We know we are supposed to wear sunscreen. We know sun exposure can increase our risk for skin cancer. So how do we reconcile our desire for that "desirable summer glow" with the risk of medical harm? Your Doctor Friends get these texts all the time, especially post-summer solstice: "If I wear sunscreen, what SPF should I use? Is chemical or minera…

HAPPY PRIDE, FRIENDS! This week we are re-releasing an episode that makes us proud; when we interviewed the amazing Dr. Loren Schechter to learn about and discuss gender-affirming surgery. The conversation was as helpful and poignant last year as it is now, so we thought it would be smart to give it another go :) In general, surgical interventions …

Do your legs swell sometimes? Have you ever considered wearing compression socks? Are you seeing targeted ads on social media or in your inbox from sock companies enticing you to buy their compression stockings? Well, YDF SUPER LISTENER, Amanda M. did! We got a message on Instagram from @akmargie asking about compression socks, she specifically ask…

Have you heard of the term, "bigorexia"? It is a form of body dysmorphic disorder, similar in ways to anorexia. Bigorexia is used to describe muscle dysmorphia, a condition exhibited mostly by boys/men and characterized by excessive weight lifting, a preoccupation with not feeling muscular enough and a strict adherence to eating foods that lower we…

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BRAIN TUMORS! We try to keep it simple here on YDF, but today it IS brain surgery! We are rounding out Brain Tumor Awareness Month! Building on our conversation last week with Alyx Porter, MD, re: how to know if you could have a tumor, this episode focuses on the other side of the conversation. Let's explore…

It's Brain Tumor Awareness Month! Have you ever felt perhaps "too aware" - letting your imagination run amok and ponder if its reaaally just a headache, or maybe something a bit more serious? Most folks can relate. Sometimes we jump to "worst case scenario" when appraising our symptoms, as a defense mechanism. We want to feel prepared, feel like we…

Have you ever stood up quickly and felt a little lightheaded or felt your heart racing? What if, out of the blue, that started happening EVERY TIME YOU STOOD UP? This can be reality for folks with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), or other forms of "orthostatic dysfunction". It can be quite debilitating, especially since it seems to…

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…