Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I sat down with Dr. Joni Sago to take a deep dive into a skin problem I see constantly but that is often misunderstood—stasis dermatitis. This condition, often mistaken for a simple rash, has much deeper roots than most people realize. With the rise in metabolic issues like obesity and diabetes, stasis dermatitis is becoming even more prevalent in my

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down again with Dr. Joni Sago to discuss how our skin can reveal what's happening inside our bodies. We focused on skin tags and acanthosis nigricans (dark, velvety patches of skin), both of which can be early warning signs of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, even in children and young adults. Dr. Sago shared

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down again with my friend, cardiologist Dr. Dan O'Roark, to continue our conversation about heart disease. This time, we took a closer look at inflammation and why we need to think beyond cholesterol numbers when evaluating cardiovascular health. Dr. O'Roark did a great job explaining what happens inside our arteries whe

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down once again with Dr. Joni Sago, board-certified in internal medicine and dermatology, to talk about a condition that can be incredibly frustrating for patients: urticaria, or hives. It is one of those problems that may seem straightforward at first, but the more we understand about it, the more we realize there is of

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with independent cardiologist Dr. Dan O’Roark to tackle some of the most common, and often misunderstood, ideas around heart disease. With nearly four decades of experience, Dr. O’Roark brings a wealth of knowledge and a willingness to question the “groupthink” we sometimes see in medicine. We started with cholester

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Michael Wilkinson—a renowned pain physician, Oak Ridge native, and veteran—to discuss a truly fascinating and promising procedure: the stellate ganglion block. While this block has been used for years to treat complex pain syndromes, Dr. Wilkinson shared how it is now being used for far more, including the

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. In this week’s podcast I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Jessica Patrone, a highly innovative doctor of pharmacy, to discuss an often overlooked yet promising approach in cancer treatment: the use of anti-parasitic medications such as ivermectin and mebendazole. Our conversation was sparked by the growing burden of cancer in this country and the urge

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of bringing my long-time friend and fellow physician, Dr. Pat Riggins, onto the pickleball courts to talk about the growing popularity of the sport—and, more importantly, how to stay healthy and injury-free while playing it. Pickleball has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, especially among adults in t

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I tackled a question I hear all the time: Should you take a multivitamin? Despite what some health “experts” or major studies might say, I firmly believe that high-quality multivitamins play a vital role in optimizing health. While these studies often claim vitamins don’t prevent heart disease, cancer, or cognitive decline, my decades of experience i

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I’ve been studying Dopamine Kids by Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, a remarkable book that caught my attention as I prepare to become a grandfather for the first time. Doucleff examines the powerful “dopamine magnets” that now surround both children and adults—screens, social media, video games, streaming services, ultra-processed foods, and even gambling.

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I sat down again with Dr. Joni Sago to talk about one of the most frustrating symptoms patients bring to our offices: itchy skin. When there is no obvious rash, it can be easy to assume the problem is simply dry skin and reach for another moisturizer. But persistent itching can sometimes point to something happening beneath the surface. The skin is t

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Garrett Pohlman, a renowned urologist from Nebraska and host of The Prostate Health Podcast, to talk about the changing landscape of prostate cancer screening. For years, we’ve wrestled with the limitations of the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. While it’s an essential tool, it’s far from perfect. In

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what's on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Joni Sago back to the show for a practical conversation about caring for skin at every stage of life—from infancy through adulthood. Dr. Sago, a dermatologist and internal medicine physician, helped us break down what developing skin needs, what aging skin needs, and why simple, consistent care often matters more t

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week my brother, Dr. Bob Rogers, and I visited Dr. James Denham at Elite Health and Longevity in Johnson City to learn more about VO2 max—one of the strongest indicators of cardiovascular fitness, overall health, and longevity. Dr. Denham walked us through why VO2 max is considered the gold standard for measuring how efficiently the body uses oxygen durin

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I sat down with Kelli Rogers, LE, to talk about an area of health and appearance that is often overlooked: the scalp. At Performance Medicine, we are always interested in treatments that support both how patients feel and how they look, and scalp health is an important part of that conversation. The Hydrafacial Keravive scalp treatment is designed to

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Chris Shade, a pioneer in detoxification science and the founder of Quicksilver Scientific. Our conversation dove deep into the evolution of detox therapy and the exciting frontier of peptide treatments for longevity, chronic illness, and general wellness. Dr. Shade shared his own journey—from being an orga

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I sat down again with Dr. Joni Sago, whose background in both internal medicine and dermatology gives her a unique and practical perspective on skin health. Our conversation focused on skin cancer—the most common cancer—and the types I see far too often in my practice, from basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma to melanoma and the lesser-known but d

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I sat down with Dr. Joni Sago, a remarkable physician, internist, and dermatologist, to discuss her journey into opening a cash-based dermatology practice and what that means for patient care. We talked through the evolving state of medicine, where corporate models and insurance structures dominate how doctors practice—often to the detriment of perso

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I talked about an exciting development in cancer screening—a new blood test called Cancerguard. Early cancer detection can be the difference between a smaller intervention and a life-altering diagnosis, and cancer continues to remain one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Traditional screening methods like mammograms, colonoscopies,

Welcome to another edition of the Doctor’s Note where we talk about what’s on our minds when it comes to your health. This week I had the privilege of sitting down with my longtime friend Miles Burdine, who shared his powerful and deeply personal journey with PTSD following his long and storied service in the Marines. Miles recounted how, despite having a successful public life after the military, signs of severe depression and anxiety were so well-hidden that even he hadn’t