Right Doctor for
You/Your Checkups

How do you choose your medical team? Is it because the medical professional is in your insurance company's network? Do you ask for a referral from a trusted friend or health care professional? Do research to read reviews online? In today's healthcare world, there are many ways to do some preliminary work to choose your medical team and we encourage you to do all of the above. However, finding the right physician you will feel comfortable with and be able to talk openly and honestly about your health issues is important and should top the list! You should feel comfortable that your medical team is making the right decisions for you! Because no two people are the same and live the same lifestyle. Without your medical team knowing your full medical history, important lifestyle choices, it's difficult to make treatment plans for your health.

The more open you are with your health, the better your health care team can ensure you are getting the right check-ups. Men, we know you aren't always the best at scheduling annual exams and preventative services. Monitoring your blood pressure and performing self-exams to check in with your body will also help keep tabs on any abnormalities. Trust your gut, if you think something is wrong, don't ignore your intuition! Together, you and your medical team can find diseases early, when they are most treatable!

Adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep each day. Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and depression. Before you go to bed, your body has to wind down properly. We have an overabundance of brightly lit devices and entertainment at our fingertips! Blue wavelength light from LED-based devices (phones, tables, computers) increase the release of cortisol in the brain, which makes us more alert and inhibits the production of melatonin (needed to fall asleep). Without finger pointing, breaking a habit of checking your emails before bed, answering a quick text message or scrolling on Facebook to "wind down" after a long day are habits most of us have these days. While many mobile devices & computers now offer built-in blue light filtering settings, it's still important to "unplug" from the day to de-stress and let the body relax. We know you can do it!

A proper diet and weekly exercise can go a long way to keep you healthy. Not like we all haven't heard this advice for staying healthy before! Our tip, to pick a activity that you enjoy to stay motivated. This can be in conjunction with something or someone you love, like your spouse or kids. Many times, we hear "my dog saved my life" in reference to talking or hiking with your pet! This can serve as an accountability partner AND spend time doing an activity with someone you love, Now does that really sound like exercise!

For specifics tips for men's nutrition, we couldn't have said it better, so we didn't! Read tips from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Understanding your genetic factors for diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and auto immune disease can help you know what symptoms to watch for. Even though you cannot change your genetic makeup, knowing your family history can help you reduce your risk of developing health problems.

The key characteristics of a family history that may increase risk are:

• Diseases that occur at an earlier age than expected (10 to 20 years before most people get the disease)
• Disease in more than one close relative
• When a relative is diagnosed with a disease that does not usually affect a certain gender (for example, breast cancer in a male)
• Certain combinations of diseases within a family (for example, breast and ovarian cancer, or heart disease and diabetes)

 

Blog post written by Lisa Leathers.