Ancient Health Podcast

Dr. Eboni Cornish, MD, of Amen Clinics and ILADS, returns for a third conversation, live in Nashville. She and Dr. Chris Motley talk about Lyme and other tick-borne infections in the brain: anxiety and depression, kids labeled ADHD, puberty flares, mold and memory, and why she calms the brain before treating anything. Plus her best question: when did your symptoms start, and where were you? Sources in the show notes. Educational only, not medical advice.

00:00 Depression, anxiety, and a Lyme test

00:39 Welcome: Dr. Eboni Cornish, live in Nashville

02:20 From bored family doctor to Lyme practice

04:13 How Lyme gets into the brain

06:12 What a Lyme brain looks like on a SPECT scan

08:02 The limbic loop: calm the brain

10:21 Is neurology catching up?

12:30 Floaters, light sensitivity, and trouble reading

14:05 Tinnitus and sound sensitivity

15:08 Can kids have Lyme? Pregnancy and newborns

17:48 Why puberty can trigger a flare

20:12 ADHD, PANS, and a gentler approach for kids

23:32 Food, kids, and the one-food trade

25:56 Sudden anger in children

27:23 Joint pain and injuries that won't heal

28:57 Teeth, gums, and cavitations

31:09 Babesia and your red blood cells

32:34 MTHFR, explained

35:11 Swollen lymph nodes and lymphatic drainage

36:47 Memory loss, mold, and dementia risk

39:42 Where were you when your symptoms started?

41:31 Gratitude and the brain

43:59 How your gut shapes your mood

46:09 Her morning routine

48:19 Saunas, baths, and cold water

50:38 Belly breathing for kids

51:11 Her fall speaking tour

54:14 Where to find Dr. Cornish

55:34 Wrap-up

57:01 Disclaimer

Key Takeaways:

Tick-borne illness can show up in the brain. Lyme can reach the nervous system. If you have neurological symptoms and you are not getting better, Dr. Cornish says to put tick-borne disease on the list (5:16).

Calm the brain before you push treatment. Her patients who react to everything are often stuck in fight or flight, a "limbic loop" (9:37). She starts by calming the nervous system.

Kids get labeled. Many of her pediatric patients arrive diagnosed with ADHD or "being bad" (20:50). A sudden change in a child, over days rather than months, is worth asking your pediatrician about by name: PANS.

Trade one food, not the whole diet. She asks a reluctant kid for one food that "doesn't love your brain," and trades a supplement off the list in return (25:04). Then she asks AI for realistic swaps a family will actually eat.

Babesia lives in red blood cells. If you have tested positive, don't donate blood. Federal blood-safety rules agree.

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https://www.instagram.com/dr.ebonicornish/

https://www.drebonicornish.com/

For more on her work:

https://www.amenclinics.com/

https://www.ilads.org/

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At 34, Dr. Stephen Hussey had a zero calcium score and a heart attack six months later. Dr. Chris Motley talks with him about what his tests missed, infrared light, structured water, and his case that the heart is more than a pump. Sources in the show notes. Remember: chest pain means call 911. Educational only, not medical advice.

00:00 Zero calcium score, heart attack at 34

00:24 Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast

00:33 Meet Dr. Stephen Hussey 01:38 Hives, asthma, and type 1 diabetes at nine

03:04 Fit, healthy, perfect labs, then a heart attack

04:42 Alone in the hospital with 11 prescriptions

06:34 A blocked leg artery after the heart cath

08:55 Why he bought an infrared sauna

11:18 Half of sunlight is infrared, and we live indoors

14:09 Structured water, explained and disputed

18:42 What makes blood clot: Virchow's three conditions

22:43 Stop the heart and the blood keeps moving?

25:43 Red light panels, and how much is too much

30:08 Is the heart really a pump?

30:39 A quick word on LDL

31:51 Three roles of the heart, starting with the pump question

35:14 A heart that twists

37:40 Sponsor: Timeline

39:05 Role two: the heart as a brake

41:08 Role three: the heart as a sensor

46:06 Heart rate variability and the ability to adapt

48:54 Chinese medicine: the heart governs the blood

50:15 Grounding: how much is enough

53:36 Three books

55:48 Why he stopped practicing to teach full time

57:34 Wrap-up 58:18 Disclaimer

Key Takeaways

A zero calcium score is good news, not a guarantee. It measures calcified plaque only. Dr. Hussey says so himself (3:40): it does not see soft plaque, and it cannot see a clot that forms on a clean artery wall.

Heart attacks are not all plumbing. Stress cardiomyopathy and coronary artery spasm are real, recognized events that do not start with a blocked artery.

Get outside. About half of sunlight is infrared, and Americans spend about 93 percent of their time indoors or in vehicles (NHAPS, 2001).

Light has a dose. Red and infrared light help up to a point, then stop helping. Dr. Hussey calls it a "bell curve" (26:52), and the research agrees.

The heart twists as it contracts, and heart rate variability matters. Both are well measured. Low heart rate variability tracks with heart failure and depression.

Chinese medicine says the heart governs the blood and houses the spirit. Dr. Motley connects that classical idea to Dr. Hussey's argument that the heart is more than a mechanical pump (48:54 to 50:11).

Remember: Don't stop or change heart medications without your cardiologist.

Chest pain, pressure, or shortness of breath: call 911, whatever your last scan said.

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Normal TSH, still exhausted? Dr. Chris Motley explains the thyroid antibodies most people never get tested for, why a stomach infection called H. pylori keeps showing up alongside Hashimoto's, what a 2026 study found when it was treated, and what Chinese medicine has long said about digestion and a cold, tired body.

(00:00) Your antibodies are five times normal, and "nothing to treat yet"

(00:53) Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast

(01:02) The most common thyroid disease, and the least recognized

(02:15) How your immune system attacks your thyroid: anti-TPO and anti-thyroglobulin

(02:55) What your thyroid does, and how TPO builds T3 and T4

(05:38) Why the antibodies start: Epstein-Barr, and one more pathogen

(06:13) H. pylori is not just a heartburn bug

(07:17) The stomach infection you forgot you had

(08:41) How people actually catch H. pylori

(10:16) A hidden infection and an over-alert immune system

(11:30) Mistaken identity: the molecular mimicry idea

(14:16) The Egypt study: treat H. pylori, watch TSH fall

(15:45) Why H. pylori belongs in every Hashimoto's workup

(16:47) A patient story: lifelong anxiety and a folder of labs

(23:16) Chinese medicine: Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency

(24:56) The herbs Dr. Motley uses, and what the research shows

(27:40) That old infection could still be hanging around

(28:01) Normal labs, still feel crummy? What to ask for

(29:26) Share this with someone who needs it

(30:02) Disclaimer

TSH alone can miss Hashimoto's. Over 90 percent of people with Hashimoto's carry TPO antibodies, and 50 to 80 percent carry thyroglobulin antibodies (StatPearls). Most standard panels check TSH only. Ask for both antibodies.

The H. pylori and Hashimoto's link is real in pooled data, not in every study. A 15-study meta-analysis found about twice the odds of Hashimoto's with H. pylori infection (OR 2.16). One Italian study found the link only in Graves' disease. Molecular mimicry is a proposed explanation, not a proven one. 5. Treating H. pylori lowered TSH in levothyroxine-resistant women. TSH fell from 11.87 to 2.56 over four months in a 2026 Egyptian study. Antibodies moved much less. Levothyroxine needs stomach acid to absorb, so better absorption is the likeliest reason.

What Doctor Motley Likes to Use:

Golden Thread: https://tinyurl.com/mvf6rftr

Scutellaria Supreme (Chinese Scullcap): https://tinyurl.com/4murtnuk

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Dr. Shivani Gupta watched diabetes move through her family in India, then studied Ayurveda to find out what could be done for it. She explains Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, what each type tends to eat and how each sleeps, her daily clock and seasonal eating, and the rockstar power of turmeric! Plus her proposal that menopause is a Vata shift. Code DRMOTLEY will give you 15% off Dr. Shivani’s incredible Ayurvedic formulas at Fusionary Formulas: https://fusionaryformulas.com/. Head here for Dr. Shivani’s first episode of the Ancient Health Podcast! https://youtu.be/i4QXlf4VIHY

Key Takeaways

Vata types are told to eat three regular meals. At [00:18:56], her first homework for the thin, airy, always-in-motion type is "three square meals a day," and if that fails, keep nuts and tea within reach. She has meals delivered to wherever she is working.

Pitta types are told to cool down, and Kapha types to move. Pitta (medium build, runs hot, driven and organized) gets cooling foods and a warning about summer heat. Kapha (sturdy, loyal, tends to sluggishness) gets a push to walk or move each day before the evening slump.

Turmeric in food is one thing, concentrated capsules are another. She recommends cooking turmeric with black pepper or a healthy fat, which is traditional and low-risk. Ask your prescriber first, especially if you take any medicine or have liver or gallbladder problems.

Educational only, not medical advice. Do not stop or reduce any prescribed medicine, including insulin, without your prescriber. If you take any medicine or have liver or gallbladder problems, ask your prescriber before starting turmeric or curcumin supplements.

00:00 Cold open: the spice she wrote her dissertation on

00:41 Sponsor: Timeline and Mitopure (urolithin A)

02:07 Welcome back, Dr. Gupta, in person in Nashville

03:54 A Houston kid, summers in India, and diabetes in every generation 05:33 The night she touched her grandfather's feet

07:07 Why she went to India to study Ayurveda, and the pattern she repeats

12:30 Kitchen spices, a master's, a turmeric dissertation, and black pepper 16:36 Pillar one, your dosha: Vata, the thin and airy type

20:12 Pitta, the fire type: volcanoes, marriage, and parenting two constitutions

26:18 Kapha, the earth type, and why she says they sleep ten hours

29:00 The Ayurvedic clock, an earlier bedtime, and eating with the seasons

34:45 Turmeric: what she says it does, and boswellia

42:47 Sugar, gluten, and two case stories

46:22 Her next book and the "vata syndrome of menopause"

48:31 Where to find Dr. Gupta, and the close

Want more of The Ancient Health Podcast? Subscribe to the YouTube channel.

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*Take Timeline’s Longevity Quiz and you’ll get a FREE sample of Mitopure gummies (if you’re not on the Mitopure train yet, this is the perfect opportunity to try them out! https://tinyurl.com/ujbj4r57

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*Do you have a ton more in-depth questions for Doctor Motley? Check out his course on emotions and the body in his membership. You’ll find other courses full of his expertise and clinical wisdom, plus bring all your questions to his weekly lives! To try risk-free for 15 days click here https://www.doctormotley.com/15
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The molluscum cream your dermatologist prescribed actually.…doesn't beat doing nothing. A 2017 Cochrane review of 22 trials says so. Dr. Chris Motley breaks down why watchful waiting is actually the evidence-backed call, what the new FDA-approved gel really does (and doesn't) fix, and why some kids' bumps won't quit for years while others clear in months.

[00:00:00] - The pediatrician who said "just wait it out"

[00:00:48] - Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast

[00:01:01]- Six million cases a year, and why some kids are more exposed than others [00:02:36] - The jolt: a systematic review of 22 trials says the standard cream doesn't beat nothing

[00:03:39] - A frustrated mother's story: two bumps become ten, then spread to both siblings

[00:08:05] - This isn't about which cream to buy, it's about how the virus hides

[00:08:42] Meet the pox family and the cells the virus sets up shop in

[00:09:28] - The virus's cloaking device: blocking your own inflammation signal

[00:10:44] - Imiquimod was never actually FDA-approved for this

[00:11:58] Why "watch and wait" is the most evidence-backed thing a dermatologist can tell you

[00:12:16] - What changed in January 2024: the first FDA-approved molluscum treatment ever

[00:14:11] - The real question: why some kids clear this in months and others fight it for years

[00:14:27] - The 2025 study connecting eczema and stubborn molluscum

[00:14:54] - Why eczema is a gut and lung problem in Chinese medicine, not just a skin problem

[00:17:12] - Leaky gut, explained

[00:17:50] - Sponsor break: Wavwatch

[00:19:03] - How toxin buildup makes its way out through the skin

[00:20:51] - What to check first if molluscum won't go away: gut and lung dysfunction

[00:23:39] - The labs Dr. Motley actually recommends for gut and lung testing

[00:25:29] - How Dr. Motley diagnoses in his own office: EAV testing and kinesiology

[00:27:38] - Three go-to herbal tinctures for viral support, by name

[00:31:09] - Cat's claw and scutellaria for lung and gut inflammation

[00:32:06] - Homeopathic options, and where to research them

[00:33:21] The reassurance: if the bumps cleared and never came back, don't worry

[00:34:42] - Subscribe, share, and the standard medical disclaimer

[00:36:20] - Close

Key Takeaways

A 2017 Cochrane review of 22 trials and 1,650 patients found topical imiquimod 5% performs no better than an inactive vehicle cream. Imiquimod was never FDA-approved for molluscum specifically; two decades of dermatologist use were off-label, borrowed from its approval for genital warts and actinic keratosis.

"Watch and wait" is the evidence-backed answer, not a dodge. The same Cochrane review found no tested intervention, cryotherapy, potassium hydroxide, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, clearly beat placebo either. Natural resolution remains the best-supported path for most kids.

The virus has its own cloaking device. It infects keratinocytes and actively encodes proteins that block chemokine and inflammation signaling at the infection site, telling the immune system nothing is wrong, sometimes for years. Scratching spreads it to new sites through auto-inoculation.

January 2024 brought the first FDA-approved molluscum treatment ever: berdazimer gel (Zelsuvmi). A nitric-oxide-releasing gel applied once daily for up to 12 weeks. Real, and not a miracle: the FDA-label figure is 32.4% complete clearance versus 19.7% for vehicle at week 12, in an 891-patient phase 3 trial.

Chinese medicine ties eczema to the lungs and colon, not just the skin. The lung and large intestine are paired "metal element" meridians in TCM theory; when either is weakened or inflamed, the skin, their shared detox pathway, is where the overflow shows up as rashes, acne, or persistent viral lesions. If it's not going away, check gut and lung function, not just the skin. Chronic sinus congestion, asthma history, or frequent colds point to lung weakness; constipation, diarrhea, or a history of food poisoning point to gut imbalance, per Dr. Motley's clinical framework. He names specific labs for both.

What Doctor Motley Uses:

Astragalus: https://tinyurl.com/39j4xpnx

Olive leaf: https://tinyurl.com/32c4sj9a

Elderberry: https://tinyurl.com/kxvnrtep

Cat's claw: https://tinyurl.com/yu8ntvu7

Scutellaria: https://tinyurl.com/4murtnuk

Other Recommended Resources:

MicrogenDX (respiratory/sinus testing)

Mosaic Diagnostics (parasitology and gut testing)

Supreme Nutrition Products (Astragalus, Olive Leaf, Elderberry, Cat's Claw, Scutellaria)

Hawaii Pharm

Woodland Essences

DesBio (homeopathic remedies)

Metabolics.com

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