Wellness Unmasked: Understanding Brain Aneurysms: Dr. Paul Saphier on Risks, Symptoms, and Kim Kardashian’s Diagnosis

Summary

Podcast Summary: Wellness Unmasked – Understanding Brain Aneurysms with Dr. Paul Saphier

Episode: Wellness Unmasked: Understanding Brain Aneurysms: Dr. Paul Saphier on Risks, Symptoms, and Kim Kardashian’s Diagnosis
Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Dr. Nicole Saphier
Guest: Dr. Paul Saphier (Endovascular Neurosurgeon)
Theme: Brain aneurysms—risks, symptoms, treatment options, and the role of genetics, using Kim Kardashian’s recent diagnosis as a springboard for the discussion.

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Overview

This episode of Wellness Unmasked dives deep into the hot topic of brain aneurysms, sparked by Kim Kardashian's public revelation that she was incidentally found to have a small brain aneurysm during a routine wellness MRI. Dr. Nicole Saphier, radiologist and host, is joined by her husband, Dr. Paul Saphier, a board-certified endovascular neurosurgeon. Together, they untangle the realities of aneurysm diagnosis, risks, genetics, treatment, and the controversy around executive health scans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kim Kardashian’s Diagnosis: What Does “Incidental Aneurysm” Mean?

[04:20–06:55]

• Kim Kardashian underwent a wellness MRI and was found to have a “little brain aneurysm.”
• Incidental aneurysm refers to finding an aneurysm during imaging done for another reason—not because of symptoms.
• Dr. Paul Saphier: "Finding incidental brain aneurysms can sometimes be almost like opening up Pandora's box."

Analogy:

• Dr. Saphier compares aneurysm risk to airplane crashes: the absolute risk is low, but some factors increase the risk, so context matters.

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2. What Is a Brain Aneurysm?

[06:37–08:53]

• An aneurysm is a local weakening of a blood vessel wall, causing it to balloon out.

• Aneurysms can happen anywhere in the body, but location and characteristics in the brain matter for risk assessment.

• The most significant risk factor is the rate of growth of the aneurysm, not necessarily its size at discovery.

  “Typically, people aren't born with brain aneurysms. They form over time. There are certain risk factors ... but probably the most important thing is the rate of growth.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [07:26]

• When found incidentally and small, monitoring is usually advised rather than immediate treatment.

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3. Aneurysm Rupture: The True Danger

[09:30–11:11]

• The main concern with a brain aneurysm is rupture, leading to bleeding in the brain—a historically deadly event.

• Up to 70-80% mortality with ruptured aneurysms; most survivors have significant disabilities.

• About a third of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before reaching the hospital.

  “The risk of mortality is actually really high. I think overall it's probably as high as 70% in some instances. And of those people that survive ... the majority do not return to functional independence.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [09:48]

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4. Modern Treatment Options

[16:32–19:34]

• Two main categories:

  • Open surgery (clipping the aneurysm)
  • Endovascular treatment (minimally invasive, inserting devices via blood vessels)

• Clipping: Open the skull, place a titanium clip on aneurysm’s base, excluding it from blood flow.

• Endovascular: Access via wrist/groin vessels, guide catheters, and use coils, stents, or newer devices to block blood flow into the aneurysm.

  “The basic principle is ... we're trying to exclude the brain aneurysm from the normal circulation.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [18:43]

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5. Risk Factors: Kardashian’s "Divorce Stress" Claim

[19:34–21:37]

• Kim claimed her aneurysm came from “divorce stress” due to her tumultuous split from Kanye West.

• Dr. Nicole Saphier laughs this off: “Divorce brain aneurysm, well, that's a first for me.”

• Chronic high blood pressure can elevate aneurysm risk, but stress from divorce alone isn't a direct cause.

• Being female and having an autoimmune disease (both true for Kim) are independent risk factors.

• Family history, uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, and illicit drug use are key contributors.

  “If the divorce rate in the United States is approximately 50% ... we don’t see nearly that many aneurysms.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [20:07]

  “Being a woman has a higher risk of having brain aneurysm than men.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [20:42]

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6. Who Should Get Screened?

[21:37–25:56]

• Routine brain MRIs for the general public aren't recommended due to cost, low prevalence, and the risk of incidental findings leading to unnecessary interventions.

• Those who should consider screening:

  • Individuals with two or more immediate family members with brain aneurysm or unexplained sudden death (especially without autopsy)
  • People with certain genetic disorders (e.g., polycystic kidney disease)

• Screening in high-risk families can be life-saving, but most people don’t need it.

  “Knowledge is key. Find out and make the decision that's appropriate for you and your family.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [25:18]

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7. Imaging Limitations and Practical Tips

[30:36–31:51]

• Standard MRI or CT, often done for headaches or trauma, may not detect small aneurysms.

• Specialized imaging is needed for at-risk individuals. Consulting a specialist is essential.

  “Just because you've had a recent MRI or a CT scan of your head and they didn't mention an aneurysm, that doesn't mean you don't have it.” — Dr. Nicole Saphier [30:36]

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8. Implications for Kim Kardashian’s Family and General Advice

[31:51–33:10]

• Kim’s siblings and potentially children could consider screening if there's a family history or sudden unexplained deaths in relatives.

• Official recommendations call for screening only after two family members are diagnosed, but caution and deep family history inquiry may suggest earlier action.

  “Someone's got to be number two, right? ... If there's a concern ... assume that was a ruptured aneurysm, and now other people on that lineage should be screened.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [32:41]

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9. Reassurance and Empowerment

[33:25–34:50]

• Only 3-5% of people have a brain aneurysm, and only 1-2% of those rupture per year.

• Most listeners shouldn’t be scared, but those with a family history should be proactive.

  “You are the quarterback of your healthcare team. You know your body, you know your family better than anyone else and you're going to do what's right for you.” — Dr. Nicole Saphier [34:37]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Kim Kardashian blaming her brain aneurysm on divorce stress is probably the most Kardashian thing I’ve seen this year.” — Dr. Nicole Saphier [02:34]
• “Anything can happen to anyone. Any airplane, God forbid, could crash. But there are things that may or may not make an airplane crash more likely.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [05:21]
• “The majority of [aneurysm survivors] do not return to functional independence ... bathing yourself, clothing yourself ...” — Dr. Paul Saphier [10:14]
• “Just because you have an aneurysm doesn't mean you need surgery ... knowledge is power.” — Dr. Paul Saphier [25:08, 25:18]
• “You do kind of open up Pandora’s box sometimes [with full-body MRI scans].” — Dr. Paul Saphier [31:51]
• “At the end of the day, knowledge is power and you are the quarterback of your healthcare team.” — Dr. Nicole Saphier [34:37]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:20] – Start of primary discussion; what is an incidental aneurysm?
• [06:37] – Detailed explanation of aneurysms; risk factors and growth.
• [09:30] – Risks and mortality of ruptured aneurysms.
• [16:32] – Modern treatment methods explained.
• [19:34] – Kardashian’s “divorce stress” claim and real risk factors.
• [21:37] – Who needs brain aneurysm screening?
• [30:36] – MRI limitations and need for specialist imaging.
• [33:25] – Statistics, reassurance, and concluding thoughts.

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Key Takeaways

• Most people do not have brain aneurysms, and most aneurysms will never rupture.
• Family history is a crucial driver for screening, not celebrity-level stress or lifestyle.
• Knowledge and proactive health management—especially if you’re in a high-risk group—are essential, but broad, expensive “wellness” scans can be more harmful than helpful due to incidental, possibly meaningless, findings.
• For those found to have aneurysms, watchful waiting is often the right choice unless growth/risk justifies intervention.
• Your health decisions should be driven by personal and family history, not tabloid headlines.

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For anyone concerned by the Kardashian news cycle or curious about aneurysms, this episode offers grounded, evidence-based advice and practical guidance—with relatable humor and straightforward explanations.

Transcript

[Kal Penn]

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[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Welcome to Wellness unmasked. This is Dr. Nicole Safire, and we have to tackle something that hit the news media headlines this week. It is medical. But I guess when you're talking about the Kardashians, though, it feels like a little less medical. That's right. Kim Kardashian has announced that when she was undergoing brain MRI imaging that they found, in her words, a little brain aneurysm. And she said that they told her it was probably due to stress and she blames the divorce stress from her tumultuous divorce from Kanye West. Kim Kardashian blaming her brain aneurysm on divorce stress is probably the most Kardashian thing I've seen this year and maybe even the last several years. Truth be told, I've never actually seen an episode of the show. Obviously, it's wildly popular and all of these sisters and their momager Kris Jenner are wildly successful, so they're clearly doing something right. But it seems to be they're always surrounded by drama. And this brain aneurysm diagnosis, while it is dramatic and can be lethal, the way that it came about kind of made me chuckle in the sense that divorce brain aneurysm, well, that's a first for me. So I decided why not ask an expert? I happen to be married to one Dr. Paul Safire. He's an endovascular board certified neurosurgeon who specializes in. Yep, brain aneurysms, strokes. Here we go. Let's dive right in. And here he is, everyone. My husband, Dr. Paul Safire. As I mentioned, endovascular neurosurgeon who he specializes in brain tumors, vascular malformation, strokes, but also brain aneurysms. So, Paul, thank you so much for joining Wellness Unmasked.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Thank you for having me again.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

So here's the question. I told you about this headline because I know you're not up with the Kardashian drama, but. So what do you make of the fact that Kim Kardashian now has this incidental brain aneurysm? Tell us a little bit about it.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Well, in a way, finding incidental brain aneurysms can sometimes be almost like opening up Pandora's box. Right? Because clearly, from what I understand, she's had no symptoms. This is purely a screening type imaging scenario in which she underwent a wellness check. And they found this brain aneurysm. And sometimes it's hard to know exactly what's the right thing, you know, air quotes, right thing to do for aneurysm. Obviously, whatever gets us to having patients have a long, healthy life is the right answer. But when we refer to incidental aneurysms.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

You know, incidental means what?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Incidental, I'm sorry, means that it is incidentally discovered. It has not caused a problem, it's not causing any symptoms, but you found it one way or another. Either you come from a long line of family members that have a history of brain aneurysms or bleeding in the brain or things like that, or you have certain risk factors that maybe they screened you for, you know, for brain aneurysms. But incidental in the sense that it's not causing a problem. The question always becomes, well, can it potentially cause a problem? And anyone who's been a patient of mine that sat in my office and has talked to me about their incidental aneurysm has heard me use this analogy, which is anything can happen to anyone. Any airplane, God forbid, could crash. Right? But there are things that may or may not make an airplane crash more likely. Right? So, you know, thankfully, if you're leaving from a, you know, LAX or Newark airport in the middle of the day and it's a beautiful weather, and you're on a, you know, brand new airplane, the risk, you know, of airplane crash is incredibly low. Not zero, but incredibly low. Right. So there are certain characteristics of a brain aneurysm that may make it incredibly low risk of that androgen bleeding in someone's lifetime or higher. And if someone has an aneurysm that has certain characteristics, or they themselves have certain health characteristics that may make it like, more or less likely in their. In their lifetime for that aneurysm to bleed, then maybe we do correct that aneurysm ahead of time before it becomes a problem for that person.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

So I just want to give some background. An aneurysm, if you think of the blood vessels in the brain, right, they're kind of like, I mean, to basically put it like a canal system. You have blood flowing through them, and they're kind of like in these tubes, an aneurysm is like a focal area where that wall of the tube has weakened and it's kind of ballooning out, right?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's right. So an aneurysm is, is a weakening the wall of a blood vessel. It can occur anywhere in the body. It can happen in any blood vessel in the body. So when people say, oh, my, my grandmother had a, had an aneurysm, well, I may know what that means, but we don't really know exactly where that aneuryn is located. When we talk about a brain aneurysm, we're talking about, obviously, the blood vessels that are within the brain. Now, the interesting thing is that when we talk about brain aneurysms, we have to, you know, segregate which blood vessels within the brain, because, ironically, certain blood vessels may have a higher or lower likelihood of those of having an aneurysm, of those aneurysms bleeding. Meaning that you can have a brain aneurysm, a blood vessel that is within the. Within the segment of the brain that has an aneurysm, but the likelihood of that aneurysm rupturing may be so low, we choose never to treat it. And if it were on a slightly different blood vessel within the brain, that same aneurysm, we may say, oh, gosh, maybe we should treat it before. Before it causes the problem. But, yes, it is a weakening the wall of a blood vessel. Clearly, the size of that aneurysm, the bigger. The larger that aneurysm, the more likely it is for that aneurysm to rupture. Probably what's the most important risk factor of that aneurysm rupturing is actually the rate of growth. So, typically, people aren't born with brain aneurysm. They form over time. It can happen in just about anybody. There are certain risk factors which we can talk about in a moment, that may increase or decrease the likelihood of you having a brain aneurysm or. Or an aneurysm rupture. But probably the most important thing is the rate of growth. So when we find someone like Ms. Kardashian, who gets a scan, you know, whenever she just recently had it done, and to snapshot in time, we don't know what that aneurysm looked like six months ago, six years ago. So we don't really know the rate of growth of that aneurysm. Now, she probably has been recommended. If they're not recommending treatment for the aneurysm, my supposition is that they're recommending that she follow it with regular imaging. And so you're going to track.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Based on the fact that she said that it was very small, right?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Based upon that fact, I have no idea. I mean, I'm assuming she's seeking treatment out in Los Angeles. I'm assuming that's where she lives. And, you know, I know a lot of colleagues out there who are excellent, and I'm sure, they're giving her very solid medical advice in terms of how to. How to manage or monitor that aneurysm. But, yeah, if the aneurysm is small, incidental, and the risk calculated, and we have different kinds of algorithms that we can look at that give us a potential in terms of someone's lifetime, what that risk of rupturing is. If that risk is low over their lifetime, well, then treating that aneurysm with some type of surgical maneuver ahead of time may not be warranted.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Okay, so ultimately, when it comes to brain aneurysm, obviously the thing that we're most concerned about is it rupturing, because that is when there's bleeding in the brain. And historically, this had a very high fatality rate. Right. Like over 50% of people who had a ruptured brain aneurysm would die.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

So in. Well, back in the day, you know, before people were getting certainly screening MRIs so regularly or routinely, you know, back, they did, the only way that we really found patients that had brain injury were after they had ruptured. And, you know, the mortality rate for brain, animal ruptures and causes bleeding in the brain, the risk of mortality is actually really high. I think overall it's probably as high as 70% in some. Some instances. 70 to 80%. And really importantly, too, is of those people that survive, of the 20 to 30% overall that survive, the majority of those patients do not return to functional independence. And functional independence doesn't necessarily mean going back to driving and working it. We're talking about the daily activities that we all take for granted until they're taken away. Bathing yourself, clothing yourself, taking, you know, grooming, feeding yourself, that sort of thing. So you're talking about a really serious condition. And that's why we have a low threshold. As neurosurgeons, we have a very low threshold for treating, you know, what might seem as relatively small aneurysms, especially in someone who's younger and has many lives ahead of them, many years ahead of them in their lifetime. Well, aggregating that risk over time, that risk of aneurysm rupturing may be quite high. So you may choose to treat that person. But yes, overall, the risk of death and major disability from a ruptured brain and very, very high. In fact, upwards of a third of people that have a ruptured brain aneurysm don't even survive to make it to the hospital.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

You're listening to Wellness en Masse. We'll be right back with more.

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[Dr. Nicole Safire]

So I know that I know this from personal experience because you get called in the middle of the night or during dinner or wherever we may be or treating someone who's already had a ruptured brain aneurysm and you go in, you know, sometimes you do endovascularly where you're going in through the groin or the hand blood vessels to access the brain. But you're also going in sometimes removing the skull, cleaning out if it's already ruptured the blood. But you're saying I know this. But just for everyone listening, one of the key things when you've identified an aneurysm, if you've determined that it's at risk of rupture and this is based on many things. Like you said, the size, the rate of growth, if you decide to treat it, to try and prevent it from rupturing, what does that look like?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

So treatment has evolved in everything in medicine, but certainly in neurosurgery has evolved tremendously. And so in 2025, soon to be 2026, we have a lot of treatment options for brain aneurysms, but they fall into two main categories. Either conventional brain surgery, which, although that's the most most invasive and the most time consuming and complex, is the most relatively straightforward to understand.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

You know, conventional, that's the clipping you're talking about.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

So essentially what we do is we make an incision wherever in this, in the head, we open up that part of the skull, we gently dissect the different layers of the brain, identify the blood vessels and the aneurysm itself, and place a clip. And a clip. The analogy that I use, think of a small clothes pin. So a little, little, but it's made out of metal, made out of titanium, a little spring loaded pin that actually cinches down and it seals off. You place that, that cinch at the base of the aneurysm, at the, what we call the neck of the aneurysm, and that blocks blood flow into the aneurysm. So blood cannot flow into the aneurysm. If blood can't flow into the aneurysm, but still is flowing within the normal blood vessels, the aneurysm cannot rupture. Again, that's a very basic conceptual understanding of that endovascular treatment. On the other end of the spectrum, and there's many different.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Like this is something specialized that you did advanced training for actually at ucla, not all neurosurgeons, one can clip aneurysms, but even fewer can do endovascular treatment. Right?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's true. So there are very few neurosurgeons, relatively speaking, across the country who are dual trained, you know, doing both open vascular neurovascular surgery as well as doing endovascular surgery. And the analogy that I use is very similar to say, heart surgery. You have open heart surgeons that will crack open the chest and do open heart surgery and fix the heart that way. And then you also have interventional cardiologists who go through the blood vessels, usually in the arm or the leg with their tubes and catheters and fix the heart from the inside out. And we do something similar, albeit very different, for the brain and blood vessels within the brain. And I'm able capable of performing both those types of procedures. And so for endovascular therapy or endovascular surgery, for. For brain aneurysms, there's a couple different ways that we can treat them, a very couple different technologies that we can employ right now. But the basic principle is, again, we go through the artery. Usually. Oftentimes I'll go to the artery here in the wrist, the very thin but long tube, guide that all the way up the blood vessels in the neck. Using X ray, inject a little bit of dye contrast, see the blood vessels, and. And then go further up into the blood vessels in the brain. And then similar to the clipping in the sense, we're trying to exclude the brain aneurysm from the normal circulation. So we're trying to block off the blood flow into the aneurysm, but preserve blood flow within the main blood vessels. And again, there's different devices that we use. Some people have heard of coiling, some people have heard of stents. We have other types of devices that we can place within the aneurysm. It doesn't really matter so much as to how you accomplish it, as long as you do accomplish it and accomplish it safely.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

So, Paul, you know, Kim Kardashian, she said that it was the divorce stress that may have led to her aneurysm. I. I kind of rolled my eyes and chuckled at that a little bit. Yes, I understand that chronic high blood pressure, which in theory may come from, you know, high cortisol levels from chronic stress in your life may result in a brain aneurysm. But the truth of the matter is her divorce probably did not cause her aneurysm. The fact of the matter is she's a woman and, and she has an autoimmune disease. Aren't those two independent risk factors for brain aneurysms?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Well, I mean, I can tell you if the divorce rate in the United states is approximately 50%, you know, of married couples, I. We don't see nearly that many aneurysms. So I don't know that divorce in and of itself caused aneurysm. I would venture to say divorce in and of itself did not cause aneurysm. I think that, you know, one of my colleagues back in, back in la, he taught me this, you know, nice way of kind of breaking it down for patients. There's modifiable and non modifiable risk factors, things that we can control, modify, and things that we can't control. Non modifiable. And you're right, actually being A woman has a higher risk of having brain aneurysm than men. Being a woman has a higher risk of many medical complications specifically related to, unfortunately, short end of the stick. I apologize, but it is what it is. But being a woman, family history, Right. So I know nothing about her family history, but there are some patients I treat six of their family members, because we know that for certain family histories, certain genetic traits, there's a higher risk of having a brain aneurysm. Things like diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, you know, the sort of obvious things in the sense things that are bad for the heart are also bad for the brain. Certain substance abuse, cigarette smoking, huge risk factor, huge modifiable risk factor for. For. For aneurysm growth and aneurysm rupture. You know, certain illicit drug use, like methamphetamine, cocaine stimulus, like that. Those are the. Those are some of the modifiable risk factors. The unmodifiable age, gender, genetic predisposition, that sort of thing.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Obviously, from what I understand, I believe Kim Kardashian was undergoing one of those kind of executive wellness scans where they just scanned her entire body, which, for the. The general population, that's very expensive, and we don't all necessarily have Kardashian Jenner money. So for people out there who are listening to this and essentially saying to themselves, like, well, how do I know? Maybe I have a brain aneurysm, what do you recommend for people who should be getting screened and where should we, you know, the general population, what should we do in terms of brain aneurysms?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's. I mean, that's a great fundamental question. Yeah. I mean, I do so oftentimes ingest somewhat, say. Yeah. If anyone can get an MRI to look for brain aneurysm, why not? Because. Sure. I mean, if you can find it, and let's say, God forbid, let's say, you know, Kim Kardashian's aneurysm was a larger aneurysm, and she found it, and they treated it. And she didn't have any complications in the treatment? Well, yeah, she. She dodged a huge bullet there. Right. As do a lot of my other patients in such a scenario. But in general, we identify certain people that are higher risk for brain injury. So family history is a huge one. So. And unfortunately, a lot of families. We don't know everyone's family history. We don't. I don't know every member of my family's intimate family history, but also.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

But also with people with ruptured brain Aneurysm. Some people, they just say they died of old age or they died a sudden death. They didn't have a. They don't know that it was actually a brain aneurysm.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's right. Or stroke, people. Oh, grandma died from a stroke. What kind of stroke? I have no idea. Stroke is a very big general term, generalized term. It can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people myself.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

And if a brain aneurysm ruptures, that could be called. That could cause what's called a hemorrhagic stroke, right? Like, people may just call it a.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Stroke as a hemorrhagic stroke. And certainly, as you can imagine, based upon which generation, in which decade that person suffered that event. Who knows, right? Who knows what that was? So what I tell people is, you know, family members that are families that have two family members concern for either known brain aneurysms, a condition called polycystic kidney disease, which is, you know, a kidney disorder that carries a high rate of correlation with brain aneurysm. Or importantly, people that have had two family members that have a history of bleeding in the brain, brain aneurysms, or sudden death, or died in their sleep. Because there's only a couple things that'll cause sudden death. And those couple things are a massive heart attack, something called a pulmonary embolism, or a ruptured brain injury. So let's say when I see a patient who's got a known aneurysm, whether it's treatable or not, doesn't require treatment, but they also have a family history of, oh, my aunt died in her sleep, or my father went to work, collapsed suddenly, died at the age of 57, and that was it. And we never did an autopsy. We just assumed he had a heart attack. What I encourage those patients, families to say is, well, we know that patient X here in my office has an aneurysm. There is a family member that has sudden death, assume that was an aneurysm. Because now other people meet medical criteria for screening covered by insurance. The American Heart American Stroke Association's recommendations are that those patients should then be screened. And if they're screened and it's like a mammogram, if they're screened and it's normal, it doesn't mean they're not going to have an aneurysm today or in the future. It just means today they don't have it. So they need to have routine screening on a regular interval. But if they end up finding that they have an aneurysm. At least they have the option of potentially doing something before it causes a.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Major problem problem and doing something meaning you just watch it with imaging, see if it's growing. It depends. Just because you have an aneurysm doesn't mean you need surgery or you need an intervention.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

And I can't tell you the number of times I've heard of some of my patients family members say, yeah, I spoke to my brother and he knows we come from a high risk family but he doesn't want to get screened. Why not? Knowledge is powered. Get screened. At least for your sake, for your kids sake, for your other family members sake. Get screened, find out. That doesn't mean you have to commit to doing brain surgery. It doesn't mean that you may need brain surgery, but at least have that knowledge, have that power. Put yourself in, you know, in the driver's seat for your own well being. So that way you can make a conscientious decision that's appropriate for you. Not knowing may not be the best answer. You know, I think knowledge is key. Find out and, and make the decision that's appropriate for you and your family.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

I mean, I agree obviously, knowledge is power. More Coming up on Wellness unmasked with Dr. Nicole Safire.

[Ed Helms]

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[Kal Penn]

Hey everyone, Ed Helms here. And hi, I'm Kal Penn and we're the hosts of Irsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the I Heart Podcast. I choose me to discuss the new Audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen Classic Pride and Prejudice. This is not a trick question. There's no wrong answer. What role would I play?

[Ed Helms]

You know what? I can see you as Mr. Darcy. You got a little Colin Firth.

[Kal Penn]

Okay, that's really sweet. I appreciate that. But are you sure I'm not the dad? I'm not Mr. Bennett. Here, listen to Earsay the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ed Helms]

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[Kal Penn]

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[Dr. Nicole Safire]

We're gonna put my radiologist cap on real quick as we wrap this up. But people who are out there who may have gotten a brain MRI for something else, like a headache or a CT scan of their brain for a car accident, just so you know, these will not necessarily pick up brain aneurysms, especially if they're small. So just because you've had a recent MRI or a CT scan of your head and they didn't mention an aneurysm, that doesn't mean you don't have it. There's actually very specialized sequences and images that neurosurgeons will order to look at the vessels of the brain. That's why it's really important if you consider yourself at higher risk for these brain aneurysms, you talk to someone who specializes in them so they can get you to the right thing. And you know, again, I don't necessarily love these executive full body wellness MRI scans because, you know, we call them incidentalomas. You do find a lot of incidental things. Now some things like a brain aneurysm, that's worth noting because the risk with that is could be so detrimental that you absolutely wanna know if it's there. But oftentimes these whole body MRIs just lead to more tests, sometimes more invasive procedures and it doesn't necessarily help the outcome. I mean, that's just my, that's just my opinion on these breath or these whole body rise.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's the challenge. You do kind of open up Pandora's box sometimes. But in, in this particular case, in Kim Kardashian's case, hey, she now knows that she has a small aneurysm. She may not need to do anything but what I would tell her if I just met her, you know, out and about, which I find very light unlikely to happen. But if I happen to bump into her at the supermarket, I would say, oh yeah, you know, you should really delve into your family history. Ask your mom, ask, you know, find out if you did somebody die suddenly in their sleep did they have a massive heart attack? But no. But no autopsy was performed. Did someone have bleeding? Because now all of a sudden, her sister should probably be screened, depending upon which parent side of the family is on. You know, other family members should be.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

Screened as well based on the fact that just she has one. I mean, do you think her siblings and her children at a certain age should all be screened for brain aneurysms?

[Dr. Paul Safire]

That's hard to say. So the official recommendation from the American Heart American Stroke association is two family members. But I always tell people, someone's got to be number two, right? So, you know, it's hard to know. That's why I'm saying if there's a concern, if she's like, oh, yeah, I spoke to my mom, and maybe we'll see it on the Kardashians one night. If she's like, oh, mom, did you know what happened to grandma? Oh, Grandma just died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 70. But, you know, we don't know why. Maybe assume that was a ruptured aneurysm, and now other people on that lineage should. Should be screened.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

All right, well, that's good advice. Dr. Paul Safire, also my husband, thanks so much for joining Wellness Unmass. I'm so happy you came. This is an important conversation. I'm sure a lot of people appreciated the advice. Thanks so much for joining.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Thanks for having me.

[Dr. Nicole Safire]

I know talking about brain aneurysms can be scary, but the good news is most people walking around do not have brain aneurysms. In fact, only 3 to 5% of the population has a brain aneurysm. And of all of those brain aneurysms out there, only about 1 to 2% of those rupture every single year. So please don't walk away from this podcast being scared. But it's always good to have knowledge about risk. Like, if you're at high risk for breast cancer, you probably need more than mammograms looking for breast cancer. If you have a family history of brain aneurysms or questionable histories of sudden death, as you heard my husband say, you should consider being screened for brain aneurysms. Chances are you don't have them. Statistically speaking, you don't. But if you do have one, albeit if it's tiny, you'll just monitor it. If it's bigger, you want to make sure someone like an endovascular neurosurgeon, like my husband, intervenes before it ruptures, because rupturing is worst case. Scenario. And for the Kardashian Jenner clan, I mean, you heard it here on Wellness Unmass. It's possible that all the siblings and maybe even Kim Kardashian's kids should be screened for brain aneurysms in the future. You have to kind of dig deep into that family history and see at the end of the day, knowledge is power and you are the quarterback of your healthcare team. You know your body, you know your family better than anyone else and you're going to do what's right for you. Thanks so much for listening to Wellness on Mass. I'm Dr. Nicole Safire. Make sure you get your podcasts on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts and we will see you next time.

[Kal Penn]

Hey audiobook lovers. I'm Cal Penn. I'm Ed Helms. Ed and I are inviting you to join the Beginning best sounding book club you've ever heard with our new podcast, Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Each week we sit down with your favorite iHeart podcast hosts and some very.

[Dr. Paul Safire]

Special guests to discuss the latest and.

[Kal Penn]

Greatest audiobooks from audible. Listen to Earsay on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Earsay and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today. It's finally happened. Your kid could be part of the first generation to never suffer the rough touch of toilet paper on their tinder tush. All thanks to new flushable Little Dude Wipes available in bubble bum scent or fragrance free because we know little butts can make a big mess. But with Little Dude Wipes you can keep your kids keister clean without the burn and debris toilet paper can leave behind on their behinds. Experience the confident Clean of Little Dude Wipes available exclusively at Walmart nationwide.

[Ed Helms]

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[Kal Penn]

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