COVID-19 Files: Ep. 5

Hello gut check project fans, KBMD health community. This is Eric with your host, Dr. Ken Brown, installment number five COVID file. We're here to, well, you know what, I actually I'm not gonna say what we're here to do because what Brown said he said do you know what I've got in store? And I said no, not all the way he goes good, cuz I'm not gonna tell you so

So this is COVID files number five 4.5 was me and Dr. Akerman and I love our little part time co host Dr. Akerman that is a smart dude. He challenges me to tear apart the literature and it is and we're gonna do more with him because it It allows us to critically eval the literature and he is very academic in his brain and he's an incredible doctor. But the point five is kind of wearing me out every once in a while I just need like a whole number. Really bad at math and, you know, so this episode, we've been so busy doing so many things and we'll get into that right now. But this episode, I realize I'm talking to all my staff. We're talking to patients. And there's an underlying theme here across the board. And it is I'm stressed, I'm worried, how does that affect my gut. And that's what I'm gonna talk about today. We're going to talk about ways to cope and be happy. This is gonna be a fun, you know, self help episode that based on science, always based on science, everything we do is based on science. So that's what I want this to be. I want this to be all about the tricks, tips to stay healthy, to stay healthy and get happy. Because if you're happy, then your other systems like your gut and your immune system are going to be better performing. So you didn't even know that we're going to do this episode, but that's what we're doing today.

Yeah, well, you know what, I'm pretty excited about it, and I can tell you one thing just off the top. Once we started doing the COVID recap, we kind of stopped a little bit as we got a little bit more serious and we abandoned a little bit talking of patients I mean our families I'm sorry, family and catching up and stuff like that. I gotta say, I know it's a pandemic and and hearts out to everybody who's suffered but for us personally been home, I got a senior who's graduating, we got to put in a lot more family time. Sophomore kiddo in the house is hilarious, wife and I got a lot more walks and bike rides in. You know, I didn't work for weeks didn't make any money. But at the same time, I feel a little richer just by some of the extra family time.

So Stu keeps sending videos. So he's gotten into the whole fact of taking some videos based on doing some stuff with us. And he's got his kids doing stuff. They're doing the Akermann News Network, he's keeping them busy. And I realized I'm like, wait a minute. Both you Eric and Stu, have found a way to remain happy, keep your family engaged. And I'm like, that's what this episode is gonna be about. Because you guys did it intrinsically, you naturally are able to find that and that's what I want to talk about. But more on kind of a science level. So it was very hard to sit there and do some of those episodes when the pandemic was starting. And we're like, hey, Eric, tell me about your family. And it's like and then the next line is 1 million people have coronavirus this many people have died this. We're getting away from that a little bit now, because we realized we were in a pandemic, we're in this thing, but now it's time to realize this may be a very slow exit from here and what you did and bracing your kids and what Stu has done, where he sat with his family, and they've, he's turned little movie stars out of his daughters and they're, he's absolutely screwed because they're gonna want to go to acting school now and all this other stuff. But that is the kind of stuff because when I sit with my employees that are stressed to the hilt single moms, they're like, I'm waking up with panic attacks. Dr. Brown, how can I do something and so I was, you know, we're starting to open up the economy here in Texas or open up, your governor Abbott's letting more people get around each other. Now I'm getting all these patients calling me going I'm terrified. I have this disease. My employer now wants me to go back. How do I have to go back but I'm having panic attacks. What do I do? Well, let's do a podcast on that. That's what I thought.

This, to me, I think it'd be a great idea to do exactly that because inevitably we've got to move on. We can't sit around and you just don't want to get lost in watching the counts on television or keeping up with the next the next latest fad on what was one of the crazy things I heard someone saying using a hairdryer shoving that up your nose to blast away Coronavirus? I mean, we need to be practical.

Can I stop you right there? Is that seriously a fad? Because I've been doing that.

Well, I want to let you know that your nose hairs are...they're beautiful.

I know at the very least I've not been clipping them so at least saves them back to a presentable level.

Yeah, I think we're gonna have I think we're gonna have some new fads come out of this thing. I think that some of the 70s hairstyles are going to come back. I haven't had a haircut...

Oh my gosh, I am absolutely loving the crazy hair. I mean, this is awesome. My kids. Well, we'll get into it. But basically you do these workouts you get sweaty and you realize how long your hair is. I'm just like, oh, this is awesome.

Well, you know, I've seen more and more people who've been wearing the mask in public Of course over time. I'm kind of curious if there's are people who generally snack it while they while they walk or why they do things. But now that they're in public, they had this maybe they'll who knows maybe maybe maybe weight loss will be inevitable because people will have a social covering where...

There's all kinds of things. So one of the things I want to try with this episode so that people are looking at this and go every time you do this get so bogged down with science, and it's an hour. I talked to Stu about that. He's like, man, I love doing this, but are we capturing the audience? I'm like, I don't know. Let's try and do a little quicker and see what happens. I don't know. I personally just like sharing information and being totally honest about this this is not about trying to develop it. I mean I want my audience to be happy and we're gaining a significant amount of traction but in this particular case, let's see if we can not get too off track because you and I I do you're always perfect but I always get off track so 

It's kind of hard but we'll we'll see...thank you though for...

So I'm gonna throw this out to you tell me something a little personal now that we're not going to get too heavy what's going on with the fam?

Fam is doing great. Gage is still bracing himself they he's headed up to Texas Tech for this fall will be his, his first year in college. The orientation was moved to virtual orientation they have to do that. The level apparently trending in Lubbock currently is as it is apparently flattening out and for right now coming back down. So he'll have an online virtual orientation. Mac is is wrapping up his sophomore year at school. And he just left the house to do a bike ride and for how far who knows? Or who cares. He in his in his brother have taken off and traded out their their terms to to get some bike riding in and that's what they've been doing. Marie's remained busy for her in her business, social media is people still keep up like that. So she actually saw a boom in business over time. And then...

That's awesome. 

Yeah. And actually, I went to work today for the first time. I didn't think it was the first time in seven weeks it was nice.

Did the patient flop around and scream the whole time and be like, I'm not out.

Yeah, it was a little bit of a learning cur...