Show Notes
Discover why high blood pressure is a “silent killer,” its risks, warning signs, and natural ways to protect your heart health with expert advice from Dr. Sonbol.
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sa.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Welcome to Vital Signs, where we talk about all things protection of the greatest asset in your life, your health. I'm Jen Godet, your host, and you are in for a treat. We are going to dive deep into all things heart health, from high blood pressure to everything you need to know to optimize your health with our ex expert, Dr. Sonbol, owner of a private cardiology practice that specializes in general and interventional cardiology. Welcome to the show.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Hello, Jen. Thanks for having me back.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: So we've had you before. It was excellent. And I've brought you back to talk about high blood pressure. It's more than just a number.
It's called the silent killer for a reason. So many of us don't realize that we have hypertension until it's too late.
Can you tell me a little bit about how that is and how that comes to be? Why is high blood pressure known as the silent killer and how is it so dangerous for us?
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Sure.
So, you know, high blood pressure is really, it is more than a number. You're absolutely right. And it is called the silent killer. And I tell my patients that all the time.
You know, high blood pressure is one of those things. It's basically, it happens with age. It can be caused by genetics.
There are other medical problems that can lead to high blood pressure, such as diabetes, other sorts of things. And it's really a mechanism in which just imagine your whole body is full of blood vessels, so pipes, and these pipes just get kind of stiff and that raises the blood pressure in your body. And there's, you know, blood pressure a lot of times just doesn't have any symptoms. And people can be walking around with high blood pressure and have no symptoms whatsoever. And their first time, they realize they have high blood pressures, for example, unfortunately, a catastrophic event like a stroke or something that winds up in the hospital, then you realize they have high blood pressure, need to be treated for it.
So it's one of those things that, you know, unless people are getting routine care and seeing a physician on a regular basis or at least getting an annual physical in which somebody's checking their blood pressure, if they don't check it alone at home, you know, sometimes it's never diagnosed until that point.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: So let's dive a little bit deeper into there. Talk to me about if we're walking around and we have this silent killer, this high blood pressure, what are the impacts? How is that impacting our heart and our overall health as we're walking around not knowing that we do have hypertension?
[00:03:02] Speaker B: Sure. So It's a great question. I mean, so, you know, when you have high blood pressure, let's just say your heart is a pump, basically, right? And so that pump has to.
Anytime you turn the faucet on at home, it has to create a pressure to bring water out of your sink so that you can use it, right? And so the heart is the same mechanism. It pumps blood out of the cavity in the heart to feed the rest of your body with blood.
And so as your blood pressure, let's say, outside of your heart, is high, then you know, that heart has to generate even more pressure to pump that blood past it.
And because of that reason, over time, what can happen is the heart can eventually get tired and can strain. And that strain over time can lead to several things. It can lead to heart failure, it can lead to heart attacks. It can lead to all sorts of other problems. And not only in the heart itself, but in the rest of your body. So your body's all fed by the same. By blood vessels. And so high blood pressure over time to any organ is never a good thing. Because, you know, in the kidneys, for example, it can lead to your kidneys failing. In the brain, it could cause people to have strokes.
In other organs, it can cause them to just not perfuse well. So a high pressure doesn't necessarily mean better flow to the body. It actually can mean limited flow to the body because you're. You have to overcome that pressure in order to get the blood to the organization.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: And so talk to me a little bit about some symptoms that we might not normally associate with high blood pressure. Like what are some things we might feel in our body if we have high blood pressure that maybe we don't associate with it or know to associate with that as a potential cause.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Sure. Another great question. I mean, you know, things like headaches, if you have chronic headaches, that could be a sign of high blood pressure.
Visual changes that could be a sign of high blood pressure.
Sometimes people can feel like they have palpitations, you know, their hearts racing for no reason. And that actually sometimes is a sign of high blood pressure.
And once you treat the pressure, those palpitation feelings or those fat, those irregular heartbeats, or this feeling of your heart not beating right goes away.
Other things could be people can feel flushed, they can feel lightheaded, they can feel dizzy.
Those are just. Sometimes people can get chest pain.
Sometimes people actually present with heart failure, meaning they're, you know, they're short of breath all of a sudden. And that's because the Pressure got so high outside in their body that their heart just couldn't pump against it. And then all of a sudden, blood had to go backwards into the lungs and into the abdomen and etc. And so they're kind of retaining fluid.
So feeling short of breath on a regular basis can be a sign of high blood pressure.
I think those are a lot of the biggest ones that I can remember.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: You know, and a lot of those things we sometimes put off, especially women of a certain age, we feel a lot of those things when we're going through.
Through life changes. And so sometimes when we have symptoms, we just say, oh, it's just the age that I am, or that's normal. But what. What I'm hearing and what I really want to emphasize to everybody who's watching is if you have these symptoms regularly, it's not normal. Check it out. It could be something other than what you're guessing.
And our health is our greatest asset. We shouldn't be guessing anyway. So let me ask you. We all know that there's medication for lowering blood pressure, but there. Are there any natural ways or things that we could do from a lifestyle standpoint that'll lower our blood pressure?
[00:06:43] Speaker B: Sure. I mean, obviously, you know, some. Some people are just genetically predisposed to high blood pressure, and so medication is the only answer. But sometimes, you know, things like weight loss is a very important thing. You know, if you can lose a few pounds, that can actually dramatically decrease your blood pressure over time.
Exercise, obviously, is another factor that can decrease your blood pressure over time.
Those are probably the biggest two things that I can think of is really just lifestyle modification. So make sure you're having a healthy diet, make sure you're exercising, make sure you're taking good care of yourself. Those are all things that can really actually have significant impact on blood pressure. And in particular, weight loss, I think, is the biggest one. I mean, I've. I've seen patients who used to have high blood pressure, for example, and then they lose weight and they actually don't need their blood pressure medication anymore because their blood pressure normalizes. And, you know, that's just a factor of that whole pressure system that I'm talking about. You know, so if you're blood pressure, if your body is, you know, if you're really overweight, then your body has to be able to perfuse those organs, and your heart has to compensate for that. And so eventually you be, you know, you get high blood pressure from it. And so once you lose the weight, your body's Just able to, you know, adjust to that and, you know, your blood pressure goes back to normal.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: You know, it's, it's really fascinating because lifestyle modifications can help with so many chronic disease processes. You know, maintaining a healthy weight is almost like a panacea for so many of the stress related and lifestyle diseases that we see. So let me ask you the next question because I hear this a lot and there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there on the Internet and with gurus and whatnot. And there's people who have been on medication for a while and maybe they've done lifestyle modifications and so they assume or take themselves off, for example, of a medication without seeing a doctor or asking a doctor how to do that safely first. Can you speak a little to that and educate us on why it's important to make sure you're always meeting with your healthcare practitioner who prescribed that and make sure that it's done in a safe way. Or what should patients ask their doctors before starting or stopping a medication for hypertension?
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Sure. I mean, I actually run into that in my practice a lot and people ask me, do they need to be on their blood pressure medicine still? And it really depends, you know, so if somebody, you know, I've had patients that, for example, say I was on blood pressure medicine, then my blood pressure got better and I was told to stop it, not realizing that their blood pressure is actually better because they're on the medication. So stopping it doesn't make it, you know, it's only going to make it worse if no lifestyle modifications were in there or if their blood pressure is high when they come to see me.
So one of the ways you can do that is, for example, if somebody comes in and their blood pressure is actually lower than it used to be, and let's say they're symptomatic from that. So they're also, also lightheaded or dizzy or just kind of feel fatigued.
Other symptoms that may be related to low blood pressure and they're on blood pressure medication.
Those are the chances, the times where I tell patients, you know, maybe it's worth it to either reduce the medication or stop it and track your blood pressures.
And so you track your blood pressures over a period of time in order to say okay, then they don't have high blood pressure anymore and it's okay for them to be off the medication. The same way when you do treat people for high blood pressure.
I mean, I have patients that come into my office all the time and you know, when you come to my office, I'm at a medical office building attached to a hospital. They got to find a place to park, they got to walk in, they're running behind.
Then, you know, you check their blood pressure and it's high because blood pressure is a dynamic thing. When you're stressed, your blood pressure can be up. When you're in a rush, your blood pressure can be up. And so a lot of times I tell my patients, you know, I'd like you to go home, have a, take a log of your blood pressures. Not every second of the day, not three times a day, but maybe once or twice a week, sometimes three times a week. And I'd like to see you back in a few weeks and look at the log of your blood pressures because you really want to look at the trend.
It's never just one number that you treat based off of or one number that you stop the medications off of. So a trend is always important. So before you stop your blood pressure medication, you know, have that discussion with your physician, establish a plan of what the trend is going to be and how often you're going to check your blood pressure and then look at the trend. And if the trend is overall normal and you want to stop the blood pressure medicine and then again keep that trend, follow that trend again and see whether or not the blood pressure stays within normal limits.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: That's fantastic. Thank you for educating us. It's so important that we're informed folks. Dr. Swambol is an expert in this space. How can people reach out to you if they'd like to learn more or if they're maybe looking for a practitioner with your expertise?
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Yeah, you can either contact my office at 281-912-3866. We have a website, Yasser Sombol, MDPA.
We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram.
Any one of those ways you can contact us and we'd be happy to help anytime.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Thank you so much for your expertise. I really appreciate you coming today.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: No problem. Thank you for having me.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: And we will be right back after these important messages.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: Medications, what you need to know. Welcome back to Vital Signs. I'm Jen Gode here, your host and we have an expert in all things cardiology, Dr. Sanbol, owner of private cardiology practice specializing in both general and interventional Cardiology. Welcome back, Dr. Sombal.
[00:12:56] Speaker B: Thank you for having me back.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: It's a pleasure. So tell me, everyone wants to know heart medications, are they a lifesaver or a long term crutch?
A lot of people are put on heart medications. They don't fully understand how they work. Can you sort of explain to us the role of common heart medications?
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Sure.
So, you know, we talked about this once before. You know, your heart is kind of like your house, right? It has architecture, plumbing, and electricity. And so a lot of the medicines we use are designed to either help with architecture of your heart, either with the plumbing of your heart, or with the electricity of your heart. So let's just kind of break that down. So architecture would be things like heart failure, for example.
And there are people that have, you know, low heart function, that's called low heart function heart failure or normal heart function heart failure. And in both those situations, certain medications are definitely needed to help prevent people from having what we call heart failure exacerbations and heart failure exacerbations, where people are short of breath because they're retaining fluid because their heart's not pumping well.
And so those medications, you know, I think all patients would consider medicine a crutch, right? Nobody wants to take pills every day, but they are life saving and they, they do affect your survival and affect hospitalizations and affect your symptoms, etc. So, you know, in, in that situation, I would consider them not to be a crutch because if you don't take them, the alternative is that you could be sick all the time, be in the hospital, you could potentially die. There are a lot of complications that may happen from that.
Same with medications that we use to prevent blockages in the heart.
So let's say somebody has a blockage and they needed a stent and to open up that artery or to fix that artery, for example, there are medications that they need to take that unfortunately, again, could be a crutch because they're taking a pill every day. But if they don't take it, the alternative is that they may have some major complications, including death, actually. So it's really important, for example, when people get a stent, that they take their blood thinners. And I emphasize that so many times to my patients that there's a minimum requirement that they actually have to take her for at least a year. And then after a year, you can discuss the pros and cons of, you know, continuing the medication or stopping the medication.
But there are other medicines that they have to stay on lifelong. So there's really good data, for example, behind cholesterol drugs. You know, I think that's one of those drugs. If they put it in the water, people would probably live longer because it has really good Data as far as the prevention of not only primary heart events, but secondary heart events after you've had one.
There are medicines that used to be things that we used all the time. For example, like aspirin, which we now know if nobody's ever had heart problems or never had a stroke or never had a reason to be on an aspirin. Taking a daily baby aspirin is not required anymore.
So I think as time moves on, we are able to figure out what medicines are more important than others.
But for certain patients, unfortunately, this is required. And it's not fun to take a medicine every day, but it is required to prevent chronic illness or chronic diseases from being exacerbated. The same with people with heart rhythm problems. I mean, we put them on medicine to control their heart rhythms, to keep their heart rhythms at control and to keep their heart rhythms normal. And, you know, if we don't put them on the medicine in certain situations, they can take it as needed, and other situations, they need to take it all the time because if they don't, again, it just exacerbates that disease. And so part of what we do in medicine and in cardiology is really treatment of chronic diseases. Right. It's not really cures. We don't have a lot of cures for things. So we don't have a cure for high blood pressure, we don't have a cure for diabetes, we don't have a cure for, you know, blockages. But we have treatment of those chronic diseases. And our goal is really to treat the disease and hopefully prevent future events from that same disease process.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: So I'm going to ask you the next question. And I get this question a lot.
I was in sports medicine, and so athletes will ask this or their parents, and that's like the misconceptions that some people have about medication in general and side effects. And so what should patients be asking their doctors before they start or stop a medication? What do you wish people would ask you that? Maybe they're not or they're afraid to.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Sure.
So, I mean, I think medicines are complicated and, you know, they go through this really rigorous process of, you know, before they're put out for the public to be able to use and for us to be able to prescribe them.
Now, if anybody's ever picked a medicine up from the pharmacy, they get this big insert that's like eight pages long with, I don't know, 3,000 side effects to every pill that you give them. Right.
And in those situations, you know, the drug company is required to Report anything that somebody may complain about as a side effect of the medication.
Now, it may be a very rare side effect where, you know, maybe one out of a thousand people get that side effect, and it may be a common side effect. So I think the important thing, not only as a prescriber, but as a patient, is to outline, you know, what the medication's gonna do, what the purpose of that treatment is, but also what are the most common side effects that we see in practice. So, for example, and a lot of it doesn't correlate with the literature. So if you took statin drugs, which are cholesterol medicines, you know, the literature will tell you that maybe 1% of people have muscle aches related to them. But if you ask me, my clinical practice, I would probably say about 40% of people complain about side effects related to that medicine of muscle aches. Right now, there are alternatives when those side effects happen. So you can try a different medicine, sometimes in the same class, sometimes a lower dose. But I think the biggest question patients that ask are, what are the major side effects I should see from this medicine, the most common side effects, and then to be able to identify those, whether or not they think this is something that's happening related to the medicine, if they take that medicine.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: You know, I think it's really important that we advocate. And part of the reason that we have these conversations in the air is so that each and every one of you watching knows how to advocate for yourself. And so, just to reiterate, what are the potential side effects? What are the common side effects that you see, and what are the other options? These are ways that we can become more informed along the process. And I really want to stress, as a prior healthcare professional as well, how important it is to communicate with your healthcare practitioners. Because if we're experiencing something and we don't open our mouth and say, hey, is this because of my new medication? We don't share that with our physicians or our practitioners. They don't know and can't help us through our fears. So it's really important that this become a partnership. It's a health partnership with these, with our practitioners. And so I'm going to ask the next question, because once again, a lot of people are doing lifestyle changes or they're hearing that lifestyle changes can reduce or eliminate the need for medication altogether. And sometimes that's accurate, and sometimes it's very much not.
So can you speak a little bit to the role of lifestyle change and can it reduce or eliminate the need for certain heart Meds.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. So I completely 100% agree with you that lifestyle change can definitely change the need for medicine in some situations, not every situation.
So if somebody is a type 1 diabetic and requires insulin, no matter how much they exercise, no matter what they do, they're always going to need insulin because they're just born that way, and that's just the requirement for it.
But if you took blood pressure like we talked about, you know, a lifestyle change could definitely eliminate your need for blood pressure medication, or may not. Maybe it won't eliminate it, but it may reduce the amount of medicine you need for blood pressure. So some people are on two, three, and four medications for blood pressure, and they make some lifestyle adjustments, and all of a sudden you're down to three pills, you're down to two pills, and maybe down to one, hopefully down to zero.
You know, the first treatment the guidelines will tell you. For cholesterol, for example, the first line of therapy is actually recommending diet and exercise for a period of time and rechecking the cholesterol to see whether or not it comes back to the ranges that are acceptable for that patient. And those patients are divided, obviously, whether they have other risk factors for heart disease. But before you give somebody a pill for cholesterol, the first recommendation is diet and exercise. So I think there's a big role for lifestyle modification, and that lifestyle modification can be simple. Right. It's just a simple walk like we talked about before, a simple, you know, just change in a dietary habit. You know, maybe packing your lunch instead of ordering out while you're at work. So those simple adjustments can actually lead to huge gains, in my opinion.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I'm going to ask the next question, because it's a question that I've asked in the past, and I've heard it asked a lot, and that's if I'm having a side effect from a medication that was prescribed, is it okay for me to just go treat that over the counter, or should I consult with my health care professional?
[00:22:21] Speaker B: I think it depends on the side effect that you're having. Some. Some side effects clearly require you to seek attention. But I think if you think you're having a side effect related to a medication that was prescribed to you, I really think it's important to contact the prescriber and have that discussion with them because it may not be related to the medicine and it could be something else that's going on. It's hard to say, but I would never. Just go try to treat it on your own.
I think in that situation, if you're having a side effect related to a medicine that was prescribed, the important thing is to discuss that with your provider to make sure that you address that correctly.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: I want to say that louder for the people in the back.
It's never okay to self treat what you believe is a side effect to a prescribed medication. Make sure you consult with your practitioner is so important for you to have that conversation many, many times. That can complicate things even more. So, Dr. Schlombel, thank you so much for your expertise for demystifying heart medication for us and sharing what we need to know to advocate for our health. How can people reach out to you if they'd like to learn more or if they're interested in maintaining you as their physician provider, their provider for heart services?
[00:23:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we're, we're, I have a website online that has their office number. They can call us, they can look for, look us up on Facebook, Instagram, I actually have a YouTube channel now so they can find us all over the Internet.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: So if you're watching this, definitely reach out to Dr. Sombol. He is truly an expert in the space. Thank you so much for sharing with us today demystifying heart medications and all other things related to our heart health. We appreciate you. Thank you, Dr. Sambal.
[00:24:06] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: And you, yes, you stick around. You're not going to want to miss out on what's coming next. We'll be right back after these messages.
[00:24:29] Speaker C: Foreign.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Welcome back to Vital Signs. If you're just tuning in, you're going to want to go to NOW Media tv, go to shows, click on Vital Signs and catch the first half of today's show. It has been completely epic as we dove into all things heart health and how can we take care of our greatest asset, our health. But we're going to shift gears right now because we're going to dive deeper into not all prescriptions are one size fits all and neither are the patients who take them. So we'll explore custom made care behind compounding pharmacies. I have brought a dear friend of mine, Dee Dee from Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy, to enlighten us on what big pharmacies can't do and the power of compounding. Welcome to the show, Dee Dee.
[00:25:30] Speaker C: Thank you, Jen. Nice to be here with you.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: So, Dee Dee, for those unfamiliar, what exactly is a compounding pharmacy and how is it different from your typical retail chain?
[00:25:43] Speaker C: Absolutely. This is a question that we get all the time, quite frankly. My name is Dr. Ndidi Amakobarike I go by Didi for short. As Jen said. I am the president and the owner of Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy. I'm actually located in Rio Ranch in New Mexico. So, Jen, compounding pharmacy is super fun. It's basically the art and science of pharmacy. It's like how to make medication, and we do it from scratch. So typically, patients will bring in their prescription that will signify that they need a special therapy that is not commercially available.
And so when they bring that prescription to us, we get to go into our lab and make it from, like, raw chemicals and raw bases and raw excipients, avoiding such things as allergies and any type of intolerance to medication that is commercially available.
[00:26:34] Speaker A: Wow, that's fantastic. So I already have a little partial answer to what I was going to ask you next, which is who benefits the most from compounded medications, and why are they a better option sometimes than commercial alternatives? I've already heard avoiding allergies or allergies to different parts of medications. What are other areas where people would benefit more from compounded medication?
[00:26:56] Speaker C: Yeah, so we actually service men, women, children, even animals, because, of course, our furry friends have health conditions that need to be addressed as well.
But, yeah, a lot of different clients can benefit from compounded medication. Number one, it starts with, is the medication available on the market through a regular retail pharmacy? Oftentimes the answer is no. And then you'll look at their specific health concerns. So there are some patients who can't tolerate, let's say, like, capsules or they can't tolerate a certain liquid medication because maybe it's formulated with a certain flavor or a filler or a dye.
And so that's really like the art and the science behind compounded medication, because we can formulate those specific medications that are in need for those clients. So, yeah, a lot of patients benefit from compounded medication.
[00:27:50] Speaker A: And so talk to me about this, because it's been around for a while.
[00:27:54] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: Are you seeing in compounding that everybody watching really needs to know about?
[00:27:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, compounding is really like the godfather of the practice of pharmacy.
You know, I'm sure you've heard, like, those stories back in the day when you would go to the pharmacist who was like this little old man behind a counter, and you couldn't really see him except for maybe, like, the top of his head.
And you'd tell him, you know, like, hey, my doctor said I need this medication. And he'd pull, like, you know, some ingredients off the shelf and come up with something for that client. So compounding pharmacy is really like the bedrock of, of the practice of pharmacy.
But basically what's on the market? You know, some of the hot topics now, of course, hormone replacement therapy, which I love, love, love, that's really my passion, and compounded pharmacy, but hormones for both men and women.
And then we get into medications for animals. But then what's really hot on the market right now are these GLP1 therapies, because they really did start off as diabetic medication. But then, you know, our epidem epidemic here in our country, which is obesity, started to see a benefit from these medications. So that is really, really hot right now.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: And can I dive into a little more the hormones? Because it is something that you're really passionate about and it is truly a hot topic, especially in women's health.
I'm seeing it all over the place. I've been talking to many people who move and shake in the female hormonal health, especially female of a certain stage.
And so what, what is it that you wish everyone would know? Because there's a lot of misinformation and there's a lot of hate on hormonal replacements and there's a lot of, oh, I can't take this, because one person one time said that this would cause that problem. Can you demystify that a little bit for us?
[00:29:43] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. Think about it, Jen. We are all born with hormones. Like, these are natural chemicals in our body and they have natural processes and if you take them away, you're going to not feel well. Right. So hormones are really the foundation of how we are balanced, how we function. They do everything in the body. They help with our eyesight, they help with our skin, our hair, our nails, our heart, our lungs, like everything, our bones.
So without having balanced hormones, it can really cause a shift in our health and our wellness. So the first thing is to note, we all go through different stages in life. So in women, that's pre menopause, perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. And in men, there is a term called andropause, which a lot of men, quite frankly, are not aware of, and they just think that they're getting old. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. Something is happening with your testosterone levels. But basically what I do as a, as a pharmacist, as a compound pharmacist, is not only do I make these medications, these, this hormone replacement therapy in the bioidentical form, I also sit down and I consult with patients, I sit down and I show them their different levels based on saliva, based on blood, based on urine. And I tell them, in order for you to feel better, for instance, like if you feel tired, if you feel depressed, if you don't have energy, low libido, if you're feeling any of those things, I can show you what replacing your hormones and balancing them out, how that will help to restore your health and wellness.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: I think that's really fascinating. And you know, the first question that I know people are going to ask is, well, how do I know? Because I'll go to my doctor and they give me these and they say I'm within range. But we know those basic panels don't really tell the full picture, for example. So what do we need to be asking to our practitioners or what do we need to be asking to our pharmacist, for example, in order to figure out what is this a hormonal problem?
[00:31:42] Speaker C: Yeah, that is such a good question because I think a lot of patients don't really know and traditional medicine doesn't really put that out there front and center. So the first thing is, what's your age, what do you eat, what is your exercise routine, what is your sleep routine? Those are the things that can definitely have an effect on hormone balance or imbalance.
If I see maybe a 30 year old woman and she starts to say, you know, hey, I broke out in a sweat last night, I don't know why that's happening, or, you know, all of a sudden I can't exercise or do Pilates or, you know, do what I used to do on my peloton bike, what's going on? That's when you start to think, hmm, testosterone, progesterone, you know, or if it's clearly like a menopausal case, a woman who hasn't seen menses in the past 12 months, 12 consecutive months, then we start to look at all of the hormones. You know, if someone goes in and they, they do a bone scan and they start to notice, oh, wow, I've gone into, you know, osteopenia, then you look at estrogen, then you look at testosterone levels. You know, so there's so many different signs and symptoms all throughout life. There can be traumatic events that someone could go through that can trigger some type of imbalance in their hormones or some type of inflammatory process.
Obesity, definitely some environmental factors. But there' so many things to consider. You know, there's no one size fits all, but I would definitely say go in and see your pharmacist if you cannot talk to maybe your primary care doctor, your pharmacist is always a really good resource. Here at Olive Tree, we offer saliva testing and we book consultations and we, and we sit and we talk with these clients so that they have a deeper understanding.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: You know, that's really amazing. And so I'm going to ask the next question because a lot of times our viewers don't advocate or don't know what to ask. Yeah, they don't know how to advocate for themselves and their health. Maybe there's fear around that. So what do you absolutely wish every patient would ask their pharmacist? That maybe they don't know to ask or forget to ask, but they absolutely should be asking.
[00:33:52] Speaker C: Yes, yes. So we're more than just like drug experts.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Right.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: So we still want you to come to us and talk about your allergies and bring us a list of all your medications and vitamins and supplements. But beyond that, if you ask, hey, doc, I've never checked my hormones. How do I do that? That's something. You have autonomy. You have the power over your own health and wellness. Come and ask us that. And we will certainly guide you through that. You know, so don't just see us as a place where you go and you pick up your medication and when it's done, you call and you ask for a refill. But we're, we're a fountain of knowledge. You know, we know a lot, actually.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: Arguably, you know, more a lot of times than the physicians who are prescribing, because sometimes they only, they only know what they've been educated on or the courses that they've got. And it's your job to know everything about everything. Medications.
[00:34:45] Speaker C: Yes, definitely. And you know, the amazing thing about the pharmacist is that we're super accessible, right. So you can actually come up to us and you can have that 30 minute conversation, right. And we're gonna, we're gonna pour out all of the information that we know. But then the key thing is that when we don't know, we have the resources. Right then. And there's. We know where to go to find the information that you need so that you can optimize your health and your wellness.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: So fascinating. And so I just want to kind of wrap this up in a bow that what we've been talking about because it's been so valuable. And so for everyone watching, for those in the back, I'm going to say it a little louder.
Prescriptions are not one size fits all. There might Be a kinder, more customized, more gentle alternative for your body.
And your pharmacist is an advocate and a resource for you. Utilize them. Don't just go pick up your meds and then call them when you need a refill. But when you have questions, they're a great accessible way to get some of those questions answered.
So we do have to take a brief break, but after the break, we're going to dive into something else that you mentioned that I really want to go deep on, and that's semaglutide. Oz of it. All of these weight loss drugs that we're hearing so much about. I would love for you to demystify it that for us. We will be right back after these important messages.
[00:36:03] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: Welcome back to Vital Signs. Weight loss injections like Ozempic are trending everywhere, but what do pharmacists wish patients actually knew before starting them? Yes, it's the question that we all have. And I have brought Dr. Dee Dee here to address that. So, Dee Dee, let's talk semaglutide. What is it? How does it work, and what should patients realistically expect from these medications?
[00:37:06] Speaker C: Oh, that is such a fantastic question, Jen. I'm so glad you asked because we actually get this question quite often. So semaglutide is a medication that does the same thing as what your body does naturally. I think that's one thing that our clients are yet to understand. Your body makes this really tiny little peptide hormone that's called GLP1. GLP1 is what semaglutide is. It does the same exact thing. So what it does is it kind of communicates in your brain and inside of your gut, and it tells you you're full, you're hungry, don't consume anymore, you've had enough. And what it does is that it keeps that food there in your GI tract for a long time so that you eat less frequently and you feel full faster and for a longer period of time.
[00:37:55] Speaker A: Wow. And so if I'm looking at, at this and considering this, what are the biggest misunderstandings or red flags you've seen in patients who immediately go to these medications?
[00:38:09] Speaker C: Yeah. I think one of the hardest things that our patient population has dealt with is the fact that you still have to be super active. You know, we want you lifting those weights, doing those kettlebell exercises. We want you building that musc.
You lose adipose tissue, which is fat tissue. What is there to replace it? Trust me, you. You're going to want to have muscle there to, to hold your skeleton together, but also to replace the fat tissue when you become more lean. That muscle mass is what contributes to, you know, longevity of life, you know, so the misconception is that, oh, I'm just going to inject myself once a week and I don't have to do anything else. No, you still have to watch what you consume. You still want to make sure you're focusing on those antioxidants, foods like your blue, your blackberries. You still want to consume a lot of vegetables, your broccoli, your kale, your Brussels sprouts, your microgreens. And then you also want to make sure you focus on your protein. A ton of protein is absolutely necessary, or else you're going to lose all that muscle.
So I think diet and exercise are some of the key components to making sure that this medication is used in the right way. And it's also going to help you to sustain the weight loss, you know, so when you come off of the medication, because obviously, who wants to use medication for a lifetime? Eventually you're going to come off of the medication. But how do you sustain all of that progress that you've made to reduce obesity and morbid obesity?
[00:39:36] Speaker A: So it's not a magic pill.
[00:39:39] Speaker C: No, it does wonders. It does do wonders, but it's not magic. And it still takes a lot of hard work. Yes.
[00:39:46] Speaker A: So let me ask you a question that I get, and I've. I've had people ask this to me frequently, actually probably once a week.
And that's okay. I'm taking this and I hear that I'm supposed to eat protein, but I'm just so full and don't have an appetite.
What can patients who are experiencing that do? Is that. Is this a dosage issue? Is this something to go back to our pharmacist and have a conversation about, like, what do we do when we experience that challenge?
[00:40:11] Speaker C: Yeah, that's actually a very good. A good question. You know, because it is of concern. You know, the main thing is that when you do go to eat, I mean, this is not a medication where you're just going to take it and fast for like 20 days straight.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Straight.
[00:40:24] Speaker C: You don't want to do that.
You know, you do want to have some sort of routine. And then the key thing is that when you do go to eat, make sure you are prioritizing, like I said, your proteins. So if you, if you're a meat lover, eat the chicken and eat the dark meat and eat it with the fat, the sack, the fat is satiating. It's going to Cause you to feel full. Okay. When you do eat meat, make sure you eat a nice steak and it has the nice fat around it. And of course, you want to focus on your organic and your, you know, your, your, your meats that don't have any hormones. But then also pair that with really good vegetables. You know, saute your vegetables, add some spices in there, add a little bit of, you know, Burberry spice, add some garlic salt. You know, all those things are really, really healthy for you. So when you do go to eat, you want to make sure you're eating the most balanced diet as possible. Stay away from carbs if you can.
[00:41:19] Speaker A: I heard you loud and clear. We want to be eating really good, tasty food that is healthy for us while we're doing this. So tell me, Didi, from a pharmacist. Pharmacist perspective, what conversations should patients be having with the people prescribing these medications before they actually go on? Because I think there's a lot of misconceptions around what this drug can and cannot do and what they need to do. So what conversations should patients be having before they start?
[00:41:46] Speaker C: Yeah, you know, I think one of the misconceptions is, you know, this idea of vanity.
You know, this is, this should not be used as like a vain drug. You know, something just to say as slim as possible and like, have this Hollywood body and. No, no, no, no, no. We're saving lives here. We're changing lives with these medications. You know, we have patients who are at risk for heart attacks and strokes and, you know, their cardiovascular system is not working properly.
You know, all these things, you know, being so overweight, not being able to walk because, you know, they have severe arthritis and, and so we are changing lives with these medications. So if you are at the point where, you know, you've tried, you've tried to diet, you've tried to change your psychology and the way that you think about food, but food is an addiction and some people suffer from that, you know, and if you've done everything that you possibly can, you need to go in and talk with your medical, medical care provider about the use of these medications. But then have a plan, go in with the plan, knowing that this is not going to last forever. This is this a tool that you're going to use to help jumpstart your, your recovery, really. Right. You're going to jump start your body into a mode where it can start repairing itself. A lot of people don't know that with obesity comes an inflammatory process all throughout the body that wreaks havoc on all of the systems. Right. And so using these medications, you're going to reduce that inflammation. You're, you're definitely going to feel better, but you need a plan. The same way that you've gone on the medication, you need to be sure that you're, you're going to titrate off of the medication and naturally let your body take over the process.
Health and wellness.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: And so I'm going to ask you another question. Thank you so much for that. Before we start the process, we already have talked about nutritional support, diet and exercise, but now we're prescribed. We're getting this.
How should we be monitoring our response? What should we be reporting to our pharmacist or our prescribing practitioner? What are the things that we should be prepared for as we embark on this journey, if this is our journey?
[00:43:58] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's, that has a lot of different layers there, you know, so let's say you start the medication and you're doing great, you're losing weight. And then, you know, some patients experience this plateau where they get to a certain dose and it just, it's not doing anything, it's not helping them, they're not losing weight. You know, something has to give. Once we get to that, that point, obviously, because you want to use the medication, or maybe you've reached the highest, highest, you know, the highest dose that's prescribed and your body has just kind of given out and it's not really doing anything. There are other things that we need to employ. There are even other medications that we can help these patients do, and some of them are compounded medications.
But yeah, there are different things that need to be considered. Once the medication is started, we implement all these other factors that will help and work along with the medication. And then the most important thing is what is the titrate off schedule? We don't want patients using these for a lifetime. How is the patient going to come off and how's the body going to continue to stay at a healthy weight? You know, so hopefully, you know, somewhere around the middle of the dose range or even some patients have to go to the highest, but hopefully they do achieve their goal weight during that time, and then it's time to start backing off of the medication and letting their body take over.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: And I'm going to ask the question that everybody asks because patients are famous for taking themselves off of a drug or doubling up their doses without consulting with their pharmacist or their physician. What would you say to Those people, is there any, anything they need to know before they just stop or, or before they decide to double up, if you will?
[00:45:37] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I think our clients and our patients still need to know that a drug is a drug, you know, just because it's working wonders and it seems like a miracle. It's still a drug. It still comes with certain contraindications, it still comes with side effects, it still comes with adverse effects. So doubling up on things without your pharmacist or your MD knowing about that, I do not recommend. And then even stopping the medication without any of your healthcare professionals knowing, I also don't recommend. So we have to make ourselves accessible to the clients that we serve so that they can easily talk to us when they have these questions or concerns, you know, but definitely use medication under the guidance of a healthcare provider.
[00:46:18] Speaker A: I couldn't have said it any better, folks. We are here with Dee Dee Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy. And before you start a journey with weight loss injections that are trending, talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist, understand how you're going to do this, what you need to do in conjunction with that medication. And then how are you going to get off? Like, what is the plan for, for getting back to just normal life? Dede, thank you so much for your insights. I appreciate you. How can people reach out to you if they would like to learn more, if maybe they're interested in your expertise and your compounding pharmacy?
[00:46:55] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. So, like I said, My name is Dr. Indidi Amaka.
I go by Dee Dee for short. My pharmacy is located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. It's the first of its kind in Rio Rancho. You can reach me via my website, www.olivetree compounding.com com. I'm also very active on LinkedIn and if you wanted to call me and have a conversation, my phone number is 505-738-3328.
[00:47:21] Speaker A: Thank you so much for your expertise. I appreciate you.
[00:47:24] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:47:25] Speaker A: And you. Yes, you. I am talking to you. We have dove deep today. We talked about cardiovascular health. We talked about not just taking yourself off medication, but engaging, whether it's your cardiologist, your primary care, your pharmacist.
[00:47:39] Speaker C: This.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: When we talk about medications, we've talked about our famous weight loss drugs. But I think it's time for one action step and that's how are you going to better advocate for your greatest asset, your health. So put together, of all the advice that you heard today, what is the one thing that you're going to ask your practitioner so that you can elevate your health and wellness journey.
Fortunately, all good things come to an end, including this show. But the good news is we'll be here, same time, same station, next week.
So until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
[00:48:13] Speaker B: This has been a NOW Media Networks feature presentation. All rights reserved.
