Sarah Has Questions

Your gut biome is full of bacteria, and that's a good thing! What's living inside your gut makes a huge difference to your overall mental and physical health. In this episode Sarah King talks to Dr. Jiselle Bock who is all in on cultivating a healthy gut biome. Find her at wakemed.org. Send your ideas for future episodes at wralfm.com/sarahhasquestions. DISCLAIMER: The information presented in thi...

Are you getting enough protein? If your social media alogrithm is like Sarah's, you're seeing it all the time. It seems impossible to eat enough! And just exactly how much are we supposed to get? Marissa Robinson is a certified dietician at WakeMed. She has a calculation to figure out your daily number and advice on how to eat enough. (Yes, there is math in this episode!) Send us your questions at...

Two WakeMed OB/GYNs dispel the myths surrounding gynecologist appointments. Do we need pap smears every year? Can a pap smear detect sexually transmitted infection? Does your doctor know when you've had sex the day before your appointment? Sarah King has lots of questions. Send us your questions at wralfm.com/sarahhasquestions. Make an appointment with WakeMed doctors at wakemed.org. DISCLAIMER: T...

"Mental Load" is a relatively new term for an age-old issue. It encompasses all the tasks we have to do, plus all the mental and emotional planning, organizing and scheduling it takes to get everything done. Sarah talks to Dr. Micah Krempasky about ways to balance priorities and unburden yourself. Dr. Krempasky was our guest on an earlier episode about Setting Boundaries. You can find that in seas...

We've talked about pelvic floor issues a lot on this show. The pelvic floor is the bowl of muscles between your hips that holds all your pelvic organs. Weakened pelvic floor muscles can lead to bladder leakage and sexual pain and dysfunction. So what's the solution? Pelvic floor therapy is one option, but what exactly is it? Jenn Harrington is our guest in this episode. She's a pelvic floor physic...

Making the right nutrition choices for yourself isn't easy. There's so much info out there, where do you start? Add social media to the mix and you're probably getting a constant stream of contradicting, too-good-to-be true advice on what to eat and how often. To clear up the confusion, we're talking to an actual registered dietitian, Marissa Robinson, who has some very sensible advice on nutritio...

The #1 cause of lung cancer is smoking. Even if you stopped years ago, you could still be at risk depending on how much you smoked and for how long. The #2 cause of lung cancer is environmental exposure to radon. Dr. Vickie Fowler, a primary care physician from WakeMed is here to discuss both types of risk and how to know when to get screened. Get more information on WakeMed's online smoking cessa...

We all burp. We all fart. But why? What's going on inside us that makes those gas bubbles form and then demand to be released? Carbonated beverages, gum, lactose and even pork could be making us gassy. Sarah has plenty of questions for Jordan Meaton from WakeMed Gastroenterology. https://www.wakemed.org/wakemed-physician-practices/specialties/gastroenterology This episode is packed with listener q...

An attack of kidney stones is enough to drop a strong, healthy person to the ground. Why is the pain so terrible? What causes stones to form? And most importantly, how can we prevent and treat recurrent stones? Dr. Josip Vikina has the answers! We're talking about foods that cause stones, the impact of too much tea, and treatments like lithotripsy, medication and stents. If kidney stones are a rec...

70-80% of women will develop uterine fibroids! These non-cancerous growths can cause a lot of problems, especially if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Some people never need treatment, but others experience heavy bleeding and pain. Sarah King has tons of questions about uterine fibroids! Her guest in this episode is Dr. Michael Armstrong from WakeMed. You can find out more about him and...

The symptoms of perimenopause are all-incompassing. Insomnia, brain fog, sore joints, itchy skin, weight gain, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, night sweats, low libido, UTIs, mood swings... Perimenopause is the time between regular periods and menopause. It's only a phase, right? Maybe, but this "phase" can last for years. Dr. Amantia Kennedy from WakeMed discusses the litany of symptoms and what we...

Getting a mammogram might not be your favorite thing to do, but if you have boobs, it's vital. This life-saving test is one of the best cancer detection tools we have. Adrienne Jackson and Dana Knapp from Wake Med discuss mammograms, dense breast tissue, 3-D images, breast health and what happens if you get called for a "second look."  https://www.wakemed.org/care-and-services/womens/womens-h...

Dry January. Sober October. Mocktails. A lot of drinkers flirt with sober curiousity. Have you ever tried to go alcohol-free for a whole month? Dr. Christopher Thompson from WakeMed discusses how alcohol impacts the body and mind and how being sober for even a month can make a big difference. Dr. Thompson's blog  https://www.wakemed.org/blog/drinking-defined-sober-curious-beyond Send your que...

When it comes to stroke, BE FAST! That's an acronym to help you learn how to test yourself and others for a possible stroke. Sarah talks with Dr. Chandni Kalaria from WakeMed in Raleigh, NC on the importance of calling 911 quickly and not waiting around, hoping for symptoms to pass. Get in touch with Sarah King at wralfm.com/sarahhasquestions Calculate your risk of stroke on WakeMed's website http...

Life without healthy boundaries can result in anger, dread or frustration. Setting boundaries is a learned skill and if you’re a people pleaser who doesn’t like to say no, it’s probably a skill you find challenging.   Dr. Micah Kremp a sky from WakeMed answers Sarah’s questions about boundaries and self-care, including how to start e xamining your own relationships for...

PCOS affects up to 15% of women and is usually diagnosed in the teen years . The hormonal imbalance can be tied to insulin resistance, high triglycerides, metabolic syndrome and an increase in the male hormone, androgen. You can bet Sarah King has a lot of questions about this one! Dr. Darlene Esp er from WakeMed covers th e causes , symptom s and treatments .   Find Dr. Esper at wakemed.org....

Most women will get a urinary tract infection (or UTI) at some point . Yes, men can get them too, but they’re more common for women. With the rectum, vagina and urethra i n close proximity , there’s bound to be some cross contamination.   So how can we avoid UTIs?   Nurse Practitioner Emily Shama Barnes answers Sarah’s questions about causes, symptoms, treatments and wh...

Endometriosis sucks! It affects 10-15% of women and there is no cure. It’s a painful condition where cells from the uter ine lining end up outside of the uterus. Those cells can attach to your cervix, bladder, bowel or other organs . And they continue to be affected by your monthly cycles just like regular uterine tissue.   Sarah King talks to Dr. Adam Kansagor , an OB-GYN with Wake Med...

WTH is a boric acid vaginal suppository? If you've been down the “female hygiene” aisle at the drug store lately you've probably seen them. And there are hundreds of products out now that claim to  tackle vaginal pH balance and reduce odor . Do we really need these things? Are  soap and water not enough?   Dr. Victoria Fashakin , an OB-GYN from WakeMed in Raleigh, NC, an...

We could ask questions about sex and sexual dysfunction all day . We tackled the first round of questions in an episode in season one. Now Dr. Jenna Beckham is back to answer more of Sarah’s questions, including:   What exactly happens during an orgasm?   Is wanting less sex really a dysfunction, or is every human j us t built different?   Do straight and lesbian women bring u...

We’ve been conditioned to believe “obesity is a n epidemic,” but can a person be healthy AND over weight? Are the old standards of obesity and BMI really applicable when human beings come in all shapes and sizes?   Sarah talks with Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton, a bariatrician with WakeMed , about body image, obesity, weight loss and the idea that we can be “healthy at any...

Plantar fasciitis can take months to resolve. If you’ve ever had it (and 1 in 10 of us will at some point), you know it’s an ordeal. Sarah tackles plantar fasciitis, bunions and bone spurs with Dr. Corey Thompson, an orthopaedic surgeon at WakeMed w ho specializes in feet and ankles.   Sarah and Dr. Thompson will also assess several types of women’s shoes for stability , com...

Pregnancy takes a major toll on the human body. Those nine months are tough enough, and even when it’s over most of us never revert to our pre-baby s hapes and sizes .   In this episode Sarah asks totally unfiltered questions about everything from nipples and hair loss to permanent changes in shoe size after having a baby. And you know, we’re gonna talk about pelvic floors...again...

In North Carolina spring pollen is a situation! Yellow pine pollen blankets everything. And guess what...that's not even the pollen that irritates most of us. It's the pollen we can't see that causes the most trouble.  In this episode Sarah asks totally unfiltered questions about seasonal allergies and how to deal with them.  To answer all her questions is Dr. Gita Fleischman an Ear, Nos...

If you have a uterus, menopause is coming for you. But most of us don't really know what to expect. We've heard of hot flashes (heck, I'm fanning myself as I write this) but there are a ton of other symptoms people don't talk about. On this topic, Sarah has even more questions than usual. Her totally unfiltered menopause-related questions include: What's the deal with hot flashes and how can we mi...