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(0:00) Introduction to Health Decoded and PCOS (2:30) Understanding PCOS: Symptoms and Insulin Connection (6:31) Diagnosing PCOS: Recommended Tests (8:30) Managing PCOS: Key Strategies (10:06) Final Thoughts on PCOS Management (11:36) Closing Remarks and Contact Information00:00:00
PCOS isn't just a fertility condition.
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It is very much a metabolic and hormonal one.
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And when we address it at the root, healing is absolutely possible.
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Welcome to Health Decode, your number one source for real health information with your
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host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
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Hey, Health Decoded listeners.
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Doctor Alessi here.
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Let me ask you a serious question.
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Are you tired of waiting until something goes wrong to finally see a doctor?
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At Alessi Functional Health, we take a different approach, the right approach.
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We believe true health care isn't about chasing symptoms.
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It's about preventing them in the first place.
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That's why we created the Alessi Total Care Program.
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This is a functional medicine based membership that gives you proactive, personalized care
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year round.
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You'll get access to comprehensive blood work and functional testing, custom doctor grade
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nutraceuticals, deep discounts on labs, protocols, and follow ups, as well as twenty
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four seven direct access to your doctor, not just a ten minute checkup that ends with
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another prescription.
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And here's the best part.
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As a Health Decoded listener, you'll get your first three months completely free when you
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This is your chance to take responsibility for your health and join a movement that's
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redefining what primary care should look like.
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Head on over to alesseefunctionalhealth.com, click on our services tab, and go to Total
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Learn more about this program and claim your exclusive podcast listener offer.
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Your health is your greatest asset.
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Let's protect it proactively.
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Welcome back to another episode of Health Decoded.
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I am your host, Doctor.
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Alessi.
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And today we have a really fun and a really cool episode.
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I received a DM on Instagram from a listener of the show that had a very specific question
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regarding some of the things we've talked about on other episodes and how they work together.
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And that's awesome because that's the whole concept of functional medicine is how our body
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systems all play in together and create the whole being of who we are as people, right?
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And so, this is gonna be a little bit shorter, a little bit quicker, and a little bit
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different than our standard episodes where we go through specific topics.
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This one's gonna be focused on this question I received.
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But essentially, this person reached out to me on Instagram and said, Hi, I'm curious in
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learning more about PCOS, which is polycystic ovary syndrome or ovarian syndrome.
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And more specifically, more she was interested in learning more about the insulin resistance
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component to that.
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And so, basically, I came up with kind of a little bit of a script here where I want to go
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through some things, discuss what PCOS is, obviously discuss what is the connection with
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insulin answering your question.
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And then how do we test for this, what things we should look at, and then what we can do
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about it, right and maintain health.
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And so I'm going to kind of start going through this.
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And, you know, if this is something that you've dealt with, or you know someone deals with,
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please share this with them.
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Let them kind of engage with this and see if this is something that rings for them.
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And then what they need to do to obviously, know, work on getting towards a state of
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balance in a state of health.
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So, let's start with this and thank you again for this question.
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I'm not going to name this person because just for the concept of anonymity here, but thank
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you again for sending this in and we would like to do more of these.
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So, if you do have questions, if you do have concerns or things that you'd like to hear
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answered on the show, please send them in.
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And so, let's talk about PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.
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So, despite the name, you don't need ovarian cysts to have this.
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It's really a hormonal and metabolic condition and most commonly what it's going to present as
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are things like irregular or absent periods, excess androgens like testosterone in females
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which can lead to acne, hair growth or hair loss.
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It's going to lead to things like ovulation issues, which can make fertility more
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difficult.
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And yes, you can get the stubborn cysts on the ovaries, but they are a symptom, not the root
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cause.
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And so, the underlying root for many women really is the insulin resistance component.
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Now, let's get into this insulin connection and ultimately what that means.
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So, as we've discussed in a few episodes previously, more recently actually, insulin is
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your blood sugar storage hormone.
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Think of it like the key that unlocks the cells to be able to take in fuel.
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But when you become resistant to insulin, which is very common, your body keeps pumping out
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more and more and more.
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Now, this happens because when we have elevated blood sugar for too long, or consuming meals
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too often, we have a bit of metabolic dysfunction, insulin is going to be secreted
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more often, and higher dosages, over time the body becomes resistant to this.
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So, high insulin does a few dangerous things in women with PCOS.
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First thing, it's going to stimulate the ovaries to make more androgens like
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testosterone.
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It can disrupt ovulation which can lead to irregular or even absent periods.
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It's going to promote fat storage, especially around the abdomen and the belly area.
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And it can fuel the metabolic storm that makes PCOS so tough to manage.
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And that a lot of conventional doctors are not going to know because they just focus on the
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medication side of things and focusing on the symptoms, not on again, the entire person as a
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whole.
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They don't even think to look towards this insulin connection.
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This is why so many women with PCOS are told to just lose weight, which is very frustrating and
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very unhelpful actually, because we have to treat the insulin resistance first if we want
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to reverse those symptoms.
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So, the good news is that you can do this and through food, movement, supplements, sleep,
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we've actually helped women to transform their PCOS outcomes naturally.
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Now, the way we approach this, right?
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We always want to talk about testing because if you're not testing, you're guessing.
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And most doctors are not looking at the full picture, they're looking at a snapshot.
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So, here's what I recommend you test if you suspect PCOS or if you want to track your
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progress with this condition.
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First things first, a full hormone panel.
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We have to see total and free testosterone.
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DHEA, which is an adrenal androgen.
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We want to see LH and FSH, this is luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone.
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If you have a high LH to FSH ratio, that's very common with PCOS.
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We also want to check progesterone, and you want to check this mid luteal phase which is
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about day twenty one of your cycle.
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We also want to make sure we look at estradiol and sex hormone binding globulin, which is
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often low in PCOS.
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Now the next thing, right, we talked about how important it is the insulin component, we want
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to check a metabolic panel, but not just glucose, right?
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Most docs are just going look at your glucose and say okay, it's alright.
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We want to check fasting insulin.
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This one is huge, often skipped and probably the most important.
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Then we want to check fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1C, which is that three month blood
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sugar average, and a lipid panel.
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We want to look at cholesterol and triglycerides as well.
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And then, we want to look at a thyroid panel.
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I want to see a full thyroid panel because these hormones play in tandem.
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So, I want to see TSH, free T3 and free T4.
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We want to see that reverse T3 and then we want to see antibodies, TPO and TG antibodies to
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rule out if there is Hashimoto's, which is often found in connection with PCOS.
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Some other helpful markers that we usually just have is ferritin, which is testing for the
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body's storage of iron, vitamin D, magnesium, and HSCRP, which is high sensitivity C reactive
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protein, which is a inflammatory marker that is often elevated in PCOS.
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So, if you're working with a good functional medicine provider, like this person was that
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sent me this message, these things should already be on their radar.
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If not, advocate for yourself because you need the full picture.
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And so, this is where you become your doctor and you can guide the process and ask for
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things.
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So, if you're listening to this, if you've been diagnosed with PCOS, if you suspect you may
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have it, here are a few key strategies that you need to talk to your doctor about or start
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implementing.
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Number one, prioritizing blood sugar stability.
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Protein with every meal, 20 to 30 grams minimum.
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Cutting out entirely refined carbs and sugar, any processed food.
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And then consider some time restricted eating or fasting if your body can tolerate it, if
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you're not in a high stress environment.
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Movement is key.
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Walking daily, 10 steps a day.
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And then adding in strength training, because building muscle will improve your sensitivity
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to insulin.
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Muscle is the most metabolic insulin sensitive organ that we have, and it can dramatically
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lower insulin resistance.
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The next thing is supporting your cycle.
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There's some really great hormones that can help with this.
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Magnesium is one.
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Myo inositol, this is a fantastic one.
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Also helps with balancing the thyroid with Hashimoto's.
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N acetylcysteine and omega-3s, these can all help.
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But if you don't know where to start or how much to take, be sure to work with a provider,
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functional medicine doctor or someone who's qualified.
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And then again, making sure you're running those right labs.
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You want to check labs every three months when you're working with hormonal conditions because
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so much can change in a short period of time.
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That's the fasting insulin, the hormones, and then obviously the full metabolic picture.
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And so, the takeaway here really is, you know, PCOS isn't just a fertility condition, it is
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very much a metabolic and hormonal one.
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And when we address it at the root, healing is absolutely possible.
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So, I want to thank you for sending in this question.
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Really glad I could go come on here and do this for you.
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I hope this gave a little bit more clarity and encouragement to allow you to kind of take
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action.
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And you know, I want to let you know you're on the right path.
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I'm cheering for you.
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I think you're doing a lot of really good things.
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And now how do we just take this a step further?
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So if you're listening and you want to submit a question for a future episode, you can DM me on
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Instagram.
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You can it's doctoralphredalesi.
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You can go reply to our newsletter or you can send an email to askalessifxhealth dot com.
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I'm doctor Lesse.
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I will see you next time.
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