30 episodes

With help from leading experts, dark web entrepreneurs, and a homegrown house band, Toxicologists Howard Greller (@heshiegreshie) and Dan Rusyniak (@drusyniak) take you on an entertaining and educational journey into the field of Medical Toxicology.

Special thanks to our announcer, Josh Shelov (@shelovj), Witness Protection Products™, and our house band, Meconium Aspirate.

Comments, questions, suggestions, future topics, recipes? @dantastictox.

Stay Healthy, True Believers!

The Dantastic Mr Tox & Howard Dan Rusyniak & Howard Greller

    • Health & Fitness
    • 4.8 • 113 Ratings

With help from leading experts, dark web entrepreneurs, and a homegrown house band, Toxicologists Howard Greller (@heshiegreshie) and Dan Rusyniak (@drusyniak) take you on an entertaining and educational journey into the field of Medical Toxicology.

Special thanks to our announcer, Josh Shelov (@shelovj), Witness Protection Products™, and our house band, Meconium Aspirate.

Comments, questions, suggestions, future topics, recipes? @dantastictox.

Stay Healthy, True Believers!

    For The Greater Good

    For The Greater Good

    Welcome home, listeners! Sit back, relax, and join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they learn how to prevent scorpions from coming home, explore pharmacogenetics, and explore the incredible importance of mentorship, representation, diversity, and equality with Dr. Ayrn O’Connor (@MedToxPGx). Stay safe, wash your hands, physically distance, and wear a mask. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
    Delicious Links Just in case you move to Arizona, here are 5 Simple Ways to Deter Scorpions. Not my face! Some unusual locations for snakebites have been reported. Some information related to the business of Medical Toxicology, including billing and reimbursement for bedside toxicology practice, a medical toxicology admitting service or dedicated toxicology unit, the impact of a toxicology service on the ICU, or among inpatients discharged with a poisoning-related diagnosis, lessons learned and the impact of a specialty code on private practice. Women In Toxicology and the move Towards Gender Equality in Medical Toxicology. There is a beneficial impact of patient-physician racial concordance that impacts infant and maternal mortality, HIV care, cancer screening, provider visits and overall communication. Mentorship in the health professions, and doing it with intention. So now I’m a mentor, what’s in it for me? Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. We missed you and hope to provide more in 2021. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!

    We love doing this podcast, and hope you do as well. If you like what you hear, maybe you’d like to buy us a cup of coffee!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo), now reincarnated as Bloomington Delta Music (@BloomDeltaMusic), our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston and High Priestess Amy Winston of Witness Protection Products. Ad at 27:23 . . .
    Acknowledgements Music "Funkorama" by Kevin MacLeod. License: CC BY. Sound effects from bbc.co.uk – © copyright BBC, and zapsplat.com. Do Infinite Good by Nick Fewings and We Have Coffee by Leon Bublitz both on unsplash.com.
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
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    • 1 hr 21 min
    Inside Out

    Inside Out

    We’re back! Join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they explore the GI tract of the city, build a career of excrement, and determine which bathroom is the cleanest with Dr. Peter Chai (@PeterRchai). We hope that everyone stays safe, washes their hands and wears a mask. Let’s beat this virus together.
    Delicious Links It’s robots all the way down, influencing many of us in countless ways. From the Fembots, to the Daleks, to Bender. You can make a battery out of almost anything, from a potato, to pennies, to an apple, to a lemon. Although, there are those that would find the latter UNACCEPTABLE. The future is filled with possibility. There are myriad technologies applicable to medicine and toxicology that range from wearable head-mounted devices, to ingestible sensors. There are approaches that can be used to help combat the opioid crisis. From an individual level, using digital pills to measure ingestion patterns, to the community, analyzing opioid exposure in wastewater. The technology can also be used to measure medication adherence and help influence adherence interventions. There’s even current research analyzing wastewater applicable to the COVID-19 crisis. You’ll never really want to know How Dirty Is Your Bathroom . . . But you can also use technology to help keep it clean. There are, naturally, methods to eliminate poop splash from the splash zone. And, of course, Everything Comes Down To Poo from Scrubs Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!

    We love doing this podcast, and hope you do as well. If you like what you hear, maybe you’d like to buy us a cup of coffee!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo) feat. Julia Helene and McKenzie Taylor, our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston of Witness Protection Products. Ad at 25:00 . . . Music "Night In Venice" by Kevin MacLeod. License: CC BY
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
    Listen on iTunes or Spotify! Earholes happy? Rate and review! Show the love!
    Toilet Paper and Mask by engin akyurt We Have Coffee by Leon Bublitz

    • 1 hr 8 min
    All I Want for Christmas is Two New Base Pairs

    All I Want for Christmas is Two New Base Pairs

    Join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they explore the world of gene editing with Dr. Jillian Theobald (@JillianTheobald). Dive deep into CRISPR and how it is revolutionizing the way we view the genome and what can be done with it, both good and bad. From Bristle blocks to genetic terrorism, it’s a warm hand-knit Holiday Snuggie™ for you to enjoy the end of the year. Happy Holidays from everyone here at Dantastic HQ!
    Delicious Links Here are a few videos that give an overview of CRISPR and how it works, including a TED talk from Jennifer Doudna who co-invented the technique. Here’s a great episode of Radiolab that also discusses CRISPR. Here’s Part 1 from 2015, and then the update from 2017. “It’s you, Daddy!” Bristle blocks, an indelible toy from childhood. How your morning yogurt revolutionized gene editing. CRISPR is a powerful tool. Many now see this easy-to-use technique as a threat to national safety. Or an uncertain future for humanity. While it can certainly be used nefariously, CRISPR can also help to determine the characterization of putative cancer genes. Or, you can build a better vaccine. Or cure a devastating neuromuscular disease like Duchenne muscular dystrophy? There’s a CRISPR for that. Some even try to build a better self by biohacking their genes. Whenever I read a story of self-experimentation, I always have to link to Who Goes First? The Story of Self-Experimentation in Medicine by Lawrence K. Altman. Got Mutation? Advanced gene editing can correct one base pair at a time. Even the tomatoes aren’t safe. How CRISPR is revolutionizing crops. Just because we can kill all the mosquitos, should we? Here are the most important gene editing stories of 2019. Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!

    We love doing this podcast and hope you do as well. If you like what you hear, maybe you’d like to buy us a cup of coffee!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo), our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston of Witness Protection Products. Ad at 26:51 . . . Music "Jingle Bells" by Kevin MacLeod. License: CC-BY
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
    Listen on iTunes or Spotify! Earholes happy? Rate and review! Show the love!

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Am Vs Have

    Am Vs Have

    Join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they set out to change the conversation about substance use with Bill Kinkle (@billkinkle). This one comes with a warning. We will discuss graphic descriptions of drug use, addiction behaviors and stigmatizing language. Help us to end the stigma associated with addiction. Take the pledge.
    We pledge to use compassionate, person-centered language when discussing a person with a substance use disorder, and to stop the stigma associated with addiction. Words matter. We pledge to use better ones.
    Delicious Links As we will continue to repeat over and over, words matter. There’s evidence that word choice impacts on recovery. Biased labels influence medical care and perceptions by health professionals, although it's not so clear for individuals in recovery. Dan is taller than Howard. Dan is better at podcasting. Therefore, taller people are better at podcasting. Think that those things are related? Well, maybe in this case, yes. But, you may be suffering from Berkson’s Bias (or Paradox) . . . Don't treat Berkson’s bias with Maslow's hammer . . . Decriminalization works. Just ask the Portuguese. Institutionalized racism and the war on drugs. Highlighting the analogy of diabetes, albeit in a tongue in cheek fashion. The Use of Insulin in the Treatment of Diabetes: An Analogy to Methadone Maintenance A really good twitter thread from Renee Johnson, looking for suggestions ways to address misperceptions about substance use. Safe injection sites. Another excellent tool in the battle. Why don't we approach substance use disorders like other illnesses with risk mitigation strategies and looking for the root causes? Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and social determinants of health may be the direction to follow. Learn more about the neurobehavioral underpinnings of addiction with Dr. Andy Chambers in one of our earlier episodes, Life Is a Highway (S01E07). A fascinating look by Maia Szalavitz at addiction that challenges the idea that it is a disease with a radical perspective. If you want more resources by people who are really good at this, check out Changing The Narrative. Special thanks to them for inspiring this episode. Listen to more of Bill at the Health Professionals in Recovery podcast. Or check out their website or twitter account (@ HPIRPodcast). Read more of Bill’s story here. You really only need to watch this to understand. Narcan Saved my Daddy.
    Bill with his son Micah in the waiting room of a local urgent care. At the time of this photo, Bill was in acute opioid withdrawal, which negates the idea that people who use drugs don’t care about anything except drugs.
    Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!

    We love doing this podcast, and don’t want to stop (Dan . . . ) It takes a lot of time and effort to produce each episode. Like what you hear? Buy us a cup of coffee!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo), our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston of Witness Protection Products.
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
    Listen on iTunes or Spotify! Earholes happy? Rate and review! Show the love!
     

    • 1 hr 16 min
    The Dantastic Mr Tox & Howard

    The Dantastic Mr Tox & Howard

     
    Join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they get deep into the nephron with Dr. Josh King (@nephrotox). Gather round as we quote Homer Smith, learn why we have a heart (to pump blood to the kidneys, ‘natch), trigger Howard about lithium, and always remember to request the right dose of dialysis.
    Delicious Links The one, the only, Homer William Smith. "Superficially, it might be said that the function of the kidneys is to make urine; but in a more considered view, one can say that the kidneys make the stuff of philosophy itself."
    A great article that frames our discussion of how to define kidney injury, Han and Bonventre 2004 "This is analogous to beginning the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction 48–72 hours after the coronary occlusion."
    Here are the AKIN criteria for acute kidney injury And a nice review of biomarkers in acute kidney injury Learn about the signs and symptoms of dialysis disequilibrium syndrome and the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hemodialysis emergencies. For the DIY crowd, the CKD-EPI equation and calculator (AKA where that GFR on the labs comes from) Dr. Mitch Halperin’s fantastic physiology study of toluene and why it doesn’t cause RTA . . . Nice review of Balkan endemic nephropathy (and aristolochic acid) The EXTRIP workgroup for extracorporeal treatment of poisoning Here’s the paper by Amdisen and Skjoldborg that showed lithium exiting the CSF in 1969 Here are some more Dad jokes if you didn’t get enough from this episode . . . and of course, this. Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo), our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston of Witness Protection Products. Ad at 30:03 . . . Music "Pamgaea" by Kevin MacLeod. License: CC BY. 
    The Bean! By Ravi Patel
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
    Listen on iTunes or Spotify! Earholes happy? Rate and review! Show the love!

    • 1 hr 16 min
    Labs Before Lectures

    Labs Before Lectures

    Join Dan (@drusyniak) &Howard (@heshiegreshie) as they turn on, tune in, and drop out with Dr. Howard McKinney, Jr. during the Summer of Love and the “Decade of Tox”. They’ll remind you to always know your chemist, round up your spotters, chill out in the space station, experience the Wall Of Sound and never drink the Flavor-Aid. Strap in for a wild ride.
    Delicious Links A brief history of Rock Medicine. Learn more about the Wall of Sound, “the largest, most technologically innovative sound system ever built”, and it’s inventor, Owsley Stanley. It’s really all about the music, the likes of which it is unlikely we will experience again. After Van Halen, but before morning radio host, find out what David Lee Roth’s perfect job was. Ride with the Angels, and one of their founders, Sonny Barger. But be careful, and don’t take a beating, Hunter. Opioid crisis got you in a MOUD? An older way of managing opioid addiction - propoxyphene. A must read for anyone with an interest in toxicology, The Case of the Frozen Addicts. A chemical love story and it’s continuation - PiHKAL and TiHKAL. Psychedelics are now medicine. Rick Doblin played a role in that. If you weren’t already aware of the People's Temple, the Jonestown massacre, we’ve got you. Stop saying “Drink the Kool-Aid”. It was Flavor-Aid, not Kool-Aid, which was used as a genericized trademark. Give the poor Kool Aid man a break. Although, granted, he is feeding the children his own blood . . . Special Thanks Thank you for your continued support. As always, we are looking for feedback - comments, questions, suggestions, recipes, etc. Let us know. Reach us at @toxandhound. We want to hear from you!
    Thank you to our house band Pretty Simple Duo (@prettysimpleduo), our announcer Josh Shelov (@shelovj), and Reverend Matt Winston of Witness Protection Products. Ad at 32:28 . . . And always, thank you Charlie Pellet, The Most Recognizable Voice in New York!
    Acknowledgements VW Van “Injustice Anywhere” by Vasilios Muselimis. Music from filmmusic.io: "Glitter Blast” by Kevin MacLeod. License: CC BY. Sound effects from Free Sounds Library, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Cow Moo Sounds, Cow Noises, Running Footsteps, Crowd Sounds , Fly Noise, Water Splash Noise. Additional sound effects from zapsplat.com
    Interested in #FOAMtox? Like this podcast? Take a gander at The Tox and The Hound. It’s like a podcast, but for your eyes.
    Listen on iTunes or Spotify! Earholes happy? Rate and review! Show the love!

    • 1 hr 14 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
113 Ratings

113 Ratings

Carmeldogtor ,

Medical humor

The recent podcast ( just a short part at the end ) about imposter syndrome really hit home. It helped me through several really difficult days. Thanks! Keep it up!

Bill Kinkle ,

Idiot who loves to listen to really smart people

Incredible show. Informative, funny, scary, thought provoking, has the potential to make you want to forage for mushrooms or catch spiders, also makes you certain to never want to ingest rat poison, and makes you skeptical of any nurse who attempts to place a wet towel on your forehead. This show has it all.

Daisy's & Cocoa's Dad ,

World class content but audio editing drives me nuts

Love this show and followed Howard from Sirius Channel 110. Content is unsurpassed but I find it hard to listen to because the audio levels are all over the place; the hosts range near and far from the mics, talk over each other, and the preface/concluding remarks are mismatched in level with the interviews. I WANT to hear everything these guys say but I'm constantly having to adjust the volume on my iPhone. Please give us more but level the audio.

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