'prevention' posts

When people think of the Pacific Northwest, they often think of rain. Especially during non-summer months, water never seems to be in short supply in our region. So it seems strange that many of us aren’t getting as much water as our bodies need.

Every cell and tissue in your body needs water to survive and without it, you could be left high and dry. Thirst is the first sign that your body is dehydrated which means we should be drinking water even before we think we need it.

What are other signs of dehydration?

Many of us would choose not to go back to school. We’re finished with the exams, the studying and the lectures. But does that mean we don’t have anything more to learn? Unlikely. In fact, most of us could afford to get schooled some more…on health. Do you know the latest recommendations for lung cancer screening? Do you know how to cook heart healthy meals? What about the right way to do CPR, do you know it? Even as a health educator, I find myself at a loss with many of these questions. As students head into midterms and finals, maybe we should all hit the (health) books, too!

Of course, if you’ve been out of school for a while, it may seem hard to jump back in or even know where to jump back in. Where should you start? Consider your local health facility. When it comes to health, the hospital or your local health facility is more than just a place to go when you get sick. Hospitals are also the place to go to avoid getting sick. Learning about health is one of the best ways to do this and many hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities have health classes that can exercise your brain (and even your body, too!) Instead of paying a copay to ask a health care provider some basic questions, why not try a health class? Many are free or low cost and can offer opportunities to ask questions and get much needed answers to health questions.

Talk with your doctor, your neighbors or your friends to get ...

No, that’s not a typo. Flu season is upon us. As summer vacations end, kids go back to school and work picks up again, things can get a little cuckoo. The added stress tied with more contact with people as we head indoors to escape the cooling weather mean that we are more likely to get sick.

Germs like the flu love two things: weaker immune systems (thanks, stress!) and people in close contact with each other.  Schools and offices (two of the most cuckoo places this time of year) are ideal breeding grounds for the flu, which still kills tens of thousands of people every year. The bright side of this is that the flu is preventable!

Here are the top four ways to keep from getting sick this season:

The days are getting shorter, the jackets are coming out and a rainbow of leaves covers the ground. It is fall and even though it might be a bit rainier, it is still gorgeous here in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, as the temperature drops, for many of us, so does our motivation to exercise. But don’t let the shorter daylight hours and cooler weather keep you from giving your body what it needs.

In the United States and in many countries around the world, we rely heavily on our cars to get around, especially when they promise the comfort of heat on cold days and shelter when it rains. This often means we have to deal with more traffic, too. So why not take time this season to rediscover the power of your own two (booted) feet, and avoid the traffic?

Neighborhoods in cities around the country have a “walk score” that rates how easy it is to walk to places like grocery stores, banks and schools. The higher the walk score, the easier and safer it is to get places on foot. The easier and safer it is to get places, the more people walk! The more people walk, the healthier they are.

In fact, people who live in areas with higher walk scores ...

Self breast exams: to do or not to do?

Remember when there were monthly emails you could sign up for to remind you and your friends to do your self breast exams at home? Remember seeing the news anchors talking about their monthly self breast exams in an attempt to remind you to do your breast “due diligence?” What happened to self breast exams and are they still important?

Initially, self breast exams were recommended as a screening tool to help early detection of breast cancer. Unfortunately long-term studies have not confirmed that they actually live up to their hype. Two large studies looking at over 200,000 women in both Russia and China didn’t show any difference in breast cancer mortality after 15 years between the women who were performing routine self exams and those who were not. In fact, the women that were practicing self exams found more lumps and underwent more biopsies for benign reasons. Reviews of several other studies failed to show a benefit of regular breast self-examinations including no benefit of early diagnosis, or reductions in deaths or stage at diagnosis. Hence in 2009, the US Preventative Services Task Force advised that clinicians no longer recommend routine self breast examination as a screening tool for breast cancer detection.

Even though you don’t need to be doing a monthly self exam, you should...

This post is reposted with permission from Spike O’Neill – see his original post here.

Some of you may have heard of my recent health scare. For those of you who heard and sent along your well wishes, I thank you. For anyone who hasn't, please allow me to share a scary story of ignorance and arrogance that almost cost me big time.

About a month ago, I was carrying my 8 year old daughter on my shoulders. We were leaving a family outing and she was griping about being tired. I didn't have to carry her very far, but when I put her down I noticed a weird ache in my jaw and in both arms, as well as a dull thick ache and a kind of puffiness in my hands. It went away pretty quickly and I blew it off as a pinched nerve or something. But when I felt the same thing a week later after lifting a few boxes in my garage I was a bit more concerned.

I tried again to dismiss the incident, but I have to give it up for my family, who INSISTED that I go see my family doctor just to be sure. I saw my Doc, who had just given me a complete physical a couple months ago, He checked me over, gave me an EKG and suggested a stress test just to be sure. I figured what the hell? Better to be safe than sorry right?

I had no idea how good that advice really was.

I took my stress test 4 days later at Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill facility. A stress test is just you on a treadmill, wired to a bunch of stuff that measures heart function, pulse and blood pressure. Well, the normal EKG they gave me before the test started went completely sideways a few minutes later when they fired up the speed and incline of the treadmill. That's when they brought in Dr. Peter Demopulos, cardiologist.

Dr. Demopulos said that...

Men, what’s your excuse for not going to the doctor?

Everyone has them and they’re about as unique as our fingerprints. But put your finger on this: studies from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show that American men have worse health than American women and they are less likely to go to the doctor. Help change these stats, stat!

We’ve all heard this advice: eat more veggies, watch your weight, exercise more—the list goes on. But going to the doctor is more than just a chance to be reminded of this advice. It’s a time to get your body tuned just like you would your car. But what screening tests should you have?

Check out this easy chart to find out: