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Hair health is important too!
83 Plays14 days ago
The ladies get together to discuss recent news about cancer causing products in your hair care! Also lively discussion around sickle cell disease and muscle breakdown (aka rhabdomyolysis). Check us out!
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Transcript
Introduction and Co-hosts
00:00:17
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Chocolate with a Side of Medicine. We've missed you guys. As you guys know, I am Dr. Sunshine. I am joined, as always, by my co-hosts.
00:00:28
Speaker
um Say hello to Amy Jo MD. What's up, y'all? Dr. Chris. Hello, everyone. And Dr. Nono is not with us. She is with us.
00:00:40
Speaker
She's grinding, grinding, grinding. She's working in the hospital, you know, saving lives, doing what she does. So you're just going to have the trio tonight.
00:00:50
Speaker
But, you know, you guys will surely still be entertained and informed per usual. How y'all doing? How's life, y'all? We are. good. I'm real good because you know i'm about to be in Florida in like two days. I know.
Personal Stories and Moving Challenges
00:01:05
Speaker
this this one This one over here. All right. You're just bragging.
00:01:08
Speaker
Tell the crew why you're going in Florida. Tell them why you're going to going the Final Four. The women's basketball Final Four. And I'm excited. Amy Jo stays popping up with tickets at the last minute to cool events. I wish I lived her life.
00:01:23
Speaker
right Like just hopping on flights, popping up places. With like badges and passes and badges and passes and shit. like she'd be doing we not I'm not going to the final four.
00:01:36
Speaker
you so but No, but you be popping up places with badges and passes too. Not as bad as Amy Jo MD, but you know. What? I'm not worse than Dr. Chris. What you mean?
00:01:49
Speaker
No. mean, I go to a few concerts here and there. Here and there. That's all. Listen, y'all livevin y'll live in a good life. i will say I will say this, and I'll share i'll share with the audience, that um I finally moved into my house because bought a house.
00:02:04
Speaker
Finally moved in. Nice. I just want to say that even though this was the smoothest move I've ever had, and for those that don't know, I've done a lot of moving from like from college till now, I've lived in a lot of different cities and a lot of places.
00:02:21
Speaker
This was by far the smoothest move, but I feel like it's almost impossible to move and not have any battle scars. I feel like you have to, like something has to happen. Like, Even though like whether you hire movers or you had tons of people help you like this move was smooth, but I still got like little cuts everywhere. i like low key throughout my back when I was trying to move this one thing from one side to another. And I'm like, man, don't if I'm just getting too old for this. I'm like, I don't know what it is.
00:02:48
Speaker
I feel like it's impossible for you to move from one location to the next and just be like, oh, I feel great. Like, I don't have, I don't have any, like, even if I, like, literally today, a box just, like, sliced my little pinky. I'm like, oh, my God. I can't. I can't. I'm just trying to get it done, y'all.
00:03:03
Speaker
Yeah. I'm just trying to get it done. Yeah, my moving days are over. I mean, not moving. im I might have move again, but i don't want to, I don't have it in me to pack and load and get everything there, take it out, set it up. It's exhausting.
00:03:20
Speaker
I want to pay somebody to do that for me. Even, but even if you pay someone, you still have to, you still have to do some of this stuff and you still got to put it where it belongs. Like literally i was just grabbing something out of a box and just, I'm like, you know what?
00:03:33
Speaker
You know what? I'm just, I'm just hoping that I hit it big and I have so much money that I don't have to do anything and people just do everything for me.
00:03:45
Speaker
That would be so nice. That would be really nice. So, you know, everybody out here, I'm okay. You can pray for me. Prayers out. Oh, my God. ah and We've been trying to... but but This here. I appreciate that. This one here.
00:04:00
Speaker
but the best way got use your community you what mean but i feel like the best way to do it like for me personally like i pack fast and i unpack fast because i just want to get it done with i feel like the only way to make it worse is to drag it out so i'm like no no no we gotta go ahead and just get it out the boxes let's move let's move get it in boom that's look that's the faster i'll feel like all right actually live here for real um That's a great strategy.
00:04:25
Speaker
I wish I did that strategy when I moved because the only reason why I did something fast because like it was in the way of things I needed. And once I moved the things out of the way that I needed, then I could leave the boxes and just figure it out later.
00:04:43
Speaker
You know, that's true. i See, I did like what you did, Dr. Chris. so yeah it is only So we've got new furniture coming tomorrow, right? So we refurnished the front room.
00:04:55
Speaker
That's exciting. It is exciting. yeah It was all fine and good till I had to actually go through the front room and... um
00:05:07
Speaker
like really make decisions about stuff that I had been kind of cheating a little bit. Like, oh, I'm too busy. Just put it in a box. Let's get it to the next place. Right? So I had stuff in boxes that really needed to be like, okay, do you need to stay here? Yes or no.
00:05:22
Speaker
That was a labor of love. So I sold a bunch of stuff. We sold couches, computer desks. Remember I used to, you know, record in the front. We don't record in the front anymore because, you know, animals live up there.
00:05:37
Speaker
um But it was like, you know, selling off everything, like things that don't don't need to be, putting some stuff in storage. I know we have a storage that we sell like old furniture and stuff out like that out of, but it was hard going through all that stuff, opening up like some small boxes that needed to be opened and and moved.
00:05:57
Speaker
I am exhausted and the furniture is not even here. It comes tomorrow and I'm still like, okay, once the furniture gets here, you know, there's another round of like, Does this make sense? Should it be here? you know, what should it look like? And all these things. So yeah, adulting is ghetto.
00:06:14
Speaker
Y'all don't know this, but Amy Jo got a lot of stuff. and say I say that because I live with her. She got a lot of stuff. yeah She got a lot of cool stuff though. Her stuff is mad cool.
00:06:25
Speaker
She got art. kinky She got stuff. no she got and she She got cool stuff, but she got a lot of it though. So, like, the art. So, I'm like, do we, do you know, like... and So, Dark and Sunshine has seen some of the cool art I have. Like, I got the i got the original Michael Jordan poster that I have not framed.
00:06:44
Speaker
I got some, like, Black art that I haven't framed. And so, the hard part is actually taking the time to, like... The art is a good example. Like I need to go get this stuff framed, right? It cannot sit rolled up any longer.
00:07:01
Speaker
But the reason why I never framed it is, you know, you're moving, right? So no sense to hang it up in medical school. You're only going to be there for so long. All right. No sense in hanging up in residency. You're only going to be there for so long. um Now I'm like, you don't have an excuse, friend. Nope. You to, you got to, you know, at least frame it.
00:07:21
Speaker
Minimally. Right. So it's been hard and it's hard to merge. Well, you know, this dark sunshine now, not only is it my stuff, I'm merging it with, you know, my husband who comes with his own stuff. Right. He had his own house and and his own furnishings.
Pet Ownership Responsibilities
00:07:39
Speaker
And and and he had a fully furnished three bedroom house.
00:07:44
Speaker
You know, we were dating and so trying to figure out what part of that you want to keep, what parts you don't, you know, what's new, what's not. I now know why people, why married couples be like, we're getting new furniture because it's easier to be like.
00:07:58
Speaker
We'll both go pick out something and both of our stuff will go. Then the fight over who's will who stuff needs to stay and who's stuff doesn't. So we're in that process saying, all right, it's just time for the collective individual stuff to go and let's get some of our furniture.
00:08:18
Speaker
Yeah, with your own vision, your new vision of the two of you. o Oh, that's nice and exciting. It's fun. What's happening to all the animals? What's happening to all the animals up there?
00:08:29
Speaker
So for those of you who don't know, my husband loves fish. He had a 150-gallon freshwater tank and like 150-gallon saltwater tank. And there's also like 130-gallon turtle tank.
00:08:43
Speaker
We sold the freshwater tank. What? I know. Yeah. Wow. the Freshwater Tank sold. Now, listen, and for the record, for any fellas out there listening, ah did not make him get rid of it.
00:08:56
Speaker
Now, if he was on here to defend himself, he may say differently, but just listen to me now. I did not make him get rid of it. I just said that that the freshwater of tank doesn't get the same kind of love the saltwater tank gets, right?
00:09:10
Speaker
So for people who do not know the difference, and when you go to like an aquarium or if you've been in a fish store, the ones that are all bright and like the coral and all that stuff is in there, that's a saltwater tank, right? Those are the cool ones. They're fun, but they're a lot of work.
00:09:21
Speaker
And I feel like since he got the saltwater tank, the freshwater fish don't get any love. But that tank wasn't was significant to him because... At this point, that tank was full of fish that the fish he bought had made babies. And so it was like second and third generation like fish in there. So he's raised those fish.
00:09:42
Speaker
So I said, well, you know, we'll just keep them until they all run out and then we'll go from there. But he was like, no, I'll put it up, and you know, put it up for sale. And somebody bought it real fast.
00:09:52
Speaker
Wow. So when they bought it, he was like, oh. like what do you mean? Oh, we just sold it. So it it was a little rough for So he had to sell his remaining fish to the fish to the fish store because you know the person that wanted tank didn't want the fish.
00:10:10
Speaker
oh And um so we're down to two tanks. And so what's happening is we're getting a new fancy saltwater tank to go into the corner where all that workout equipment used to be because we put the workout equipment up and then we're going to sell off the other tank don't know what we're going to do with the turtles you know the turtles is they're here we're not getting rid of them they don't fit the decor but they have pets and we love animals around here so we'll see what happens
00:10:42
Speaker
Okay. wow Decisions being made. Look at y'all. I know. We got turtles. You grown-up stuff. Cats. We got so many random animals in here. You know, as a person that is not a huge pet person, I got a lot of animals in my house.
00:10:56
Speaker
As we speak, right now, there's tons of animals in my house. So. Listen, that's I love it. It's fun. We don't have any pets yet. Maybe in the future. We'll see.
00:11:10
Speaker
Don't do it. Don't
Adulthood Responsibilities and Economic Concerns
00:11:12
Speaker
do it? I don't know. I already have a child. I feel like that's enough. he's He's a lot. So I feel like i need to i need to handle one thing at a time.
00:11:21
Speaker
Yeah, because there'll be nothing worse than two people following you and stopping when you stop and looking up and being like, food, snack, food, snack. It would just be two people doing the same thing. So um when I come in the house, the cat is like, oh where you been?
00:11:38
Speaker
I have a snack? have a snack? Can have snack? Can I have snack? You think I have a snack? Oh, is my snack over there? No, your snack is not over here. I'm just trying to take my shoes off. Oh, I thought it was a snack over here. Like, will follow me nonstop.
00:11:51
Speaker
Until something gives. At some point I just learned if I ignore him. Long enough he will go lay down. But I'm like I know you just ate. I see the food. like I see the remnants of it in your bowl.
00:12:03
Speaker
So yeah. Kids are enough. Kids and animals. That's going to get busy. That's a lot. that's a long line I know if I'm down for that. We'll do one at a time.
00:12:15
Speaker
Or at least make it so that the kids old enough. To at least help to take care of it oh and be responsible but do they really not do they really not really because it's still your responsibility but at least they can do stuff and you can boss them around to do it go feed that dog yes didn't I say to do that didn't I that that would be my strategy That's a typical teenager response.
00:12:45
Speaker
Oh man, I forgot. Right. I forgot, my bad. You out here going to the movies with your little friends. Your little friends. Man. You know, the first time you saw called call your kid's friend little friends, you officially have gotten old. You'll be like, dang, I said it.
00:13:03
Speaker
yeah That's so true. Yeah. Little friends. Yeah. Right. Go on with your little friends. Don't nobody care?
00:13:14
Speaker
Okay. Yo, why they gotta be little friends though? why Why is that? Because they not grown. That's true. They not grown. They don't pay no bills. Say we don't pay no bills around here. and your little friends don't pay no bills.
00:13:30
Speaker
listen what a life we should have treasured those years what a life i know out here not paying bills i should have took advantage more ah feel like i didn't i feel like i didn't do as much as yeah i because when you're a kid you you're sitting there thinking okay i need to be able to get old enough so i could do what i want to do and then once you do what you want to do then you realize man this sucks i I should have took more naps. I should ate more snacks.
00:13:57
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I got to do this myself. Dang. Autonomy is expensive. Isn't it? Shoot. Got to pay all the bills. Yeah. What is happening?
00:14:10
Speaker
Pay the bills. Now have pay taxes. Taxes are so rude. Have y'all found your taxes yet? No. I was hoping the IRS was going to get fired. and
00:14:22
Speaker
Everybody else. That's your strategy? That's a bad strategy, friend. It's not looking like that's happening. so know I mean, all the other departments.
00:14:33
Speaker
Who in charge of that one? Who in charge of taxes? Is that Treasury? They ain't me. that true they me But I heard some people got fired. So I was like, well, are they just now? of people have gotten fired from multiple departments. It is wild. I mean, they're trying to shut down the Department of Education. So I was like, well, you're going to shut the IRS down?
00:14:54
Speaker
No, no. you still going get this work. i um at One of my friends is a it just on Facebook is a um federal employee.
00:15:05
Speaker
And they were talking about how the... um
00:15:12
Speaker
That they were, like, i guess this week, people were, as they were, like, coming in to work, scanning their badges, were getting notified at the door, like, oh, no, no, no, don't come in. What? You have been relieved of your duties.
00:15:25
Speaker
That's crazy. Yeah. Like, could you imagine, like, you're just trying to go to work, and you get to the office, and they're like, oh, no, not you. Yeah, it's wild. yeah that is is this is this your Is this your trending topic, Amy Jo?
00:15:40
Speaker
No, it's not. I have a really good trending topic. This was not my trending topic, but but yeah That sucks. Like, you don't expect to go to work, like, and for them to really tell you that you're fired. Like, I mean, unless you, like, you're doing some egregious stuff and you know, like, okay, my day's about to come.
00:15:57
Speaker
But, like... Chris, I think you know your day's about to come. I'm just saying, if you're doing some things and you know it might happen. But you don't work walk in and think, okay, that's it. You're trying to, you know, get to work. You be like,
00:16:12
Speaker
For Yo, they acting like these people don't have livelihoods and need money. They're not even employing all these people to do something else. Shit is wild. There's no plan. And not only that, like, you know, getting a federal job, like working in the government, you it kind of like equates that you've got some so type of security.
00:16:31
Speaker
like Yeah, that's what it used to mean. that's what i That's what it used to mean. And now it's kind of like, you know, security is gone. You don't have that. No, not at all. It's like, well, you're going to get a job.
00:16:45
Speaker
I mean, doing what? Right. And that's what you worked in most of your life. I mean, I guess it really, you know, makes quite clear. I mean, I think right now all the attention is on federal employees because that's who they mess with right now. But I will tell you that, you know, sometimes I'm sitting there thinking like, wow, it just makes you appreciate that all of our jobs are so fragile.
00:17:04
Speaker
yeah Like, I don't think this is just going to be a a federal sector problem. I think like all things in America, other, you know, private sectors are going to...
00:17:18
Speaker
follow suit and we're going to see, you know, some of this, you would hope not, but i just don't know how, you know, so many people can lose their jobs and our economy of can get so, you know, shaky and, you know, ah consumer confidence indexes can drop and all these things.
00:17:36
Speaker
And we're all just going to be like, well, at least we're federal employees. So we're just going to stay over here happy and employed. i think we all start to feel the impact of, you know, this at some point.
00:17:48
Speaker
Of course. so it's very concerning. And so if anybody is like, well, I'm not scared. There's not a federal employee. I think that's short sighted. I think we are all, you know, need to be paying attention.
00:18:01
Speaker
um Even if we're in the percentage that are like, we're going to sit this one out, sit it out, but pay attention. Yeah. um So, you know,
00:18:14
Speaker
But that is not my trending topic. I do have one, though. is that's more lighthearted is it more lighthearted than what we were just talking about? hope Well, it's different. i don't know that I would say light. All Okay. I'm still all the way depressed.
00:18:28
Speaker
know So this is interesting.
Legal Case and Hazing Incident
00:18:32
Speaker
So this just actually came out. um i don't know where I got it from. Somewhere on Facebook. ah NPR posted an article um that parents are suing Bucknell University for an alleged hazing that led to a freshman football player's death, right? So um this kid was a freshman, Calvin Dickey. He's 18. He was a football player at Bucknell University and was, you know, per the family. Well, the family is saying that, you know, that the school is taking a lot of ah care in not not being transparent in what happened.
00:19:08
Speaker
But essentially, this kid was doing some kind of strenuous workout, ended up with rhabdomyolysis, had a history of sickle cell trait. And they think that the sickle cell trait in rhabdomyolysis eventually led to his death. So he loses consciousness.
00:19:23
Speaker
He is taken to the hospital. He dies two days later. And so now Bucknell University is being sued by the family for this sickle cell trait induced rhabdo death.
00:19:35
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. yeah But why isn't... So the school's not giving the family any information about what happened?
00:19:51
Speaker
Well, you know, that is what the family's and the family and the family's attorney is saying that, you know, we're just not getting any information. um You know, we've asked, like they said, we asked repeatedly for not just a high level overview what happened, but for the details um and the um the specific fully transparent details of what happened to him.
00:20:11
Speaker
They're saying we've reached a point with Bucknell where we do not feel that we're going to get that. Our only path for us to get the truth is to file a civil lawsuit. So whatever it is that they were asking for, they're saying that, you know, they have not been given um a lot of information. and they say that that the coaches knew that their son has sickle cell trait and failed to take the steps necessary to ensure because we're in place to prevent harm. So, you know, the athletic staff and everything.
00:20:40
Speaker
that, you know, should be accountable and everything. Now, here's where this gets really interesting, right? So for most of us, and I think people in the Black community are very familiar with sickle cell and sickle cell trait, we kind of all identify the sickle cell as the the big dog, you know, and the whole thing, like, you know, you have to be very careful.
00:20:55
Speaker
But we do treat sickle cell trait as like, oh, okay, you got the label, but you don't have the things. And it reminds you that, you know, sickle cell trait has, um you know, incomplete penetrance, meaning that you do have some cells that are sickle in your system.
00:21:13
Speaker
You're just not full blown sickle cell. So under extreme circumstances, you can create a crisis if you are a sickle cell trait. But I think we learned that in medical school, right? You learn that in theory. like um But actually have not observed or read a case where, you know, in a long time where a sickle cell trait, the trait in itself is the cause of death due to, you know, some extraneous thing.
00:21:46
Speaker
Well, you could just get rhabdomyolysis just randomly and not necessarily have the trait. So all that is that that muscle breaks down, protein breaks down in the kidney, and it just overwhelms the kidney and causes failure, kidney Yes, but it's typically not deadly. So in this case, they are saying, the doctors were saying that the rhabdo with sickle cell trait can be fatal when they happen together. Right.
00:22:14
Speaker
So I'm assuming that, you know, we're implying that this kid has sickle cell trait and rhabdo and that maybe his sickle cell trait, you know, was exacerbated. He was, you know, pressured enough to actually sickle in some case. I don't know, but it's going to be really interesting to see, you know, what they come up with right now. It's a lawsuit.
00:22:36
Speaker
Um, You know, it's interesting, like, they they are saying that essentially the kid was hazed, right? So they're saying that they that the kid participated in this annual rite of passage.
00:22:56
Speaker
for a freshman to perform these intense rigorous exercises, um, that more senior players are not required to perform. And the purpose of it is just to be cruel.
00:23:08
Speaker
Um, and each must perform it or be benched or cut, you know, and and because of that, you know, this kid, you know pushed maybe even when he should not have and, you know, So,
00:23:22
Speaker
so um
00:23:26
Speaker
Yeah. So he was like literally in the middle of, i guess, a drill in the weight room and lost consciousness. Wow. Even though he was like struggling and in distress, um he just kind of, you know, went down.
00:23:42
Speaker
the athletic trainer wasn't present during the workout, you know, which is required by the NCAA protocol. So there was no trainer in the room when he, you know, went down, you know, they're saying they had been hazing up for days This guy was really sore. He was sick. He wasn't feeling well.
00:23:58
Speaker
He passes out. There's not enough, you know, information. You know, we don't know what happened after that. And so the family is saying they won't tell us anything, you know, along that line except for he went unconscious. He was sent to the hospital. He was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis.
00:24:14
Speaker
That with his sickle cell trait combined led to him being, you know, intubated and eventually led to his death. Man, jeez. That's horrible.
00:24:26
Speaker
Correct. I'm even wondering if this is like older players versus like the young players type of hazing or if there were coaches there too, just not the athletic training. They said the older players. Well, they said old players are not, you know. They're not required to do it because it's like a freshman hazing thing. But is it one of those like older players hazing younger players or is it like is the coaching staff in on this? You know what I mean? Like is this like a whole, like they're all in on it and there wasn't a trainer present or is this like player on player?
00:24:58
Speaker
No, I think either way, it's probably as player on player, but then no, the staff was there. The staff was there, but then they said the trainer was not there. oh Oh, so, you know, a whole program about to be. Oh,
00:25:11
Speaker
That's why I'm not saying anything. So this was like workouts, right? So this was them like in, you know, um you know some you know, summer workout, stuff like that. But they were, you know, really being pushed and the seniors just weren't required to run as many laps or or stuff like that as the freshmen were.
00:25:31
Speaker
So, um yeah. So, you know, and I think the issue is that the trainer wasn't there. So, you know, I think they're going to make the the case that, you know, somebody should have noticed that this kid was really struggling and didn't do anything. Because, like, they said things an article, like, um you know, eventually the cause of death was, like, dilated cardiomyopathy. Like, he coded.
00:25:56
Speaker
He had several heart attacks until the family just made him DNR, DNI. But they were saying, like, at the time of his, like, you know, that he came into camp weighing, like, 291 pounds, at time his death, he was, like, 350 pounds.
00:26:09
Speaker
So he had like significant, you know, edema and weight gain. Um, you know, the you know, when you have rhabdo, people are, you know, swollen and everything. yeah.
00:26:24
Speaker
And so even the family got a private autopsy that said the sickle cell trait contributed to his death. Although I would really like to see, um you know, what it is. the only thing it said is that sickle cell trait carriers are at higher risk of developing exertional rhabdo.
00:26:40
Speaker
It doesn't really say that he's sickled, but um apparently his rhabdomyolysis was bad. Probably probably worse than, um remember that remember that guy that um the accountant, it's a perfect time to be thinking about him, the accountant that came to the ED and his CK was like 75,000 or something like that.
00:27:06
Speaker
Because it was like the end of tax season and he was like, I just, I've been sitting at a desk so long doing all these taxes. I just want the workout. And he did like the Taibo, like the whole videos two times in a row in a week.
00:27:20
Speaker
Mm-mm. Oh my God. So he did like the whole, you know, like the whole weeks in like one week, twice. Tybo, P90X, all of them. Yeah. P90X. What's the title? It's P90X. He did the whole P90X two times in one week. And then I was working at ED at that time and he came in and like, he, like you couldn't touch me. He was like, ow.
00:27:41
Speaker
out And then I heard, ow. And I'm like, yo, you got rhabdo. um So rhabdo can be pretty, pretty bad. And you don't have to necessarily, contrary to popular belief, everybody thinks you had to really been going hard in the paint.
00:27:55
Speaker
You just be having going hard enough that it shreds your muscle fibers, right? So maybe to an athlete like this kid, unfortunately that passed away, I'm sorry to him and his family, or the young accountant who does like P90X two times in a row,
00:28:10
Speaker
Your six-year-old grandmother may just do a really hard Zumba class, but the last time she worked out was 12 years ago, and she has now torn every fiber in there. And even though she was only in there for 45 minutes and did a little bit of dancing and you know took her time, is she at risk of rhabdo? She could be.
00:28:30
Speaker
She could So you know it just means that you've torn the fibers because you have stretched those muscles you know, unreasonably beyond anything that, you know, we'd be expecting.
00:28:41
Speaker
So it's really sad. um ah hope the family gets answers. ah I just, you know, you send your kids off as student-athletes.
00:28:54
Speaker
And you're so proud, right? You're ready to wear the shirts and go to the games and cheer them on. i am certain that of all the options, ah getting the call that you were going to have to bury your son um
00:29:11
Speaker
at the beginning of, you know, their college career is not of things you expect. So... No, not at all. Yeah. That's so sad. Yeah.
00:29:21
Speaker
We sent prayers out to the family and the friends and everyone that knew him. And hopefully, yeah, hopefully they get some clarity. They get some closure. um and hopefully some things come to light. So at least the family can have a better understanding of exactly what happened. And we're sending, you know, prayers and good vibes to the family.
00:29:41
Speaker
Yep. To the Dickie family. We are sorry for your loss. Um, Jeez, that was not better news, Amy Jo M.D. My bad. But it was too good to not talk about. I was like, sickle, sickle, trade-induced ravdo. That is serious.
00:29:56
Speaker
um And African-American student athlete. So I want to make sure we talk about it.
00:30:05
Speaker
Wow. Also, everyone, if you do know that sickle cell runs in your family, you definitely should be talking to your parents. You should be talking to your family members to see if maybe you have the trait.
00:30:17
Speaker
I know that sickle cell trait definitely runs in my family for sure. So, no you know, that's something we all should be we also all should be aware of as well because you could be at risk for a few things. So talk to your doc, talk to your family, get your info, know your info.
00:30:32
Speaker
ah Dr. Chris, did I cut you off? You about to do... Oh, you about to but the pivot to your topic? Go ahead, girl. Pivot to your topic. Go ahead, pivot. It's time for me to pivot.
Health Concerns with Synthetic Hair
00:30:40
Speaker
Go ahead and pivot. Pivot to the topic. Go ahead.
00:30:44
Speaker
Okay. So... um I was... I'm going to start off on the story of how I decided to pick on the pick my topic. I think I was... i think it was because I was looking for a trending topic, actually.
00:30:58
Speaker
And it came across while I was looking probably like a post on Instagram or something. Something about... I saw something about like synthetic hair could have carcinogens.
00:31:11
Speaker
So um things that can... um um things that can increase your risk of cancer. um and I was like, huh, that's interesting. And then I looked and I saw like, there was this article that was posted in a medical journal.
00:31:28
Speaker
It's called the Lancet. And they were talking about, and so basically I'm talking about this based on the on the the article. And it was just saying that this is an unrecognized risk that affects African Americans because mostly we we are the ones that consume, that use synthetic hair. So what I'm talking about is that connect lawn hair, this black woman, we know that, that we use to do braiding, um braid our hair in all different styles, all different protective styles, right?
00:32:02
Speaker
And then when I saw that, I was like, wow, that's interesting because I've also seen before there were there was a was it I think it was a study that was put out that hair straighteners, that relaxers, that perms, right, that um mostly African-Americans use, right, um can increase your risk of uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, right?
00:32:27
Speaker
And it's, like, mind-blowing because it's, like, these are the things that you grew up using and you're like, oh, shoot, I have this risk, right? And so when I saw this, i was like, oh, this is very interesting. I did not even know.
00:32:39
Speaker
So basically when I read the ah the article, so was basically saying that some of, so, you know, the synthetic hair is basically like plastic and, and it's good because like, it's durable. It can last long.
00:32:56
Speaker
Right. And, um typically we i think sometimes we will typically have it in our hair for like weeks on end like um about what about typically about four to six weeks but sometimes people have it in their hair for like even longer right months sometimes if it could last right and so they were saying that they have chemicals that they've identified some chemicals that they have that can increase your risk of cancer. So increase your risk of cancers, such as like rare forms of cancers, like leukemia, lymphoma, um and some rare forms of liver cancers.
00:33:38
Speaker
So some of the, it's mainly made of two type of chemicals, your monocrylic fibers and your acryl nitrile and vinyl chloride, right?
00:33:51
Speaker
So these are toxics. These are just toxic to humans, right? And there haven't been any real studies to like really see like how like how long the exposure has to be before there's a credible like high risk.
00:34:08
Speaker
But we do know that these materials can increase your risk of cancer. And I thought that was pretty wild. What do you guys think?
00:34:19
Speaker
So here's the thing. i um ah Dr. k Chris knows this, but I've been in the process of getting my master's in public health for like way too long. but but um And one of the courses that I had to take, especially recently, um it's basically a course on environmental toxins.
00:34:38
Speaker
And it's a really, really interesting course. And basically what they're talking about is the fact that we're about to get a lot more information about, well, let me start at the foundation. I'll keep real short, simple and cute for y'all because you guys do not need a lecture.
00:34:52
Speaker
So there are certain products that we consume that have not been heavily regulated historically. And one of the major, major products that they don't really regulate like regulate as heavily are the cosmetics products.
00:35:05
Speaker
So it has to do with makeups, lotions, shampoos, hair products. Because the way that the the way that the ingredients are labeled, they're kind of labeled in these big umbrella categories. It's like, oh, we use some type of, I'm making it up right now, petroleum jelly.
00:35:23
Speaker
But it doesn't tell you like what's in the petroleum. It's a lot of like umbrella substances that they use in those just because no research has really been done to break down each of those things in every single shampoo, every single brand, every single whatever, the lipsticks, the makeups, whatever.
00:35:39
Speaker
But recently, Like Dr. Chris was talking about, there's a lot of things that are coming out because as we get more into like recycling and the plastics and finding all of these like smaller micro, ah um the micro toxins, they're realizing that a lot of those are actually in a lot of the cosmetic products that we use.
00:35:59
Speaker
And one of the things that's gaining a little more traction right now are hair products. So, This is probably the first of probably a string of news that we're going to get.
00:36:10
Speaker
So it's the Environmental Protection Agency, who also works with the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, to try to be a little more clear on what the toxins are, what they're in, and trying to kind of you know, move these products off the shelves or tell the kids, tell the people that are making the products like, hey, you can't use this product anymore.
00:36:28
Speaker
And even what you were talking about with the hair relaxers, that goes for it not just the relaxers for black women, but like even like white people who get like the perms to make their hair curly. like and a lot of those products and a lot of products for um color change like mean people bleach their hair a lot of those too so it's a lot of hair altering products that are like high priority right now so yeah what a time what a time i don't know it's it's we're about to get a lot of information i'll say over the next maybe one to two years we're gonna learn lot i'm sure i'm sure they're gonna start doing more research on it and a lot of these um
00:37:06
Speaker
a lot of these raw materials they use are pretty cheap, right? And that's why, like, the synthetic hair is not that expensive, right? Because it's like, cheap to use. And also there's this other chemical that they found.
00:37:18
Speaker
It's called what these, these volatile organic compounds, right? That's yeah that's in the synthetic hair. And they're kind of like flame returning, like, because then, you know, to seal it, you know, when you get your hair braided, it's either they burn the ends, right? Or they put it in hot water. I don't think they do the burning the ends as much anymore, but probably putting in the hot water. But when they do that,
00:37:41
Speaker
the vapors over a long time, exposures can exacerbate asthma, cause ah symptom cause those problems because you're releasing that into the into the environment.
00:37:52
Speaker
um And it doesn't, they technically don't really, they they beat the fire safety laws, but loosely. There's no federal regulation with that.
00:38:05
Speaker
I think it said in 22, like New York State, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, and West Virginia started banning some of these flame retardants, but it's just some states, but there's no federal regulation.
00:38:18
Speaker
So And all of these things is that it's your risk, right? But risk depends on the length of exposure too, right? And there's no limit or study to know exactly like you have to have been exposed this much time to have this increased risk that that happened.
00:38:35
Speaker
So don't get me wrong. Don't, I'm not saying that you can't get your hair braided. And like, if you get hair braided, you're going cancer. I'm not saying that. It's just that there is a risk over time that you keep having this exposure.
00:38:49
Speaker
And i don't know That's crazy because which one of us has not had braids? We've all had them We've all had them, right? And then even like little things like for me, when I use synthetic hair, like it like irritates my scalp.
00:39:03
Speaker
Like, and they do say that it can do that, right? Do you pre-soak yours? I saw before these articles came out about you know the forever chemicals and the toxins.
00:39:16
Speaker
But you know every now then i will follow somebody that pre-soaked their hair like in apple cider vinegar or something to get like the probably the fire retardant off.
00:39:30
Speaker
in um Do you do any of that? I haven't. I haven't even heard of that. Does your brainer it? Yeah. That might help a little bit, I guess, but I haven't done that.
00:39:42
Speaker
but i check But I can't keep them in for the very long. So then I just don't do it. But I do other things to my hair, like I dye it, so... That's a thing. ah yeah You know, so it's like all all different things. But, the and and also, like, the plastic is not biodegradable, right? So you throw it out and it's, like, bad for the environment.
00:40:06
Speaker
But there is another option that is good for the environment that doesn't have all of these toxins. And I think I saw this article, this lady, think she's Nigerian. she makes um the synthetic hair she makes the hair from banana leaves and i saw that yeah it's more it's biodegradable um and it doesn't have all those toxins uh in there and they say it's just as good but i just think it's just a little bit more expensive because you know they're making it from banana leaves but yeah i thought that was pretty interesting
00:40:41
Speaker
That's super interesting. Yeah. was like, I didn't even know they make those. There's one, Bananaly's, and there was one that someone did with Rosemary.
00:40:52
Speaker
Hmm.
00:40:55
Speaker
Yeah. That's pretty cool. Right? That's dope. Mm-hmm. But I just thought that that was really interesting. Like, when I saw that, i was like, oh, shoot, I didn't know.
00:41:06
Speaker
And then in my head, I'm like, I should have known. Because, like, ah we're exposed to so many different types of toxins and things in the plastic and even like they even did they even said like um some of the some of the synthetic hair even has lead in it that's crazy it's crazy but you know There's a lot of like regulation with lead, too. So we we've decreased our exposure and emissions of lead significantly right with all the laws and things like that.
00:41:40
Speaker
We still test our kids for lead levels. Yeah.
00:41:47
Speaker
Even if it sneaks in with my hair. i know, right? That's crazy. but you know There's no regulation that says, oh, you got to check every you know packet of hair for exactly you know lead levels.
00:41:59
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But even like the, what Amy Jo was talking about, like the forever chemicals, even just talking about forever chemicals, that's pretty new. Like within the realm of like science and things that we're studying, we're talking about things that have come up over the last maybe five to 10 years.
00:42:15
Speaker
This isn't like something where it's like, oh, we've studied this for generations. It's like, no, it's like, these are all these little chemicals and these like microtoxins that have been in all this, like even the stuff you use like all the time, like nonstick cooking pans.
00:42:28
Speaker
Yeah. You know what i mean? Like we've been using, we've been using nonstick cooking pans for what ever, Yeah. Like even people keep them forever and the nonstick starts to peel off. You keep using it. Like we've just been exposed to so much stuff for so long. It's like, you know, when you start to read this list and dig deeper into it you're just like, oh my God, I'm exposed my whole life. Drinking water out the water hose. What do I even know anymore? I don't know.
00:42:52
Speaker
Right. It's so true. it I should have died like five years ago. I know. everything. Do you still use nonstick, nonstick cookware? Mm-mm.
00:43:06
Speaker
I don't. i don't i don't well for It was just good timing. But for wedding gifts, you know people give you like a new set of like you know like a stainless steel you know cooking wear and stuff. so We've upgraded, but they still sell it.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah. and then you know Some people going to use what they use. In my culture, what's the paintingning you don't throw out your old pots yeah You keep your good pot.
00:43:33
Speaker
yeah yeah You don't throw out an old pot to get a new pot. You keep your good pot. But depending on the brand, even the newer non-sticks that they're making, they're like, well, if you use these newer non-sticks, we've eliminated those chemicals and you have to use the plastic spatulas and things with them. You can't use like a regular fork or regular knife. So there's lots of... Everybody's trying to find their workaround to sell their product.
00:43:57
Speaker
You know, everything's like... Even the kids' toys. Like, oh, BPA-free. Boom. Like on the kids' toys. It's like, you know, everything is just trying to... help people make a more conscious decision, but it doesn't change the fact that, especially like millennials and above, we've been exposed to a lot of shit for a lot of time.
00:44:11
Speaker
So, listen... And their whole, i don't, you know, that whole thing, like, you know, or just don't use the, just don't use the, you know, don't use, you know, use plasticware or whatever. It still means you have harm harmful products in your pan. You're just saying that we've done a better job at coating it and keeping it in. It should, you know, last for it x amount of time before you could be at risk. And i'm like, that doesn't help.
00:44:38
Speaker
Give me a cast iron skillet, please. So I can just figure this out. Yeah, we got cast irons. We got stainless steel. um So, yeah. it's a whole It's a whole bunch. But again, if you if you guys actually took the time to Google it and read the list, the list is long. We've been exposed to a lot of things. so but there But that cosmetics list is about to get longer.
00:45:01
Speaker
So, yeah we're we're about to see. So, I'm hoping over time, because they're doing more research, they're going to start to have more regulation on these things. Because now they're... More regulation?
00:45:15
Speaker
Well, it's probably going to be after this this presidential term. yes Yes. yes I what you mean. Long term, more regulation. Right. But, you know, the the crazy thing about it is a lot of these things affect the people, affect certain people of a certain socioeconomic status more than others.
00:45:35
Speaker
Right? Mm-hmm. And... Not even just that. Not even just that. when i was When I was taking this course and reading that long list, I'm like, this and a this is going to affect predominantly women.
00:45:45
Speaker
Like, in um in a major way. Everything from these all these hair products, all this these makeup products, all these, you know, i'm like, this is going to predominantly affect a lot of women in some way or another.
00:45:58
Speaker
Not saying men aren't important, but that was my first thought when I read the list. I was like, here we go. Here we go. Another thing.
00:46:09
Speaker
Well, that was a great topic. That was a great topic, Dr. Chris. It was kind of short. No, but we're talking about something you can hold on to. Something that's like, hmm, just be aware.
00:46:23
Speaker
Right? I'm not saying you can't you can't get your hair braided. I'm not doing that. I'm not saying that. Yeah.
Listener Questions and Episode Conclusion
00:46:29
Speaker
Good job, Dr. Chris. I'm down for it. What is crazy is that one of our questions that was submitted was actually about that. So they must have come across it on social media too. Yeah. ah Look at that. So lovely listener who submitted this question. Dr. Chris just answered your question, boo.
00:46:46
Speaker
We didn't even have to ask it. She was asking about um black hair products that um potentially cause cancer. Like you said, carcinogens. And she mentioned braiding hair too. So good job, Dr. Chris. Look at you being plugged into the listeners. Plugged in, plugged in.
00:47:00
Speaker
I try sometimes. I try sometimes. Yeah, this other question that was here. um ooh I think we'll save that for maybe an episode. i feel like Dr. No-No would want to do that one.
00:47:14
Speaker
We don't want to give up too much of the goods when Dr. No-No's not here. um But we also might make that an episode. So just no listener who sent this question about um I can give you guys a a brief peek, a teaser.
00:47:27
Speaker
um It's basically talking about ah changes to be prepared for during this administration um in regards to health care. um So we're just going to I'm going to table that because I can go in so many different directions. That's a large umbrella.
00:47:43
Speaker
um I won't tell you this much. We can't really tell you what to be prepared for with this administration because. they're still doing things so um and the dust hasn't settled yet so maybe uh after the dust settles and once we get some general direction maybe we'll tell you if there's some major changes in health care maybe we'll tell when we when we know we'll let you know how about that right we'll have our people call your people right we'll call your people well what i can tell you still going to work though
00:48:15
Speaker
and yes yes Yes, we are still going to work. Yes. feel blessed to be able to have jobs that know allow us to live the way that we live.
00:48:27
Speaker
so I do. There's that. Can we all get an amen? Amen. Amen. Amen. Now, if you guys would like to contact us and leave comments, questions, concerns, and all of that, you guys can find us at the Chocolate MDs. You can find us on all of the avenues. um You can find us on X, formerly known as Twitter.
00:48:46
Speaker
You can find us on Instagram. You can send us an email at thechocolateandbees at gmail.com. Send over your questions. um Or you can just hit us up just to say hi and how much you love us. You know, we're here for compliments too.
00:48:58
Speaker
We do all all the things. um Until next time, we will bid you guys farewell and hope that you have a lovely morning, evening, or afternoon whenever you're listening to this. And we'll say bye, guys.
00:49:10
Speaker
Bye, guys.