How often do you see your general practitioner (MD)?
The Best Doctor says:
Think of your family doctor as the quarterback of the team, says Dr. Elliot B. Davidson, director of the Akron General Center for Family Medicine. "We're specialists in things that are common, and most things are common." That's why he encourages people to schedule wellness checks with their primary care physician at least once a year. "A primary care doctor is an expert in prevention," he explains. "Maybe [the patient has] a minor problem that they don't think is a big deal, but it might be. There may be some things that the physician can suggest to them." Skin checks, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements, the aches and pains that come along with our 40s: These are all reasons to see your doctor. "If you go see the family doctor, we can decide together to have you see a specialist."
How often do you check your blood pressure?
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Once you're on blood pressure medication, it can be for life. That's why Dr. Daniel Simon, University Hospitals' chief of cardiovascular medicine, urges his patients to address their blood pressure issues. "High blood pressure itself does not cause symptoms," he says. "You feel great, but the risk is heart attack and stroke five to 10 years down the line." For those with normal blood pressure, an annual check is fine as long as they keep in mind that blood pressure rises every year. Simon says checking your numbers is as easy as going to Walgreen's or CVS and using the free machine while there. If it's a little high, get to the gym, and stop with the cookies. "Weight loss, really as little as 10 pounds, is associated with significant reductions in blood pressure," Simon says.
How would you describe your overall physical health?
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"Although my patients, in general, think they're in good shape, most of them are not as well as they think they are," says
Dr. Kathryn Teng, director for the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Personalized Healthcare. Teng's goal is to open the lines of communication between doctors and patients so that patients can be more empowered and knowledgeable about their own health. Doctors such as Teng are taking a more holistic and preventive approach to working with patients. "We are not here to judge them; we are here to partner with them." That means encouraging patients to come in for annual checkups. "We can help them measure some aspects of their health that they might not be aware of."
How many hours of sleep do you usually get a night?
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"People think that they can operate on six hours of sleep," says University Hospitals medical director of adult sleep services, Dr. Reena Mehra. "They say, 'Hey, I'm doing fine; I'm doing my work.' " Her message to all the braggarts out there who tout sleep emancipation as the key to their success? Enjoy it while it lasts. "A lot of times, the perception of sleepiness is not completely accurate," she explains. Tests done on patients shows that our reaction times are compromised even if we don't realize it. Additional data shows sleep deprivation contributes to obesity and cardiovascular disease. "[There's an] increased mortality that's associated with chronically not getting seven to eight hours of sleep," Mehra says. Naps and weekend sleep-a-thons can help, but nothing replaces a solid night's zzz's.
How would you describe your average stress level?
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When it comes to stress, says Dr. John A. Kasper Jr., the director of geriatric psychiatry for Summa Health Systems, everything is connected. "Sleep and diet affect the physiology, how the body is working," he explains, "and the body needs to be working as well as it possibly can to make sure that the mind is." So if you're not taking care of yourself, he says, it can lead to stress, "or limit your ability to manage the stress that you have." He encourages his patients to try natural methods of stress relief, such as exercising, getting more sleep and eating better. But he also notes that cognitive behavioral therapy can help. It's structured, he says, to "rethink, [to] move from more negative assessments to more positive assessments" of our own outlook.
How often do you exercise for at least 20 minutes or more?
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"I've been in cardiology for 25, 30 years," says Dr. Benico Barzilai, the section head of clinical cardiology for the Cleveland Clinic. "The thing that overwhelms me time and time again is that the people that tend to live longest have a passion for exercising every day." Thirty minutes of moderate exercise five days a week is the new standard according to the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. "You can actually do it in 10-minute increments," Barzilai explains. "Walk for 10 minutes during lunch, maybe 10 minutes later." Every extra minute is good for your body, says Barzilai. "If you look at simple parameters, how long people go on a treadmill, people that go a few minutes just don't live as long as people that go 12 minutes."
How often do you wear sunscreen?
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"I'm a person who rarely wears sunscreen," says Dr. Bryan Davis, the residency training director for MetroHealth's department of dermatology. But don't take that to mean he's encouraging the sun worshipers out there. "The problem with sunscreens is that they allow you to stay out in the sun without getting sunburned," he explains. "The ultraviolet lights, with the longer UVA wavelengths, will still penetrate." UVA, he says, is a possible trigger for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. "If you got a sunburn, you really blew it," he says. If you're using sunscreen on a daily basis, keep doing it. But consider popping a Vitamin D supplement to make up for the lack of a natural supply that is blocked by sunscreen. Davis recommends tightly-woven clothing as the ultimate in sun protection. "Clothes work, and as long as you keep them on, they still work," he says. "Sunscreens, they wash off and they sweat off."
How many different kinds of medication do you take daily?
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Dr. Ronald Jones, associate director of internal medicine for Summa Health System, has modified his approach to medication during his 30 years on the job. "When you're early in practice," he says, "you're initially enamored of every new medicine that comes out." These days, he'd rather see a patient make a healthy lifestyle choice than prescribe them a pill. "If my patient has been thinking about quitting smoking and starting exercise, those two interventions would be far beyond anything that we could possibly achieve together by starting him on a fairly innocent medicine that in one patient could have really unexpected side effects," he says. Many people over the age of 65 are taking 10 or more medications, he notes. "You're probably already having an interaction with at least two of those medicines." Anytime you're prescribed something new, ask your doctor to double-check the medication against everything else you're taking: prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs and even vitamins.
Do you eat the recommended daily servings of each?
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Some things never change. "The old adage 'you are what you eat' really is true," says Dr. Christine Alexander, interim chairman of family medicine at MetroHealth. If you're consuming hydrogenated anything, it is literally becoming a part of you. "Those heavily saturated fats are difficult for our body to process and turn into usable fuel," she explains. "So what our body does is it turns it into plaque, which then gets deposited on the blood vessel walls." That buildup causes strokes and heart attacks. Alexander advocates small changes above all else. "Pick something achievable," she says, like switching from a sugary cereal to a whole grain cereal. "Give yourself enough time to feel really good about that, and congratulate yourself, and then move on to the next thing."
How many hours do you typically work in a week?
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Turns out, that old work hard, play hard philosophy may not be the best solution when it comes to a sustainable, healthy life. "Overwork affects people in the sense that their life does get out of balance," says Dr. Margaret Kotz, director of addiction recovery services for University Hospitals. "Rather than having restorative time for play, relationships and physical exercise, oftentimes [we] turn to more maladaptive ones, like excessive drinking or compulsive eating." In other words, the harder we work, the less time we have to focus on ourselves. So it's vital, says Kotz, to create and then rely on a support system. If your work life starts to feel overwhelming, "try to increase your awareness of talking to the people around you as to, what are [my] choices," she says.
