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: yes

Coffee Brown's Education Philosophy

Aug 13th, 2019 1h 13m

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.

Zombified

Jul 4th, 2019 1h 10m

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 m

Should I open a probiotic clinic?

Jul 3rd, 2019 1h

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.

The Tesla Episode - can autonomous cars save us from an evolutionary mismatch?

Mar 30th, 2019 48m 39s

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 o

Genes, Germs, and High Altitude

Mar 23rd, 2019 32m 44s

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,

Was Evolution Right To Make Us Wrong?

Mar 9th, 2019 58m 11s

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

Fat Fights Back

Mar 1st, 2019 43m 53s

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

#38 Treat Nobody's Fever?

Feb 26th, 2019 11m 41s

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 expec

#37 Does Fasting Make You Smarter

Feb 14th, 2019 1h 5m

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 u

#36 The Naked Emperor

Jan 30th, 2019 48m 15s

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 alternativ

#35 the Evolution of Sleep Part 2

Jul 3rd, 2018 46m 21s

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 diff

#34 The Evolution of Sleep Part 1

Jul 3rd, 2018 46m 55s

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 s

#33 Human Superpowers Part 2

Jun 30th, 2018 1h 8m

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 Iner

#32 Human Superpowers Part 1

Jun 30th, 2018 1h 9m

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, o

#31 Reproductive Conflicts

Jun 29th, 2018 1h 47m

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. Ev

#30 Resistance Evolution

Jun 23rd, 2018 1h 30m

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

#29 Evolution and Emergency Medicine

Jun 23rd, 2018 1h 4m

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 Ka

#28 Depression - Feature or Bug? Part 2

Jun 23rd, 2018 57m 39s

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 mic

#27 Depression - Feature or a Bug? Part 1

Jun 23rd, 2018 56m 26s

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

#26 Obesity Paradox

Jun 5th, 2018 54m 57s

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 abou

#25 Food Evolution Part 2

Jun 5th, 2018 37m 58s

Kate Rusk and I continue our discussion about food, vitamins, the iron supplements, and what happens to the microbiome of hibernating bears.

#24 Food Evolution with Kate Rusk Part 1

Jun 5th, 2018 53m 26s

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.

# 23 The Placebo Effect Part 2

Jun 2nd, 2018 1h 7m

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

# 22 The Placebo Effect Part 1

Jun 2nd, 2018 53m 15s

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. ori