Celebrating Subcellular Triumphs: A Journey through mRNA Discovery and the Power of Holistic Healing with Nobel Laureates

1 00:00:01,183 --> 00:00:02,685 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Healthy, wealthy and Wise 2 00:00:02,725 --> 00:00:07,144 podcast with Dr William T Choctaw, mdjd, where the doctor 3 00:00:07,184 --> 00:00:10,438 helps you unlock your full potential by equipping you with 4 00:00:10,538 --> 00:00:14,231 tools and knowledge in the areas of health, wealth and wisdom 5 00:00:14,714 --> 00:00:18,484 anchored in his experience as a business executive, a physician 6 00:00:18,565 --> 00:00:22,179 surveyor for the Joint Commission, a former mayor and 7 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:26,201 over 50 years of experience as a general surgeon. You've got 8 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:30,460 questions, he's got answers, so let's get started. Here's Dr 9 00:00:30,521 --> 00:00:33,287 William T Choctaw, mdjd. 10 00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:36,965 Speaker 2: Good morning. I'm Dr William Choctaw and I am 11 00:00:37,005 --> 00:00:41,484 delighted to have you with us today. Welcome to our Healthy, 12 00:00:41,503 --> 00:00:44,902 wealthy and Wise podcast. These podcasts are part of our 13 00:00:44,942 --> 00:00:49,161 Leadership Masterclass series based on my 50 years of surgical 14 00:00:49,161 --> 00:00:54,970 experience 50 plus years of surgical experience and my 75 15 00:00:55,051 --> 00:00:59,386 plus years of life experience, so please sit back and enjoy. 16 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,865 Today, we're going to talk about the Nobel scientists who just 17 00:01:02,987 --> 00:01:09,346 won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Please stay with us and enjoy. 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,588 Each month, we strive to provide our listeners with mental, 19 00:01:14,650 --> 00:01:18,703 physical and spiritual strengths by giving you actionable advice 20 00:01:18,703 --> 00:01:22,673 , tips, guidance and information to help you achieve your own 21 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,902 personal, professional and spiritual goals. We consider the 22 00:01:26,902 --> 00:01:32,378 health of your mind, body and spirit paramount as a single 23 00:01:32,558 --> 00:01:36,028 unit that provides a cumulative strength greater than the 24 00:01:36,168 --> 00:01:40,186 individual parts. In other words , we want to strengthen the 25 00:01:40,227 --> 00:01:44,308 whole person. So thank you for giving us some of your very 26 00:01:44,388 --> 00:01:50,700 valuable time and joining us on this very important topic. As 27 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:53,983 always, we like to start with our beliefs. I believe life is 28 00:01:54,043 --> 00:01:57,305 about being of service to others . I believe knowledge is power. 29 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,802 I believe leaders can change the world. We always like to give 30 00:02:01,843 --> 00:02:04,924 you an outline, and so we're going to talk about the two 31 00:02:04,983 --> 00:02:13,343 doctors who discovered the messenger RNA technique to 32 00:02:13,383 --> 00:02:18,953 deliver the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic, for the 33 00:02:19,013 --> 00:02:22,768 pandemic. We're going to specifically talk about them and 34 00:02:22,768 --> 00:02:27,481 how they got to where they were and how we have all benefited 35 00:02:27,622 --> 00:02:32,692 from their resiliency and dedication to this particular 36 00:02:32,771 --> 00:02:38,147 project. So go with me, if you will, to an area we used to talk 37 00:02:38,147 --> 00:02:42,626 about in college and medical school as subcellular 38 00:02:42,787 --> 00:02:47,223 engineering. Think about it this way how bodies are made up of 39 00:02:47,302 --> 00:02:52,801 cells, probably billions of cells. Inside those cells, 40 00:02:52,961 --> 00:02:59,283 inside each cell, there is a nucleus, and inside each cell 41 00:02:59,324 --> 00:03:03,724 there's what we call cytoplasm. I like to use the analogy of 42 00:03:03,764 --> 00:03:08,885 think about an egg, a fried egg. The yolk, if you will, would be 43 00:03:08,885 --> 00:03:12,485 the nucleus and the white part of the egg around the nucleus 44 00:03:12,526 --> 00:03:18,260 would be the cytoplasm, but they constitute the egg. That's the 45 00:03:18,281 --> 00:03:22,167 way a cell is, so if you can think about a cell in those 46 00:03:22,228 --> 00:03:25,305 terms. And so what we're going to do is we're going to go 47 00:03:25,544 --> 00:03:31,805 inside that white and yellow part of our cells, down to an 48 00:03:32,064 --> 00:03:39,497 area that's used to determine activity of those cells, to 49 00:03:39,538 --> 00:03:43,906 determine how those cells actually work and how those 50 00:03:43,945 --> 00:03:49,423 cells give direction to the body or to other cells to fulfill 51 00:03:49,463 --> 00:03:53,549 certain tasks. It is absolutely fascinating how our body is 52 00:03:53,609 --> 00:03:57,905 designed, and so I encourage you , just for a brief time, just go 53 00:03:57,905 --> 00:04:02,913 with us on this journey of subcellular engineering. Two of 54 00:04:02,954 --> 00:04:07,167 the individuals who this month as a matter of fact, this week, 55 00:04:07,467 --> 00:04:12,335 we're in the month of October just won the Nobel Prize in 56 00:04:12,435 --> 00:04:21,125 Medicine are doctors Catalan Carrico and Dr Drew Weisman. 57 00:04:22,829 --> 00:04:30,382 Catalan Carrico is 68 years old. She originally immigrated from 58 00:04:31,803 --> 00:04:37,754 Hungary to this country when she was quite young and 59 00:04:37,855 --> 00:04:44,110 subsequently grew up here and became a scientist, particularly 60 00:04:44,110 --> 00:04:49,680 a subcellular engineering type of scientist, and as a result of 61 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,074 that, became very, very interested in the work of the 62 00:04:53,153 --> 00:04:57,341 different enzymes within ourselves, particularly the 63 00:04:57,482 --> 00:05:05,418 enzymes having to do with messenger RNA, dna, ribosomes, 64 00:05:05,478 --> 00:05:10,350 proteins, polymerases, etc. Etc. And so, basically, this is her 65 00:05:10,411 --> 00:05:17,444 life's work. Dr Weisman is originally from, was born here, 66 00:05:18,906 --> 00:05:24,896 and also and is an image of the immunology, and so his work for 67 00:05:24,997 --> 00:05:30,672 all of his life has dealt with the immune system in the body. 68 00:05:30,732 --> 00:05:34,040 He's been fascinated about the immune system, which is sort of 69 00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:38,117 the defense system in the body, if you will. If a foreign agent 70 00:05:38,177 --> 00:05:44,720 comes into our body, like a bacteria or a virus, the immune 71 00:05:44,759 --> 00:05:48,608 system is that system in the body that's responsible for 72 00:05:48,689 --> 00:05:53,281 protecting us and getting rid of that foreign agent, and so this 73 00:05:53,281 --> 00:05:57,872 is really a lot of what Dr Weisman has dedicated his life 74 00:05:57,913 --> 00:06:02,002 to doing and, as fate would have it, apparently they met about 75 00:06:02,062 --> 00:06:06,120 25 years ago at the University of Pennsylvania, where they were 76 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:11,112 both instructors and began to talk and, as they say, the rest 77 00:06:11,194 --> 00:06:17,810 is history. And so we have a scientist who is interested in 78 00:06:17,850 --> 00:06:22,399 the cell and mechanisms within the cell who then has a 79 00:06:22,439 --> 00:06:25,892 conversation with another scientist both of positions 80 00:06:26,495 --> 00:06:30,867 who's interested in the defense parts of the cell and that 81 00:06:30,968 --> 00:06:34,855 process and how that process protects the body, and, as a 82 00:06:34,896 --> 00:06:40,632 result of their extraordinary work, we have now been blessed 83 00:06:41,093 --> 00:06:48,468 with a vaccine using their technique messenger RNA, and 84 00:06:48,548 --> 00:06:52,343 we've talked about this in some of our previous podcasts, but 85 00:06:52,362 --> 00:06:56,254 we'll just briefly summarize some of the aspects today. But 86 00:06:56,293 --> 00:07:02,490 the main thing is that we are better in this country in the 87 00:07:02,529 --> 00:07:06,439 world actually not just this country because two individuals 88 00:07:06,519 --> 00:07:11,596 dedicated their lives to doing this and they've been doing this 89 00:07:11,596 --> 00:07:17,454 obviously over 20 years. Particularly Dr Carrico, who was 90 00:07:17,454 --> 00:07:21,480 at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr Weisman, 91 00:07:21,922 --> 00:07:25,375 actually was dismissed from the University of Pennsylvania about 92 00:07:25,375 --> 00:07:30,050 10 years ago. And what she decided to do? She wanted to 93 00:07:30,089 --> 00:07:36,665 continue her work, and so she decided to go overseas to 94 00:07:36,704 --> 00:07:41,439 Germany and work for a little company called BioTech. Now, you 95 00:07:41,439 --> 00:07:45,091 may have heard of BioTech maybe two, three or four years ago, 96 00:07:45,130 --> 00:07:50,201 when they were talking about vaccines. Well, biotech is a 97 00:07:50,261 --> 00:07:58,322 company that was working on messenger RNA as a process to 98 00:07:58,382 --> 00:08:03,029 make vaccines better, just a little small company that was 99 00:08:03,170 --> 00:08:07,358 working on this particular technology. Pfizer, the bigger 100 00:08:07,838 --> 00:08:11,891 pharmaceutical worldwide, in essence partnered, I think, 101 00:08:11,992 --> 00:08:17,101 biotech, and that's how Pfizer ended up being the main 102 00:08:17,141 --> 00:08:24,161 pharmaceutical company to bring this mRNA technique for vaccine 103 00:08:24,302 --> 00:08:30,153 production to market and allowed and actually was the first to 104 00:08:30,192 --> 00:08:33,778 do that, and so all of us, myself included, were able to 105 00:08:33,818 --> 00:08:39,076 get that vaccine and consequently be protected. And 106 00:08:39,096 --> 00:08:41,769 so what this shows, I think, among other things, and one of 107 00:08:41,789 --> 00:08:44,577 the things that we try to do with these podcasts is we deal 108 00:08:44,597 --> 00:08:48,514 with the body, mind and spirit, because what we have learned, 109 00:08:49,075 --> 00:08:53,691 whether we're talking about wellness or just health, mental 110 00:08:53,750 --> 00:08:58,524 and physical health is that there is a collaboration within 111 00:08:58,663 --> 00:09:03,716 each of us, and so that the one plus one equals three, not two. 112 00:09:04,256 --> 00:09:08,049 So, indeed, it is the strength of that collaboration that 113 00:09:08,090 --> 00:09:15,383 allows us to produce the highest of quality, and I think doctors 114 00:09:15,383 --> 00:09:18,874 Carrico and Weisman are exemplary of that. And then, 115 00:09:18,914 --> 00:09:21,860 clearly, they needed to have a certain degree of perseverance, 116 00:09:22,929 --> 00:09:27,177 particularly Dr Carrico, as I mentioned, who was dismissed 117 00:09:27,278 --> 00:09:32,053 from the University of Pennsylvania. She had to really 118 00:09:32,153 --> 00:09:36,128 be strong and really be committed to doing this work, 119 00:09:36,308 --> 00:09:39,615 and certainly until the point that she would go to a different 120 00:09:39,615 --> 00:09:46,236 country to do her work, even though she had family and 121 00:09:46,336 --> 00:09:50,647 husband. So I think it just shows the level of commitment 122 00:09:50,687 --> 00:09:56,937 that is necessary sometimes to do this type of work that both 123 00:09:56,977 --> 00:10:01,852 of them had to be relentless in their pursuit Because initially, 124 00:10:01,852 --> 00:10:05,486 just because you come up with an idea, that idea is not 125 00:10:05,606 --> 00:10:11,181 automatically adopted by the, the medical community, if you 126 00:10:11,221 --> 00:10:15,138 will, and in a way that's a good thing. It has to be proven. It 127 00:10:15,198 --> 00:10:18,517 has to be proven over and over and over again. It has to meet 128 00:10:18,557 --> 00:10:23,678 what we call the co-postilist K-O-C-H. But that's how we know 129 00:10:23,798 --> 00:10:27,159 that it's genuine and that it's real. And indeed they were able 130 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:32,158 to do that. Just very briefly, what they were able to do. Let's 131 00:10:32,158 --> 00:10:36,376 go back to the cell. Let's go inside the cell. We have a 132 00:10:36,476 --> 00:10:40,157 nucleus and we have a surrounding cytoplasm, and all 133 00:10:40,197 --> 00:10:44,176 of this is within a membrane called the cell membrane. Within 134 00:10:44,176 --> 00:10:49,201 the nucleus is where DNA is and this is the genetic code for us 135 00:10:49,201 --> 00:10:55,225 individually. Desoxyribonucleic acetic is the medical term for 136 00:10:55,306 --> 00:11:01,715 it, and it basically is what determines why I am and look and 137 00:11:01,715 --> 00:11:06,475 act differently from the way you may look and act. This is 138 00:11:06,616 --> 00:11:12,120 our specific genetic code and some years ago the entire 139 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:17,941 genetic code was defined and what we found was the 140 00:11:18,020 --> 00:11:23,682 differences between all of us is really just one or two areas, 141 00:11:24,143 --> 00:11:29,541 that most of the area is exactly the same, but in terms of the 142 00:11:29,962 --> 00:11:35,605 vaccine it was utilized and the beauty of what doctors Kariko 143 00:11:35,664 --> 00:11:40,504 and Weissman did, it was to take a normal process within the 144 00:11:40,585 --> 00:11:45,876 body and use that process to fight disease. So think about 145 00:11:45,917 --> 00:11:50,417 this to take a normal process that was in the body and use 146 00:11:50,476 --> 00:11:55,038 that process. Use the body's own process, just by tweaking it a 147 00:11:55,077 --> 00:11:59,275 bit, but use the body's own process to fight disease, and 148 00:11:59,316 --> 00:12:03,717 that certainly is the best of all worlds. No process is 149 00:12:03,817 --> 00:12:09,438 perfect, and neither is this process perfect, but it works 150 00:12:10,581 --> 00:12:14,817 and has saved millions and millions of lives over the last 151 00:12:16,041 --> 00:12:20,623 two to three years. So, in essence, what it does is it 152 00:12:20,682 --> 00:12:27,605 causes the RNA, the messenger RNA, to produce a prototype of 153 00:12:27,684 --> 00:12:32,154 the virus, particularly the spike protein of the virus, and 154 00:12:32,196 --> 00:12:36,736 then have the body then be able to recognize the virus whenever 155 00:12:36,817 --> 00:12:41,856 it invades the body. Now that's a huge oversimplification, but 156 00:12:41,897 --> 00:12:46,942 that's in essence what it does, and the idea and the thought is 157 00:12:47,082 --> 00:12:52,244 absolutely genius. The whole idea of subcellular engineering 158 00:12:52,865 --> 00:12:57,004 that I can remember occurred back when I was in medical 159 00:12:57,024 --> 00:13:01,600 school that I first remembered this, and this was when Richard 160 00:13:01,639 --> 00:13:07,120 Nixon was president of the country, and at the time he had 161 00:13:07,181 --> 00:13:11,636 an idea, or certainly made a proposal in the federal 162 00:13:11,677 --> 00:13:17,197 government, that money's be used to cure cancer. The whole idea 163 00:13:17,277 --> 00:13:21,596 was that there were so many people dying of cancer and that 164 00:13:22,278 --> 00:13:27,815 we should increase research and development to cure cancer, and 165 00:13:27,875 --> 00:13:34,577 part of that was to use monies to be applied to what I call 166 00:13:34,697 --> 00:13:38,437 what's called subcellular engineering. We can see the 167 00:13:38,477 --> 00:13:42,981 cells under the microscope, but indeed it's what happens within 168 00:13:43,001 --> 00:13:50,147 the cells that dictates the essence of how our body 169 00:13:50,226 --> 00:13:53,278 functions and does not function. And this is what these two 170 00:13:53,339 --> 00:13:57,794 physicians were able to do, dr Kariku and Dr Weissman. They 171 00:13:57,815 --> 00:14:01,395 were able to take a part of that subcellular engineering, ie the 172 00:14:01,395 --> 00:14:05,839 messenger RNA function, and its primary function is to make 173 00:14:05,899 --> 00:14:15,683 copies of other types of RNA, and by having these copies in 174 00:14:15,724 --> 00:14:21,426 the cell, the cell is now better prepared to deal with an 175 00:14:21,505 --> 00:14:25,418 invasion from a foreign body, if you will, one of the ways for 176 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:32,109 the mRNA vaccine to work is that it has to be couched in a a a a 177 00:14:32,109 --> 00:14:37,494 form so that the body does not attack it. Because, remember, a 178 00:14:38,135 --> 00:14:41,192 vaccine is something that's foreign to the body, so you've 179 00:14:41,211 --> 00:14:44,874 got to protect it with the protective coating or covering 180 00:14:45,275 --> 00:14:48,354 so that the body itself does not attack it. So they were able to 181 00:14:48,354 --> 00:14:51,859 do that. They were able to come up with a way to do that, using 182 00:14:51,859 --> 00:14:59,892 nanoparticles or nanoparticle production technique, and 183 00:14:59,971 --> 00:15:07,172 successfully be able to deliver the vaccine into the body, then 184 00:15:07,231 --> 00:15:12,693 allow the stimulate the cell, particularly within the 185 00:15:12,754 --> 00:15:19,172 cytoplasm, the mRNA within the cytoplasm to make a new type of 186 00:15:20,534 --> 00:15:26,155 mRNA and a new type of protein and allow the cell to protect 187 00:15:26,235 --> 00:15:30,193 itself against this foreign protein. I know it sounds a 188 00:15:30,234 --> 00:15:34,259 little complicated, but the bottom line is using the body to 189 00:15:34,259 --> 00:15:39,061 protect itself. That, in effect , is the essence of what Dr 190 00:15:39,409 --> 00:15:43,895 Scorico and Weissman were able to do. It took them close to 191 00:15:43,936 --> 00:15:47,073 about 30 years to do it. Obviously, like with a lot of 192 00:15:47,134 --> 00:15:52,018 great inventions and discoveries , it's discarded when it's first 193 00:15:52,018 --> 00:15:56,158 proposed. But over time and with a lot of time and effort, 194 00:15:56,337 --> 00:16:01,215 or a lot of people work entirelessly, we've all been 195 00:16:01,274 --> 00:16:07,432 able to benefit now from this new messenger RNA process. So to 196 00:16:07,432 --> 00:16:09,619 look a little more closely, just for a brief, with this 197 00:16:09,678 --> 00:16:17,951 process the messenger RNA does not enter the nucleus, remember 198 00:16:17,991 --> 00:16:21,171 I mentioned the nucleus is like the yolk of the egg. The 199 00:16:21,191 --> 00:16:24,461 messenger RNA primarily operates within the white part of the 200 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,192 egg, if you will, or the cytoplasm of the cell. This is 201 00:16:28,293 --> 00:16:32,393 where it goes to an area called the ribosome and where it 202 00:16:32,452 --> 00:16:40,673 produces or transcribes new protein, if you will. What the 203 00:16:40,953 --> 00:16:47,604 doctors have taught the body to do is to copy the virus protein 204 00:16:49,591 --> 00:16:54,480 and then use that copy to protect the cell from the virus 205 00:16:54,642 --> 00:16:59,572 invading the cell. It's just an extraordinary process. It's. The 206 00:16:59,572 --> 00:17:02,360 process is called part of the process called protein synthesis 207 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:08,621 . This occurs in the ribosome, which is in the white part of 208 00:17:08,641 --> 00:17:12,578 the egg, if you will, the ribosome, the cytoplasm, not in 209 00:17:12,598 --> 00:17:17,038 the yellow part. The messenger RNA directs the cells to produce 210 00:17:17,038 --> 00:17:24,182 copies of the protein that comes from the spike protein of 211 00:17:24,221 --> 00:17:30,401 the virus. By recognizing the spike protein as an invader into 212 00:17:30,401 --> 00:17:37,270 the body, the body then stimulates antibodies, which is 213 00:17:37,310 --> 00:17:41,296 part of that immune system, stimulates antibodies which come 214 00:17:41,296 --> 00:17:46,077 in and kill the virus. It's just an extraordinary process. 215 00:17:46,631 --> 00:17:52,803 As we know, the newest variant of COVID-19 is ARIS E-R-I-S. 216 00:17:54,713 --> 00:17:58,352 That is the one that's most prominent today and is creating 217 00:17:58,413 --> 00:18:04,038 most difficulty today. Let me share a personal note with you. 218 00:18:05,349 --> 00:18:08,078 One of the reasons why I am so fascinated and interested in 219 00:18:08,098 --> 00:18:11,096 this cell cell your engineer is my major in college was 220 00:18:11,156 --> 00:18:15,089 biochemistry. I'm originally from Nashville, tennessee. I 221 00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:21,371 went to an HBCU, a historically black college university called 222 00:18:21,411 --> 00:18:25,432 Tennessee State University in Nashville, tennessee. I knew I 223 00:18:25,491 --> 00:18:30,397 wanted to go to medical school, but I did not major in pre-med. 224 00:18:30,509 --> 00:18:34,256 I majored in biochemistry. As long as you take the breakfast 225 00:18:34,297 --> 00:18:37,436 of courses to apply to medical school, then you can certainly 226 00:18:37,477 --> 00:18:43,337 apply. Biochemistry always fascinated me. Chemistry was a 227 00:18:43,377 --> 00:18:45,874 requirement for medical school, but I didn't quite like 228 00:18:45,974 --> 00:18:51,194 chemistry, quite honestly. But I loved biology. Biochemistry was 229 00:18:51,194 --> 00:18:54,695 the perfect fit for me. It was just the perfect fit for me. 230 00:18:57,595 --> 00:19:02,143 Indeed, biochemistry is what's involved with the work of 231 00:19:02,202 --> 00:19:09,750 doctors like Carico and Weisman. If you remember, back in the 232 00:19:09,892 --> 00:19:14,034 early sixties again, depending on how old you are there was a 233 00:19:14,094 --> 00:19:18,710 doctor. There was a doctor James Watson and Francis Crick who 234 00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:23,739 received the Nobel Peace Prize I mean the Nobel Prize for in 235 00:19:23,798 --> 00:19:26,695 medicine for discovering something called the double 236 00:19:26,757 --> 00:19:32,555 helix. The double helix is the form of DNA. Dna is inside the 237 00:19:32,634 --> 00:19:37,411 nucleus of the cell Again, the yellow part of the cell if it 238 00:19:37,451 --> 00:19:45,520 were an egg yolk, whereas the messenger RNA is in the white 239 00:19:45,601 --> 00:19:49,849 part of the cell, ie the cytoplasm of the cell. But 240 00:19:49,891 --> 00:19:53,972 doctors Crick and Watson invented or discovered the 241 00:19:54,113 --> 00:19:58,813 double helix, got a Nobel Prize for it. The reason why I bring 242 00:19:58,833 --> 00:20:05,022 that up is Dr Watson was at Harvard, dr Crick was in England 243 00:20:05,022 --> 00:20:10,279 at one of the universities there and when I was in college 244 00:20:11,109 --> 00:20:17,339 my second year in college I was very fortunate to receive a 245 00:20:18,603 --> 00:20:24,838 summer internship from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 246 00:20:25,391 --> 00:20:28,359 and it had been invited from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 247 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,454 It's listening. I love you guys . You literally changed my life. 248 00:20:32,454 --> 00:20:36,714 Literally changed my life Because what they did? It was a 249 00:20:38,118 --> 00:20:46,913 program that was designed to go to HBCUs in the sound and allow 250 00:20:47,074 --> 00:20:51,751 certain students who were academically qualified to study 251 00:20:51,932 --> 00:20:56,021 for the summer at three Ivy League schools. Think about that 252 00:20:56,021 --> 00:21:02,714 . This is something that happened in 1967. I was a 253 00:21:02,855 --> 00:21:07,472 sophomore in college at Tennessee State and I was one of 254 00:21:07,472 --> 00:21:10,712 two students from my school selected to be a part of this 255 00:21:10,833 --> 00:21:16,472 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program that allowed summer 256 00:21:16,532 --> 00:21:23,392 studies of students from HBCUs at Ivy League schools. And I was 257 00:21:23,392 --> 00:21:29,877 fortunate. In 1967, I went to Harvard and you gotta understand 258 00:21:29,877 --> 00:21:34,111 , I had never been out of the deep South in my life. I had 259 00:21:34,151 --> 00:21:40,237 never been on an airplane in my life. So here I am, first time, 260 00:21:40,356 --> 00:21:45,592 on a plane arriving in Boston, massachusetts, on my way to 261 00:21:45,652 --> 00:21:49,875 Cambridge to study for the summer at Harvard University. 262 00:21:50,730 --> 00:21:56,953 More significantly, I was assigned to study with a 263 00:21:57,094 --> 00:22:01,652 graduate student who was working for Dr James Watson. Now, dr 264 00:22:01,692 --> 00:22:05,269 Watson was not there that summer , he was away for the summer but 265 00:22:05,269 --> 00:22:12,974 I was able to work with his graduate student and the student 266 00:22:12,974 --> 00:22:17,416 was just extraordinary. His job was to teach me various 267 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:23,711 subjects. These were regular Harvard college subjects, but he 268 00:22:23,711 --> 00:22:29,115 was my tutor and just my supporter overall. He was a 269 00:22:29,174 --> 00:22:34,115 young man from Caltech who was studying at Harvard for the 270 00:22:34,175 --> 00:22:40,436 summer, working on an advanced degree. So my point is that my 271 00:22:40,657 --> 00:22:43,932 interest in a lot of the vaccines and the way they're 272 00:22:43,971 --> 00:22:49,374 formed using a subcellular technique is really part of how 273 00:22:50,056 --> 00:22:55,153 I got into medicine in the first place. It fascinates me and I 274 00:22:55,193 --> 00:22:58,334 just sort of feel extraordinarily blessed to see 275 00:22:58,413 --> 00:23:03,077 the results of what has happened . But so just wanted to mention 276 00:23:03,097 --> 00:23:07,853 that very briefly. Going back to Aris, one of the good things 277 00:23:07,952 --> 00:23:11,917 about this new variant for COVID-19 is that it does not 278 00:23:11,998 --> 00:23:17,478 appear to be very, very different from the previous 279 00:23:17,558 --> 00:23:21,971 variants and that's a good thing because it makes the work of 280 00:23:22,090 --> 00:23:28,351 the vaccine easier or more productive, if you will, or more 281 00:23:28,351 --> 00:23:34,561 effective, if you will. And as you know, the virus COVID-19, 282 00:23:34,890 --> 00:23:42,128 and its variants causes initially cold-type symptoms, 283 00:23:43,109 --> 00:23:45,852 but they tend to be on the most severe side. It's not like a 284 00:23:45,951 --> 00:23:49,935 regular cold or a regular flu. They tend to be on the most 285 00:23:49,976 --> 00:23:54,000 severe side, with fever, fatigue , dry cough, aches and pains, 286 00:23:54,130 --> 00:23:57,675 running nose, sore throat, there may be some shortness of breath 287 00:23:57,675 --> 00:24:02,780 and there also may be some gastrointestinal symptoms, 288 00:24:04,109 --> 00:24:07,732 abdominal pain, diarrhea, et cetera. These are some of the 289 00:24:07,772 --> 00:24:11,998 symptoms that we see, as we all know, doing the, usually doing 290 00:24:12,038 --> 00:24:16,414 the what we call the cold flu season. The fourth quarter and 291 00:24:16,435 --> 00:24:19,513 the first quarter of the year, a particular first quarter of the 292 00:24:19,513 --> 00:24:25,532 year. We basically have three main viruses that we're 293 00:24:25,554 --> 00:24:29,116 concerned about. One is the influenza virus, which has been 294 00:24:29,136 --> 00:24:33,077 around for years, and usually we get vaccines against that. 295 00:24:33,450 --> 00:24:40,094 There's the RBS virus, and it's been around not quite as long 296 00:24:40,454 --> 00:24:43,593 and you can also be vaccinated for that, and the more important 297 00:24:43,593 --> 00:24:48,417 or the more serious, the COVID-19 bars, which we've all 298 00:24:48,438 --> 00:24:52,238 been vaccinating. I remember vaccination. The purpose of 299 00:24:52,258 --> 00:24:56,849 vaccination is to prevent and infection. It does not treat the 300 00:24:56,849 --> 00:25:01,484 infection. So when you are vaccinated, that prevents you 301 00:25:01,566 --> 00:25:07,997 from getting the disease or the illness in the future. There are 302 00:25:07,997 --> 00:25:11,251 other types of medication that have been used to treat COVID 303 00:25:11,614 --> 00:25:15,508 and, as we mentioned before, these medications like paclibid, 304 00:25:15,508 --> 00:25:18,233 which is a tablet that can be used as an outpatient, 305 00:25:18,875 --> 00:25:23,292 redemzavir, which is given IV, that can be used early on when 306 00:25:23,313 --> 00:25:27,724 the symptoms have started. So we're talking about vaccinations 307 00:25:27,724 --> 00:25:32,438 now, which is prevention, not treatment. Undoubtedly, any type 308 00:25:32,438 --> 00:25:36,166 of severe infection and certainly COVID is no exception 309 00:25:36,208 --> 00:25:41,498 to that creates damage on multiple levels. We always talk 310 00:25:41,518 --> 00:25:46,193 about the body, mind and spirit, and rightfully so. There's a 311 00:25:46,233 --> 00:25:50,130 lot of focus on the body, but clearly the mind and spirit are 312 00:25:50,269 --> 00:25:54,164 also traumatized and it's very important to think about those 313 00:25:54,384 --> 00:25:58,816 areas as we experience, the members of our family experience 314 00:25:58,816 --> 00:26:05,529 illnesses, to help the whole person to heal. So, in summary, 315 00:26:06,612 --> 00:26:12,366 basically we have two physicians , dr Caitlin Carrico and Dr Drew 316 00:26:12,366 --> 00:26:16,601 Weissman, who just received this month the Nobel Prize in 317 00:26:16,681 --> 00:26:23,051 Medicine for their landmark work in developing the messenger RNA 318 00:26:23,051 --> 00:26:30,228 vaccine to save the lives of millions of people worldwide. 319 00:26:30,347 --> 00:26:34,275 And, as we mentioned, vaccines are not treatment, they are 320 00:26:34,295 --> 00:26:39,875 prevention, and the beauty of the work of these two physicians 321 00:26:39,875 --> 00:26:44,207 is that they were able to use the body's own mechanism to 322 00:26:44,647 --> 00:26:52,078 better protect itself against foreign invaders, ie viruses. My 323 00:26:52,078 --> 00:26:55,631 basic principles I believe God is in charge. I have said this 324 00:26:55,691 --> 00:26:59,326 before. My first principle I'm a physician of faith and indeed 325 00:26:59,346 --> 00:27:04,297 it has been my faith in God that has sustained me all of my life 326 00:27:04,297 --> 00:27:08,612 . Second principle is no bad days. I do not have any more bad 327 00:27:08,612 --> 00:27:13,151 days. I used to, but about 20, 30 years ago I got rid of all my 328 00:27:13,151 --> 00:27:17,268 bad days because I figured out that my day was good or bad if I 329 00:27:17,268 --> 00:27:21,460 said it was. Number three I don't sweat the small stuff. 330 00:27:21,540 --> 00:27:27,156 Most stuff is small. When things happen or are said to me that I 331 00:27:27,156 --> 00:27:32,632 perceive as being negative, I have learned not to worry about 332 00:27:32,672 --> 00:27:35,402 that. Most times it's not important, I just let it go. 333 00:27:36,064 --> 00:27:40,435 Number four forgiveness is therapy. Indeed, whenever 334 00:27:40,536 --> 00:27:46,291 something happens to me that I perceive as negative, I 335 00:27:46,451 --> 00:27:49,801 immediately forgive. It does not matter who's right or who's 336 00:27:49,882 --> 00:27:54,498 wrong. I have learned that forgiveness is therapy. And my 337 00:27:54,577 --> 00:27:57,767 final basic principle is that everything is a relationship. 338 00:27:58,087 --> 00:28:01,776 Everything is a relationship and relationships are based on 339 00:28:01,816 --> 00:28:06,634 three things respect, mutual trust, good communication. If 340 00:28:06,673 --> 00:28:09,688 you have those three things, you have a very good relationship. 341 00:28:10,108 --> 00:28:14,904 If you do not have those three things. You have work to do. If 342 00:28:14,924 --> 00:28:17,691 you like these podcasts, we would encourage you to become 343 00:28:17,791 --> 00:28:25,492 one of our loyal subscribers and go to wwwbuzzsproutcom forward 344 00:28:25,532 --> 00:28:34,046 slash 210103. That's wwwbuzzsproutcom forward slash 345 00:28:34,125 --> 00:28:42,057 210103. And finally be the change you want to see in the 346 00:28:42,076 --> 00:28:44,039 world. Have a wonderful day. 347 00:28:44,285 --> 00:28:46,109 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode of the 348 00:28:46,109 --> 00:28:50,087 Healthy, wealthy and Wise podcast with Dr William T Chokta 349 00:28:50,087 --> 00:28:54,636 , mdjd. Be sure to check out other great episodes covering 350 00:28:54,758 --> 00:29:01,256 areas of health, wealth and wisdom at THWPcom and, while 351 00:29:01,276 --> 00:29:04,489 you're there, be sure to check out the books, blogs and other 352 00:29:04,568 --> 00:29:07,737 literature in your preferred format. And don't forget to 353 00:29:07,924 --> 00:29:12,816 leave a review, subscribe, share and support the podcast that's 354 00:29:12,916 --> 00:29:17,887 at THWPcom. You've been listening to the Healthy, 355 00:29:17,907 --> 00:29:22,917 wealthy and Wise podcast with Dr William T Chokta, mdjd.