Dr Matt & Dr Mike's A-Z of the Human Body is a concise, engaging podcast series that explores human anatomy and physiology one term at a time. Hosted by Dr Matt Barton (Griffith University) and Dr Mike Todorovic (Bond University), both experienced educators and science communicators, the series aims to make complex medical concepts accessible and enjoyable.
Emergency, paediatric and physiology learners get a practical explanation of body temperature as a regulated organ-temperature range rather than a fixed number. It links metabolic heat production, hypothalamic control, fever physiology, measurement-site limitations and heat loss through radiation, evaporation, conduction and convection.
A physiology and prescribing refresher for clinicians using hydrocortisone, prednisolone or dexamethasone. HPA-axis regulation, intracellular receptor effects, adrenal suppression, hyperglycaemia, infection, bone risk and safe withdrawal after prolonged systemic treatment are kept together.
Emergency clinicians and students revising acute presentations get toxidrome, neurological and limb-ischaemia cues in one wide-ranging item. Opioid overdose, absent brain stem reflexes, sickle cell pain, electrical injury, traumatic airway difficulty and scurvy are linked to practical reassessment pitfalls.
Raised blood pressure, oedema, reduced urine output or chest pain can be a route into renal and cardiovascular physiology. It links RAAS, eGFR, chronic kidney disease, NSAID risk, diabetic atherosclerosis and ACS symptom patterns without turning the science into isolated facts.
Slow heart rate is the best place to begin because the bedside question is common: physiological bradycardia or pathological bradyarrhythmia? It links dizziness, syncope and confusion with ECG rhythm reading, reversible triggers, sick sinus syndrome, escape rhythms and high-grade atrioventricular block.
The episode links tight junctions, endothelial transport, basement membrane, pericytes, astrocytes and microglia with levodopa use, neuroinflammation, head injury, sepsis, meningitis, encephalitis and multiple sclerosis.
A crowded emergency department changes risk when reassessment slips. Severe muscle pain after endurance exercise, broad QRS complexes, peaked T waves and acute kidney injury point towards rhabdomyolysis with life-threatening hyperkalaemia; chest pain, head injury and paediatric lethargy still need active review.
Raised glucose, hot flushes and viral glycolysis sound like a scattered set, yet the physiology links them well. Save this for mechanism-based explanations of insulin resistance and menopausal vasomotor symptoms, especially if teaching has drifted into shorthand that patients or learners cannot use.
Folate inhibitors are worth revisiting because the mechanism changes the prescribing conversation. Sulfonamides and trimethoprim block different folate steps, co-trimoxazole gives sequential blockade, and resistance or heavy bacterial burden can make monotherapy less reliable.
Useful when antibiotic choice starts to drift wider than the case supports. It separates penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, vancomycin and fosfomycin by mechanism, resistance and route, including why oral vancomycin suits Clostridium difficile while systemic infection needs intravenous treatment.
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