Ep 51 The Path of Most (Antibiotic) Resistance

Ep 51 The Path of Most (Antibiotic) Resistance

No story of antibiotics would be complete without the rise of resistance. As promised in our last episode, this week we dive into what the WHO calls ‘one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today’ - antibiotic resistance. In the decades since their development, misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to many becoming all but useless, and our world seems on the verge of plunging into a post-antibiotic era. How does resistance work? Where did it come from? Why did it spread so far so rapidly? Is there any hope? In this episode, we answer all these questions and more. First, we explore the many ways bacteria evade the weaponry of antibiotic compounds. Then we trace the global spread of these resistant bugs by examining the major contributors to their misuse and overuse. And finally we assess the current global status of antibiotic resistant infections (spoiler: it’s very bad) and search for any good news (spoiler: there’s a lot!). To chat about one super cool and innovative alternative to antibiotics, we are joined by the amazing Dr. Steffanie Strathdee (Twitter: @chngin_the_wrld), Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences, Harold Simon Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Co-Director at the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. Dr. Strathdee provides a firsthand account of helping her husband, Dr. Tom Patterson, fight off a deadly superbug infection by calling on a long-forgotten method of treating bacterial infections: phage therapy.

To read more about phage therapy and Dr. Strathdee’s incredible experiences, check out The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ep 181 PCOS: Beyond the cysts

Ep 181 PCOS: Beyond the cysts

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Ep 180 Food Dyes: It’s all marketing

Ep 180 Food Dyes: It’s all marketing

This episode, we aren’t asking you to taste the rainbow, but we are scrutinizing the artificial dyes that give it its color. When you’re munching on brightly colored candies or dipping a french fry in...

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Special Episode: Professor Steven Mithen & The Language Puzzle

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Ep 179 Fluoride 2: Fighting tooth and nail

Ep 179 Fluoride 2: Fighting tooth and nail

In last week’s episode, we traced the history of fluoridation (and the anti-fluoridation movement) to its roots in the early 20th century, but we left you wondering whether there’s anything to back up...

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Ep 178 Fluoride 1: The real tooth fairy

Ep 178 Fluoride 1: The real tooth fairy

Is it just us, or does it seem like every other week there’s a new headline about some state or town banning water fluoridation? As it turns out, this has been going on for decades, basically since fl...

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Special Episode: Dr. Wendy Kline & Exposed

Special Episode: Dr. Wendy Kline & Exposed

For many of us, pelvic exams are a routine part of our healthcare. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t await them with some dread or anxiety; naturally, these exams evoke a wide range of emotions. B...

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Ep 177 Toxic Shock Syndrome: A shock to the system

Ep 177 Toxic Shock Syndrome: A shock to the system

If you’ve ever read the little instructions pamphlet included in a box of tampons, you probably came across a paragraph calling attention to a condition called toxic shock syndrome (TSS). It describes...

27 Touko 20251h 25min

Ep 176 Strychnine: The WD-40 of Victorian Medicine

Ep 176 Strychnine: The WD-40 of Victorian Medicine

This week, we’re coming at you with a classic TPWKY episode on one of the most notorious poisons out there: strychnine. Although strychnine might not flash across too many headlines these days, it was...

20 Touko 20251h 19min

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