Do you remember "scoliosis check" during middle school? That embarrassing moment where, as a 12/13 year old, you had to do a shirtless forward fold in front of the school nurse?? MORTIFYING. Perhaps you never had to live through this torture. Or perhaps, even WORSE, you were told by said nurse that your screen was POSITIVE, and now your parents had…

PART 2 of our coverage of young-onset colorectal cancer! This week our guest is an Oncology expert, here to give us in-depth information about colorectal cancer, with actionable items on how we can protect ourselves. Colorectal cancer in younger folks (under 50 years old) is unfortunately on the rise. According to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, in…

Colorectal cancer in younger folks (under 50 years old) is unfortunately on the rise. According to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, in the US, about 10% of colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed in people under 50. Those numbers are rising about 1-2% percent each year, and researchers are still finding out why. Young adults are the only population gr…

What happens when you turn 40 (and you also have boobs)? Well, since May 2023, the USPSTF has recommended that women at average risk for breast cancer start screening with mammograms beginning at age 40, and undergo mammography every other year. These updated recommendations are still “in progress” and the USPSTF cites the urgent need for more rese…

In the 1990s, a chain email circulated around the series-of-tubes we called the internet, suggesting that aluminum-containing antiperspirants clogged your sweat pores, thus disallowing your body to “purge itself of toxins”, and those "toxins" would accumulate in your axillary lymph nodes, and increase your risk of breast cancer. Yikes. Predating th…

What does the term "microplastics" mean to you? Why is seemingly everyone talking about them lately? A new study published on March 6th in the New England Journal of Medicine titled, “Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events" has been circulating around the internet, and raises concerns about the risk of exposure to mic…

Vaping. E-cigarettes. Heat sticks. They're super popular (especially among young people)- an estimated 22 MILLION e-cigarettes are sold in the US every MONTH. As we have (thankfully) seen traditional combustible tobacco cigarette smoking decline over the past couple decades, the flip side is an astronomical increase in vaping. Many e-cigarette bran…

Another foray into the wide world of SUPPLEMENTS, friends! Let's talk COLLAGEN this time. What IS collagen? Well, in short, it's, uh... us. Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. It accounts for about 30% of your body’s total protein. It is the primary building block of your body’s connective tissues: skin, muscles, bones, tendons, lig…

Baseball is back! Spring training cactus (and grapefruit!) leagues are in full swing, and the sports community is all abuzz with prognostications for the upcoming season. Pop quiz, dear listener! Shohei Ohtani. Bryce Harper. Kerry Wood. Jose Canseco. Chris Sale. What do they have in common? They're all Major League Baseball players, and they all (i…

Daylight saving time. When it happens twice a year, do you find yourself forgetting which one is the “bad one”? We know “spring forward, fall back”, and the “spring forward” part sounds deceptively perky and positive, but really it’s the BAD ONE! Meaning, we lose an hour by shifting the clock forward. What a crock! Our circadian rhythms are so inte…

Belly up to the buffet, friends! This week, Your Doctor Friends serve a smattering of hot health headlines. Jeremy and Julie curated these stories for YOU, and they are also available via our monthly newsletter, the PULSE CHECK! This week's topics include: The Alabama Supreme Court IVF ruling. Jeremy gives us an overview of the state high court's r…

What does it mean to “have your affairs in order”? Usually, this concept comes up after someone has died or diagnosed with a serious illness. “Did they/do they have their affairs in order?” What "affairs" are they referring to? Financial allocations? Healthcare power of attorney? Living will? The “legacy contact” for your iPhone?? It’s human to wan…

GREEN DRINKS! Let's dive in to the murky green waters of the "supergreens" beverages currently sweeping the market! Are they as "super" as they claim? Do our bodies need to supplement all of these substances in the "proprietary blends", presented on the back of the packaging, in barely-pronounceable, long lists? How do we know what's in these powde…

Prebiotics! Probiotics! Symbiotics! Postbiotics! WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Where are all of these "biotics" all living?? Well, the short answer is- they're living inside YOU! Talk about the human gut microbiome is everywhere. We thought it would be helpful to have our expert in gut health, Alessio Fasano, MD to give us insights on the microbiome, and …

Do you feel like "hibernating" in the winter months? Does the loss of daylight affect your mood? Regardless of whether you tough it out in the northern US in cold winter conditions, or you escape to warmer temperatures down south, none of us are immune to seasonal changes in the amount of daylight hours. The winter solstice comes for us all, whethe…

Discussion about Ozempic (semaglutide and other GLP-1 agonist medications) is EVERYWHERE. So many opinions! Your Doctor Friends know that sifting through mountains of information on a subject is HARD. Sometimes it helps to "ask a friendly expert", so that's exactly what we did for this episode. Quick plug/required pre-listening for this episode- Yo…

Are you a late-night snacker? Do you sometimes get home late and push dinner back to 8 or 9 PM? Perhaps you've heard somewhere that eating right before bed is "bad for you"? Is this true? Does the timing of our eating have any impact on our health? How can we know?? RELAX! Your Doctor Friends have got you covered. To start off the new year (and fol…

Should I try Dry January? How about Damp January?? Many folks who choose to imbibe alcohol may have considered curbing consumption on occasion, and a fair amount of people choose January to give it a go. On the theme of "New Year's Resolutions", in this episode we tackle some hard truths about hard drinks, and we have a wonderful expert guest to gu…

Have you ever TAKEN THE PLUNGE?? Cold water immersion is one of hottest trends in the health and wellness world. A number of theories exist re: the benefits of cold water immersion. Generally we think of recovery from exercise, muscle soreness, injuries, etc. But the recent “craze” has been due to the potential to improve depression and anxiety, bo…

In the classic holiday film "It's a Wonderful Life", Clarence the angel says "remember, George, no man is a failure who has friends". In the holiday spirit, Your Doctor Friends took Clarence's words to heart, and present to you today the research behind how friendship keeps us healthy. In today's episode, we highlight the growing amount of evidence…

Have you ever been 5 days into a cold, and you're just SICK OF FEELING SICK? Did you think "hmmm, maybe I should call my doctor, or hit up the local urgent care and see if they'll prescribe me a Z-Pak"? What IS a Z-Pak? What does it do? Does it actually do anything? Is it something my healthcare provider gives me just to "do something"? What does t…

Have you ever felt "over-caffeinated"? Did you feel jittery, shaky, and sense your heart was going a mild a minute? Perhaps that feeling sneaked up on you? Keeping track of the exact milligram amount of caffeine we consume is tricky, especially when coffee caffeine strengths vary wildly, and many prepared beverages don't disclose the exact caffeine…

Crank up the Salt-N-Pepa, friends, cuz Your Doctor Friends are TALKIN SEX, BABY! In all seriousness, Your Doctor Friends think that healthcare providers can do a better job making sexual health education and treatment more accessible and less stigmatized. Sexual health concerns, and sexual dysfunction are so prevalent, and deserve meaningful, evide…

What do you think about psychedelics? Does your mind wander to late-60’s Beatles tunes? What colors do you see? Have you heard about their therapeutic uses in medicine? Seems like hippy-dippy fringe medicine stuff, right? We're talking magic mushrooms, LSD, and ketamine (among other substances) here! Can you guess which academic research institutio…

Have y'all heard of CRISPR?? This revolutionary gene-editing technology has the potential to treat and possibly CURE genetic diseases. Recently an FDA advisory committee has recommended the use of this technology in efforts to cure symptoms of sickle cell disease in people! THIS IS HUGE NEWS! In today's episode, Jeremy presents the context and back…