Headline Or Hoax? with Dr Jameil and Brinn Daniels

A man gets seizures from Sudoku? That sounds like a punchline- was it a real medical case? We kick things off with our “Headline or Hoax” game and watch how quickly all of us can get fooled by a medical headline that feels just believable enough to share. 

Team Dr Ben unpacks prior medical history to help to understand head injury, anoxic events, and how specific triggers like intense focus or flashing lights can tip a vulnerable brain into a seizure. 

We also talk about the viral “garlic in your nostrils for congestion” trend and why irritation can feel like relief while doing nothing for the underlying inflammation. 

If you care about evidence-based health, medical myths, and why misinformation spreads, this is the kind of conversation that helps you slow down and think before you repost. 

Then we switch gears into pure medical comedy: a fast-paced “Buzz Battle” where a comedian attempts a 60 second surgery challenge while two docs commentate. 

We close with a surprisingly relatable topic for anyone who works under pressure: operating room music, focus, and how teams stay calm and sharp. 

Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves weird health stories, and leave a review with the wildest headline you’ve ever heard.

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Jameil: IG @drjameil, TT @bariatricbro, www.tennesseestyleweightloss.com

Brinn Daniels: IG @brinn_does_comedy, www.brinndaniels.com

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about weight loss, health, and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends.  Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence.  See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

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Transcript

Headline Or Hoax Kickoff

Dr Ben 0:10

All right, folks, now's that time of the podcast. Affectionately known as Headline or Hoax. Headline or hoax. Hey listeners, you join in on the fun too. I'm going to read two medical headlines. One's an actual medical headline and one's a hoax. So you, the listener, Miss Brynn, Dr. Jamil are gonna determine which one is the headline. So play along at home. Are you all ready to play? Headline or hoax? Are you ready?

Dr Jameil and Brinn Daniels 0:37

I'm ready. Are you ready? Let's go. Let's go.

Dr Ben 0:39

Alright. I'm gonna read two headlines here. Listener, you decide which one's a headline or hoax. Alright, let's scrub in for

Suduko Seizures or Garlic in Nose Relieves Congestion?

Dr Ben 0:46

this one. Number one. Inserting garlic into nostrils relieves congestion. Inserting garlic into nostrils relieves congestion. Number two. Man gets seizures from sudoku. Man gets seizures from sudoku.

Dr Jameil 1:07

Wow.

Dr Ben 1:07

Well, okay, let's think this out there.

Dr Jameil 1:09

In this day and age, they could those could both be.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 1:11

Either one could, yeah. Is this like on the onion or is this like they both sound plausible, but they're not.

Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 1:20

Okay. Well, I mean, certainly it can't be number one if you're a vampire, but I we're probably talking humans. Right, humans and not the not the undead.

Dr Ben 1:28

The vampires probably not want garlic up their nose.

Brinn Daniels 1:30

I've heard of that ballooning. Have you guys heard of that? Like these holistic doctors will put balloons up your nose and to expand the cavity.

Dr Jameil 1:37

Yeah. Sounds reasonable.

Brinn Daniels 1:40

So garlic. Certainly better than a Lego, right? Like my son put a Lego up his nose one time.

Dr Ben 1:51

I heard they're having a big sale at the Lego store. People are lined up for blocks. See, that's how I got a circuit comedy. I like it.

Brinn Daniels 2:01

I like it. Okay.

Dr Ben 2:02

But that probably would defend against vampires if you did have garlic up your nose.

Brinn Daniels 2:06

And it would expand, but it's a good one.

Dr Jameil 2:12

Man gets seizures.

Brinn Daniels 2:17

A lot of older people play Sudoku and they get very excited about it.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 2:22

Like anesthesiologists, they're always playing Sudoku something. Ordering on Amazon. Angry Birds. I don't know what they're doing at the head of the table. Okay, which one's the headline? Listener, which one do you think is headline? Which one's a hoax? What's real? What's okay.

Dr Jameil 2:37

Alright, I wrote them out.

Dr Ben 2:38

All right. Oh. Okay. Ready? The debate's over. Let's see what you picked. Uh Ms Brinn.

Brinn Daniels 2:46

I picked the Sudoku.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 2:48

Yeah, for a real headline. Okay. I picked the garlic. All right. We have a split decision again. All right. There's just no way Sudoku causes seizure, but I mean I don't know. Maybe a stroke. All right. Was everyone ready for the answer

Real Medical Headline Revealed!

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 3:05

here? Yes. Yeah. The real medical headline is man gets seizure from Sudoku. Oh my gosh. I'm not even a real doctor. People love their games. They do.

Dr Ben 3:15

Yes. And it was a guy in Germany, actually. And the caveat too is he did have a skiing injury and had a um head injury. Oh. And was uh anoxic for a little while and an avalanche.

Brinn Daniels 3:28

So he had a pre-existing condition that contributed to his sudoku injury.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 3:31

But afterwards, when he was doing Sudoku, he would get seizures. That's amazing. So that was a medical case, the uh headline. The brain is wild. I love that. Dr. We're gonna make you Dr. Brinn.

Dr Jameil 3:44

You're the doctor over here.

Brinn Daniels 3:45

I'm from Florida, so I definitely like identified with older people. I was like, older people get way too excited about their games. Yeah.

Dr Ben 3:51

I mean, granted, he was also at a disco party watching uh a bunch of flashing lights, but playing Sudoku.

Speaker 2 3:57

But it was the Sudoku.

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 3:59

So garlic does not No, I guess that was like a uh social media trend for a little while, people sticking garlic up there, but it just caused irritation and did not help with congestion. But I could just see someone writing about that. Like I can see why it seems like it would clear the clear the nuts.

Brinn Daniels 4:16

Maybe if maybe we should try horseradish next time. Put horseradish up in the next one.

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 4:20

That's actually a great job. But I wonder if Sudoku has to put like a disclaimer on all their puzzles now. May causes seuizures.

Brinn Daniels 4:26

That one guy ruins it for everybody. Yeah.

Dr Ben 4:28

Oh yeah. Like when you're watching a video and they have to put that disclaimer, the flashing lights may cause.

Florida Man Headline Game And Name Chaos

Dr Ben 4:33

So but yeah, from Florida, you've probably played this game where you put like Florida man and then you put in like your birthday.

Brinn Daniels 4:39

Yes.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 4:40

And then all the crazy headlines. Yes. I could get headlines from Florida Man. You could so listener, put in Florida Man, then your birthday, and all the different crazy headlines of what crazy. What people in Florida have done on that day. It's just bizarre stories. Crazy ones. Bizarre stories.

Brinn Daniels 4:57

There's crazy names in Florida too. I saw a Florida, it was a Florida woman, and her name, her literal name was Crystal Methany.

Dr Ben 5:04

I was like, Crystal, you can't make this up.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 5:06

Her parents had high expectations for her, right? They pooped her into a toliet.

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 5:12

That definitely happened. Sounds like a character on Breaking Bad.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 5:16

That's right.

Comic's 60-second Surgery!

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 5:20

Knock, knock, howdy, folks. Welcome to the Dr. Ben and Friends podcast. We have the very hilarious Ms Brinn Daniels, comedian, and the very talented bariatric and general surgeon, Dr. Jameel. Are you ready for the Dr. Ben Buzz battle? Ben Buzz battle like vitamin B3. All right. We're going to have a real live surgery in the studio today with honorary Dr. Brinn Daniels. And so Dr. Jameil's actually going to help her get prepared for this with the cap and the um gloves and the mask. The clock will start, and then Dr. Brinn will have 60 seconds to remove ailments. And uh we have a couple commentators, a couple doctors. Don't feel pressure that two doctors are actually watching your first surgery.

Dr Jameil 6:16

Looks easy, doesn't it? When we do it.

Dr Ben 6:17

So we'll actually give you the these almost look like uh Adson's forceps or something.

Dr Jameil 6:21

That's right.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 6:22

All right. All right. And go ahead. We'll see how many. If it buzzes, move on to the next one. Look at that precision right there. Well, do you think she could be an honorary surgery? She's getting nervous, but general or bariatric surgeon. Oh. That's okay. Yeah, we may need a robot, honestly. Oh, there you go. Bringing the Da Vinci.

Speaker 2 6:42

Yeah, the Da Vinci is do this for her. Oh, oh, there you go.

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 6:45

Listener, she is removing body parts. She's removed two six. She's getting her job back with her eye. She's moving right along with the precision of a robot. I bet we we should have the Da Vinci. Yeah. I bet the Da Vinci would get it. You think Elon's gonna prove himself here, though? Oh man. Alright. Oh, that's good.

Dr Ben 7:12

That's good.

Brinn Daniels 7:14

Let's see.

Dr Jameil 7:16

Removing organs is hard though.

Dr Ben 7:17

I'll tell you that. Let's uh 60.

Postgame Talk And Operating Room Music

Dr Ben 7:21

Let's get a little post-game interview here. Dr. Brynn, how how do you think you did?

Brinn Daniels 7:27

I think uh I think that was a poor showing, I gotta say.

Dr Ben 7:30

I I don't think Dr. Jamil and I are too worried about you taking our jobs quite yet, but um so you you did great.

Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 7:38

And so I I felt like I got a little bit of a rhythm in the middle there, but I certainly hope that you guys get longer than 60 seconds to remove.

Dr Ben 7:45

You know? Yes. And then uh have you ever had any thoughts of becoming a surgeon?

Brinn Daniels 7:51

No. No, I can't.

Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 7:52

Can't really intrigue you on TV watching surgeries or oh no, it intrigues me, but I'm not good.

Brinn Daniels 7:58

Uh like I can't even do my own nails. Like I you should never trust me with minutiae instruments. No.

Dr Ben 8:05

I imagine doing your nails on the non-dominant hand would be on your dominant hand.

Brinn Daniels 8:10

Well, you would think that it that would be the only problem, but it's not. I can't even do it on the non-dominant hand.

Dr Ben 8:15

Okay, the professionals.

Brinn Daniels 8:16

Yes, yes.

Dr Ben 8:17

Okay. Now, uh what uh what kind of challenges did you face in their day? Was uh patient moving at all? The anesthesia can't keep them deep enough.

Brinn Daniels 8:25

You know what? It was getting a grip on that frog. I could not figure out where to get where to grip the frog in the throat.

Dr Ben 8:32

What kind of music do you like, Dr. Jameil, in the operating room?

Dr Jameil 8:35

Well, yeah, I like uh 90s rap, 2000s rap, notorious BIG. Oh, I love it. Yeah. Those would be good. Get you in the zone. And then some Skrillex every once in a while, you know. Skrillerx.

Dr Ben 8:46

What kind of music do you think you'd listen to, Dr. Brinn, in the operating theater?

Brinn Daniels 8:50

Uh I think I would want something to kind of zone out to, like maybe some old fat boy slim or something. You know, just chill. I could get a groove going. Yeah. Groove rhythm.

Dr Jameil, Brinn Daniels, Dr Ben 9:00

Yeah, not be putting uh people to sleep, but getting a groove. That was your problem today, honestly. We we needed some music. We need some music. It just gets you in the zone. That's the circulating nurse's job. Yeah, where are they? Circulating nurse, and they play DJ. Yeah.

Brinn Daniels 9:13

Do they do they think that's what their job is?

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 9:15

Yes, they know. They know. They know. They're over there scratching vinyl in the corner at two turntables. That's right.

Brinn Daniels 9:21

And a microphone.

Dr Ben 9:22

Where it's at. But it's funny, sometimes uh they'll ask, like, what kind of music do I want to listen to? And I'll say classic rock. And sometimes it'll be like a Gen Zer, and they'll be like, oh, like uh Nickelback and Lincoln Park.

Brinn Daniels 9:35

That hurts.

Dr Ben 9:36

That hurts.

Brinn Daniels 9:36

That hurts.

Dr Jameil and Dr Ben 9:37

Classic rock. Like, well, dude, I would say the same thing. That's his idea of five. That's his idea of uh classic rock.

Brinn Daniels 9:45

Yeah.

Dr Ben 9:46

Well, you did great. Dr. Brynn.

Brinn Daniels 9:48

Thank you. Thank you. So I will not be you will not find me in the surgery room anytime soon. Oh man. You're welcome. You're welcome.

Subscribe And Listen Again!

Dr Ben 9:55

Well, if you love today's episode or recelebrate comics and surgeons, please hit that subscribe button. You can find the Dr. Ben and Friends Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Amazon, wherever you get your podcast. See you next time when Dr. Ben and the Med in comedy.