When it comes to your health, it’s important to take an active role. In the next conversation you have with your doctor, here are five topics to discuss with your doctor to help optimize your wellness.
1. Ask about your heart. Do you have heart disease? Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide so it’s important to prevent it and control it. Can you reduce your risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, being overweight, smoking, inactivity, and drinking too much alcohol?
2. Ask about your labs. How’s your cholesterol? High Cholesterol often has no symptoms until it’s too late and leads to heart attack or stroke, so doctors recommend doing a lipid panel every year. What's your A1C? We diagnose diabetes with the Hemoglobin A1C, which measures the average amount of sugar that’s in your blood. Diabetes can start off slowly with transiently elevated sugar levels or it can show up out of control.
3. How are you feeling? Whether you’re under tremendous stress, suffering from burnout, down, or anxiety, tell your doctor. Potential mental health issues also put you at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes
4. Ask about your screenings. Are you up to date on age-appropriate screenings like colonoscopies, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening, pap smears, and mammograms, among other potential tests?
5. Ask about your lifestyle. Are you getting enough exercise and sleep? Do you smoke? If so, cut it out! Your doctor will be happy to help you with smoking cessation. Drink only in moderation and stay under the recommended daily limits of two drinks maximum for men and one for women.
Be curious about your health and find comfort in your discussion with your doctor as these answers can be game changers for boosting your health.