Maka Tsulukidze

Online health information seeking is changing the way people engage the health system. We sought to examine an innovative model of research translation, The Huberman Lab Podcast (HLP), leveraging social media to deliver health information translated into specific, actionable practices and health strategies directly to consumers. This research aims to characterize HLP as a model of research translation and assess its potential for wider adoption and application. 

We applied two qualitative analytical approaches: conventional content analysis of the YouTube transcript data and directed content analysis of viewers’ YouTube comments.

Key features of the HLP model include direct to consumer, zero cost, bilingual, and actionable content. We identified three main organizing categories and ten subcategories as the key elements of the model: 1) Why: Educate and empower; Bring zero cost to consumer information to the general public; 2) What: Tools and Protocols; Underlying mechanisms; Grounded in Science; 3) How: Linear and Iterative Knowledge Building Process; Lecture-Style Sessions; Interactive and Consumer Informed; Easily Accessible; Building the Community. Analysis of viewers’ comments found strong consumer support of HLP model. 

The HLP model of research translation, designed as an interactive and user-informed online product, offers an innovative way to synthesize scientific evidence and deliver it directly to end-users as actionable tools and education. The model offers a replicable framework for translating and disseminating scientific evidence. Similar active models of research translation may have meaningful implications for improving access to health information and the implementation of health strategies for improved outcomes. 

Pregnancy affects cardiovascular health. It is associated with increased long-term risk of hypertension¹, ischemic heart disease (IHD)¹, myocardial infarction (MI)^2–4, ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage^5–9, venous and arterial thromboembolism.^10,11 However, there is relatively little research exploring the differences in risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with pregnancy losses (induced or natural).^12–19

In recent analyses examining the effects of pregnancy on Medicaid recipients, we found that there was an 18% increased risk of a first diagnosis of CVD (Adjusted OR=1.18; 95% CI=1.15-1.21) among women whose first pregnancy was a pregnancy loss as compared to women whose first pregnancy was a live birth. A graph of the onset of first diagnosis of CVD, however, revealed that incremental increased risk was reversed only in the first six months following the first pregnancy outcome. In that first six months following a first pregnancy outcome, 3.61% of women giving birth had a first CVD diagnosis compared to only 2.04% of women who had a miscarriage or abortion. Biannual rates of first CVD fell for both groups after the first six months, but significantly more slowly for those who had a first pregnancy loss.²⁰

These findings introduced the question of whether a history of pregnancy loss increases the risk of CVD following a first live birth. Accordingly, the present study seeks to examine the effects of prior pregnancy loss on CVD risk in the first six months following a first live birth.