From primary care physicians to cardiologists and dermatologists, explore answers to common questions from verified healthcare experts. Ask your non-emergency health questions and find informed answers from verified doctors like Aaron Baggish, Jordan Metzl, and Katherine Wojnowich.
When meeting a patient or family member for the first time, it is important to show that you are listening and fully engaged by conveying this through nonverbal cues. This includes avoiding any interruptions that break the privacy between you two and show that your attention is elsewhere. Once trust has been established, then you can relax more. Transcript: "The most important thing that a patient needs or a family member needs when we're trying to build trust and I'm meeting them often for the first time, is they need to know that I really am focused on them and that I hear what they're saying. And that is conveyed almost more through nonverbal cues than it is by what I'm saying because I'm listening. So for example, if I'm constantly looking at my watch or my phone, even if it's for other patients, even if my pager is going off, anything like that, that breaks that kind of magic circle of privacy between us, that the outside world almost doesn't exist, I'm just listening to you. Anything that shows that my attention really is not there is going to really impair the building of that trust. So first of all, I try to not let anything interrupt me in those critical moments because once I've built that trust, then we can be more relaxed later. So I try not to let anything interrupt me and I really convey with my whole body that I really am fully engaged, focused, listening."
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located at the bottom of the pelvis that helps to support bowel, bladder, and sexual function. It consists of three layers (the most superficial around the anal, vaginal, and urethral openings) and works together with the diaphragm, multifidi muscles, and transverse abdominis to provide full core muscle activation and support for daily activities. Transcript: "The question is, what is the pelvic floor? The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that resides at the bottom of the pelvis. I have a female pelvic model right here. Everything you see in white is bone. Everything you see in red is the pelvic floor which is muscle. It's bordered by the pubic symphysis in the front, the spine, and the sacrum and the tailbone in the back and bottom, and the hip bones on the side. The pelvic floor has three muscle layers. The first being the most superficial. That's around the anal opening, the vaginal opening, and the urethral opening. The second layer is a little bit deeper in and surrounds the urethra. And the third layer term, typically the levator ani muscle group is a little bit deeper in the pelvis. These three muscle layers help to support bowel function, bladder function, sexual function, and are an integral part of the core. You have your pelvic floor at the bottom. You have your diaphragm at the top, in the bottom of the thoracic cage. You have multifidi muscles which are segmental spinal stabilizers in the back, and your transverse abdominis which is a broad, flat core muscle that help to cohesively and effectively engage your core muscles, and make sure that you have full function to provide support for your daily activities."
Masters athletes should modify the degree of endurance athletics they participate in and find a level of exercise that is sustainable, but does not contribute to further arrhythmia risk. Transcript: "What, if anything, can masters athletes do to mitigate the risk of atrial fibrillation? Well, others have discussed this at some length, but I would agree that if you have identified that you've had atrial fibrillation, it generally requires you to do some de-training, and that's something that most people are not terribly thrilled to hear about. But what you want to do is find a level of exercise that is sustainable, but that does not contribute to further arrhythmia risk. And that usually includes modifying the degree of endurance athletics that you're participating in."
I like Siggi's coconut yogurt because it has a good ratio of sugar to protein, and the ingredients are clean and simple. Transcript: "So what is the best yogurt? Well, for me, I'm going to give you a plant-based approach because I am a plant-based person. So for me the best yogurt is actually Siggi's coconut yogurt. And the reason that I like that is a lot of your plant-based yogurts are going to be a little bit higher in sugar. And so I really like the Siggi's because the total sugar is actually just 9 grams. And so it ends up being about with a gram of dietary fiber. So I think it ends up being about 11 or 12 grams of like, actual net carbohydrates. And then the protein is actually 11 grams of protein. And so for a plant-based product, this is a really good ratio of sugar to protein. And so the other reason that I really like that is that you have a pea protein that's in there, coconut milk, so your medium chain triglycerides, which are great sources of energy and really not a lot else. So it's a pretty clean source of yogurt. So that's my go to."
Melatonin plays a role in our natural sleep-wake cycle and is generally considered safe for short-term use. Common side effects include somnolence, dizziness, nausea, headache, anxiety, depression, tremor, abdominal cramps, and confusion. It can interact with some medications such as anticoagulants, antiplatelets, antidiabetic, contraceptive, and anticonvulsant medications, so it is important to consult your doctor before taking melatonin. Transcript: "Melatonin plays a role in your natural sleep-wake cycle. The levels of melatonin in the blood are the highest at night. Short-term use of melatonin is generally considered very safe. On the contrary to many other sleep aids, you are very unlikely to become dependent on melatonin or to develop tolerance, which means to need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect. The most commonly observed adverse events to melatonin are somnolence, dizziness, nausea, and headache. Less commonly observed adverse events are mild anxiety, short bouts of depression, mild tremor, abdominal cramps, confusion. But it is possible to experience some of those side effects as well. Melatonin can interact with some of the medication that you may potentially be taking. And those medications that most commonly interact with melatonin are anticoagulants or antiplatelets medication, antidiabetic medication, contraceptive medication, as well as anticonvulsives. And therefore, if you take any of those medications, including immunosuppressants, you should definitely consult your doctor before you start taking melatonin."
You can tell if your skin is dehydrated by doing a pinch test where you pinch the skin on the cheek or on the chest. To rehydrate, drink 8-12 cups of water per day and add in a lemon wedge for vitamin C. Use topical moisturizers with ceramides and hyaluronic acid serums to help lock in moisture. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables for added hydration. Transcript: "Hi there. Dr. Lara Butler, board-certified dermatologist here to answer the question, how can you tell if you are fully hydrated? Well, when your skin loses moisture and becomes dehydrated, you'll be able to see noticeable changes in the skin. Your skin tone will be a little dull. You'll notice more fine lines and wrinkles. Even the dark circles under the eyes will be more pronounced. So you can also experience things like headache, fatigue, decreased urination. But in terms of skin symptoms, that's what we're going to be talking about today. You can tell if your skin is dehydrated by trying to do a pinch test where you pinch the skin on the cheek or on the chest. And it should retract and not leave a wrinkle. If it does leave a wrinkle or take a while to retract, usually, that means that the skin is dehydrated, and you need to start rehydrating. So how can we do that? Well, we do it from the outside in and the inside out. From the outside, we can start hydrating by drinking a ton of water, 8 to 12 cups a day. And if you can super boost that by adding in a lemon wedge, that just adds some vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that's going to help with collagen synthesis. And that's just going to help to boost and plump the skin even more. In terms of sports drinks, we kind of recommend steering clear of those because they can have a high amount of sugar in them and that can counteract what you're trying to do with hydrating the skin since the sugar can then dehydrate the skin more. In terms of outside in, putting on a topical moisturizer or something with a ceramide, that's the key ingredient you want to look for. Ceramides are lipids, which are basically fat molecules that are going to help to lock in that moisturizer or that moisture. For extra hydration, you can add a serum like a hyaluronic acid. The serum should go in first and then the moisturizer on second. Hyaluronic acid serums are going to help the water bind collagen for that extra plumping. Otherwise, eating a ton of fruits and vegetables that can help to plump the skin with hydration are always a good option. So we get about 20% of our hydration from what we consume. So just be aware of what you're putting in your body, drink a ton of water, use some great moisturizers, and hopefully that will help plump the skin. Take care."