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Healthcare headlines - Part 1
4 Plays7 months ago
This month, we’re scrubbing in with a two-parter on the latest health headlines—literally. From the buzz about “skin cancer soap” to the ongoing debate around BMI, April and Alicia break down the breakthroughs, bust some myths, and ask the big (and sometimes weird) questions facing the future of healthcare. Tune in for your dose of news and nuance.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sun Exposure Humor
00:00:00
Speaker
The sun is no joke, folks.
00:00:02
Speaker
Like, yeah, I wouldn't I won't even threaten to share these pictures.
00:00:06
Speaker
But I I do feel like I have like vitiligo right now.
00:00:12
Speaker
That's what I said.
00:00:13
Speaker
You did look like.
00:00:14
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like multiple shades.
00:00:17
Speaker
I look like a Dalmatian.
00:00:18
Speaker
This is on call.
00:00:20
Speaker
It would be really cool to just wear scrubs all the time and you don't have to think about what you're going to wear to work.
00:00:24
Speaker
That is awesome.
00:00:25
Speaker
We're here to answer your questions.
00:00:27
Speaker
We can sit down and discuss them.
00:00:29
Speaker
Wait, I gotta go.
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm on call.
00:00:31
Speaker
Wait, you're on call?
00:00:31
Speaker
I thought I was on call.
00:00:36
Speaker
Hey, everybody.
00:00:36
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of On Call with April and Alicia.
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm Alicia.
00:00:41
Speaker
I'm April.
00:00:42
Speaker
And we are happy to be back again.
00:00:45
Speaker
April.
00:00:46
Speaker
For some reason, when you just said that opening.
00:00:49
Speaker
I was waiting for you to say I'm April.
00:00:51
Speaker
I don't know why I like expected you to say that, but I always want to say I'm an April because it just throws you off.
00:00:56
Speaker
Cause one time I just want you to go and I'm Alicia.
00:00:59
Speaker
And then I'm like, I'm April.
00:01:06
Speaker
And I'm April and I'm April.
00:01:07
Speaker
Or if we go back to our medical director summit over the last couple of years, um, I've always been referred to as April.
00:01:14
Speaker
So yeah.
00:01:16
Speaker
I guess it's a good insult if we have to be one.
00:01:18
Speaker
So I'll just be April.
00:01:19
Speaker
Hi, April.
Pet Stories: Baxter's Heat Struggles
00:01:20
Speaker
I'm April.
00:01:22
Speaker
Happy summer, April.
00:01:24
Speaker
How is summer going for you guys?
00:01:26
Speaker
It's good.
00:01:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:28
Speaker
Is it hot?
00:01:29
Speaker
It is.
00:01:30
Speaker
It's hot and humid.
00:01:31
Speaker
So I have to wait till the evening time to walk Baxter when it's cooler out.
00:01:37
Speaker
And he'll go out on the deck.
00:01:38
Speaker
Like when he has to go to the bathroom, he goes on the deck and his one back paw, like it must be more sensitive than the others to the heat.
00:01:45
Speaker
And he'll like lift it up.
00:01:47
Speaker
He's like, ouch, ouch.
00:01:49
Speaker
The girl's like, what's wrong with Baxter's paw?
00:01:51
Speaker
I'm like, I think it's the heat on the deck.
00:01:53
Speaker
And he has found a new spot under my desk.
00:01:58
Speaker
Usually he lays, there's a couch behind me in my office that he always lays on.
00:02:02
Speaker
But now he's under my desk.
00:02:03
Speaker
Right now he's laying on my feet under my desk because there's an air vent like right there.
00:02:08
Speaker
So he has his head on the air vent and he just lays here all day under my desk.
00:02:12
Speaker
Oh, he's hot.
00:02:13
Speaker
I know.
00:02:14
Speaker
Normally I'd say put a sweater on, but you know, can't do that.
00:02:18
Speaker
He needs a tank top.
00:02:21
Speaker
He needs a speedo.
00:02:22
Speaker
Let's get Baxter speedo.
00:02:24
Speaker
That would be great.
00:02:26
Speaker
He also had a lot of thunderstorms and he hates those.
00:02:30
Speaker
Does he get anxiety with that?
00:02:32
Speaker
He does.
00:02:32
Speaker
Like last night we had one that was really long, rumbled for a long time.
00:02:38
Speaker
And he's been hiding in our master room.
00:02:40
Speaker
closet during them used to be the bathroom downstairs but if we're upstairs he wants to be upstairs so he's in our closet so I went in last night when I went to go to bed and he would not come out and he was like laying and his head was like in a puddle of drool that he had like he poor guy so that's like Maddox when he sleeps in a puddle of drool so great but the thunderstorms I know there's they're really supposed to be kicking up in all seriousness you know hill country which we got a site there you know got really rocked
00:03:10
Speaker
this last month or so, I think they're in their second round of, of additional rain and additional flooding.
Texas Flooding Concerns and Community Support
00:03:16
Speaker
And it's just been like incredibly tragic to see what's happening down there.
00:03:19
Speaker
So anybody down in that Texas area, like our thoughts and prayers are definitely with you.
00:03:23
Speaker
And, um, I know sound has had some response, especially with our sites being down there and we've got providers, I think I was sharing with you yesterday, one of our APPs that is on the ground volunteering, um, in like med tents on, you know, on her own.
00:03:38
Speaker
And, um,
00:03:39
Speaker
I think that's kind of just, it is.
00:03:43
Speaker
You just don't think about inland flooding that way.
00:03:45
Speaker
And I think Helene was probably the first one that got my attention when she came through Asheville.
00:03:52
Speaker
And you just don't think of the effects of a hurricane inland like that or that flooding.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I think I've just learned so much about like how dry the ground is and then it rains and the ground doesn't,
00:04:05
Speaker
absorb it so it just like runs down these mountains and like wipes these people out like in seconds it's it's so scary so um i know we're getting the i think back end of storms that are moving through but you know our again our thoughts or prayers are definitely with with all those people in texas and and even our sound family that is um attending to those those victims of that tragedy you know um
00:04:30
Speaker
I know I told you on our last episode that I was going to Mexico and I did just this, you know, this little solo trip and
Alicia's Sunburn Saga and Recovery Challenges
00:04:40
Speaker
I showed you the pictures of my sunburn.
00:04:42
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:43
Speaker
And I realized.
00:04:44
Speaker
Did you pay attention during our skin cancer episode?
00:04:47
Speaker
Well, I thought about our skin cancer conversation the whole time because one of the things you talked about, you're like, you know, the first time you have like a serious burn or there was some statistic that you were talking about, about like,
00:05:00
Speaker
basically the degradation of our skin as it gets more exposure to actual burns.
00:05:04
Speaker
And I think I said with my whole chest, I've never had a sunburn.
00:05:09
Speaker
I've never had a burn like that.
00:05:10
Speaker
And I had not, I might've had like a little light type of a burn, but nothing like what I just experienced.
00:05:17
Speaker
And for the short version, I don't, I really still don't know April if it was a reaction to the sun block.
00:05:25
Speaker
It was a 50 that I used by the way, sun index was 13.
00:05:29
Speaker
I was thinking about that, though, that like maybe you used bad sunscreen.
00:05:33
Speaker
That's what I well, it's like beef tallow or something.
00:05:36
Speaker
It was like some natural stuff that it just didn't have like all the chemical additives.
00:05:43
Speaker
It's stuff that's typically banned in like the UK.
00:05:47
Speaker
Have you used it before?
00:05:50
Speaker
No, no.
00:05:52
Speaker
And I I got.
00:05:54
Speaker
as I told you, but for listeners, like, um, probably two or three hours out in the sun with a 50 face, shoulders, everything.
00:06:01
Speaker
I got these blisters on my shoulders.
00:06:05
Speaker
I got a blister on my forehead.
00:06:07
Speaker
Um, I am still, we're a week, almost two out now.
00:06:10
Speaker
I'm still, I'm still peeling.
00:06:13
Speaker
Um, I think I shed several layers of a skin, like a snake.
00:06:17
Speaker
Um, but the, but I've got these like ulcerated areas in my shoulders and like on my head that, um,
00:06:24
Speaker
from the blistering it was the wildest it looked really bad in the pictures and video you sent me so maybe don't use that sunscreen again well yeah I think that's probably a good one Sherlock I I um I don't plan on doing that but the other thing I thought was like you know I think one of our skin cancer questions too was getting a base tan like does do base tans help
00:06:48
Speaker
And I think the answer was no, that that's like you really can't prepare your skin for the sun.
00:06:53
Speaker
But I don't know.
00:06:54
Speaker
I might challenge that one a little bit.
00:06:56
Speaker
I lived in the sun.
00:06:57
Speaker
You know that.
00:06:58
Speaker
Like, I say by 2018 to maybe 2022, somewhere around that time, I was in Mexico all the time.
00:07:05
Speaker
You know, our family, we were always down there.
00:07:08
Speaker
I was like so tan and so, I guess, sun-like.
00:07:14
Speaker
exposed that I realized, first of all, how much melanin I have lost over the last couple of years.
00:07:22
Speaker
But too, like, I felt like it was the first time I'd ever been in the sun.
00:07:26
Speaker
That's how my body reacted to it.
00:07:28
Speaker
It was insane.
00:07:29
Speaker
The sun is no joke, folks.
00:07:31
Speaker
Like, I wouldn't, I won't even threaten to share these pictures.
00:07:35
Speaker
But I do feel like I have, like, vitiligo right now.
00:07:42
Speaker
Yeah, the pictures you sent, you didn't look like it.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like multiple shades.
00:07:46
Speaker
I look like a Dalmatian everywhere, but from head to toe.
00:07:50
Speaker
And I think my kids are a little embarrassed by it because Giuliano will go, do you want to put a long-sleeve shirt on?
00:07:58
Speaker
I was going to take a volleyball track.
00:08:00
Speaker
Do you want to put a long-sleeve shirt on?
00:08:02
Speaker
And I was like, I don't really want to have anything touch my skin right now.
00:08:05
Speaker
And she goes, you should put a long-sleeve shirt on.
00:08:09
Speaker
I'm like, I'm sure.
00:08:12
Speaker
But I mean, my legs are peeling.
00:08:14
Speaker
My arms are peeling.
00:08:15
Speaker
My shoulders are peeling.
00:08:16
Speaker
Like everything.
00:08:17
Speaker
It's so hot out.
00:08:18
Speaker
Like skin is falling off.
00:08:20
Speaker
I know.
00:08:20
Speaker
And then you add 90 degrees and like 80 million percent humidity to it.
00:08:25
Speaker
And you're like, I don't want to put more clothes on, but I get it.
00:08:28
Speaker
I get it.
00:08:29
Speaker
So I definitely did burn.
00:08:32
Speaker
That was that was definitely a wild one.
00:08:34
Speaker
So that was my very exciting experience.
00:08:38
Speaker
update for everybody just so everyone knows I will be going back I just won't be using the same sunscreen this time I was thinking about you randomly the other day and I was like you know I mean it was the sunscreen she used it had to have been I well I was like there's no way you use a 50 and you and you burn so and I even thought even if it was defective I or if it wasn't defective I'm wondering if I even just had a reaction personally to it and then like
00:09:06
Speaker
had it in the sun, who knows, but whatever it was, it was, I mean, it was, I reapplied it, I kept putting, but it, I only have the severe, severe, like boil, like blisters where I applied it, top of my thighs, my face, my shoulders, and anywhere I could get it, like with my own hands, nowhere else am I peeling, just where I applied it.
00:09:29
Speaker
But speaking of that, speaking of burns, it made me think about a topic today
00:09:35
Speaker
to kind of move out of what we normally do.
Innovative Soap for Skin Cancer Treatment
00:09:38
Speaker
But in that same kind of in that same vein, when I got home, I have this echo show in my kitchen and it, you know, just brings up these random news stories during the day.
00:09:50
Speaker
And I saw this story about this little 15 year old, I shouldn't call him little, this 15 year old gentleman, his name is Hemen Bekel.
00:09:58
Speaker
He's, um, Ethiopian.
00:10:00
Speaker
And like the headline was, um,
00:10:04
Speaker
can, there was something like a can soap cure skin cancer.
00:10:09
Speaker
And, you know, like the, the prompts come up, they, you know, go to the next prompt, but I was so like interested that I was like, let me just hit play on this story.
00:10:18
Speaker
And I was really, really, really just intrigued by what this 15 year old was doing.
00:10:23
Speaker
So I thought what we could do, maybe I wanted to share this article with you and maybe we just do more of a, like a news update, what's going on in medicine and just have a little bit of dialogue around
00:10:36
Speaker
what's moving and what's on the horizon for us in medicine?
00:10:40
Speaker
What are your thoughts about that?
00:10:43
Speaker
Well, I'm in, of course.
00:10:43
Speaker
That's what I always say, right?
00:10:45
Speaker
You don't have a choice.
00:10:47
Speaker
You're a force to be here.
00:10:51
Speaker
Okay.
00:10:51
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:10:53
Speaker
So Hemon, as I was mentioning, this 15-year-old, he actually lives in Virginia, but he's Ethiopian.
00:10:59
Speaker
He made Time Magazine's 2024 Kid of the Year, but he developed this bar of soap
00:11:04
Speaker
that delivers a skin cancer drug.
00:11:07
Speaker
And I'm probably going to botch the pronunciation, but I think it's imiquimod, I-M-I-Q-U-I-M-O-D, for those looking it up.
00:11:17
Speaker
But imiquimod, it's a topical immune response modifier.
00:11:22
Speaker
He wanted to use it in soap because he wanted to create an affordable, easy-to-use solution for early-stage skin cancer that could really be impactful in the underserved
00:11:32
Speaker
in sun exposed communities.
00:11:33
Speaker
So his reference was, you know, his mother's Ethiopian, his father's Ethiopian, they were immigrants to America.
00:11:41
Speaker
But he talks about the prevalence of skin cancer.
00:11:44
Speaker
It also made me think of our podcast episode because we did talk about, you know, the more melanated you are, that there were these false narratives that darker people
00:11:57
Speaker
and people like myself are less prone to melanoma or severe skin cancers because of our melanin which he was actually sharing some data that that's actually not just kind of wrong but really wrong because there just isn't the health care infrastructure that's set up in those areas in Africa where it like specifically what he was talking about in Ethiopia where they're they're out in the fields all day and they are you know
00:12:23
Speaker
doing their best to create protective layers, hats, long sleeves, you know, they're, they are trying to protect their skin, but they don't have SPFs and, and, um, you know, any sun protection.
00:12:34
Speaker
And there, there are a lot of people that are dying from skin cancer, but there's just not enough data because we're not, I guess they're not monitoring and or diagnosing it.
00:12:44
Speaker
Um, but it is a bit more prevalent according to what key shares then, um, then we may think.
00:12:51
Speaker
So,
00:12:52
Speaker
Like I mentioned, like the early years in Ethiopia, he was really inspired by that and noticed that the more laborers that were exposed to intense sunlight without protection, that, you know, they were getting sicker and sicker.
00:13:03
Speaker
So he just kind of conceptualized this way to embed this medication into just a common hygiene product.
00:13:10
Speaker
So it was just a thought for him.
00:13:13
Speaker
He won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
00:13:15
Speaker
And he's now working, excuse me, working under a mentorship with Johns Hopkins and testing the possibility of patenting the product, which I thought was really, really cool.
00:13:26
Speaker
And he's like the soap could be produced for under $10 per bar.
00:13:31
Speaker
And what he talked about was nanoparticles.
00:13:35
Speaker
in the medication.
00:13:36
Speaker
So the soap is the carrier and you use the soap on the skin, but even though the soap washes off, it deposits the nanoparticles and those nanoparticles begin to work to treat the cancer.
00:13:50
Speaker
Interesting.
00:13:51
Speaker
I thought it was really cool.
00:13:53
Speaker
I was like, his vision...
00:13:55
Speaker
Is it preventative or is it for people who just who have it?
00:13:59
Speaker
It is right now it is for early diagnosis, but understandings in early, early phases.
00:14:06
Speaker
So I think what I did here and he was interviewed, but then I also pulled some articles just to make sure I doubled down on on the right information.
00:14:15
Speaker
But
00:14:16
Speaker
I think there is a potential for it to go both ways, but I don't think that you could use this medication, this therapy preventatively.
00:14:27
Speaker
I think it is to treat like early displaced, like dysplastic cell.
00:14:31
Speaker
So I just, I just think it's, it's, it's really incredible to me when you think, okay, $10 a bar he's solving for, you know, what his experience has been in Ethiopia and his people.
00:14:45
Speaker
But really how that could help our vulnerable and marginalized populations even here in the United States with, you know, excessive sun exposure.
00:14:51
Speaker
Exposure, I think, again, our podcast we talked about, we don't even think about exposure through windows when we're sitting at our desks and pilots and things like that.
00:14:59
Speaker
But this guy, this 15 year old just may have redefined skin cancer, either prevention or early treatment with a bar of soap.
00:15:07
Speaker
This guy took a common hygiene product, infused it with nanoparticles, won this
00:15:13
Speaker
Young Scientist Challenge.
00:15:14
Speaker
This kid, again, 15.
00:15:15
Speaker
It's pretty impressive.
00:15:18
Speaker
I know.
00:15:18
Speaker
This kid's building a nonprofit to make it accessible globally.
00:15:24
Speaker
And it's not really just innovation.
00:15:27
Speaker
You have to think of the heart of a 15-year-old, that it's got to be compassion-driven.
00:15:32
Speaker
It's really something that's touched him.
00:15:36
Speaker
And he's got his heart and soul poured into something as simple as soap.
00:15:43
Speaker
It makes me very, very hopeful for our future, our children, like the innovation of our kids.
00:15:48
Speaker
And sometimes maybe we make things so complex that the simpler solutions or they say that Occam razor, right?
00:15:55
Speaker
Like the simpler solutions, the more likely solutions are the usually the more appropriate outcomes, I guess here, or maybe like we don't have to make things as complicated as we do.
00:16:10
Speaker
So I don't know.
00:16:11
Speaker
I think
00:16:12
Speaker
I'd love to know what your thoughts are.
00:16:15
Speaker
How do we better support youth-driven innovation like this?
00:16:21
Speaker
I'd love to see more.
00:16:22
Speaker
I'd love to wonder what your daughters could come up with or my children could come up with as far as thoughts and things that sound so out there.
00:16:34
Speaker
I'm sure that when he first said a bar of soap, somebody was like, no way, that'll never work.
00:16:39
Speaker
But
00:16:41
Speaker
I, I, how do we inspire these kids to keep thinking like this?
00:16:45
Speaker
How do we, how do we do that?
00:16:46
Speaker
What are your thoughts there?
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:48
Speaker
I mean, I think you just have to, I mean, from a parent perspective, you just have to encourage them, right?
00:16:52
Speaker
Like, I mean, my, my girls, one probably more than the other will often kind of be like, Oh, you know, we should do this or that.
00:17:00
Speaker
Like she's very kind of, I think outside of the box, innovative mindset.
00:17:04
Speaker
And so whenever she, she comes up with ideas, I kind of, you know, I have to foster that, but I think it,
00:17:11
Speaker
I mean, eventually it has to be, excuse me, you know, through, I think,
00:17:16
Speaker
education systems, things like that, that they sort of escalate some of this stuff.
00:17:20
Speaker
Like, so my one daughter, she, um, won a scholarship here and, um, it's like a college scholarship, but they're, they, you can apply every year and you can get recognized.
00:17:31
Speaker
And I think that that organization is the Carson scholar.
00:17:34
Speaker
Um, I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but Ben Carson has a scholarship program.
00:17:38
Speaker
And so through there, like there's been a lot of kids who have done, you know, um, like when you go to the ceremony for the, for the award,
00:17:46
Speaker
they can get recognized like pretty much every year, you know, that they do, they're very focused on the community service and developing things to help the communities.
00:17:55
Speaker
And so, you know, they have kids who have come up with like amazing things and, and then acted them in the community.
00:18:01
Speaker
So I think you just need to find those ways to, you know, and in some way to support them in doing that.
00:18:08
Speaker
Right.
00:18:08
Speaker
I mean, they have to, but I think from a parent perspective, you would just have to,
00:18:13
Speaker
encourage those.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:15
Speaker
That thought process in your kids as they're getting older, right?
00:18:18
Speaker
Like, it's interesting you say that because his, um, I do remember one part of the interview and I may misquote this, um, but the, the anchor or the interview were, was asking he and his mom, you know, what, how do you support him when he asked these questions?
00:18:35
Speaker
And, and, you know, mom was just talking about, I let him ask questions and, you know, I do my best to answer.
00:18:40
Speaker
And I think the reporter kind of cut the
00:18:43
Speaker
drills in a little bit and says, well, you don't know anything about medicine.
00:18:47
Speaker
And she doesn't say it like that abruptly, but essentially saying, well, you don't know, how do you answer like the questions he's asking you?
00:18:53
Speaker
And she was like, I don't, but I help him find the areas where they can't be answered.
00:18:58
Speaker
And instead of saying, you can't do that.
00:19:00
Speaker
Or instead of saying, I don't know, find something else to do.
00:19:04
Speaker
Like, she's like, how can I help you find these answers?
00:19:07
Speaker
And that's really what got him down this pathway.
00:19:12
Speaker
But on top of that,
00:19:14
Speaker
I will tell you, he's a pianist and an incredible pianist on top of it, too.
00:19:18
Speaker
So probably incredibly right brained as a thinker.
00:19:21
Speaker
But just parents support him and support his thoughts.
00:19:27
Speaker
And even, again, parents, sometimes we don't have all the answers, right?
00:19:30
Speaker
Right.
00:19:31
Speaker
I mean, I tell the girls all the time, they ask me a question like, I don't know.
00:19:34
Speaker
Let's look it up, you know.
00:19:35
Speaker
And I think, too, is.
00:19:38
Speaker
I sometimes have to catch myself because, you know, as a parent, as somebody who works, like we're busy all of the time.
00:19:44
Speaker
And so sometimes I have to catch myself because she'll want to just like talk about something or, you know, ask me questions about something.
00:19:50
Speaker
She's very curious.
00:19:51
Speaker
And I sometimes I sort of find myself being like, like I'm in the middle of an email or something.
00:19:57
Speaker
So I have to I have to like remind myself to stop and take the time right to to have those conversations with her and help her because she is, you know, she's curious and she's developing.
00:20:07
Speaker
her mind, right?
00:20:08
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think we could probably talk for days and maybe this is a, you know, one of those one-off podcast topics that we do.
00:20:16
Speaker
But for purposes of this episode, I'll keep this one short.
00:20:21
Speaker
But, you know, parents, teachers, clinicians, all of us, like, encourage our youth, challenge their thoughts.
00:20:29
Speaker
As crazy as some things may sound, it really may be the key to, like, unlocking cure.
00:20:36
Speaker
in our future.
00:20:39
Speaker
It's interesting that you bring up a soap too, because I've seen, you know, a lot of different soaps, you know, that have come out, but there's been some where I think it was like another, like a teenager, somebody who, and I forget the name of it.
00:20:52
Speaker
They developed a soap for acne and sports players, you know, because they get like that body acne because they're constantly sweating and you get bacteria.
00:21:00
Speaker
They're a risk for MRSA to be MRSA carriers too.
00:21:02
Speaker
A lot of.
00:21:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:04
Speaker
And so this particular soap, I, I wish I remember the name, but, um,
00:21:09
Speaker
A lot of people are saying like they've been using it on their, their kids, you know, their athletes and like, it's getting rid of the acne for them.
00:21:15
Speaker
So it's interesting.
00:21:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:19
Speaker
I think so.
00:21:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:20
Speaker
I was really excited to see that story.
00:21:23
Speaker
I think it gave me a little bit of renewed, renewed hope and not that I lost hope, but you know, it's like nice to just see new innovation outside of just AI.
00:21:32
Speaker
For sure.
00:21:33
Speaker
I'm loving to see like hands-on human innovation and not leaning specifically on machines to solve it for us either.
00:21:41
Speaker
So it just kind of got my spirit lit a little bit.
00:21:45
Speaker
So what's your story?
Rethinking Obesity: Beyond BMI
00:21:47
Speaker
What do you have?
00:21:48
Speaker
Well, mine's not as exciting, but I think it's one that resonates with me a little bit and I think it was needed.
00:21:56
Speaker
And so there has been some discussion about
00:22:00
Speaker
um, defining obesity.
00:22:01
Speaker
So, you know, as we grew up as clinicians and our providers, obesity was always based on the body mass index, right?
00:22:09
Speaker
Like if their BMI was over this, they were obese.
00:22:13
Speaker
And I remember, like, I think back to when I was like, I must've been high school or college, I was getting a physical for something, some sports or whatever.
00:22:20
Speaker
And I remember the lady saying to me, uh, based on your BMI, you should be obese, but you don't look obese.
00:22:26
Speaker
Um,
00:22:27
Speaker
Like I remember her saying that because I was fit, right?
00:22:29
Speaker
Like I worked out and I had muscle and muscle weighs more than fat and all the things.
00:22:33
Speaker
And I, like, I specifically remember her saying that to me.
00:22:35
Speaker
And then I also think about all of the years in the floors of the hospital of the case managers coming to me and saying, Hey, April, like this patient's BMI is this, like, are they obese?
00:22:45
Speaker
And there was a lot of times where I would say, no, they're a very like fit muscular person, right?
00:22:50
Speaker
Like they're an athlete or, or whatever.
00:22:54
Speaker
And so there's been some recent,
00:22:57
Speaker
work on this and they're kind of more looking toward using other measurements other than BMI to define obesity and to really figure out who actually is obese and who actually needs treatment for those risk factors associated with it.
00:23:15
Speaker
So it'll include things like waist circumference, but also like evidence of like health problems, like high blood pressure or kidney disease or liver disease or heart disease.
00:23:24
Speaker
So there might be some people who actually have
00:23:27
Speaker
a low BMI, but are actually obese in these other criteria, and they wouldn't have been recognized in the initial, you know, measurement of it.
00:23:37
Speaker
And there's also people, you know, like I mentioned, people who have high muscle density, who were obese, who probably aren't actually at risk for those things and wouldn't qualify in this new measure.
00:23:48
Speaker
So it just, thinking of my personal experience with it, I think it's a good move in medicine to do this.
00:23:55
Speaker
So yeah.
00:23:56
Speaker
I think so too.
00:23:57
Speaker
You know what?
00:23:57
Speaker
It reminds me of four kids and I'd say for the most part outside of Maddox, all my other three were all considered like high on weight like when they were peds like in the first year or two.
00:24:13
Speaker
RJ thinned out pretty quickly but I would just remember
00:24:20
Speaker
BMI being introduced early, even for peds and struggling.
00:24:25
Speaker
And our pediatrician was amazing because she's kind of like, I don't really, I'm looking at RJ.
00:24:30
Speaker
He doesn't have one ounce of fat on his body.
00:24:33
Speaker
Like, you know, she's just kind of like, I don't know, but this is what we have to tell you.
00:24:37
Speaker
You know, like, this is the height.
00:24:38
Speaker
This is the weight.
00:24:39
Speaker
This is what, this is the percentile that you're in.
00:24:42
Speaker
And then you're like, oh, you're a hundred percentile for weight.
00:24:44
Speaker
And I don't think they were ever a hundred, but it always just made me feel guilty where I was like,
00:24:49
Speaker
oh, we're already defining obesity in children or toddlers at that time, which bothered me a lot because I just, I didn't understand it.
00:24:59
Speaker
And I also, like kind of what you're talking about was what were the health implications that were associated?
00:25:04
Speaker
These were healthy kids and, you know, we weren't, it wasn't like they weren't
00:25:10
Speaker
They were short of breath with exertion.
00:25:14
Speaker
There was no like overeating.
00:25:16
Speaker
If for anything, I was actually concerned about, especially with the girls, developing eating disorders based off of... Well, because of the label, right?
00:25:27
Speaker
Like that label, it impacts you, right?
00:25:30
Speaker
Somebody tells you, oh, you're obese.
00:25:32
Speaker
You're like, what?
00:25:33
Speaker
You know, like, especially if you're, you know, like a healthy kind of fit person, right?
00:25:39
Speaker
So it's...
00:25:40
Speaker
It can really mess, and I think especially like in females, and not that it doesn't impact males, but I think, you know, a young female who's developing, it's tough.
00:25:49
Speaker
I wonder sometimes if men struggle a little bit more, and obviously I'm not a male, so I wouldn't know, but just my experience with my sons and just men in my life, my brothers and father and Matt, like, you know, all that is...
00:26:04
Speaker
there's actually more of an insult when men are underweight and RJ struggled a lot being underweight.
00:26:11
Speaker
Um, and there was a lot of, you know, bruising to the ego and challenges as he was coming up through high school.
00:26:17
Speaker
Cause he was smaller at first, um, little late to go through puberty.
00:26:21
Speaker
I'm sure he'd love me telling everybody that, but, um, he, but he won't listen.
00:26:26
Speaker
It doesn't matter.
00:26:28
Speaker
Um, you know, like I think men are kind of opposite of women where, um,
00:26:33
Speaker
they'd almost love to be considered overweight or, you know, a higher BMI where women are young women and young ladies, girls that are developing.
00:26:46
Speaker
We are up against a cultural clash there of what we, what we believe we're supposed to be in a stigma there.
00:26:53
Speaker
So I hope we do move away from that.
00:26:55
Speaker
I always worry about what, what we could be telling people young.
00:27:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:01
Speaker
Well, and ultimately too, we need to, you know, recognize, right, the right population and look at their risk factors and optimize their health for them for preventative reasons too.
00:27:10
Speaker
So I think that this, you know, it sticks out to me that there's probably a population that has a low BMI, but really isn't as healthy as, as appearances seem, you know?
00:27:20
Speaker
So.
00:27:20
Speaker
Well, that's like working in the ER.
00:27:23
Speaker
I wrote, I remember a gentleman that came in and he was mid fifties, very tall, thin,
00:27:29
Speaker
you know, on the outside, you look at him and you'd say, this guy is incredibly healthy.
00:27:33
Speaker
Um, now genetically, he might've had some, um, you know, genetic risk factors for heart disease, but he, he suffered an MI.
00:27:43
Speaker
Um, and like, I just remember telling people like, you know, obese, overweight people aren't the only people at risk that we hide behind skinny in America and skinny, like visually equals health.
00:27:56
Speaker
And when in, when in actuality,
00:28:00
Speaker
some of the thinnest and or like most healthy from the outside appearing people have some of the most complex issues.
00:28:09
Speaker
They're malnutritioned in some cases, you know what I mean?
00:28:12
Speaker
Or they still have, they're thin and maybe they've got a higher metabolism and they're eating terrible food.
00:28:18
Speaker
But they just metabolize a little bit differently.
00:28:21
Speaker
So yeah, it's, it's, it's a very interesting conversation and as uninteresting as you thought it was, I actually think it was a great,
00:28:29
Speaker
A great article to pick.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm looking at the clock and I'm actually kind of bummed out because we're a little out of time as far as how we're recording.
00:28:36
Speaker
But here's what I'm thinking.
00:28:38
Speaker
I would love to continue this conversation, maybe in a part two of our podcast.
00:28:42
Speaker
So what do you think if we, for purposes of this week's episode, let's get this one out and let's follow up on next week or our next, excuse me, next episode with part two.
00:28:54
Speaker
And we'll continue our discussion around what's happening with medical innovation and medical news.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yeah, I like it.
00:29:00
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:29:00
Speaker
I think these articles have been fun to
Listener Engagement and Farewell
00:29:03
Speaker
discuss.
00:29:03
Speaker
So and I think they're relevant to a lot of people.
00:29:05
Speaker
So great idea.
00:29:07
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:29:08
Speaker
All right.
00:29:08
Speaker
Well, thanks listeners for listening this week.
00:29:11
Speaker
And as always, if you have any suggestions for topics or things you want to hear about or feedback from us, you know, you can reach us on LinkedIn, Instagram.
00:29:22
Speaker
We also have our email, which is an on-call podcast at soundphysicians.com.
00:29:26
Speaker
And remember that you can watch your, what'd you say?
00:29:29
Speaker
I said, which no one uses, but that's okay.
00:29:31
Speaker
We have hope in you guys.
00:29:32
Speaker
We have hope.
00:29:36
Speaker
not one i watch the inbox i don't think we've gotten a single one we're getting them on the other we're getting them instagram and linkedin but not but we're gonna for you one of you faithfuls out there that only knows email right now we're keeping this open for you guys that's right um but yeah so we'll see you guys next time all right until the next time you guys stay well we'll stay on call thanks everyone bye have a good one