Overheard In The Emergency Room

I was running through Forest Park in Portland when the thought hit me. No headphones. Wind in the trees. A creek below the trail. And then, out of nowhere: my two boys might never get to hear this if we let climate change go unchecked. I remember thinking: I’m just an Emergency Room doctor. What can I do about this?   It turns out — quite a lot. And in this episode, Dr Cois — Emergency Physician a...

He walked into Bay Four holding eight pages of printed lab results. He was 43, fit, did CrossFit five times a week, and had spent real money on a direct-to-consumer “longevity subscription” panel. His LDL was 170 mg/dL — meaningfully high. When I raised it, he told me it didn’t matter. His LDL fractionation showed mostly large, fluffy particles. Those are the harmless kind. Right?  Wrong. And in t...

She came in on the bus. An 84-year-old woman, independent antwenty years, wa her health for d diligent abouts sitting in my waiting room for four and a half hours with a blood pressure of 222 over 104. Her insurer had dropped her long-standing doctor. The next available appointmentwith a covered provider was five months away. She was on $60 a day. She couldn't afford to pay out of pocket. So h...

The gut microbiome is one of the most talked-about — and most misunderstood — topics in modern health. In this episode, Dr. Cois cuts through the noise with a clear, evidence-based breakdown of what your gut microbiome actually does, how to support it, and why some popular dietary trends may be doing more harm than good. We start in the Emergency Department, where a 33-year-old woman with Crohn&#3...

In this episode of *Overheard in the Emergency Room*, Dr. Adrian Cois breaks down one of the most misunderstood medical conditions in modern healthcare: obesity. Starting with a real case from the Emergency Department, we explore why obesity is not a failure of willpower but a chronic, biologically regulated disease. Drawing from major clinical guidelines and landmark studies, this episode walksth...

In this episode, Dr. Cois examines the science behind LDL cholesterol and heart disease. Through a real Emergency Room case, we explore how plaque forms, what ApoB means, why “lower for longer” matters, and how randomized trials have shaped modern prevention. We also tackle common myths about saturated fat and statins — and explain how to spot misinformation online. This is a data-driven, calm, ev...

In this episode of Overheard in the Emergency Room, we break down metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes using a clear, evidence-based two-tier framework. We cover: • What metabolic health actually means• Why diabetes is so common in Australia and the U.S.• The real pathophysiology of insulin resistance• What the best meta-analyses show about diet and lifestyle• Medications like metformin, SGLT2 i...

A 75‑second guided box breathing reset you can use anytime your body feels stuck in fight‑or‑flight . Inhale 3 • Hold 3 • Exhale 3 • Hold 3 (repeat). Disclaimer: Educational content only; not medical advice. If you have severe symptoms (e.g., chest pain with exertion, fainting, severe shortness of breath, new neurologic symptoms, or thoughts of self-harm), seek urgent medical care or call your loc...

In this episode, Dr Cois breaks down the biology of stress: how your eyes and amygdala can flip the body into fight-or-flight, why panic feels so physical, and what chronic ‘on-edge’ does to sleep, mood, blood pressure, and the gut. Through two ER cases—a first-time panic attack and an 8-year-old with stress-triggered abdominal pain—you’lllearn practical tools to tap the brakes: box breathing, dow...

I flipped from night shifts to days for my kids’ soccer and school events and felt “fine”… until my wearable gave me a literal skull recovery score. That screenshot did what no lecture ever did: it made sleep feel urgent. In this episode, we cover Sleep Basics — what sleep is (NREM/REM cycles), how it’s regulated (sleep pressure + circadian rhythm), and how melatonin, cortisol, light exposure, mea...

G’day team! Episode 3 is all about exercise: what to do, how much to do, and why it matters for living with "less bad days and more good decades". We build around the Two-Tiered Longevity Blueprint: • Tier 1 (foundations): weekly cardio targets, 2 days of strength, and everyday movement (NEAT/steps). • Tier 2 (upgrades): VO₂max work, smarter programming, power/balance as you age, and how...

In Episode 2 of Overheard in the Emergency Room, Dr. Cois breaks down diet as the first Tier 1 pillar in a two-tier blueprint for longevity. Using real ED cases—including incidental fatty liver and severe hypertension—he explains what major dietary guidelines consistently agree on, why nutrition science often gets misunderstood online, and what the biggest cohort studies reveal about long-term hea...

An emergency physician steps out of the resus bay to talk about what really keeps you out of it. Each episode breaks down food, movement, sleep, stress, and the systems around us into clear, practical steps for living longer and better. No shame, no biohacking gimmicks—just evidence, stories from the ER, and habits you can actually stick with.