Food as Medicine: Olive Oil with Bianca Thakkar, DO

It is March so all our episodes focus on colorectal cancer! In today's episode, Dr. Toufic Kachaamy, Chief of Medicine and Director of Gastroenterology at City of Hope in Phoenix, discusses the new frontier of endoscopic oncology. He shares innovative insights on rectal cancer ablation, artificial intelligence for polyp detection, genomic testing for colon cancer and a new way to identify flat polyps that he has recently patented. His core message: we must detect polyps early and prevent colon cancer.

In a Gut Doctor first, Dr. Parikh interviews a fellow podcaster- Amber Tresca! Amber is a medical writer, podcast host and blogger. Her platform, AboutIBD, empowers patients living with inflammatory bowel disease as she shares her experiences living with ulcerative colitis and a J-pouch. In this episode, she shares her journey and provides tips for patients living with IBD.

In the GI 101 series, Dr. Parikh interviews one of the training physicians to get their perspective on a variety of gastrointestinal topics. Today he interviews Dr. Hamza Sohail, a gastroenterology fellow at Baystate Health, and they discuss ascites. This episode is brought to you by Mindray & Aegle Medical, manufacturer and distributor of the Hepatus-series platform, which is a NexGen vibration-controlled elastography technology used to stage and monitor liver disease.

In this Gut Doctor episode, Dr. Parikh takes on the patient role as PA Sarah Enslin discusses diagnosis and management of Barrett's esophagus. Sarah Enslin is a physician assistant at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Vice Chair of American College of Gastroenterology's Advanced Practice Provider committee. Today’s episode is brought to you by Castle Biosciences, maker of TissueCypher, a test designed to predict the risk of esophageal cancer in patients with Barrett’s esophagus.

In this episode of the Gut Doctor podcast, Dr. Parikh interviews Dr. Ponni Perumalswami to discuss the spectrum of liver diseases caused by alcohol use and toxicity. Dr. Perumalswami is Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan and the Director of the Alcohol Liver Disease program. She reviews the pathophysiology of alcoholic liver disease, signs and symptoms, and the range of treatment options including brief intervention therapy.

In this episode of the Innovation series, Dr. Parikh interviews Dr. Kosinski, founder of SonarMD. SonarMD uses digital health to perform monthly health checks, recognize early warning signs and prevent gut disease flare ups.  

What is endoscopic ultrasound? Dr. Ari Benson, interventional endoscopist and Chief of Endoscopy at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, tells patients what they need to know about EUS.

In today's episode of the Innovation series, Dr. Parikh sits down with Mindy Mintz Mordecai, president and CEO of the Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN). They discuss Mindy's journey, the origins of ECAN, and how it continues to support current and future patients with esophageal cancer. Today's episode was brought to you by Castle Biosciences, maker of TissueCypher, a test designed to predict the risk of esophageal cancer in patients with Barrett's esophagus. 

Is olive oil the panacea for all things GI? In this episode of the Food as Medicine series, Dr. Parikh interviews Dr. Bianca Thakkar who discusses the key components of olive oil, its reported health benefits and the supporting evidence.

Dr. Parikh interviews Jeff Glueck, CEO and Co-Founder of Salvo Health, in this Innovation series episode. Salvo Health is a digital health platform that looks to support brick and mortar gastroenterology practices care for chronic GI diseases using their patented "Whole Self Science" algorithm.