Intelligent Medicine Radio for June 28: Chili Peppers

written by Dr. Ronald Hoffman | June 30, 2025

Part 1

“Delay, Deny . . .”— Feds take aim at prior authorizations that block patients’ access to care, surgeries, drugs they need; Electrodiagnostic testing with computers—does it add up for diagnosis? Are there non-surgical options for goiters? Chili peppers confer heart, cancer, longevity benefits; Will stem cells deliver a cure for insulin-dependent diabetics? Vitamin C reprograms skin cells to reverse age-related thinning.



Part 2

SAT’s getting shorter to match diminished attention spans of college applicants; Comprehensive review finds most of the studies on which we base our most accepted drugs and medical therapies are flawed; A heart drug approved in 2011 and used by millions comes under renewed scrutiny due to research irregularities; Best supplements for preventing osteoporosis; Tremors after Covid shot; Researchers discover how exercise lowers Alzheimer’s risk; Two new studies show exercise curbs cancer recurrence.









References & Resources

Vitamin C flips your skin’s “youth genes,” reversing age-related thinning
Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2025; DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2025.03.040

Stem cell-derived, fully differentiated islets for Type 1 diabetes
NEJM Published June 20, 2025 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2506549

Association of pepper intake with all-cause and specific cause mortality-A systematic review and meta-analysis
Am J Prev Cardiol. 2021 Dec 8;9:100301. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpc.2021.100301.

Health insurers, nudged by Trump administration, pledge reform to prior authorization
By Rebecca Pifer,  healthcaredive.com  June 3, 2025

Prior authorization: What is it, when might you need it, and how do you get it?
By Hallie Levine, Harvard Health Publishing  Aug 5, 2024

Evaluating the reporting quality of 21,041 randomized controlled trial articles
medRxiv 2025.03.06.25323528; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.06.25323528

As attention spans get shorter, so does the SAT—and soon the ACT
By Joanne Jacobs, joannejacobs.com  June 20, 2025

Central nervous system manifestations following vaccination against COVID-19
Brain, Behavior & Immunity – Health  Volume 38, July 2024, 100788

Does exercise decrease distant recurrence of breast cancer?
Journal of Clinical Oncology Volume 42, Number 25

Exercise is great but it’s not a cancer…..
By John Mandrola, Sensible Medicine  June 2, 2025

New study shows how exercise protects the brain from Alzheimer’s disease
Nat Neurosci. 2025 Jun 12. doi: 10.1038/s41593-025-01971-w. Online ahead of print.

FDA under fire: Data discrepancies uncovered in AstraZeneca approval trials
BMJ, 2025; 389: r1201 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.r1201