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Staying Healthy
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So with the threads about blood clots and AndyPant's cardiac scare, I thought it might be a good idea as a Primary Care Doc to lay out the importance of EVERYONE getting checked out.

First you should be able to tell your PCP ANYTHING - I mean all the dirty little secrets that could affect your health - from sex partners, to sexual predilections, to eating habits, purging, drugs...
Second - know your family history - find out about parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles - particularly with regards to blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer, endocrine problems.
Third - screening tests everyone should have: pap smear (every 1-3 years), fasting cholesterol (every 5 years if normal more often if not), thyroid screen, iron levels, blood count and if never done as an adult the rest of the metabolic panel (liver, kidney function, electrolytes, glucose) - these are tests WITHOUT symptoms. and if over 50 (or over 40) a mammogram.

IF you are having symptoms GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!! We really don't mind! I would rather be able to reassure someone that everything is ok than meet them in the Emergency Room....

Share every supplement, over the counter med and meds prescribed by other doctors - we need to know it ALL. Some supplements DO interact and cause symptoms. If your doctor does not know then FIND ONE WHO DOES!!!

Athletes die suddenly too and being athletic does not fully protect your from hereditary conditions - it might delay their onset, or make them milder but knowledge is power....the more you know the more that can be prevented.

happy training everyone

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cat
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Great advice, cat. Thanks for the reminder.
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Man I wish all doctor's were as awesome as you. Around here I feel like I'm just getting kicked out the door as soon as possible. I even got told once that all the things I wanted to see my GP for couldn't be covered in one appointment and I would have to schedule a second appointment later on. Sometimes universal healthcare sucks!


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I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the reminders! I'm so bad about going to the doctor for regular things, but I guess if nothing else comes from those appointments the data collected might show trends or can be used as a baseline in the future if something is wrong.
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks especially for the screening list. I haven't gotten any blood work done in at least 10 years (I'm 32). My doctor has never mentioned it. I will take this list to my annual exam next month.
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Re: Staying Healthy [GhiaGirl] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Thanks for the reminders! I'm so bad about going to the doctor for regular things, but I guess if nothing else comes from those appointments the data collected might show trends or can be used as a baseline in the future if something is wrong.
I know I ABSOLUTELY prefer to meet my patients when they are healthy so I have a basis of comparison! and yeah you want your doc to get to know you - the better your doc knows you the more they can tell when something is not right....

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cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Agreed! Awesome post, great reminders.

I just went last week to get my hearing checked for the first time since 1st grade. (I'm 31.) A friend told me I never heard anything! Anyway, turns out I have above average hearing, but I don't hear high frequencies in my right ear nearly as well as in my left ear.

ANYWAY, even a year ago, I would have blown off friends' concerns (or jokes) that I have selective hearing. But now that I have the means to see doctors when I should (rather than when I have to), I've gotten a lot better about having these little things checked. It's really pretty nice to hear, "You're fine. Scarily healthy."

But thanks for the reminder, Cat. I've been meaning to get my eyes checked ... and now I will!
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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Too true. I still go to my GP who is too far away IMO from me because I have been seeing her since I was 16, and she has allllll of my medical history, and has seen me at least once a year for pap/physical, so she knows when I am well and when I am not. Trying to find a good GP is hard. And changing GPs is difficult - am often worried about having to "retrain" a new one. ;-)

Contrast that with many men: they never go to a doc unless they are near death. My BF hasn't been to a doc since oh the late 80s. I finally convinced him to get a physical. Silly boy.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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I am 25 and have been very healthy all my life, I hate doctors(don't take that personally) and pretty much refuse to go unless it's an emergency or I am really really sick. Would you still recommend all those test for someone of my age/health?

Also, I just moved about a year and a half ago and have yet to find a dr. Before I always went to whatever doctor my mom told me to go to at home. Any tips on finding a good doctor? I tried asking friends in the area for referrals, twice of which have been a disaster.

http://www.rdsupplier.com "making race directing easier"
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Re: Staying Healthy [southerngal] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I am 25 and have been very healthy all my life, I hate doctors(don't take that personally) and pretty much refuse to go unless it's an emergency or I am really really sick. Would you still recommend all those test for someone of my age/health?

Also, I just moved about a year and a half ago and have yet to find a dr. Before I always went to whatever doctor my mom told me to go to at home. Any tips on finding a good doctor? I tried asking friends in the area for referrals, twice of which have been a disaster.
yup at 25 is when it is recommended to start screening cholesterol, I would want the baseline labs and if you are menstruating then your iron should be checked.
Most docs will do a free meet and greet to see if there is a match - so go on your insurance website and see who is accepting patients and call around - see what the office staff are like....ask them for their opinion....

btw I hate docs too - it is why I was 29 when I went to med school....

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cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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If menstruating is absent due to high training volume/low body fat would I still be ok skipping checking my iron?

thanks for the advice.

http://www.rdsupplier.com "making race directing easier"
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Re: Staying Healthy [southerngal] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
If menstruating is absent due to high training volume/low body fat would I still be ok skipping checking my iron?

thanks for the advice.
If you never had a baseline I would do it, but I would be worried about bone density with your BF so low that you have lost menses....and would want to check it....

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cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
http://www.lycored.com/web/content/library.asp http://suntheanine.com/Research.cfm http://celadrin.com/pages/studies.php
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Re: Staying Healthy [southerngal] [ In reply to ]
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Wow girl... you need to get yourself checked out regularly! If you are working as hard as it seems (keeping bf low, etc) then it's even more reason to get checked out. I'm 26 and get myself into the doctor for blood tests at least every year to make sure things are doing what they are supposed to.


______________________________________
I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way
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Re: Staying Healthy [CatIsTriing] [ In reply to ]
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I want to add too: make sure you know your family history! seems obvious but in families like mine there are so many secrets. I knew of course my father died of colon cancer, but I did not know he also had thyroid cancer. I knew my mother died of stomach cancer in her 60s, but I did not find out til recently she had cervical cancer in her 30s. Ok maybe no one like to talk about these things, but it helps to know about them.
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Re: Staying Healthy [kbee] [ In reply to ]
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I'm adopted so I don't know my medical history. It is really frustrating since there are so many things that are heriditary and I can't possibly be tested for them all. Any suggestions on critical areas to test?

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: Staying Healthy [jenhs] [ In reply to ]
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the screening tests I listed will still cover everything.
I have lots of adopted patients, or their parents were adopted.....
the family history guides me as a doc but screening is screening....

and then eat lots of fruits and veggies.....they are your friends ;)

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cat
Sponsored by Suntheanine, Lycored and Celadrin
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