How to See a Doctor During a Pandemic, With Cardiologists Mark Eisenberg and Chris Kelly

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen an increase in preventable deaths , mainly due to the fact that people are too afraid to see a doctor. So we want to change that this week with the help of cardiologists Mark Eisenberg and Chris Kelly, who tell us how easy it is to order a TV show, how to prepare for it, and what symptoms deserve a doctor visit. Mark and Chris are the authors of the book ” I’m dying?!: A Complete Guide to your symptoms – and what to do”, and start a very useful website amidying.com .

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For more advice from doctors, watch the video below:

Highlights from this week’s series

From an interview with Mark and Chris

On the unexpected benefits of television:

[The doctors] on social media all talk about what the experience was like for them. And one person commented how they had this patient with a long-standing lung condition that they could not understand. And when they finally put on a TV show at the patient’s house, they saw a screaming parrot in the background. The parrot is a known cause of chronic lung disease, so the mystery was solved right here.

When should you see your doctor:

[A] Any new symptom you have is always worrying, especially if the new symptom has something to do with chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, darkening, rapid heartbeat, abdominal pain, possibly even changes in bowel habits … … So, it is clear that these are the things that you want to pay attention to in order to avoid new symptoms or worsening of symptoms that you have had for some time, which also start to worsen slightly. But, yeah, I mean, you’re most concerned about anything that might have to do with the heart, you know, the heart, the head, blurred vision, rapid weight loss. I mean, things like this could indicate things like diabetes and other serious problems.

What you should do, rather than get tested if you are worried about potential Covid symptoms:

[If] you have Covid, you really should get a pulse [oximeter] because that is when you really know when you should seek medical attention. Because often, you may not even know that you have low oxygen levels and should seek medical attention … [infected people] did go to the emergency room and their oxygen level was already around 80 percent, but they felt themselves well because their body compensated. So it is clear that when the oxygen level drops below 90 percent … [people] should seek help.

For more valuable medical advice from Mark and Chris, listen to the full episode!

Any feedback or ideas for future episodes? Do you want to participate in the show? Leave us a voicemail at 347-687-8109 or send a voicemail to upgrade@lifehacker.com.

Episode transcript

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