Vitals

Now that children are back in school, they could be bringing home COVID-19 along with their homework. A vaccine could change that. Alok and Sheena explain the vaccine development process and address key issues and questions that are making people wonder about the safety and helpfulness of COVID vaccines for kids.

Alok and Sheena take to the streets to ask people why they lie to their doctor. What are they really afraid of? We’ll reveal the most common lies and why they’re so dangerous. Our goal: to help you have a more candid and healthy relationship with your doctor. Fun Fact: A recent survey finds nearly a 1/4 of Americans say they lie to their doctor. And who knows how many lied on the survey!

Everyone wants to talk about sex, but not when grandma and grandpa are involved! Well, it’s about time we grow up. OLDER PEOPLE are HAVING SEX and some are having a lot of it! Sheena Williams, RN and Alok Patel, MD chat with geriatrician Dr. Louise Aronson to explore how sexuality changes as we age. They bust myths, discuss surprising risks, and share how to maintain a healthy sex life at any age.

ERs closing, patients turned away from hospitals, six-month waits for urgent appointments - is this the new normal? Burnout and two years of COVID pressure are driving many nurses to leave the profession, leaving patients in the lurch. The whole system is under strain.. Alok and Sheena look into how bad it really is, how it’s affecting patient care and what we can do about it.

Does a Google search for itchy skin or a tickle in your throat lead to some scary results? Don’t start making funeral plans just yet! Before you fall down the internet rabbit hole, watch our video and learn how to use search results to get safe and useful information...without giving yourself a nervous breakdown!

The Advice on Alcohol is Changing. Alok and Sheena will talk about the trend of Dry January, and share surprising facts about drinking. Whether or not you want to reset your relationship with alcohol, Alok and Sheena have you covered!

Sleep disorders affect millions of people. Problems include everything from insomnia to much stranger conditions - like sleepwalking. Hosts Alok Patel, MD and Sheena Williams, RN explain what the brain is supposed to be doing as it guides us into healthy sleep, and break down the various things that can happen when the process goes awry.

The pandemic has more people depressed and anxious than ever. But spilling your problems to a stranger can be scary. How do you know if you should go and seek therapy? What do you need to know, and what’s the evidence for whether it will help? With telehealth, texting and even therapy by robot - the range of mental health options is changing fast.

Keto? Intermittent Fasting? And what about plant-based diets? Alok and Sheena explain the science behind the most popular diets, explain what they have in common and explain why for most people - they don't really work. Happily, health and weight are not the same thing, and we'll show you what you really ought to focus on when it comes to food.

There's even a study using psilocybin (from mushrooms) to help doctors and nurses suffering from burnout! So why the excitement, and what's the downside? We’ll break it down, recap highs and lows from key studies, explain how these drugs affect the brain, and see what skeptics say are the biggest risks.

Did you know there’s a blood test that can detect your risk of depression? why aren’t we using it? Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders, with 1 in every 6 adults experiencing it at some point in their lives. And yet depression is surprisingly difficult to diagnose.

You see them everywhere: CBD gummies, CBD lotions, CBD drinks, CBD toothpicks. But what exactly are you buying? Buyer beware! We dive deep into why the FDA is cracking down on CBD companies over “unsupported” medical claims and how you can traverse the complicated CBD marketplace. And what is CBD isolate versus full-spectrum CBD and broad spectrum CBD? We’ll explain that, too.

Currently, almost 2% of high school students in the U.S. identify as transgender, and a growing number of teens are being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to a study by the CDC. As a result, there is an increased demand for gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

What exactly is medical tourism? How safe is it to travel to another country for a medical procedure? And what about mixing a little vacation with some dental work? As of 2020, approximately 1 in 10 people in the US under the age of 65 are medically uninsured. So why is health care so expensive in the US? Alok and Sheena share some of the risks associated with medical tourism.

On June 24, 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and we are SHOOK. The abortion debate is divided along party lines, and steeped in a cloud of myths. What’s science and what’s science fiction? We’ve got the truth about current abortions procedures, how safe they are, who it affects, and abortion’s role in reproductive health.

It’s not “just cramps”, pregnancy will not cure the disease, and yes (sigh)...even teens can get it. People with endometriosis keep getting gaslit. Why is their pain being dismissed? Alok and Sheena talk about how the healthcare system has fallen short, and how social media is stepping in to help. Karen Chang MD joins us to bust some endo myths that even some doctors believe.

Thousands of cases of monkeypox have been reported in countries where, historically, the virus is not endemic. But this virus isn’t new. In fact, Monkeypox is currently endemic in parts of West and Central Africa and scientists have known about the virus infecting humans since as early as 1970. So what changed? The Vitals team, along with epidemiologist, Dr. Anne Rimoin, are here to demystify it.

After 40 years of trying, why don’t we have an HIV vaccine? Did you know that even without a vaccine, we have antiviral medication that is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV? So why isn’t that good enough? The U.S. and the world have a goal of ending HIV as a major health threat by the year 2030, but is that realistic? Lots of questions, and we’ve got some answers.

Dietary supplements have become a staple of the American diet, with half of all American adults taking a multivitamin or other dietary supplement regularly. But how much of the supplements craze is backed by research? With a panel of experts, co-hosts Alok and Sheena talk through five top-selling supplements, grade these supplements and some of their answers may surprise you.

Botox is the top non-surgical beauty procedure in the country, and now even being used non-cosmetically. But is it really something to consider in your 20s and 30s? We’re joined by Board-Certified dermatologists Dr. Alexis Stephens and Dr. Angelo Landriscina to answer these questions and more.