Valley Fever, Fungal Infections, and What Comes After Antibiotics

IntroIn this episode of Next Phase Human, Dr. Rasham Sandhu continues his conversation with Dr. Rasha Quran, an infectious disease specialist at Kern Medical Center and UCLA and director of the infectious disease fellowship, picking up where they left off in part one. This time they focus on Valley fever, a fungal infection responsible for roughly a third of community acquired pneumonia in the Central Valley, then work through a wide ranging discussion of prevention, treatment, and where infectious disease medicine is headed next.Topics CoveredWhat Valley fever is and how it spreads through dust and soilWho is most likely to get infected versus who is most likely to develop severe diseaseWhy cases are rising across the Central Valley and the broader desert SouthwestWhen and how doctors should test for Valley fever, and why the blood test can be misleading early onCommon misconceptions among both patients and healthcare providersWhat treatment actually involves and why relapse remains a lifelong riskOther fungal and tick borne infections that are becoming more commonEveryday habits, from cooking at home to blood sugar control, that lower infection riskThe role of exercise and sleep in immune functionA topical hormone treatment that helps prevent UTIs in postmenopausal womenHer honest take on supplements and probioticsA rapid fire myth or fact round covering raw milk, antibiotics, hand sanitizer, zinc, and moreWhy she believes immune modulation could reduce reliance on antibiotics in the futureMentioned in EpisodeValley fever (coccidioidomycosis)Brucellosis and raw milkUCLA genetic and DNA sequencing research into Valley fever susceptibilityDr. Manish Butte's published research on treating disseminated Valley fever with cytokine therapyTopical estrogen for preventing UTIs in postmenopausal womenHistorical use of the ketogenic diet to treat UTIs before antibiotics existedConnect with Dr. Sandhu California Cardiovascular Institute | cacvinst.com