April 15, 2026 • 23 mins
On this mini episode, Dr. Priyanka Wali shares practical health tips to help you better understand your body and know when to seek care. She breaks down why unintentional weight loss can be a warning sign, what to know about blood sugar screening before pregnancy, how to monitor changing moles, why everyone should know their blood pressure, signs of vitamin B12 deficiency, how to tell food poisoning from a stomach virus, and the key safety rule for using a Neti pot.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast is for information purposes only and should not
be considered professional medical advice. I'm Hurry Condibolu, I'm doctor
pre Uncle Wally, and this is Health Stuff. Hi everyone,
welcome back to Health Stuff. This is another special mini
(00:20):
episode we're doing. We're calling it Tiny Takeaways. All this
is is just some quick, practical tips to help answer
common health questions. And the purpose here is I really
just want to help give you information that can increase
your awareness, hopefully decrease your anxiety, and empower you as
(00:41):
you navigate this really crazy healthcare system that we have here.
Of course, always check in with your own doctor for
any personalized medical concerns. Let's get to it. So our
first Tiny Takeaway is actually inspired by what's been going
(01:01):
on in our country and really around the world, with
this craze around losing weight taking medications like ozebic that
there's a lot of talk around that, but I actually
wanted to focus on a different category that I don't
want to be missed. I'm talking about unintentional weight loss.
(01:22):
So this is when you're losing weight without trying, like,
you're not doing any dietary changes, you're not on a
GLP medication. Especially if you're losing more than ten pounds
in a few months, that's actually not something to just
brush off. There could actually be a medical reason for
(01:44):
unintentional weight loss, and I think it's just really important
to highlight that because there could be a lot of
conditions that could be causing that, something like thyroid issues,
undiagnosed diabetes. Sometimes if there's a problem with the gut,
the intestinal track and absorbing nutrients. Sometimes it can be
(02:04):
something even more serious like depression or cancer. But having
unintentional weight loss is definitely something that should be flagged.
I just want to make sure that this category of
people don't fall through the cracks. So if you are
experiencing unintentional weight loss weight loss without trying, and you're
(02:27):
losing more than ten pounds in a few months, or
you're noticing that maybe your clothes are a lot looser
and you're not really trying, and there hasn't been any
major lifestyle change, definitely bring this to your doctor's attention.
This next tiny takeaway is a message for anyone who's
(02:49):
out there. They might be planning a pregnancy, or they
might be thinking about having kids one day. One of
the common risk factors during pregnancies is something called justational diabetes.
It's basically a period where your blood sugar levels go
high while you're pregnant. But the thing is, you can
actually have signs of gestational diabetes way before the standard
(03:13):
testing windows when you are supposed to be tested as
a pregnant person. So one of the things that you
can do even now before you're planning a pregnancy is
talking to your doctor and getting a blood test called
a hemoglobin A one C. This is a blood test
that will basically look at the average blood sugar levels
(03:36):
that you've had over the last three months. And this
is a really simple, easy way to just start the
screening process because if you have a hemoglobin A one
C that is elevated, that could be a sign of
pre diabetes or diabetes, and you definitely want to know
that going into a pregnancy because it could mean that
(03:59):
you might need closer monitoring, you might need some extra
medications if you don't like getting your blood drawn. Another
option that exists is wearing something called a continuous glucose
monitor or a CGM. Nowadays, actually they have cgms that
you can actually purchase over the counter at your local drugstore.
(04:20):
You don't need a doctor's prescription, and this is something
that you would wear. It's a wearable medical device. You'd
wear it on your body for ten to fourteen days,
depending on the brand, and you'd go about your day,
eating whatever foods you typically eat, and you would see
how does your blood sugar change as you wear the
(04:42):
continuous glucose monitor. If you catch that your blood sugar
is actually going pretty high, it's more than what is
within the normal range, that is actually really helpful information
for you to know, because then you can take that
information to your doctor and say, hey, I wore a
CGM and I noticed I had some high blood sugar
(05:03):
level readings. I want to be tested for diabetes pre diabetes.
I want to do a deeper dive into this. This
can really protect you later when you get pregnant and
you're carrying a child, because catching blood sugar problems early
can really save you from a lot of additional possible
(05:23):
complications in pregnancy. So a lot of people start closely
monitoring what they eat when they get pregnant, but I
think there's a lot that you can do even before
you get pregnant. So I just want to bring this
attention so that you can do something about it and
empower yourself moving into your pregnancy. My next tiny takeaway
(05:48):
is around something. We human beings all have our skin,
and our skin changes with time with age, and some
of us might have spots or moles on our skin,
and we might be well, is this look dangerous? What
am I supposed to do? Well? If you find a
mole or a spot on your skin and you don't
(06:11):
know if you should call your doctor or if you
should just keep it and enjoy looking at it, one
of the things that you can just do is take
a picture of it. Take a picture of it, because
then you get a timestamp of what this mole looks
like at this point in time, and then you can
(06:31):
track those changes over time. Because that's actually really helpful information.
If you end up seeing a dermatologist or your regular
doctor and you tell them, hey, I have this mold
on my body and I've noticed, just as an example,
over the last couple of months, it's changed in size,
or it's changed in shape, or it's changed in color,
(06:52):
or maybe it's more bumpy, it's it's evolved. This can
actually be really helpful information. So take a picture of
the mole or the spot and keep tracking the changes
with a photo. That way, by the time you actually
see the doctor, especially like getting in to see a dermatologist,
(07:12):
sometimes they have really long wait times. By the time
you see them, you can show them well, these are
photos that have happened over the last couple of months
or over the last year, and that will actually be
really helpful information for them, especially to catch something that
could be treatable. Now, if you're wondering, well, how often
(07:34):
should I go see a doctor to get my skin checked?
Listen for most people, especially for those who have an
increased risk for melanoma. So for example, maybe you have
a history of melanoma or there's a family history. Generally
the recommendation is getting a skin check for moles by
(07:55):
a healthcare provider at least once a year, but you
can exam in yourself regularly, like every month or at
least several times a year. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network
recommends annual skin checks for all people with the history
of melanoma, or if you have additional risk factors like
(08:19):
a family history of melanoma or you have multiple moles
that look abnormal, But for the general population without risk factors.
There's not really any consensus or evidence based guideline around
how often you should get your skin checked. I will
(08:40):
tell you one thing, like you looking at your skin
is a really important key to detecting something that could
be concerning. And when looking at moles, there's something that
they taught us in med school. It was called the
ABCDE rule. When you look at moles, abcde for asymmetry,
(09:01):
So if the mole doesn't look symmetric, B for border,
So if the border looks concerning, like there's irregular borders,
it's not smooth. C for color, so if there's multiple colors,
or it's just one color. D for diameter, so if
it's getting larger, and E for evolving, which is a changing,
(09:22):
and any kind of suspicious change would mean you gotta
go see a doctor. Right after this break, we'll be
back with more. The next ninety takeaway for me is
really important because everyone should know what their blood pressure is.
(09:43):
Why do I care? Why do I say this? Well,
having high blood pressure is one of the earliest signs
of so many medical conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney issues,
you name it. And this is something that everyone can
get access to you literally do not need to see
(10:05):
a doctor. You can go by a home blood pressure
cuff relatively inexpensively, and you can check this at home
by yourself. And to me, this is one of the
best measures to detect if there's something going on. It's
not just high blood pressure. If you're feeling unwell, you
(10:26):
might have low blood pressure, and that can be really
helpful information for your whole too. So I think I
just want to say this sort of PSA. I think
everyone should have a blood pressure cuff at home because
it could actually really give you some very very helpful
information about what's going on with your health. A couple
of words about the blood pressure cuffs. If you are
(10:47):
getting one, or you're searching on the market for one,
try and get the blood pressure cuff that goes around
your arm. It's more accurate than the ones that they
sell that go around your wrist. And if you're arm
is on the bigger side, make sure you get a
blood pressure cuff that is actually larger than average, because
if your cuff is actually too small for your arm,
(11:11):
it could lead to false high readings. So it's really
important you get the right size cuff for the size
of your arm and you can check your blood pressure
basically any time. Tends to be the highest during the morning,
and if you feel unwell or you're having any kind
of unusual symptoms, just check your blood pressure. It'll be
(11:34):
very helpful and that information then you can if you
need to go see a doctor, you can then tell
your doctor, I checked my blood pressure at home and
it was X, Y, and Z. That's really helpful information
that will allow your doctor to make a better, well
informed decision about what's the next step for your care.
(11:55):
When you go to the doctor's office, probably ninety nine
percent of the time your blood pressure's checked. And why
is that Because having high blood pressure is one of
the biggest preventable risk factors for heart disease and complications
related to heart disease. It is the most modifiable risk factor,
(12:20):
and so getting screened regularly is critical. That's why you're
checked all the time. It is a simple, non invasive
tool that can detect issues early and can lead to
a better diagnosis because lots of things can cause high
blood pressure, heart issues, kidney issues, and this is so preventable.
(12:46):
So that's probably why every time you go into the
doctor's office you're getting your blood pressure checked. One of
the other things I want to just mention if the
only time you're getting your blood pressure checked at the
doctor's office and you've been told in the path that
you have high blood pressure, just note that there is
(13:07):
something called white coat hypertension. This is basically a phenomenon
that has a lot of evidence behind it where people's
blood pressure goes up when they go see the doctor. Yeah,
sorry about that. And when you go home and you
check your blood pressure, your blood pressure is normal. So
(13:28):
just remember that if you have high blood pressure when
you go see the doctor. This is another really, really
great reason to get your own blood pressure cuff at home.
Check your readings at home. They might be normal, and
this could actually be a situational factor that's raising your
blood pressure. And that's really important to know because if
you keep having high blood pressures at the office, at
(13:51):
the doctor's office, the doctor might eventually say, well, we
need to give you some medications. And if your home
readings are normal, you can actually tell your doctor, well, actually,
my home readings are within the normal range. So I
think this might be whye code hypertension, and this could
potentially help guide medication adjustments or maybe not needing medications.
(14:16):
Our next tidy takeaway is again inspired by something that
I talked about earlier around like feeling fatigued, so that
again there's a lot of reasons people can be tired
or have brain fog. One of the things that I
want to bring attention to is that if someone is
following a strict vegan diet, it's always important to get
your vitamin B twelve levels checked because B twelve is
(14:41):
a vitamin that is obtained through eating animal products, and
if you're in a very sort of restricted diet where
you're not getting access to that, it's really important that
you get your B twelve levels checked, especially if you're
having symptoms of feeling tired, or maybe you're having symptoms
of depression or you feel nerve tingling. B twelve deficiency
(15:03):
can also cause things like that, so when you get
your B twelve levels checked, sometimes people have clinical B
twelve deficiency even though there be twelve levels are technically
within the normal range. There's a couple of other follow
up blood tests that should be checked to really diagnose
true B twelve deficiency. That's homocystine level and methyl molonic
(15:29):
acid level. Homocystine and methyl molonic acid are actually precursors
to vitamin B twelve, So if those levels are actually elevated,
that is a sign of clinical B twelve deficiency. Even
if your B twelve levels are normal, So there's just
a few nuances because you might, for example, be feeling tired.
(15:49):
Go get your B twelve levels checked, and the levels
are technically within the normal range, but maybe they're in
the low end of the normal range. I would go
ahead and ask your doctor to check a homocysteine and
methyl malonic acid level to really make sure that you
don't have a B twelve deficiency, because if you do,
(16:09):
the good news is that this is totally treatable, whether
it involves taking supplements or changing your diet. BE twelve
deficiency is really treatable, and if untreated, can cause a
lot of issues, including mental health, neurological issues, and just
feeling really crummy. So I just wanted to make sure
(16:30):
people understand this. We'll be back with more health stuff
after this break. I just want to do a really
tiny takeaway about some common poop stuff that people go through.
Sometimes you feel really bad and you don't know do
(16:51):
I have a stomach virus or is this food poisoning?
What is going on? All I know is that I'm
strapped to the toilet. First of all, I'm sorry you're
feeling that way, because differentiating between a stomach virus or
viral gasterenritis, which is the medical term for that, and
food poisoning can be a little tricky because both can
(17:12):
present with, you know, nausea, vomiting, belly cramps, diarrhea. But
there's a couple of differences that I want to talk about.
So stomach virus typically majority will be you'll have diarrhea
and you'll feel like crap, you might have a low
grade fever. It's really important to remember though, with the
(17:35):
stomach virus viral gasterenritis, generally the diarrhea is not going
to be bloody, and there won't be mucus in the diarrhea.
And a lot of times people lose their appetite, and
there's a seasonal association to stomach virus. It's usually more
common in winter or spring. But in contrast, like classic
(17:59):
food pointing, food poisoning is caused mostly by the toxins
that are released by the organisms that are causing the
food poisoning. So like staff bacteria, Bacillis bacteria is another
example of a organism that causes toxins that are released
(18:20):
that then cause food poisoning. But the thing about food
poisoning is that generally it happens pretty quickly after you
ate the bad thing, like within hours, you will feel
acutely ill, you'll be vomiting, and usually within three days
you recover unless there's some other complication going on. A
(18:45):
lot of times with food poisoning, there can be like
really high fevers, bloody diarrhea, maybe you traveled recently, or
like there's an outbreak of something happening in the community,
or there was like a specific time type of food
that was eaten and that's what led to the issue.
So it's hard to distinguish between the two just based
(19:09):
off of the symptoms. Usually you can do some further
testing to determine what is the root cause. The treatment
for both, though, involves just keeping you well supported as
you recover from this, so we're talking about hydrating really well,
getting you to eat more as you can slowly tolerate it.
(19:31):
Sometimes you might need to go see the doctor for
medications that might bring the vomiting down if you're vomiting
a lot. Generally, antibiotics are reserved for very specific bacterial infections,
and they're definitely not needed for a stomach virus because
antibiotics treat bacterial infections and stomach virus is caused biovirus.
(19:55):
So most of the time, if there's no red flags,
you can stay at home and kind of handle this yourself.
But if you find that you're severely dehydrated, Let's say
you're vomiting to the point where you can't keep any
fluids down, maybe your stools are really bloody, your fever's
(20:16):
really high, it's lasting more than the three days, if
you're immunocompromised, any of those reasons, that would be a
reason to go get medical attention so that you can
get extra care and recover this. This is another tiny
takeaway I really want to send out there to the
(20:36):
ether in case there are any of you that use
a Nettie pot, also known as a nasal saline irrigation.
This is something that is recommended to people that have
chronic inflammation in their sinuses, or maybe you have a
sinus infection and you want to help clear out the
mucus and feel better. So netty pots are very effective.
(21:02):
In fact, they are. The data shows that they're slightly
more effective than even nasal sprays for feeling better when
you have sinuses that are really inflamed. But here's the
important kind of consideration that I really really want to
send out. Please please make sure you use the right
kind of water when you use a netty pot. What
(21:25):
is the right type of water? You should only use
water that is distilled, which you can buy anywhere. Really
it's distilled water, or it should be boiled. Why because
if you use unboiled water, there could be infections, very
serious infections, infections that can actually go to your brain
(21:49):
and cause all sorts of health problems and life threatening issues.
So you want to avoid that. So first of all,
you want to use the right type of water, and
then you want to make sure that you regularly clean
the nettie pot or the device so that you're not
contaminating it with bacteria. One other note about the risk
(22:14):
of infection from not using the right type of water.
There's even well documented cases of people that unfortunately developed
amiebas in their brain because they used unboiled tap water
for their netti pot and so again, I really want
to kind of push this out there. Only use distilled
(22:35):
sterile water or water that's been boiled for a Netti
pot preparation. Well, my friends, that's the tiny takeaways that
I have for you for today. I hope this helps
you navigate the healthcare system and really gives you a
couple of tidbits that can empower you to advocate for
(22:55):
yourself as you go through life. I always love hearing
from you. If you have any specific questions, please don't forget.
You can send us a voice memo with your health questions.
You can reach us at help Stuff podcast at gmail
dot com. We love hearing from you. Health Stuff is
(23:17):
a production of iHeart Podcasts. The show is hosted by Me,
doctor Preanco Wally, and Harrikonnebolu. Producers are Rebecca Eisenberg, Jenna Cagel,
Christina Loranger, Maya Howard, and Katrina Norvel. Our researcher is
Maria Tremarki and our intern is Katia Zobel Leayala. To
send us a question, you can email us a voice
(23:39):
memo at health Stuff podcast at gmail dot com. Thanks
so much for listening.
This podcast is for information purposes only and should not
be considered professional medical advice. I'm Hurry Condibolu, I'm doctor
pre Uncle Wally, and this is Health Stuff. Hi everyone,
welcome back to Health Stuff. This is another special mini
(00:20):
episode we're doing. We're calling it Tiny Takeaways. All this
is is just some quick, practical tips to help answer
common health questions. And the purpose here is I really
just want to help give you information that can increase
your awareness, hopefully decrease your anxiety, and empower you as
(00:41):
you navigate this really crazy healthcare system that we have here.
Of course, always check in with your own doctor for
any personalized medical concerns. Let's get to it. So our
first Tiny Takeaway is actually inspired by what's been going
(01:01):
on in our country and really around the world, with
this craze around losing weight taking medications like ozebic that
there's a lot of talk around that, but I actually
wanted to focus on a different category that I don't
want to be missed. I'm talking about unintentional weight loss.
(01:22):
So this is when you're losing weight without trying, like,
you're not doing any dietary changes, you're not on a
GLP medication. Especially if you're losing more than ten pounds
in a few months, that's actually not something to just
brush off. There could actually be a medical reason for
(01:44):
unintentional weight loss, and I think it's just really important
to highlight that because there could be a lot of
conditions that could be causing that, something like thyroid issues,
undiagnosed diabetes. Sometimes if there's a problem with the gut,
the intestinal track and absorbing nutrients. Sometimes it can be
(02:04):
something even more serious like depression or cancer. But having
unintentional weight loss is definitely something that should be flagged.
I just want to make sure that this category of
people don't fall through the cracks. So if you are
experiencing unintentional weight loss weight loss without trying, and you're
(02:27):
losing more than ten pounds in a few months, or
you're noticing that maybe your clothes are a lot looser
and you're not really trying, and there hasn't been any
major lifestyle change, definitely bring this to your doctor's attention.
This next tiny takeaway is a message for anyone who's
(02:49):
out there. They might be planning a pregnancy, or they
might be thinking about having kids one day. One of
the common risk factors during pregnancies is something called justational diabetes.
It's basically a period where your blood sugar levels go
high while you're pregnant. But the thing is, you can
actually have signs of gestational diabetes way before the standard
(03:13):
testing windows when you are supposed to be tested as
a pregnant person. So one of the things that you
can do even now before you're planning a pregnancy is
talking to your doctor and getting a blood test called
a hemoglobin A one C. This is a blood test
that will basically look at the average blood sugar levels
(03:36):
that you've had over the last three months. And this
is a really simple, easy way to just start the
screening process because if you have a hemoglobin A one
C that is elevated, that could be a sign of
pre diabetes or diabetes, and you definitely want to know
that going into a pregnancy because it could mean that
(03:59):
you might need closer monitoring, you might need some extra
medications if you don't like getting your blood drawn. Another
option that exists is wearing something called a continuous glucose
monitor or a CGM. Nowadays, actually they have cgms that
you can actually purchase over the counter at your local drugstore.
(04:20):
You don't need a doctor's prescription, and this is something
that you would wear. It's a wearable medical device. You'd
wear it on your body for ten to fourteen days,
depending on the brand, and you'd go about your day,
eating whatever foods you typically eat, and you would see
how does your blood sugar change as you wear the
(04:42):
continuous glucose monitor. If you catch that your blood sugar
is actually going pretty high, it's more than what is
within the normal range, that is actually really helpful information
for you to know, because then you can take that
information to your doctor and say, hey, I wore a
CGM and I noticed I had some high blood sugar
(05:03):
level readings. I want to be tested for diabetes pre diabetes.
I want to do a deeper dive into this. This
can really protect you later when you get pregnant and
you're carrying a child, because catching blood sugar problems early
can really save you from a lot of additional possible
(05:23):
complications in pregnancy. So a lot of people start closely
monitoring what they eat when they get pregnant, but I
think there's a lot that you can do even before
you get pregnant. So I just want to bring this
attention so that you can do something about it and
empower yourself moving into your pregnancy. My next tiny takeaway
(05:48):
is around something. We human beings all have our skin,
and our skin changes with time with age, and some
of us might have spots or moles on our skin,
and we might be well, is this look dangerous? What
am I supposed to do? Well? If you find a
mole or a spot on your skin and you don't
(06:11):
know if you should call your doctor or if you
should just keep it and enjoy looking at it, one
of the things that you can just do is take
a picture of it. Take a picture of it, because
then you get a timestamp of what this mole looks
like at this point in time, and then you can
(06:31):
track those changes over time. Because that's actually really helpful information.
If you end up seeing a dermatologist or your regular
doctor and you tell them, hey, I have this mold
on my body and I've noticed, just as an example,
over the last couple of months, it's changed in size,
or it's changed in shape, or it's changed in color,
(06:52):
or maybe it's more bumpy, it's it's evolved. This can
actually be really helpful information. So take a picture of
the mole or the spot and keep tracking the changes
with a photo. That way, by the time you actually
see the doctor, especially like getting in to see a dermatologist,
(07:12):
sometimes they have really long wait times. By the time
you see them, you can show them well, these are
photos that have happened over the last couple of months
or over the last year, and that will actually be
really helpful information for them, especially to catch something that
could be treatable. Now, if you're wondering, well, how often
(07:34):
should I go see a doctor to get my skin checked?
Listen for most people, especially for those who have an
increased risk for melanoma. So for example, maybe you have
a history of melanoma or there's a family history. Generally
the recommendation is getting a skin check for moles by
(07:55):
a healthcare provider at least once a year, but you
can exam in yourself regularly, like every month or at
least several times a year. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network
recommends annual skin checks for all people with the history
of melanoma, or if you have additional risk factors like
(08:19):
a family history of melanoma or you have multiple moles
that look abnormal, But for the general population without risk factors.
There's not really any consensus or evidence based guideline around
how often you should get your skin checked. I will
(08:40):
tell you one thing, like you looking at your skin
is a really important key to detecting something that could
be concerning. And when looking at moles, there's something that
they taught us in med school. It was called the
ABCDE rule. When you look at moles, abcde for asymmetry,
(09:01):
So if the mole doesn't look symmetric, B for border,
So if the border looks concerning, like there's irregular borders,
it's not smooth. C for color, so if there's multiple colors,
or it's just one color. D for diameter, so if
it's getting larger, and E for evolving, which is a changing,
(09:22):
and any kind of suspicious change would mean you gotta
go see a doctor. Right after this break, we'll be
back with more. The next ninety takeaway for me is
really important because everyone should know what their blood pressure is.
(09:43):
Why do I care? Why do I say this? Well,
having high blood pressure is one of the earliest signs
of so many medical conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney issues,
you name it. And this is something that everyone can
get access to you literally do not need to see
(10:05):
a doctor. You can go by a home blood pressure
cuff relatively inexpensively, and you can check this at home
by yourself. And to me, this is one of the
best measures to detect if there's something going on. It's
not just high blood pressure. If you're feeling unwell, you
(10:26):
might have low blood pressure, and that can be really
helpful information for your whole too. So I think I
just want to say this sort of PSA. I think
everyone should have a blood pressure cuff at home because
it could actually really give you some very very helpful
information about what's going on with your health. A couple
of words about the blood pressure cuffs. If you are
(10:47):
getting one, or you're searching on the market for one,
try and get the blood pressure cuff that goes around
your arm. It's more accurate than the ones that they
sell that go around your wrist. And if you're arm
is on the bigger side, make sure you get a
blood pressure cuff that is actually larger than average, because
if your cuff is actually too small for your arm,
(11:11):
it could lead to false high readings. So it's really
important you get the right size cuff for the size
of your arm and you can check your blood pressure
basically any time. Tends to be the highest during the morning,
and if you feel unwell or you're having any kind
of unusual symptoms, just check your blood pressure. It'll be
(11:34):
very helpful and that information then you can if you
need to go see a doctor, you can then tell
your doctor, I checked my blood pressure at home and
it was X, Y, and Z. That's really helpful information
that will allow your doctor to make a better, well
informed decision about what's the next step for your care.
(11:55):
When you go to the doctor's office, probably ninety nine
percent of the time your blood pressure's checked. And why
is that Because having high blood pressure is one of
the biggest preventable risk factors for heart disease and complications
related to heart disease. It is the most modifiable risk factor,
(12:20):
and so getting screened regularly is critical. That's why you're
checked all the time. It is a simple, non invasive
tool that can detect issues early and can lead to
a better diagnosis because lots of things can cause high
blood pressure, heart issues, kidney issues, and this is so preventable.
(12:46):
So that's probably why every time you go into the
doctor's office you're getting your blood pressure checked. One of
the other things I want to just mention if the
only time you're getting your blood pressure checked at the
doctor's office and you've been told in the path that
you have high blood pressure, just note that there is
(13:07):
something called white coat hypertension. This is basically a phenomenon
that has a lot of evidence behind it where people's
blood pressure goes up when they go see the doctor. Yeah,
sorry about that. And when you go home and you
check your blood pressure, your blood pressure is normal. So
(13:28):
just remember that if you have high blood pressure when
you go see the doctor. This is another really, really
great reason to get your own blood pressure cuff at home.
Check your readings at home. They might be normal, and
this could actually be a situational factor that's raising your
blood pressure. And that's really important to know because if
you keep having high blood pressures at the office, at
(13:51):
the doctor's office, the doctor might eventually say, well, we
need to give you some medications. And if your home
readings are normal, you can actually tell your doctor, well, actually,
my home readings are within the normal range. So I
think this might be whye code hypertension, and this could
potentially help guide medication adjustments or maybe not needing medications.
(14:16):
Our next tidy takeaway is again inspired by something that
I talked about earlier around like feeling fatigued, so that
again there's a lot of reasons people can be tired
or have brain fog. One of the things that I
want to bring attention to is that if someone is
following a strict vegan diet, it's always important to get
your vitamin B twelve levels checked because B twelve is
(14:41):
a vitamin that is obtained through eating animal products, and
if you're in a very sort of restricted diet where
you're not getting access to that, it's really important that
you get your B twelve levels checked, especially if you're
having symptoms of feeling tired, or maybe you're having symptoms
of depression or you feel nerve tingling. B twelve deficiency
(15:03):
can also cause things like that, so when you get
your B twelve levels checked, sometimes people have clinical B
twelve deficiency even though there be twelve levels are technically
within the normal range. There's a couple of other follow
up blood tests that should be checked to really diagnose
true B twelve deficiency. That's homocystine level and methyl molonic
(15:29):
acid level. Homocystine and methyl molonic acid are actually precursors
to vitamin B twelve, So if those levels are actually elevated,
that is a sign of clinical B twelve deficiency. Even
if your B twelve levels are normal, So there's just
a few nuances because you might, for example, be feeling tired.
(15:49):
Go get your B twelve levels checked, and the levels
are technically within the normal range, but maybe they're in
the low end of the normal range. I would go
ahead and ask your doctor to check a homocysteine and
methyl malonic acid level to really make sure that you
don't have a B twelve deficiency, because if you do,
(16:09):
the good news is that this is totally treatable, whether
it involves taking supplements or changing your diet. BE twelve
deficiency is really treatable, and if untreated, can cause a
lot of issues, including mental health, neurological issues, and just
feeling really crummy. So I just wanted to make sure
(16:30):
people understand this. We'll be back with more health stuff
after this break. I just want to do a really
tiny takeaway about some common poop stuff that people go through.
Sometimes you feel really bad and you don't know do
(16:51):
I have a stomach virus or is this food poisoning?
What is going on? All I know is that I'm
strapped to the toilet. First of all, I'm sorry you're
feeling that way, because differentiating between a stomach virus or
viral gasterenritis, which is the medical term for that, and
food poisoning can be a little tricky because both can
(17:12):
present with, you know, nausea, vomiting, belly cramps, diarrhea. But
there's a couple of differences that I want to talk about.
So stomach virus typically majority will be you'll have diarrhea
and you'll feel like crap, you might have a low
grade fever. It's really important to remember though, with the
(17:35):
stomach virus viral gasterenritis, generally the diarrhea is not going
to be bloody, and there won't be mucus in the diarrhea.
And a lot of times people lose their appetite, and
there's a seasonal association to stomach virus. It's usually more
common in winter or spring. But in contrast, like classic
(17:59):
food pointing, food poisoning is caused mostly by the toxins
that are released by the organisms that are causing the
food poisoning. So like staff bacteria, Bacillis bacteria is another
example of a organism that causes toxins that are released
(18:20):
that then cause food poisoning. But the thing about food
poisoning is that generally it happens pretty quickly after you
ate the bad thing, like within hours, you will feel
acutely ill, you'll be vomiting, and usually within three days
you recover unless there's some other complication going on. A
(18:45):
lot of times with food poisoning, there can be like
really high fevers, bloody diarrhea, maybe you traveled recently, or
like there's an outbreak of something happening in the community,
or there was like a specific time type of food
that was eaten and that's what led to the issue.
So it's hard to distinguish between the two just based
(19:09):
off of the symptoms. Usually you can do some further
testing to determine what is the root cause. The treatment
for both, though, involves just keeping you well supported as
you recover from this, so we're talking about hydrating really well,
getting you to eat more as you can slowly tolerate it.
(19:31):
Sometimes you might need to go see the doctor for
medications that might bring the vomiting down if you're vomiting
a lot. Generally, antibiotics are reserved for very specific bacterial infections,
and they're definitely not needed for a stomach virus because
antibiotics treat bacterial infections and stomach virus is caused biovirus.
(19:55):
So most of the time, if there's no red flags,
you can stay at home and kind of handle this yourself.
But if you find that you're severely dehydrated, Let's say
you're vomiting to the point where you can't keep any
fluids down, maybe your stools are really bloody, your fever's
(20:16):
really high, it's lasting more than the three days, if
you're immunocompromised, any of those reasons, that would be a
reason to go get medical attention so that you can
get extra care and recover this. This is another tiny
takeaway I really want to send out there to the
(20:36):
ether in case there are any of you that use
a Nettie pot, also known as a nasal saline irrigation.
This is something that is recommended to people that have
chronic inflammation in their sinuses, or maybe you have a
sinus infection and you want to help clear out the
mucus and feel better. So netty pots are very effective.
(21:02):
In fact, they are. The data shows that they're slightly
more effective than even nasal sprays for feeling better when
you have sinuses that are really inflamed. But here's the
important kind of consideration that I really really want to
send out. Please please make sure you use the right
kind of water when you use a netty pot. What
(21:25):
is the right type of water? You should only use
water that is distilled, which you can buy anywhere. Really
it's distilled water, or it should be boiled. Why because
if you use unboiled water, there could be infections, very
serious infections, infections that can actually go to your brain
(21:49):
and cause all sorts of health problems and life threatening issues.
So you want to avoid that. So first of all,
you want to use the right type of water, and
then you want to make sure that you regularly clean
the nettie pot or the device so that you're not
contaminating it with bacteria. One other note about the risk
(22:14):
of infection from not using the right type of water.
There's even well documented cases of people that unfortunately developed
amiebas in their brain because they used unboiled tap water
for their netti pot and so again, I really want
to kind of push this out there. Only use distilled
(22:35):
sterile water or water that's been boiled for a Netti
pot preparation. Well, my friends, that's the tiny takeaways that
I have for you for today. I hope this helps
you navigate the healthcare system and really gives you a
couple of tidbits that can empower you to advocate for
(22:55):
yourself as you go through life. I always love hearing
from you. If you have any specific questions, please don't forget.
You can send us a voice memo with your health questions.
You can reach us at help Stuff podcast at gmail
dot com. We love hearing from you. Health Stuff is
(23:17):
a production of iHeart Podcasts. The show is hosted by Me,
doctor Preanco Wally, and Harrikonnebolu. Producers are Rebecca Eisenberg, Jenna Cagel,
Christina Loranger, Maya Howard, and Katrina Norvel. Our researcher is
Maria Tremarki and our intern is Katia Zobel Leayala. To
send us a question, you can email us a voice
(23:39):
memo at health Stuff podcast at gmail dot com. Thanks
so much for listening.
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