SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Askful Skinny Podcast with a guest. I'm proud to present Dr. Q. Dr. Q, welcome to the show. Please tell us more about yourself. What is your story?

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Yes, hi. Thanks for having me on. So I'm Dr. Furhan Kureshi. Uh my patients and peers call me Dr. Q. So uh yeah, I'm a board certified uh internal medicine physician. I've been in practice for a long time now, I guess. It feels like yesterday, but I think it's it's yeah, it's been about it's been about 15 years now. Um I uh have my own practice in Northern Virginia and Sterling. We are North Aesthetic and Wellness Center. Um, we are a uh specialty practice where we're we're we're doing aesthetic medicine as well as uh uh longevity and anti-aging medicine. Um let's see. I also work uh a lot in the hospital as a hospitalist. I do inpatient medicine. I also sometimes work uh you know in the uh the ICU. I'm also a reservist for the United States Air Force, and um I guess I'm also an amateur karaoke specialist. I like I enjoy karaoke as well. Like to put that in there as well. But um, yeah, those are just some of the things that I do.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Amazing. I really like uh what I hear, and I have so many questions for you. So um you said that you have your own practice and that uh you specialize in aesthetic medicine and uh longevity. Uh can we talk a bit more about uh longevity? What is realistic right now? Because some say that we can live 300 years, some say 120, and there are these uh different um uh let's say definitions um of longevity. What what can an average American expect? How many years they have?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Well, I mean, the the real question is what is the definition of living? A lot there are a lot of people who are alive, but they're not living, in my opinion. But um, yeah, that's a good question. You know, I I think for from a scientific standpoint, um we've been we've been successfully, you know, able to push push the boundary for for a long time. Um I think the focus in longevity and anti-jink medicine uh is not necessarily to make people live longer physically, although that's always a goal. Um, the goal is to make them live better. Um is more in the field of optimization. Um what what I'm learning, what we're all learning now, is that patients are fully aware that they can live a long time. They're not looking for just the length uh of life. They want they want quality, they want strong quality. It's a more proactive area of medicine. It's a it's a more novel kind of concept. Um these are people who are proactive, these are people who tend to take their health very seriously. Um they don't come to the doctor when something is wrong, like most patients. It's the other way around. They come to us wanting to run faster, they come to us wanting to have less pain, they want more energy. These are these are people who um want to push the body's uh limits and and and have a higher quality uh life and uh um are looking for for more novel um cutting-edge uh treatments or procedures that can help them achieve that.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

I would like uh to know a little bit more, and I would like to know your opinion on many topics that are now circulating the internet. Uh one is um steam cells. Uh what do you think about steam cells as uh longevity hack?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. Um, stem cells are not new. This has been something we've been trying to do for a long time. Um the theory of stem cells is such that you you're taking these premature uh cells and you can reprogram them to uh a cell that your body needs, and you um you can regenerate. Um you you you can have um uh uh a new outcome. So the theory was if you, for example, you know, needed a kidney transplant, maybe one day, you know, we can regenerate your kidney cells and you can have uh your kidneys back. Um there's still a lot to be done. Um I was hoping we would have more progress by now. Um we we don't. Um but there's one area of uh of uh regenerative medicine, especially stem cells that that's very exciting, and that's and that's in that's in orthopedics. Um we're getting better we're getting better at not necessarily you know using premature stem cells and and you know sp uh uh specializing it, but we're getting better at using um other kind of uh uh other parts of the soup, so to speak. Uh different different other like um like like like enzymes, exosomes, different parts of of of the uh uh uh of human tissue, uh a fetal tissue. And in the world of orthopedics, there's emerging evidence that there may be benefit there. Um I know, for example, Blue Cross Blue Shield, they are starting to cover. Um, for example, if you're injecting, you know, certain types of uh stem cells or exosomes in knee joints, they're starting to reimburse for that because people are starting to get uh you know arthritic relief. Um so you know, there is emerging evidence there. Um I I think I think right now, as far as vegetative medicine goes, the the most promising areas seem to be in the world of orthopedics and and uh and uh arthritis, but some of the more sensational, you know, diagnoses like curing MS or like curing um you know some kind of um you know ALS. No, that's there's just nothing, nothing there that I have seen. But uh most of the promise has been in arthritic and and and and muscle skeletal um uh areas. And also there's been some some uh evidence emerging about you know uh for aesthetic uses, like topically, people are are getting you know better skin using human exosomes and they're using there there is some hair regrowth, but um it's still early and the data is still limited.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Okay. Uh what's your take on the supplements?

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Well, I think supplements are great. I think supplements are uh they're what they say they are, they're the supplements. They're extra, they don't replace fundamentals. Um you know, I I I think Americans right now, uh there's an it's a multi- you know, wellness is a multi-billion dollar market right now. Um there's a tremendous interest in in uh things like peptide therapy and and wearables. You know, there's always ads on Instagram about a new kind of wrist strap that can measure you know your blood pressure and and all these things. There's an obsession right now with with wildness and and and trying to you know push you to the limit. Um I I I'm I am pro supplements, especially certain supplements that have to have very good data, like like uh you know creatine. Uh creatine is is really good. Um there's some emerging evidence there that that don't leaves are good for you know uh muscle strength, because that's what we we use to use it more for, I used to use it more just strictly for weightlifting, but you know, there's data that no, you take it every day, um at least five grams, it can help with cognition and memory. So um there's emerging evidence there uh for that. Um vitamin D, I think almost all Americans will need that. We're working indoors, we don't have as much sunlight exposure, so we're not getting much activated vitamin D. But um I do want to make clear that you know uh supplements, some may be more effective than others, but they just they're they're they're extra credit, you know, they won't replace uh fundamentals. Fundamentals are going to include diet and exercise, um and um, you know, good good sleep. Um, those are fundamentals. Those with poor sleep, you know, high high process diets and little to no physical activity. I don't think there's a settlement that can cancel the damage that's about to happen.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

And I would like to have uh your take on uh vaccination because there's a huge fight in America right now going between pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers. Uh what what's your take? What what what is your experience in this?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You know, I I I think uh I I think what's happened is um I've spoken to a lot of people who are anti-vaxxers, and it's not that they all hate all vaccines. That's not what they tell me. What they tell me is, look, you know, like almost all anti-vaxxers will tell me that I I I I do see there's a role for vaccination. My only complaint is why do we need so many? This is what what they say. Um and and it's a fair, it's a fair criticism. Um because you know, I I think what they're looking for is reassurance that we must have all these vaccines. Why can't we just do it the natural way? Well, you know, these are these are fair fair points. Um I think what we ought to do is we're gonna we're gonna have to to educate people more about the vaccines and what they do, because most people have this impression that a vaccine, um, like what is it, what even is a vaccine? A vaccine is is basically, you know, you're giving a small piece of the of the disease, like like in a weakened state, to provoke, provoke your body to make a immune reaction to it and thus generate these antibodies that it will have memory. You'll have a an immune memory so that when when when you get the actual when you get the actual um pathogen in you, the actual disease-caused pathogen, you'll you will have a you'll be ready, you'll be able to generate a stronger immune response. Um for things like measles, you know, it's highly effective. Like you do once you're vaccinated once, you you don't need it again. But the the problem is that um certain viral uh pathogens like like the COVID virus, um, unfortunately, every time we make a vaccine, a bad and for flu, we have to make a new one almost every year, like a lot. And the reason we we're doing that is is because those particular viruses mutate a lot, they don't retain the same structure. So what happens now is you have to make new vaccines for it. So now people get frustrated. Why can't I just take it once and done like the measle monster, the MMR vaccine? Well, because those viruses are different. I mean, those those those infect those particular viruses keep the same shape and you know they're consistent. These other ones are highly mutatable, so we have to keep keep doing it. So I guess the question is do you have do you have to do it? You know, um what I explained to people is that look, I cannot guarantee you that if you get a flu shot, you're not gonna get the flu. Heck, you might get the flu a month later. But there are studies on this. There are studies that show that those people who were vaccinated that had this much decreased mortality and this great and and this many days off of work less than those who didn't. So from a performance standpoint, you know, it it is encouraging. We are a free country, you know, people ought to have have the choice um of what they want to do. Um but um I I would recommend, I personally, you know, what will get the vaccines, you know, the the the COVID one, you know, uh I kind of I kind of sour on the COVID vaccine in particular because it's just too many vaccines. You can't keep getting poked every every few months or every year. Um but you you know uh I and I I do kind of uh we'll we'll follow the the CDC guidance on on what they think we we ought we ought to have. I I think especially certain populations like diabetics and those who are immune compromised, they still have to get the new vaccine of that. But the you know, uh the I know that the um uh that the CDC doesn't necessarily enforce or want us uh require the the uh uh the COVID vaccination. Um flu is still recommended, and and again, that's not because you know you're never gonna get sick, it's because there's data that shows you'll be off of work, you know, you'll take less days off of work when you do get sick, and you have uh you have improved outcomes morbidity, mortality-wise.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Thank you. Um you're also into the aesthetic medicine. Can we talk a bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. So, you know, it's becoming quite popular. Um, people are all out there um, you know, get getting something done. Your doctor here personally gets stuff done. I usually get my own face lasered every few months because I just love the way my skin looks afterwards. Um you know, we're we're in a we're in a very um we're in a world that is very where your appearance is is judged very frequently. Um when you apply for a job now, you see in the old days when we used to when you know when I'm a 90s kid, when you used to apply for a job, you would fill out an application and anonymously put it into a slot. That's not true anymore. Now you're on LinkedIn. What does LinkedIn have? It has your face on it. Um your appearance is is an increasingly essential part of your of your life now. Um when you're going on a date, there was a time a long time ago where where people would anonymously you know fall in love just from writing you know letters to each other without showing or just showing one picture. Not anymore. Now people are going on dating apps, and the most and they all the dating apps will tell you the most important part of the profile is your picture. They all put, they all, you know, like uh eHarmony and all those different uh companies, they put in the instructions, look, do the best you can, but the most important part of your profile is the picture. So choose good pictures. So they all will tell you the 70% of their of your profile is is your appearance, your pictures, how to take it with good lighting, um dress well, smile. So um it's increasing, it's it's a large part uh now of our of our society more than it has ever been before. Um now that people have now that our our science and our technology has has evolved as well, you know, there's an there's a growing um uh field of of non-invasive aesthetics. You know, not everyone can afford to get a facelift or or even wants to get one. But maybe you don't have to do a facelift. Maybe you can do you know some more affordable lasers, maybe you can do all you know, radio frequency marker needling, you can do other things that can improve the aesthetic appearance of of your of yourself and thus boost your confidence, maybe boost your your boost you in your professional and your private life. So yeah, it's it's growing. Um people people are are investing in it and the outcomes are you know they're obviously pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Amazing. Thank you for this input. Uh I especially like the uh non-invasive ethics. And um Dr. Hugh, before um we wrap up, uh where can our listeners get in touch with you? Where can uh where can they see what you you you're working on?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So our good our website's a good starting point. It's uh www.thnormd.com. So it's the nor n o r md.com. You can start there. We're we're also on on YouTube and we're on social media. Um yeah, we're also on Instagram, so you you can find us over there as well. Um you can go to at uh the normd uh clinic um uh and and see our social media, see we see what kind of stuff we have there. I think my my my personal account is on there as well, so you can you can see me in all my travels. Um and uh yeah, see all the all all our all our stuff. And um sometimes I show up on the news as well. So there's different places to find me.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Dr. Q, thank you for all these insights and thank you for being my guest tonight.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Thank you for having me, Sidana. Pleasure to be here.