America Dissected

The Flint Water Crisis dominated national headlines when it emerged in 2016—focusing national attention on the hazards of lead poisoning. Newark, New Jersey is facing a similar crisis today. But Flint and Newark are only the tip of the iceberg of an epidemic of lead poisoning facing urban communities across the country. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed visits Flint to speak with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pedi...

We all spend time, money, and energy to "take care of ourselves." We exercise, eat right, and meditate. But what if we can't actually do it alone—what if being healthy is more about taking care of each other? Our world feels more connected than ever before. And yet, we feel more alone. Depression, suicide, and overdose have skyrocketed. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed addresses how disinvestment in the spaces...

The Opioid Crisis has wreaked havoc across America, taking lives and devastating families, neighborhoods, and communities. But this isn't the first time we've suffered a deadly drug crisis. In today's episode, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed tells the tale of two crises: the opioid epidemic of today and the crack epidemic of the 1980s, contrasting the government's and media's responses to these crises - and wh...

Winter means snow, cuddly rom-coms...and brutal head colds. Nothing a little Z-Pak won’t fix...WRONG. That’s exactly what the superbugs want you to do. Our antibiotic misuse is contributing to the global rise of an unseen, deadly force: antibiotic-resistant superbugs. We hear from a mother and daughter with direct experience with these terrifying new strains of bacteria. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed then ex...

American scientists are on the leading edge of drug research and development—often funded by taxpayer dollars. So why are we overpaying for life-saving drugs? How did we get to this point? Dr. Abdul El-Sayed walks us through the story of the Hep-C drug Sovaldi to lay bear the inner workings of the pharmaceutical industry—and its glaring flaws. For a transcript of this episode, please visit  crooke...

Traditional science-based medicine has some gaps—but what happens when grifters and scammers take advantage? Dr. Abdul El-Sayed leads us inside the underbelly of the cult of wellness. Dr. Jen Gunter, Twitter’s “Resident Gynecologist,” helps us understand modern quackery—and how we can apply scientific principles to make our best health decisions. For a transcript of this episode, please visit  cro...

We almost eradicated measles in the U.S., but anti-vaxxers had to go and ruin it for everyone. WTF? Dr. Abdul El-Sayed walks us through the history and science of vaccines and the growing anti-vax movement. We meet the people affected, like Ethan Lindenberger, an 18-year-old who defied his anti-vax mom to get vaccinated. For a transcript of this episode, please visit  crooked.com/americadissected...

From celebrities who hate vaccines to politicians who hate Obamacare - the mistrust, fake news, sensationalism, and social media firestorms that we see every day in politics and the media are distracting us from what really matters for our health. In America Dissected, doctors Abdul El-Sayed and Katelyn Jetelina go beyond the headlines to dissect America’s major health problems, what connects them...