Dr. Grimes’ Bottom Line

Okay Students, Let’s Talk About COVID19

Okay Students,

We’re listening.

We know COVID19 has trashed your spring semester, and all the fun and truly hard-earned events you’ve looked forward to have been swiped out from under your feet.

High school proms, musicals, concerts, banquets, spring breaks and even graduations are cancelled.

Ditto for college students, but add in losing internships, studying abroad and oh yeah, real jobs that were supposed to happen at the finish line.

And all of you are facing the reality of online learning, dreading technical frustrations with internet connections, lack of access to necessary programs that ran on computer labs, dealing with … Read more

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Is It Time to Panic Over COVID19?

 

Should I be worried?

The random texts started weeks ago, but now it’s constant. Friends, colleagues, and loads of fellow parents (especially of college students) are texting me- “Are YOU scared? Is it time to panic? Or is this simply media hype? What do we do about Spring Break? Is Mexico safe? Why the heck is our kid’s university going to online classes? Are you kidding me? We’ve paid a fortune for their education!”

My friends know if they ask me a medical question, I’m going to answer straight up. Along with a side helping of grief if they … Read more

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Beyond CORONA…Spring Break Advice

With or without CORONA, Spring Break is here and students everywhere are gearing up for a week-long party. In addition to focusing on hand washing (you know the drill- wash early and often, scrubbing for a full 20 seconds with soap and water or sanitizer), be aware that alcohol-related injuries are currently far more deadly than COVID-19. Over 1500 college students die each year from alcohol poisoning, motor vehicle accidents and other alcohol-related injuries, and not surprisingly, we see a spike in these fatalities during spring break at popular destinations. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of alcohol-fueled physical … Read more

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What Your College Student Needs to Know About Corona Virus       

On planes, trains and buses; in grocery stores and malls; and most definitely walking across universities, surgical masks appear to be the latest fashion accessory. Mind you, few people are wearing them correctly…but I digress. People are understandably worried about this new Corona Virus, for which we have marginal understanding, no vaccine, little effective treatment and no cure.

 

First things first, though, let’s start with the name.

 

On Feb 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially changed the name from Corona Virus to COVID-19, which is simply an abbreviation of “CO”rona “VI”rus “D”disease, which started in 20“19”. … Read more

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Can’t Get Rid of that COUGH?

Okay, so you don’t think you have Corona Virus (now known as COVID-19), but why can’t you get rid of that cough? Perhaps you had the flu (or a flu-like illness) a couple weeks ago, complete with fever, chills, headache and body aches. The hit-by-a-Mack-truck symptoms have gone away, but the cough is driving you (and your spouse/roommate/classmates) crazy. Unfortunately, post-infectious coughs commonly persist up to SIX weeks after the initial illness, and this year’s influenza seems to be setting records.

Allergies certainly can cause coughs as well, but typically allergic coughs are more the dry, annoying, clear-your-throat variety, rather … Read more

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FLU Symptoms? Worried about Corona? Here’s What You Need to Know

SHOULD I BE TESTED FOR CORONA VIRUS? Typical person living, studying or working in the USA? Probably not. But YES, you should be sent for testing* IF you have ALL three things:

  1. Fever
  2. Respiratory Symptoms (like Cough/Shortness of Breath)
  3. Travel in Wuhan City, China (expanded 1/31/20 to include anywhere inside the Hubei Province and anywhere in mainland China if you are ill enough to be hospitalized) within the last 14 days before your symptoms started OR close contact with someone confirmed or suspected of having Corona Virus.

Also, as of 1/31/20, if you have a cough even WITHOUT fever … Read more

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What’s This Little White Pill?

“Stray” pills are unfortunately a thing. Rogue pills escape off the counter and roll to the floor. Others hide in the depths of our backpacks (purses, jacket pockets, etc.), and many of us actually create these strays by tossing vitamins, decongestants, or prescription meds into one of those convenient little travel-sized bottles of Advil or Tylenol to save room and carry with us. (Side note- really best not to do this, particularly with prescription medications. And especially if you are flying. Imagine explaining your drug stash to the TSA.)

But what if you legitimately forgot which pill is which, … Read more

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (Shhhhh…let’s talk about hangovers)

Is there any better day to discuss HANGOVERS? Here’s hoping your New Year’s Eve overflowed with more fun than alcohol, but just in case…let’s talk.

What causes hangovers? Well, drinking too much alcohol- duh! But on a physical level, we also know that:

  • Alcohol tells the kidneys to make more urine (by turning off the anti-diuretic hormone, for the curious) so yes, this dehydrates your body
  • Dehydration (from anything- sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) can cause headaches and muscle aches, or make you lightheaded (especially when you go from lying down to sitting up, or sitting to standing)
  • Alcohol causes your
… Read more
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2020 3-Day Detox Diet (aka. Dr. Grimes’ World-Famous SuperDoc Cleanse)

Cheers to a Healthy 2020!

As we face the new year, many of us are looking to jumpstart our health. If you’re like me, during holiday celebrations, you may have happily over-indulged in treats, sweets and celebratory liquid calories, but now it’s time to face the scale (or the jeans), own the numbers and reprioritize. Do we NEED a “cleanse” to DETOX? Nope, that’s what our kidneys, lungs, liver, and spleen do for us. Forcing fluids up, down, around or through our GI tract does not “detox” anything. However, so many of my patients have tried unhealthy “detox” methods or … Read more

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Healthy Holiday Gifts (Peleton Not Included*)

Last week the now infamous Peleton ad went viral, infuriating many who felt this commercial portrayed a sexist jerk of a husband who wanted his already thin wife to lose weight. Ironically, I am the proud (& almost immediately obsessed) recipient of a shiny new Peleton that was a birthday gift from my husband last month. Truth be told, this bike was on my wish list for BOTH of us, and not to transform EITHER of us into supermodels. I’m all about gifts that enhance exercise, nutrition or emotional/spiritual health, because these are truly the “gift(s) that give … Read more

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