Cedars-Sinai Health Forecast: Summer Wellness Edition

Safer Summer Swims

The dog days of summer bring sweltering heat to sun-parched landscapes across the United States, and millions of Americans flock to beaches and swimming pools seeking relief. The water can be a healing balm, but it is best enjoyed with some critical safety protocols in mind.

“I treat preventable water-related injuries every summer, and many of them happen because adults become distracted, children overestimate their swimming ability or swimmers enter unsafe water conditions,” said Nathaniel Spencer, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Cedars-Sinai Marina Hospital. “Whether your family is swimming in a pool or in the ocean, a few simple precautions can save a person’s life.”

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Rule number one: Never leave children unattended, even for a moment. Drowning is often silent and can happen in less than a minute. If there are young swimmers at home, consider installing four-sided fencing with a self-closing, self-latching gate around your backyard pool to prevent accidental immersion in the water. For beach-bound swimmers, make sure there are lifeguards present, and follow all posted warning flags. Also, watch for rip currents—and if you’re caught in one, stay calm, swim parallel to the shore until you have gotten free, and then swim back to land.

Even if you plan to remain on dry ground, Spencer noted, you can play an important role in swimmer safety. “One of the big pieces of advice I give people is to learn CPR because immediate bystander CPR can significantly improve survival after a drowning event,” he said.

Educating About E-Bikes

When kids and teens out on school break are not cooling off in the water, they often can be found roaming the neighborhood while experiencing the freedom that comes from sitting astride their very own bicycles. Today, many of those bicycles come equipped with motors—and the rise of the electric bike, or e-bike, has brought with it a spike in serious injuries.

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“E-bikes have become increasingly popular, especially with school-aged individuals, and they are really popping up on our radar in emergency medicine,” said James Rhee, MD, another emergency medicine doctor at Marina Hospital. “We’re seeing more significant injuries than we do with regular bikes because of the speed some of these e-bikes can get to. The batteries make the bikes heavier, and so the crashes are more significant.”

A new study published in Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open shows that between 2018 and 2024, the number of collisions in California involving regular bicycles held steady, while the number involving e-bikes shot up dramatically. It also found that the highest number of e-bike injuries in the state were among young people 14 years old or younger. The study makes a case for urgent efforts aimed at targeted prevention, regulatory alignment and rider education.

Rhee’s e-bike recommendations include wearing helmets, monitoring speed—some e-bikes feature speedometers—and, crucially, selecting the right e-bike for the rider’s age and skill level.

“Many e-bikes are more like motorcycles, and some actually require licenses to operate,” Rhee said. “There are options appropriate to each age group, and parents should do the research to ensure their kids are finding the best fit.”

Tips for Travelers

With schools out of session and work in summer slowdown mode, many families are taking the opportunity to explore far-flung locales. If those destinations seem more crowded than usual, it might not be your imagination.

“International travel is up in general. I think there’s a post-pandemic demand driving people’s desire to get out and see the world,” said Jonathan Grein, MD, director of Hospital Epidemiology and infection control officer for Cedars-Sinai. “And while those kinds of trips are amazing, it’s vital for travelers to make sure they are current with their vaccines and aware of any Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance about where they are going.”

Consulting a travel medicine clinic, where expert physicians will have the most up-to-date information on local disease outbreaks, is an excellent way to prepare for a trip. So, too, is adhering to best practices for hand hygiene and food safety while abroad.

“I always tell patients to be diligent about what they’re putting in their mouth and how it’s being prepared when they are overseas,” Grein said. “A memorable rule of thumb is, ‘Boil it, peel it, cook it or forget it.’”

Check for Fleas, Please

Vacationers staying closer to home in Southern California this summer would do well to reduce their risk of exposure to fleas, which have caused a sharp spike in local cases of murine typhus. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recently reported a record number of flea-borne typhus cases, with 220 identified in 2025.

“The problem is at an all-time high, and most cases documented by the county required hospitalization,” Grein said. “People with pets, especially those that go outdoors, should make sure to use flea control. All of us should avoid contact with wild animals and take steps to reduce their presence in our backyards. And anyone who develops symptoms of typhus—which include fever, muscle aches and headaches—should consult a doctor.”

More Sweat, Less Stress

By August, vacations may be in the rearview mirror as school season looms—and with it, a return to life as usual. Getting back into the groove can be stressful, and our physical and emotional health can take a hit as a result.

“My patients get so excited about summer and set all these fitness goals, but it’s just as important to carry the satisfaction of preparing for and enjoying summer into the rest of the year,” said Akhila Narla, MD, an internal medicine doctor with Cedars-Sinai Primary Care in Beverly Hills. “As our schedules become more structured in the fall and we spend more time indoors while respiratory illnesses begin circulating, I encourage patients to focus on the basics: getting enough sleep, managing stress and staying physically active. Exercise is a chance to put on your own oxygen mask first and let your body do what it was designed to do: move.”

The cycle goes something like this: Being sedentary at work or school means we are less likely to sleep deeply because we are not as tired at the end of the day. This can leave us feeling exhausted in the morning, with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can contribute to a compromised immune system.

“Regular exercise helps our bodies respond to stress more effectively over time by reducing prolonged cortisol elevations associated with chronic stress. It also improves insulin sensitivity and supports a healthy metabolic balance. There isn’t one right type of exercise for everyone, but all humans need exercise and benefit from its endorphins. I think the best exercise is the one you genuinely enjoy and can do consistently,” Narla said.

Narla urges patients to get a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise each week at a moderate intensity, meaning elevated heart rates and breaking a sweat. She recommends a balance of cardiovascular fitness activities to improve heart health and resistance-based exercises for building muscle and increasing bone strength.

“The weights can be small, such as dumbbells you have at home for full-body compounded movements or maybe a pull-up bar hanging in your doorway if you have the shoulder mobility,” she said. “What you’re looking for is progressive muscle overload embedded in your routine. Once an exercise starts to feel easy, it’s time to surprise your muscles with a new challenge, whether that’s a little more weight, a few more repetitions or a different movement.”

Spot the Signs

For students returning to school, those workouts often take the form of competitive sports. Youth athletics can be fun and exciting, but they also require vigilance from parents and players alike.

“When young people sustain head injuries in sports, they’re at risk of developing symptoms of concussion. Noticing the signs is the first step so they can be properly evaluated,” said Sam Torbati, MD, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Cedars-Sinai and the Levin/Gordon Chair in Emergency Medicine in honor of Joel M. Geiderman, MD. “If your child has headaches, dizziness, nausea or difficulty with focus or concentration after a head injury, you should seek medical attention.”

A hard blow to the head can result in breakage of blood vessels inside the brain, which can lead to internal bleeding. Traditionally, doctors have suggested keeping head trauma patients awake for between four and eight hours after initial injury to rule out any concerns, although current imaging technology has made that less necessary.

“Our excellent imaging technology means we can definitively confirm whether someone has a concussion very quickly and then take necessary steps to address the problem,” Torbati said.

Once a diagnosis has been made, athletes and their parents can work with schools to ensure a safe and appropriate resumption of regular activities.

“Schools have protocols in place for students of different ages governing how quickly they can get back to what they were doing previously,” Torbati said. “The more severe the concussion, the slower the return.”

Back to Basics

Rigorous exercise is just one part of a comprehensive wellness regimen that should carry over into fall and every season year-round, said Christopher Fitzgerald, MD, an internist at Cedars-Sinai. Regularly monitoring key health indicators is also critical.

“It’s not always necessary to spend thousands of dollars on labs to screen your heart. Just a simple blood pressure check gives your doctor so much essential information,” Fitzgerald said. “I often have patients wave off a high blood pressure in the office by saying, ‘Oh, I have white coat syndrome,’ meaning the stress of coming to the doctor is spiking the result. But if it’s high at the doctor, imagine how much higher it could be when you’re dealing with the stresses of work, raising kids and caring for older parents. If there’s one thing I want patients to take away from our visits, it’s not to discount their blood pressure reading!”

For the general population, Fitzgerald said, blood pressure should be less than 130/80, although an optimal reading is less than 120/80.

“Some people can ride higher than that, but really, the lower the better,” he said.

Another easy-to-obtain measurement that deserves close attention: cholesterol. This year, the American College of Cardiology released a recommendation that every patient should be checked for lipoprotein(a), a genetic, cholesterol-carrying particle in the blood.

“It’s a nonmodifiable risk factor. You either have it or you don’t, and if you do, it increases long-term cardiac risk by maybe 40%-50%,” Fitzgerald said. “Knowing if you have it is important because you can then work extra hard to target modifiable risk factors such as weight, diet and blood pressure to bring your overall risk down.”