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June 6, 2025 - Dr. Oz Podcast
41:17
Eye Cancer Mystery: How 4 Friends Got the Same Rare Diagnosis | Dr. Oz | S10 | Ep 22 | Full Episode
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Time Text
A cancer mystery that the medical community needs our help to solve.
We have clues.
You've all been exposed to something.
But no answers.
At some point you're starting to think, what's happening to us?
How friends from one university all found themselves battling the same life-threatening disease.
Is this just a coincidence?
Or is there something more going on here?
Plus, Savannah Guthrie's pressing health question for me.
coming up next.
We'll be right back.
Season 10 starts now.
Today, a mystery baffling the medical community and a call to action for all of you watching to help solve it.
Pay attention because we're about to lay out for you the clues to help explain why these friends from one university all found themselves battling the same life-threatening disease.
Take a look.
Julie, Allison, and Ashley met at Auburn University in 1989.
They lived in the same dormitory.
After graduation, they stayed in touch.
Then something mysterious happened.
One by one, they were all diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer.
When I was 27 years old, I started seeing these flashes of light.
and a year later I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma.
Then in 2001, I was seeing about mild flashes of light for about 7 to 10 days and then after about 10 days realized I had lost a little vision in my right eye.
And finally, Ashley.
I was standing in my doctor's office and when I was diagnosed and I told him, I said, this is so unusual because I know two people who I went to Auburn with who had this cancer and had their eye removed and he said, that's almost impossible, this is so rare.
And that's when I knew that this was probably a very unique and unusual thing.
Ashley, Julie, and Allison are here today to talk about this medical phenomenon that has shaken the lives of these best friends.
So Ashley, if I can start with you.
You mentioned that you felt something weird at the diagnosis, but how weird is it to be sitting with your college friends, dorm mates, who all have the exact same disease, the same problem?
You know what's interesting is this is such a rare cancer.
Six out of a million people have it.
Six out of a million.
What are the odds of three in the same school?
Exactly.
In our ages and being there at the same time.
And I was actually diagnosed.
I lived in Memphis, Tennessee at the time.
And I just remember after talking with my doctor, the shock of it.
But at the same time, I stood there.
I said, you know what's crazy is I know two of the girls that I went to school with.
And I remember him saying, that's impossible.
Like, it's just too rare.
I said, no, they both had their eye removed.
And I was able to come home right after diagnosis.
I called both of them.
You know, found their numbers in Birmingham because, again, I lived in Memphis.
And they were wonderful.
So I just feel very blessed to be surrounded by them because they're sweet friends.
We talk to each other all the time, almost daily.
We text or call or something daily.
I'm sure this brings you together.
It forges you together.
It does.
You notice...
I mean, a big part of this story is obviously supporting each other, but part of it is also why all three of you, and we're going to learn later even more interesting parts of the story come to the forefront.
But, Julie, you noticed that you had...
A little flash, I think you called it.
That's right.
What was that like?
How did it come on?
Well, at the time, I was 27 years old, and I just started seeing in my peripheral vision just a flash of light, almost like you'd get up too fast in my peripheral vision.
So I went to the doctor, and they assured me that it was called Moore's lightning flashes and that it would last four to six weeks and should be gone after that.
But it continued and seemed to be more persistent.
It happened more frequently.
And then I became pregnant.
And then once I got further in my pregnancy, they said, "Oh, it's pregnancy related." And so after you have this baby, I'm sure that these symptoms will go away.
But when my baby was six weeks old, I went back to the doctor because they had not gone away.
In fact, I had some blurred vision, you know, that occurred as well.
And that's when I was diagnosed with a tumor, with an ocular melanoma.
With a six-week-old.
With a six-week-old.
That's right.
And with a significant delay because no one would have expected it.
That's right.
And, Alice, you had those same flashes yesterday.
It was about a year and a half after Julie was diagnosed and we had been praying for her for a year and a half so I immediately called her when I got in the car after they diagnosed me.
Flashes of light for 7 to 10 days.
And towards the end of the 10 days, lost partial vision in my right eye.
So I went thinking it was a retinal detachment to have my retina repaired.
And as they looked in, they said, well, there's a 10-millimeter tumor sitting on your retina.
So let me just show you.
These are the medical charts for all three of you, for the audience to look at, actually, because you know your stories.
And I put them all up there because I want you to see the symptoms and the treatments.
And there are some similarities, including the fact that you all had your eyes removed.
Which is often done for this.
So let's talk a little bit about this.
First of all, I'm really happy you stuck together because it's going to allow us to get to the next part of the story.
But I want to do something else.
There are hundreds of people around the country, hundreds of people who apparently are supporting you right now, and a lot of them actually flew in today.
Put your hands up.
Put your hands up if you have ocular melanoma.
There's a lot of folks, and I have to say, it is very rewarding to me as a physician.
To understand that if I do what I'm trained to do, which is try to diagnose and treat, you'll have social support around you to lift you up and do what I sometimes can't do, which is give you confidence and make sure you see the opportunities out there in your life.
And Allison, I know this has been difficult for you because your tumor spread to, if I understand correctly, 17 parts of your body.
So how do you stay so upbeat when I know you're struggling with that reality?
Well, it's totally the Lord, for sure.
the prayer that has carried us through.
Are those stories?
So let me get us all on this story, because this is a mystery to me still.
And over the course of this show today, I'm going to ask you to look for patterns.
To be part of this, because you're maybe living in a similar pattern yourself.
Just like these women in the doctors have been struggling to find out what's going on.
I'm going to recount.
We've got three women.
You just met them, right?
They're all living, all these three women, in the same dorm.
On the campus of Auburn University in the late 80s.
So what happened when these women started to tell people what was going on?
Especially using social media.
Stay tuned as this medical mystery unfolds.
*Music*
Is chicken the new brain food?
We know omega-3s can be found in fish.
But chicken?
You feel smarter now?
Yeah.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
This is Julie, Ashley, and Allison.
They all went to the same university.
Lived in the same dorm around the same time of each other.
And now they've mysteriously all ended up getting this rare form of eye cancer.
I'm trying to figure out how this happened.
Could there possibly be more people?
My producers and medical unit have been hard at work trying to unravel this medical mystery.
A group of college friends all ending up with the same cancer.
Were there more?
Or is this just a coincidence?
Well, Ashley posted on Facebook, and people who went to the same university started coming out of the woodwork.
30 people, in total 30, all diagnosed with ocular melanoma.
So I want to introduce one of those people to you.
Lori also attended Auburn University in the late 80s.
She saw Ashley's Facebook post, and I guess you've got to chill down your spine, if I understand correctly, Lori.
It was awakening.
You know, I had a friend of mine who actually saw her post, and then she sent me the link.
She said, you know, you need to check into this.
Unlike them, I did not have this camaraderie of knowing anybody, so I was navigating all of this on my own.
So what did Auburn University say when you informed them that there are 30 graduates who are all suffering from the same kind of eye cancer, ocular melanoma?
The university got involved, and they appointed an incredible man that we're all thrilled with.
His name is Dr. Fred Kam.
He has a medical clinic on campus.
And basically, Dr. Kam went to the university, and they said, we need to be a part of this.
We need to help fund some of this research.
We need to see what's going on.
So we actually reached out to Auburn.
I wanted to hear what they had to say.
They offered a statement to us.
Auburn will continue to participate, support the Alabama Department of Public Health and melanoma experts as they determine what next steps should be taken in the best interests of the patients.
Good for them.
So in cases like this, medical professionals collaborate with health officials.
It's not easy, right?
Because you've got doctors who know about eye tumors and you've got health officials who know about the epidemiology, the environment that we're all living in.
Dr. Marlena Orloff is an oncologist who has treated some of these women.
And is actively working with health officials to solve this medical mystery.
So explain what a cancer cluster is.
What has happened for you to be able to call it a cancer cluster?
Yeah, so a cancer cluster has a very You want to look at the number of observed cases, so how many people are actually diagnosed, versus what the expected number of cases is for a very specific location.
And unfortunately, we haven't really been able to apply those statistics to these scenarios because not everyone was living in the specific location of concern at the time of their diagnosis.
So we think there's probably about a 10 to 15 year lag time between potentially a mutual exposure, if there was one, and the development of the cancer.
We traditionally look at cancer clusters does not take that into consideration.
So we've had to develop our own unique way of looking at this.
So here's why I'm concerned.
These are factors, and you might be exposed to one of these or not, like nuclear waste, radioactive material, even RF waves, radiofrequency, water, the water could be a problem, all the toxins in the environment, power lines and power plants come up all the time, as with cell towers these days, landfills, even things like asbestos, which we know are correlated.
So as an expert, you look at these things, how does a viewer know if All their friends are getting sick because you've all been exposed to something that you might be prone to also.
Yeah, so that's when we've really put a big team together.
So it's not just myself, it's not just the medical oncologists.
You know, both in Philadelphia, we worked with our colleagues down in North Carolina, at Duke, and now our colleagues in Alabama, to really put together a thorough investigation in looking at these things.
So the first thing you need to do is put everybody at the same place at the same time.
So that's part of the geospatial analysis.
And once you can do that, and that goes through interviews, so it's, well, where did you live?
Well, how much time did you spend there?
Well, where were you working?
You know, did you play a sport?
What fields were you playing on?
And then you can actually overlie any concerns that there may be in any of these environmental concerns.
And so then when you put all of that together and there's any red flags, then we can actually go delve deeper down to see if there's any potential cause.
So let me give everyone a little bit of advice on this.
If you suspect a cancer cluster in your community, talk to your doctor first and let them know because they'll talk to the other doctors.
And more importantly, become your own detective.
Start your own investigation.
You just saw the power of social media and it can help you too.
What I'm talking about, and that's a perfect example, is something that happened at my office as we began researching this show.
Literally.
Take a look at what happened when one of my directors read the script, just saw the script for this show.
I read your script this morning and I immediately went on Facebook and tagged everybody I knew.
From my college, breast cancer, me, and so far I found five other people who went to my school, either lived in my dorm or another dorm.
And I'm investigating to see who else.
I've tagged everybody I know to see if I could find more people.
Can a brain scan reveal if you're a psychopath?
The daughter of a serial killer faces her darkest fears.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Tuesday.
Thank you.
When you get a scary medical diagnosis, one of the first thoughts that leaps to your mind is, how did this happen?
How did this happen to me?
Well, when these four college friends found out they were among 30 people from their former university that had come down with the exact same kind of eye cancer, they got together.
They made the medical mystery their mission.
They're here today with an important message for you.
I'm going to start with Dr. John Mason, who's an ophthalmologist who's also on the task force looking for clues to understand how 30 people from Auburn University all got diagnosed.
With ocular melanoma, a kind of eye cancer.
So let's look for more clues.
Help us with this.
So as you look at this, who's more likely to get eye cancer taking everybody into account?
We know that about 2,000 cases in our country occur per year, 7,000 worldwide.
It's typically patients that are light-complected, fair-complected, patients that are typically between the ages of 50 and 65, can be younger, can be older.
I've treated teenagers with this.
All these women were younger.
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's not unusual.
Often blue-eyed, green-eyed rather than brown-eyed.
So again, light complexion, blue eyes.
And what about the issue of exposure to the sun?
You know, that's debatable.
That is debatable.
Half the studies have shown that UV exposure is related.
Half the studies have shown that UV exposure is not related to ocular melanoma.
Despite the light-colored eyes.
That's true.
And what about hazardous chemicals, which is something that comes up always when you worry about these cancer?
Occurrences that are more frequent than you expect.
Yeah, the unique thing about ocular melanoma is we have never identified an environmental trigger.
We do not know what in the environment causes ocular melanoma.
That's the purpose of the study.
That's why we want to do this study.
Then perhaps we can find an answer.
It's going to be one of four answers.
So it'll either be an environmental, genetics, a combination of both, or coincidental.
But we need the study.
These ladies deserve the study.
A lot of folks aren't going to get symptoms.
Yeah, this is going to save lives.
That's why we're doing the show today.
It's a mystery that actually leads to lives being saved.
If you're sitting at home right now and you're worried you've got a problem with your eye, even a tumor, what do you do?
What do you recommend?
I think every single patient in our country needs an annual eye exam, a dilated eye exam.
We can see diabetes in the eye, hypertension in the eye, glaucoma, melanoma, a host of diseases.
The eye is a window to the world.
Alright, so get an eye exam with the drop so it dilates it.
Absolutely.
Thank you very much.
Alright, there's going to be someone watching today.
That may have gone to the same school with friends who've developed a similar cancer.
Maybe they went to Auburn and have ocular melanoma.
So, Ashley, let me finish with you, because you posted this out here.
And we're going to put the neural melanoma page from Auburn on our dros.com site.
So, if folks are out there, there's the page right now.
You know, let us know.
Let's help solve this mystery.
Let's give the doctors some tools to figure out what's causing this.
What is your biggest hope, Ashley, going forward?
So, we have a website.
It's called ipatchchallenge.org.
And people are familiar with the Ice Bucket Challenge.
We have something called the iPatch Challenge, and we actually want to challenge you today.
Oh.
So we have something for you.
Lori wants to give you.
You have ice?
We have an iPatch.
And our, yes.
So the premise behind the iPatch Challenge I like it.
I like it.
Do I look diabolical?
Very much so.
So the idea is that we are going to challenge you to do something with the iPatch line to help raise awareness and then to also challenge someone else, you know, nominate someone else to do this.
You can go on iPatchChallenge.org and make a donation for the research that's being done at Auburn, which we appreciate.
Well, I'm going to go do something sportive with my kids.
I love it.
Thank you for what you've done.
I'm very proud of you for getting together, for being brave, for supporting each other, but also finding the cure.
This is how we're going to change health in America.
It's stories like this.
God bless you.
And for all the melanoma patients in the back, God bless you.
We're going to share resources on how and when to get your eyes checked on DrRoz.com.
I'll be right back.
with my patch.
Up next, today's show, anchor Savannah Guthrie is here with a big health question that all of you are asking, Stick around.
I recently heard one of my friends who you all love, today's show anchor, Savannah Guthrie, had a big question about sleep for me.
Now, we all know she wakes up extra early to bring you the biggest news of the day, and recently, she's been having a little sleep struggle that you can all relate to.
Come on out, Savannah Guthrie!
Come on in!
I'm gonna light it up.
Hi guys!
Hi!
I'm so happy.
You are here.
I know.
Hi.
They've been waiting for you.
Hi, everybody.
Nice to see you.
So happy you are here.
I'm so happy to be here.
This is my first time on your show.
The first time.
I know.
You've been on the Today Show.
We have you every week.
But we have lots of good excuses to talk to you today.
That look like a rough, rough night of sleep.
Is that typical?
Yes, it is.
I mean, that could have been last night.
The snoring husband.
Sorry, sweetie.
The crying baby.
And then the early wake-up call.
And it happens.
I mean, I think every person who works on these kind of morning shifts probably doesn't get enough sleep, but I just have a hard time falling back asleep.
Once anything wakes up, my mind starts working.
The thing is, we all watch you at 7 a.m. promptly on the day show.
You look so chipper, so awake.
You get up at 4 in the morning.
How do you do that?
Well, coffee.
You know, coffee's big.
You know, I trudge in with my hair wet and in my sweats, and they, like, perform a miracle in the hair and makeup department.
I don't know what they do, but they make me look presentable.
And I also think there's just, there's a natural energy and excitement that you just kind of, you get up for it.
So, before you became a mom, were you able to sleep better?
Yes, I mean, yes, I think I did.
I mean, even when I worked in news and I'd have these early morning gigs, I wouldn't sleep that much, but I could sleep well.
And once I fell asleep, I was dead to the world.
Now, I mean, I was just thinking about it.
My kids wake up pretty much every night.
You get two kids, like the chances of both sleeping are almost like, So when they wake up, they go back to sleep again.
But waking up in the middle of the night is so common among our viewers.
Yeah.
Well, first of all, anybody who works on a morning show is obsessed with sleep.
It's like all you talk about.
You think about, when am I going to sleep?
Am I going to get a chance to have a nap?
Like, I'm the most boring person in the world.
I only want to talk about sleep.
But I have a few tricks.
I have earplugs that I use.
And then I do have, like, a few little tricks to calm myself.
First of all, never, ever check your phone.
What I did in that video was the absolute...
Yeah, that bright light turns off any little bit of melatonin you might be making.
Yes, and then you see the time, and there's probably a text message that comes up, or a news alert, and it just gets the wheels turning.
So I try really hard.
I actually put an alarm clock next to my bed so that I could just look at a regular clock to see the time and not have to tap the phone.
So I do that.
And then I actually have a Bible verse I memorized when I was 12 years old.
Oh my goodness.
Psalm 23, and I say it to myself, and I almost always, I'm kind of falling asleep by the end.
By the time I've said it, Oh, the whole thing?
No, just a little bit.
Oh, you know, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He makes me lay down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul.
It's a very pastoral and calming song.
Good for you.
But I think if, you know, I happen to learn that as a 12-year-old kid, but anything that you memorized, there's something about reciting it to yourself and your mind that calms you.
It works for me every time.
Yeah, it's meditative.
Yes.
Come on over here.
You actually allowed us to pry into your brain a little bit.
Yes.
And look into your sleep score.
So if you stand right over here.
Okay.
I'm going to put the sleep score up here.
Okay.
The cool app, yeah.
I know, I like it too.
So, you actually did really well.
I was shocked at this.
I think I had a terrible night's sleep last night.
And I got a 79. You did, but I'll tell you why you got a 79. It was interesting.
Yeah, C+.
Just to break it down, a couple things.
First of all, your body score was only a 52. What does that mean?
So, if you look at how you sleep, not all parts of sleep help you the same amount.
The part of sleep that's most important for your brain is the REM sleep.
Your dream sleep.
The further these lines are over, the better off you did.
So look how well you did with your REM, which is just fantastic.
Your deep sleep, which is important for your body, wasn't so good.
So you got a 52 in your body score, but you got 97 in your mind.
So that's a pretty good number.
So net-net, the only thing I work on is deep sleep, and the only way to get more deep sleep for you probably is to sleep longer, to be in bed longer, which I know is hard.
I would like to do that.
I'm for that.
What if we started the Today Show at 9 a.m.?
I like that.
Thoughts?
Everyone like it?
It'd be so much easier if you want to watch.
The other thing that happens with sleep issues, especially if your body is not sleeping well, is you'll feel tired.
Actually, we were talking socially at a separate gathering, and you mentioned you were on the paleo diet, keto diet.
The keto diet, yes.
I did a little summer experiment.
I saw you at a party, and you were like, you're on the keto diet.
I said, yeah, I don't know if I'm in ketosis.
Can I tell everybody what you said?
Yes.
It was so embarrassing.
He goes, well, breathe on me.
And I'm like, I don't want to.
Breathe on you.
I'm at a party.
That's so rude.
He's like, breathe on me.
And then he said, you're not in keto.
Because one of the things is, supposedly you have bad breath when you're in keto.
You spell like acetone.
But I didn't have bad breath, right?
No, you dealt very well with it.
No, my breath was like tequila.
That's why.
That's why.
Exactly.
Do you like being on the keto diet?
You know what?
I liked it.
You know, I mean, I'm not really trying to lose weight or anything.
But, you know, we might overeat.
And then you're like, I like to lose two, three pounds, five pounds.
So I did it, and I did like it.
And I'm still kind of doing it.
It's, you know, it's a lot of...
It's like salad and some grilled chicken, but you can get more fat, which is kind of fun.
So in some ways, you have to deprive yourself.
No carbs whatsoever, and that's really restrictive.
But it's opened up some things that I would never let myself eat a lot of, such as like cheese and bacon.
So I like that.
Did you feel energized on it?
You know, I feel less energy in the sense of I don't want to work out anymore.
I think I need those carbs to want to go on a run or do aerobics or do whatever I might do.
But Hoda says she thinks it's making my mind sharper.
Like I was remembering things.
That we're kind of shocked.
She's like, how do you even know that?
I'd be like, oh, that was on page 252 of that book.
She's like, where's this coming from?
This keto diet's insane.
So I do feel like it made me a little sharper.
Well, that's part of the process, I think, is, you know, you experiment with these diets, not just to lose weight, it's to be able to match it up with the rest of your lifestyle.
This being a good example of why you're sharp, that might be an additional one.
However, if I want to improve deep sleep and I want you to access your...
Since I can't get you to lie in bed more, I'm going to try some food hacks.
Okay.
If you're up for it.
Of course.
When we come back, we investigate what are the best foods to eat for sleep, and I think I found out the truth about Savannah's secret obsession.
Stay tuned.
We know omega-3s can be found in fish, but chicken?
You feel smarter now?
Yeah.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
We are back.
Welcome back with today's show, Anchor Savannah Guthrie, and we're investigating what food you can eat to get you a more restful night.
But first, I want to show something that Savannah posted on Instagram that I loved and my wife especially appreciated.
When is it okay to ask a woman if she is pregnant?
And notice the answers.
For the first seven months, it's no, and after that, it's also no.
Why'd you post this?
I would add, like, if you're in the hospital actually giving birth, it's still no.
Don't ask, are you pregnant?
Not until you hear the baby cry.
Not until the child's an adult.
Exactly.
You know, I posted it because from time to time, people might on Twitter or something say, like, oh, are you expecting again?
Which, no, I'm not.
But I did have two babies, and I'm 46 years old, so I don't have, like, a washboard abs or anything.
But I wore this polka dotted dress one day, and suddenly, I guess it wasn't the most flattering dress ever because the whole internet was like, Savannah's pregnant, are you hiding?
Is there a bun in the oven?
Blah, blah, blah.
Which, of course, I thought the dress looked good.
I had to go then burn it.
And that's when I posted it up.
I was like, yeah, no.
So I think it's just a good rule of thumb.
You all agree with that?
Right?
All right, let's talk about steeps and quick fixes.
First off, what time do you normally have dinner?
You got to be in bed by 10. I go to bed by 8. Oh, you do?
Yes, I have to.
No wonder you did so well on your steep score.
I was surprised.
Oh, yeah.
Well, I get in bed by 8. I might not be able to fall asleep until 9 or so.
But my kids go to bed at 7, so we all eat dinner around 6, 6, 6.30.
That's good.
So two hours before bedtime.
Yeah, by 7, I'm not eating.
All right, come on over.
Let's talk about some specific foods.
I'm basically on a toddler's schedule.
That's right.
So, snoozy salmon, the first recommendation.
We talk about salmon for almost everything, having to do with the heart, the brain, everything else.
It turns out that it has B vitamins in it, which is how your brain makes serotonin, which is, of course, a tryptophan, which is, of course, the key ingredient that turkey has in it that makes you tired.
Okay, so if I have salmon for dinner, it'll help?
It will help.
And you want to get it at least three hours before, if you can, only because you have time to digest it and get it to your brain.
Wait, so it's three?
I should stop eating?
Two hours before.
Okay.
Got it.
That's a general rule of thumb.
Even if you take melatonin, you've got to take it early enough that it can get into your brain.
Oh.
So when people take it at 2 in the morning, it's not going to work at 2.50 in the morning.
Yeah, I'm always like, that doesn't work for me.
It doesn't work.
Okay, now I know.
All right, that was good.
Should I try it?
No, you don't have to.
How do you cook your salmon?
Well, I'm not a big chef, as you may know, Dr. Oz, from watching the Today Show.
But I usually would grill it.
My favorite too.
Alright, next up.
This is my favorite, favorite, favorite thing.
Tart cherry juice.
Really?
Because I mentioned melatonin earlier.
Yes.
This is the best food source for it.
And my father grew up on a tart cherry farm in the central Turkey, Anatolia.
You're kidding.
And that's where I learned to drink and fall in love with this beverage.
One cup a night.
Okay, really?
A whole cup?
You don't have to drink the whole cup, but ideally, the studies have shown that when you drink that cup worth of it, you'll get better quality sleep during the evening.
Now, is that real sugary?
Should I be worried about packing on the pounds?
Yes, which is why it should be your alternative drink for the day.
Okay, all right.
However, what I generally do, just do a shot of it.
But I take it like this.
If you'll join me.
Is that a shot ski?
This is a shot ski.
Okay, I knew.
See?
It's Dr. Oz after dark.
Are you ready?
Are we doing it?
Okay, ready?
It's very good.
Andy Cohen, eat your heart out.
Seriously.
He's going to be so jealous of us.
I bet we're going to put a little tequila in there, too.
No?
That's a woman after my heart.
I know, right?
A woman after my heart.
That was good.
Now, that's my favorite, but this will surprise you the most.
Okay.
Kiwi.
Yeah?
I don't know what your thoughts are on that, but Kiwi has actually been studied, and it helps the quality and the quantity of sleep, both.
Really?
Most things haven't been proven to do both.
This does that.
Kiwi, if you're going to really do it the right way, the way you do it in New Zealand, you have to eat the skin though.
Ew, isn't the skin hairy?
Well, I want you to try it.
This is a special kind of golden kiwi.
Okay.
That's a little thinner skinned.
Okay.
And you get all the folate if you do this, by the way.
More fiber, 50%.
Not bad.
Not bad?
Like I might do it again or never again will I try that?
Never again.
This is my first and last kiwi.
No, it's good.
It's kind of, it's tart.
but at the skin is not pleasant well i was thinking about Yeah.
And if they're eating the skin in New Zealand, yeah, I'm into it.
That's what we should do.
Okay, good.
It's like eating the skin of an apple.
But I'll leave this for you.
I bring up Kiwis in part because I know that you were infatuated by pineapples, all kinds of fruit, by pineapples in particular.
And I finally know why.
It's because there's this person, Princess Penelope Pineapple.
Yes.
She is the star of all Savannah's books.
And not only is she named after the fruit, But she's got all kinds of cool things around her, including other princesses like Princess Strawberry, Princess Blueberry.
Yes.
And I love the adventure so much that I sent the book to my daughter Daphne.
And Daphne actually read it to my kids, my grandkids.
Take a look.
Okay, we are.
We're going to read it right now.
Princesses save the world.
Princesses save the world.
Your name is Strawberry.
Princesses saved the world.
Penny encouraged the princesses to look for anything fragrant that might work as a hug.
Out of their bags, they pulled all things smelly.
Perfume, peppermints, peanut butter, and jelly.
It's the greatest book ever.
It's our favorite.
Yay!
You gave it two thumbs up.
The greatest book ever.
I've never gotten anything like that out of Philo.
She's the toughest critic.
Well, thank you, Philo.
What a little doll.
Well, you write about, like, heart disease and stuff.
Yes, this is more gripping.
They're so cute.
Thank you, Daphne.
Beautifully illustrated.
Well done.
But there's a deeper meaning to the book, which I think is why Daphne liked reading it to the kids over and over again.
Would you share that with the audience?
Yeah, you know, it's funny.
So this all came out, my friend and I that wrote it together, we both have daughters, and our daughters were into princesses, and we're like, where does this come from?
And what does it all mean?
We are not anti-princess.
We're all about the glitter and the fun.
In fact, this cover is full of glitter.
But the idea was, like, how can we make a princess who's a girl of substance?
You know, when you think about what a princess is, it's a young lady in a leadership role.
And so we kind of came up with this idea of Princess Penelope Pineapple.
And in the first book, which was called Princesses Wear Pants, it's all about she's a girly girl and she has her tears and her gowns, but she's got things to do.
And when she has things to do, she wears her pants.
And in Princesses Save the World, we meet some of her fellow princesses from the other fruit kingdoms.
Princess Strawberry, Princess Apple, Princess Plum.
They all get together and solve a problem.
A big problem.
Yes.
A world-saving problem.
But here's the part that I like the most.
You actually pay tribute to the sweetest member of the ecosystem.
Bees.
Right.
And I actually have beehives.
You're a beekeeper.
Yes, there I am.
What?
With my son, Oliver.
Yep.
And we just harvested our newest honey.
Oh, my gosh.
The private stash from my basement.
Look at this.
This is so exciting.
I know.
Dr. Odd Honey.
Do I get to keep this?
It's yours.
I love it.
It's not pasteurized.
In medicine, honey was the oldest medicine known by doctors.
You know, it's funny.
My little boy's sick, and my doctor told me last night, give him a little spoonful of honey before bed, and now I have really special honey to do that with.
I'd love to meet you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Savannah.
Thank you so much.
You sure to check out Savannah's new children's book, Princesses Save the World.
It's in stores today, and very well done.
Thank you very much, my dear.
Thank you.
We'll be right back.
Can a brain scan reveal if you're a psychopath?
The daughter of a serial killer faces her darkest fears.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Tuesday.
Tuesday.
Roughly 26 million Americans suffer from asthma, but not everyone's asthma is the same.
There's a severe kind of asthma.
It's called eosinophilic asthma, or e-asthma for short.
Today, I want to help you understand if your asthma could be severe e-asthma and what you can do about it.
Here to help explain is Dr. Nina Ramirez, who's here on behalf of my trusted sponsor partner, AstraZeneca.
Thanks for being here.
Good morning, good morning.
All right, so explain what e-asthma is.
E-asthma, or eosinophilic asthma, is a kind of severe asthma.
And there are many different kinds of asthma.
The eosinophil is a type of white blood cell that's a normal part of our immune system.
But for some people with severe asthma, eosinophils can cause inflammation in the airways.
So the question is, could that be you?
To help determine if your asthma could be e-asthma, Dr. Ramirez is going to walk us through a four-question quiz.
Everyone at home, please follow along with this.
This is an area that's rapidly changing, so we want to try to keep up with it.
So, walk us through the questions.
Number one.
Do you often use your rescue inhaler to control your asthma symptoms?
Yes or no.
It's pretty simple.
There are only four questions.
Question number two.
Do your asthma symptoms wake you up in the middle of the night?
Question number three.
Have you ever taken oral steroids for your asthma?
That's an important one.
Again, think carefully about yourself, but also people who are dear to you.
And question number four.
Have your asthma attacks ever led to an urgent care or emergency room visit?
Okay.
Now, if you answered yes to one or more of these questions, your asthma may be uncontrolled, and you might have severe eosinophilic asthma or e-asthma.
So I didn't know that much about this when I first started to study this, but I've learned quite a bit.
So please explain to everybody how common this really is.
Well, up to about 50% of people with severe asthma have elevated eosinophils in their airways.
Half of the people.
So let me explain to you all what this really means with animation, and I want you to meet somebody.
So this is what might happen to your body if you have eosinophils.
Nina, come join me over here.
Yes.
So let's just say you take a deep breath in, right?
And healthy airway goes But in asthma, you can have triggers like pollen, for example, enter the airway and it causes swelling and a mucus buildup.
See this green mucus buildup, right?
and that can limit air flow and lead to an asthma attack when you're gasping for air.
But when you have e-asthma, These purple eosinophils, that's what they're called.
They're a special type of white blood cell that enters the lungs.
It can cause inflammation, right?
And that's why sometimes, again, we don't know why some people are more likely to get e-asthma, but these cells can be activated after exposure to the triggers you know about.
Things like pollen and dander and dust and mold, viruses, hot and cold weather, which is why you can sometimes get attacks and understand what's going on.
So how can you find that if your asthma is of this eosinophilic type, the e-asthma?
Well, getting a simple blood test that can be done by your doctor is a very good start.
And depending upon the results, you'd see an allergist or pulmonologist who would make the official diagnosis of eosinophilic asthma based on your specific medical history, examination, and lab tests, and then be able to prescribe the appropriate course of action.
Great.
So I want you to meet someone now, because no one knows more about how this blood test can help with the right diagnosis than Kosh, who's here on behalf of AstraZeneca.
So you took some steps to regain your health.
And one of those steps that's really important was to understand that she actually had this type of e-asthma.
So what were the symptoms that you were experiencing?
Dr. Oz, my asthma was impacting my day-to-day life.
I was struggling to go upstairs to my second floor for eight years.
I did not have energy at all.
And we would go on vacations, and people would go on hikes, and they would be...
And I found myself taking inhalers, rescue inhalers, and use several allergy pills, but nothing seems to be helping.
And my asthma was not well controlled.
I was having asthma attacks and having trouble breathing.
So how has your life changed now that you realize you have e-asthma and are trying a different treatment approach?
Dr. Oz, now my life has changed for better.
I have e-asthma is well controlled.
I did not know that people have e-asthma, and I didn't know either, and a lot of people don't.
So when I learned that my asthma was e-asthma and my eosinophils were...
So knowing the root cause of my asthma and being able to find the right medication that worked for me best made me feel powerful.
More control.
My asthma was well controlled.
I can breathe better.
I made it a point to use my upstairs bathroom for showers.
I enjoy going on walks.
I take stairs as much as I can.
It's been amazing.
You feel like you're your old self again?
I feel like my old self again.
I can go back doing things that I used to.
I'm very happy for you.
Thank you so much.
Nina, thank you very much.
Thank you.
If you think your asthma could be e-asthma, take the quiz and bring the results to your doctor.
You can head to DrOz.com for lots more information.
I'll be right back.
This segment was brought to you by AstraZeneca.
Is chicken the new brain food?
We know omega-3s can be found in fish, but chicken?
You feel smarter now?
Yeah.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
I love this video!
Baby Shark has gone viral with nearly 2 billion views on that video alone.
And kids and adults across the world are singing and dancing to Baby Shark and posting their Baby Shark challenge videos all over social media.
I want to show you my grandkids, Philo and John John, just this past weekend.
It is how I heard about the song.
So you can see Philo dances to our own drummer.
John's very organized, though.
And all kids are different.
It's sort of cool.
But as a result of this Baby Shark mania, many of you can't get that song out of your head, can you?
And tell you what, it's going to be stuck there the rest of the day.
So that got me thinking about the science of Baby Shark and what it might be doing to your brain.
So I thought I'd help you with this.
When a song gets stuck in your head, that's all happened, right?
It's called an earworm.
Fast songs with simple remedies like Baby Shark are the biggest offenders.
But here's the question.
What's the best way to get rid of it?
It's to lean in and let it run its course.
So, I have a big announcement today.
There have been almost 40 Oz babies born since I started this show 10 years ago.
And I brought some of those Oz kids here to lead the audience in your very own Baby Shark Challenge.
So come on out.
My executive producer, Amy's daughter, Harper.
And my supervising producer, Christine's daughter and niece, Mila and Hadley.
Oh!
Oh!
They're so cute!
They're so beautiful, aren't they?
Are you guys ready to sing with me?
Do Baby Shark?
Is that what you want to do?
You like Baby Shark?
Yes.
Is this the Baby Shark one, the first one?
No, this one.
Oh, this one's Baby Shark.
Okay, and what's Mommy Shark?
Mom's shark's like this.
And what's Daddy's shark?
Daddy's shark's like this.
Okay.
And what's Grandma's shark?
Okay.
And most importantly, what's Grandpa's shark?
Yes.
Notice Grandpa's shark has no teeth.
There's no teeth on Grandpa's shark.
Are y 'all ready to do this?
Yeah.
All right.
Put it on, Scott.
Baby shark.
Baby shark.
Wanted this was our first daily needs, he was done across the street.
He said, hey girl, how was that?
Let's in with time!
The whole audience is doing it!
Daddy Shark!
Daddy Shark!
Look at the audience they're all doing!
Now the big one!
Are you ready to go hunting?
Let's go hunting!
Let's go hunting!
Let's go hunting the audience!
Run away!
Run away!
Back down again!
Back down again!
They're off!
Yeah, at last!
Safe at last!
They were wonderful!
They're gone!
What kids do?
They leave me!
Alright, thank you very much!
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