Show 1215: Chasing a Cure for the Cytokine Storm of COVID-19
The People's Pharmacy
Joe and Terry Graedon
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2020
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. David Fajgenbaum was a medical student in excellent health when he was struck with a mysterious disease. He nearly died before his doctors finally diagnosed him with a rare condition known as idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease. They hardly knew anything about it, and the few treatments that were available didn’t work for him. So he dedicated himself to finding a medication that did work. It turned out that an existing immune-suppressing drug called sirolimus was successful at suppressing the cytokine storms that put his life at risk.
What Does Cytokine Storm Have to Do With COVID-19?
One way that COVID-19 is killing people in this pandemic is by triggering the immune system. When it overreacts, the result is what doctors call cytokine storm. This causes high fevers, lung damage and terrifying respiratory distress. Cytokine storm or a similar immune overreaction may also help bring on MIS-C. (Multisystem Inflammatory System in Children) This is a complication affecting babies, children and young adults, in which multiple organ systems begin to fail. When immune system cells release a lot of cytokines, these pro-inflammatory compounds can also push blood to clot and harm organs throughout the body.
Are There Drugs That Can Calm Cytokine Storm?
Dr. Fajgenbaum has been leading a collaborative that is doing research on treatments for Castleman disease. He found himself thinking that someone should apply that research to help treat severe cases of COVID-19. When he didn’t see anyone else doing so, he realized he and his team had the skills and knowledge needed. Consequently, following his motto of turning hope into action, they went to work. Dr. Fajgenbaum shares this perspective and the progress they have made so far.
This Week’s Guest:
David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is an assistant professor of medicine in the department of Translational Medicine & Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he is Associate Director for Patient Impact of the Orphan Disease Center at the University of Pennsylvania. His book is Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action. The photograph of Dr. Fajgenbaum is by Rebecca McAlpin.
A patient who has experienced five cytokine storms similar to those caused by COVID-19 before identifying a drug to save his life, Fajgenbaum is also the Executive Director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and Principal Investigator of the CORONA project. Dr. Fajgenbaum’s work has been highlighted extensively, including a cover story in the New York Times and the Forbes “30 Under 30” list. The website for the book is https://chasingmycure.com/ while the website for the CORONA project is https://cdcn.org/corona/
Listen to the Podcast:
The podcast of this program will be available Monday, June 8, 2020, after broadcast on June 6. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free. CDs may be purchased at any time after broadcast for $9.99.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This People's Pharmacy Podcast is supported in part by Cocovia. |
| 0:05.0 | Cocovia cocovolavinol support both cardiovascular health and cognitive function |
| 0:10.0 | by promoting healthy blood flow, transporting oxygen and nutrients to vital organs and muscles including your heart and your brain. |
| 0:18.6 | Cocovia now comes in an even more concentrated formula with 450 milligrams of cocoa flavinols, five times |
| 0:26.9 | more than the leading dark chocolate bar and 15 times more than the leading cocoa |
| 0:32.0 | powder. |
| 0:33.0 | Cocovia has a proprietary process that preserves cocoa flauvinels at the highest levels. |
| 0:39.1 | The product undergoes rigorous testing at every stage to guarantee the highest level of |
| 0:44.2 | cocoa of lavinals per serving and to provide the purest highest quality product |
| 0:49.6 | possible. In honor of Brain Health Awareness Month, Cocovia is offering 30% off for all products |
| 0:57.0 | on its website through Monday, June 8. That's Cocovia.com, C-O-C-O-A-V-I-A-D-A.com. |
| 1:07.0 | What do a rare condition called Casseman Disease and COVID-19 have in common. |
| 1:14.3 | Cydekind Storm is a killer in both. |
| 1:17.7 | This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Grayden. Dr. David Faganbaum has been battling Castleman Disease since he was a medical student. |
| 1:33.4 | He almost died five different times and did not respond to the usual treatment. |
| 1:38.0 | He's had to chase his own cure. |
| 1:40.5 | What he learned about calming a cytokine storm might be invaluable for physicians trying to treat victims of the coronavirus pandemic. |
| 1:49.6 | Could insights from his rare disease help researchers repurpose old drugs against the coronavirus? |
| 1:55.9 | Coming up on the People's Pharmacy, chasing the cure for COVID-19. In the People's Pharmacy Health Headlines, we've all been waiting for the results of a randomized controlled trial of |
| 2:15.2 | hydroxi-chloroquine to treat COVID-19. The first of these has just been |
| 2:20.6 | published and the results are disappointing. The study conducted in |
| 2:25.0 | Minnesota and Canada compared hydroxychloroquin with placebo to prevent infection |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joe and Terry Graedon, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joe and Terry Graedon and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.