It's a new year, and while making resolutions to eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise frequently are great, that's not all there is to health. Westport Lifestyle spoke to Gilda Boroumand, M.D., a breast imaging radiologist at Connecticut Breast Imaging, to get her best health resolutions for a truly happy and healthy 2025.
1. Prioritize your primary care physician
"First, make sure you have a primary care physician— a lot of people assume they're healthy and think they don't need to have a primary doctor," she says. "It's always harder to get an appointment when something urgent comes up. So make sure you have a primary care physician and actually make an appointment with them. Even if you feel healthy, you need them to help you stay on top of your preventative care."
2. Check in on any age-based cancer screenings
Milestone birthday coming up this year? See if it lines up with cancer screening recommendations. "Once you hit age 45, you should be having a colorectal cancer screening, ideally with a colonoscopy," she says. "But there are potentially other options, and that's something you should talk to a GI physician or a primary care doctor about." Additionally, "annual screening mammography, starting when you're 40, saves the most lives, and I would urge all women to make sure they're getting a 3D mammogram [from that age on]."
3. Schedule your dental cleanings
"I know a lot of people hate the dentist more than they hate coming to see me for a mammogram!" says Dr. Boroumand. "But there's a lot of truth to the idea that your oral health is the window to your general health. So go ahead and see your dentist."
4. Get to know your own body
"I think it's important for women—really, all people—to get to know their own bodies. You don't have to drive yourself nuts, but I tend to tell people to do a self-exam about once a month, about three to seven days after their period starts, so that they know what their body feels like and they know what their normal breasts feel like."
5. Shoot for more sleep
"This is something I've been trying to do myself," she says. "They really say aim for seven to nine hours. We [as a society] pride ourselves on working hard and getting through it, but I think taking care of yourself also means your sleep. It's something I personally have tried to focus on this year, and I think it's really helped me."