Your Checkup

Three names on the appointment screen: flu, COVID, RSV.
Do you need all three? Every year? And what changes if you’re scheduling for a child, an older parent, or a new baby?
This week on Your Checkup,we explain the different protection plans and the details worth checking before your appointment. We’re using recommendations from medical societies, including AAFP, AAP, ACOG, and IDSA.
Listen through the link in our bio. Save this for your fall planning—and send it to the person coordinating everyone else’s appointments.

You’ve heard “eat less salt” for your blood pressure. But what could you add to your plate?

This week on Your Checkup, we’re talking potassium—and giving bananas a little competition.

We cover everyday foods that contain potassium, how it fits into blood pressure control, and why a lower-sodium salt isn’t automatically right for everyone. We also explain why potassium pills aren’t a DIY blood pressure plan.

If you have kidney disease, a history of high potassium, or take medicines that affect potassium, check with your clinician before increasing your intake. Ask before starting a potassium-based salt or supplement.

Listen to “Potassium and Blood Pressure: More Than Cutting Salt.” Link in bio.

What’s a vegetable you actually look forward to eating?

General education, not personal medical advice.

A stroke does not have to hurt.

Sudden changes in balance, vision, facial movement, arm strength, or speech are enough to call 911—even if the person seems comfortable, and even if the symptoms start to improve.

Save B.E. F.A.S.T. before you need it. Our new episode explains what is happening in the brain and why every minute matters. Listen at the link in bio.

A stroke doesn’t always hurt—and that can make it dangerously easy to wait.

In this week’s episode, we break down what actually happens during a stroke, why a blocked blood vessel and bleeding in the brain can cause similar symptoms, and why you don’t need to identify the type before calling for help.

Remember B.E. F.A.S.T.:

B — Balance changes
E — Eye or vision changes
F — Face drooping
A — Arm weakness
S — Speech difficulty
T — Time to call 911

Even if the symptoms improve or disappear, it is still an emergency.

Listen to the new episode of Your Checkup wherever you get your podcasts—and share this with someone who should know the signs.

Congrats to Sam Hofbauer and Meg Heller on their beautiful wedding!

HealthLiteracy YourCheckupPodast

Your eGFR came back low. Does that mean your kidneys are failing?

Not necessarily.

A single eGFR result is a snapshot—not the whole diagnosis. Dehydration, a recent illness, and certain medications can temporarily affect creatinine and the resulting eGFR.

The right response is not to ignore it or immediately assume the worst. It’s to look at the context, repeat the test when appropriate, check urine albumin, and see whether the change persists.

Because chronic kidney disease is usually identified by a pattern over time—not one red number in your patient portal.

🎧 Learn more in Episode 126 of Your Checkup: Understanding Your Kidneys: Creatinine, eGFR and Urine Protein Results.

Have you ever opened your lab results and had no idea what your eGFR meant?

YourCheckupPodcast

How much caffeine is actually in your coffee? ☕️

“A cup” can mean wildly different things depending on its size, preparation, and where you bought it. Even a typical 12-ounce brewed coffee can range from roughly 113–247 mg of caffeine.

And that frequently quoted 400 mg daily benchmark? It’s a general reference for most adults—not a goal, challenge, or guarantee that your body will enjoy it.

Count every source and pay attention to how you feel.

What’s your usual coffee order?

🎧 Hear the full breakdown in Episode 129 of Your Checkup: Coffee, Caffeine & Your Body.

Coffee isn’t a personality trait.

Okay…maybe a little. ☕️

But why can one person drink coffee after dinner and sleep perfectly, while someone else is still negotiating with the ceiling after a noon latte?

This week on Your Checkup, we explain caffeine through three things that matter: the dose, the clock, and the person.

Because a “cup” isn’t a reliable dose—and the buzz can disappear before the caffeine does.

🎧 Listen to our new episode, Coffee, Caffeine, and Your Body

Available wherever you get your podcasts. Share this with the friend who claims coffee “does nothing” to them.