bodies, autoimmune antibodies, that could play a role in Long COVID and be explaining why, in the absence of the virus itself, people continue to have months or even years of symptoms." —  Dr. Jason Maley
 
 
Connect with Dr. Jason Maley:
Professional Bio: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/160605 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jhmaley?lang=en 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-maley-b2486786 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Some people live more than a hundred years with no health problems and very little cognitive decline.  How come?  While healthy lifestyles certainly play a part in healthy aging, these “centenarians” share a number of special biological attributes.  Furthermore, these attributes, along with attaining an age of 100 or greater, show a strong genetic component.  Dr. Stacy Andersen of the Boston University School of Medicine has been studying these centenarians and the factors that are associated with not only their attaining an advanced age, but doing so with no history of major physical or mental health problems.  In her interview, Dr. Andersen discusses what she and her colleagues have discovered about this unusual group of older people.
 
 Key Takeaways:
Centenarians are people who have reached 100 years of age, while “supercentenarians” are 110 and older. Recent studies of these groups of adults reveal that during their lives they have “escaped” the diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular problems, dementia, and diabetes that cause earlier mortality among adults born at the same time. Dr. Anderson discusses her work on the genetic bases for being an “escaper”, as well as the lifestyle and personality characteristics they have in common.  
"The older you get, the healthier you’ve been." —  Dr. Stacy Andersen
 
Connect with Dr. Stacy Andersen:
BUMC Bio: profiles.bu.edu/Stacy.Andersen  
 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

The last decades have seen a continuing rise in really serious and often fatal health problems. The list is long: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infertility, autoimmune diseases, autism, just to name a few. While vulnerability to disease often has an underlying genetic predisposition, there have to be environmental triggers to set these diseases in motion. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Aly Cohen discuss just these topics and what we can look for on a daily basis, as well as the small changes that we can, individually, do to make our lives a little healthier. 
 
 Key Takeaways:
It's estimated there are about 95,000 chemicals available on the US market for everything we use from cleaning products, makeup, and everything we use. The US has only banned 5 chemicals since 1976. European countries have banned around 1200, on average. There are resources out there to help you to vet the products you are using in your life such as The Environmental Working Group and Skin Deep Database.  
"The goal is less is more - use fewer products, the products that you use, if you want to use them, just vet them." —  Dr. Aly Cohen
 
Connect with Dr. Aly Cohen:
Website: https://thesmarthuman.com/ 
TedTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSCeP0hyuTI 
Show: https://thesmarthuman.com/podcast/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSmartHuman 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSmartHuman 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6NhglVIu6ruM19QNhpJDw 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aly-cohen-md-facr-0b570749/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmarthuman/ 
Book: https://thesmarthuman.com/dr-aly-cohen-and-dr-fred-vom-saals-new-book-available-now/ 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Should everyone go to college? Well, for years, this was considered an important goal in life - a college education. The idea being that with a college degree, a better paying job would result. There are so many college majors from art to business to engineering to language arts, among others. How does one know, besides what they happen to be interested in, if the degree they get is actually going to yield the expected employment benefits? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Richard Phelps discuss what a college degree signals to employers, inefficiencies in the current US elementary and secondary school systems, the struggle that today’s school counselors have with traditional career guidance, as well as looking at how college systems work in the United States and around the world. 
 
 
 Key Takeaways:
On average, college grads have higher lifetime earnings than non college grads, but there is overlap. Certified technicians in robotics or computer numerical controlled machining probably have higher lifetime earnings on average then college grads who majored in poetry or fabric art. Shorter programs can provide a career credential to students who would otherwise drop out with nothing to show for their time served The best career tech programs are found where career tech courses are offered in dedicated regional vocational schools. This can vary from state to state are more easily done in states, such as in the Northeast, where there is a denser population of students.   
"Supporters of the one size fits all US system, often label the European and East Asian systems as elitist...And they'll say that our system is a more democratic Second Chance system. That contrast may have been valid 67 years ago, but I don't think it is anymore." —  Dr. Richard Phelps
 
Connect with Dr. Richard Phelps: 
Twitter: @RichardPPhelps
Website: RichardPhelps.net & NonpartisanEducation.org
Research Gate: Richard P Phelps
SSRN Scholarly Papers: Richard P. Phelps
Academia: Richard P Phelps
LinkedIn: Richard P Phelps
LinkedIn Learning: Richard P Phelps
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow answers questions from the listeners! Today, she discusses why you can sell plasma or semen, but not something like a kidney. She also talks about the current hot topic of inflammation, including chronic inflammation, and what is and is not, and reminds us all, that knowledge is power for a healthy life.



 Key Takeaways:
It's illegal in the United States to sell a kidney. Laws against kidney selling are designed to keep you healthy, and to keep economically disadvantaged people from being exploited. Data from a large number of studies suggests that over time, chronic untreated, internal inflammation can lead to many serious age related diseases, not just heart disease and cancer, but also neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.  Knowledge is power - if you think it is inflammation, get tested and you will know rather than potentially treating yourself for the wrong thing.  
 
"Knowledge is power. While there are many benefits to avoiding so called inflammatory foods, and to taking some supplements that may appear to reduce inflammation, it's better to find out if you have inflammation and, if you do, what's causing it." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.
 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net
Twitter: @CritiSpeak
Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net
 
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.