We’ve all heard the adage that you should check with your doctor before beginning or changing an exercise program. But what exactly can you ask him to get the best answer. The experts from Go4Life, a division of the National Institute on Aging, have some suggestions: Are there any exercises or activities I should avoid?… Continue reading Questions to Ask Your Doctor about Exercise
Tag: doctor
Finding A Doctor You Can Talk to
Finding a main doctor (often called your primary doctor or primary care doctor) who you feel comfortable talking to is the first step in good communication. It is also a way to ensure your good health. This doctor gets to know you and what your health is normally like. He or she can help you… Continue reading Finding A Doctor You Can Talk to
How to Stay Cool in A Medical Crisis
Imagine this: you arrive at the emergency room with your husband, who’s been vomiting blood. Two hours later, you are shown into a curtained area with a bed. After another hour a doctor arrives to ask the same set of questions you’ve answered five or six times already. If you feel like yelling, hoping someone… Continue reading How to Stay Cool in A Medical Crisis
Healthy Habits: Family and Friends Can Help More than Doctors
When it comes to improving a patient’s health, relationships with family and friends may be more effective than interactions with physicians or other health care providers, experts say. According to a news release from the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine experts suggest a five-step program to help bring out social engagements that promote health. The… Continue reading Healthy Habits: Family and Friends Can Help More than Doctors
How to Get In To See the Doctor – Fast
It starts out with a tickle in the back of your throat and a nagging headache. A few days later, you have a fever, a bad cough, and muscle aches. Your niece is getting married next week, and you don’t want to miss the wedding. What do you do? You pick up the phone and… Continue reading How to Get In To See the Doctor – Fast
Caregiving and Atrial Fibrillation
Many people associate cardiovascular disease solely with blocked arteries and heart attacks. However, over five million people suffer with electrical problems of the heart—a complex condition called atrial fibrillation. Most common in the elderly, AFib, as it’s known, comes in various forms; some come and go while some are persistent and even permanent, but they… Continue reading Caregiving and Atrial Fibrillation
Vacation Tips for Diabetes Patients
Everyone loves going on vacation – and to have the best possible time, diabetes patients need to do some extra preparation before they leave. Here, from the American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org) are some suggestions for a safe holiday: Before you leave, the ADA says, ask your doctor for two documents: a letter and a prescription.… Continue reading Vacation Tips for Diabetes Patients
How to Remember What The Doctor Said
No matter what your age, it is easy to forget a lot of what your doctor says. Sometimes, what she/he says may be hard to understand, or frightening, making it harder to absorb the information. Ideally, you may be able to bring someone along to help you understand and remember what the doctor is saying… Continue reading How to Remember What The Doctor Said
How to Find a Good Complementary Health Practitioner
Choosing a complementary health practitioner – such as a massage therapist – can be a tricky task. And you should make your choice with as much care as you do with a practitioner of conventional medicine. Here, the experts from the SeniorHealth division of the National Institutes of Health share the best ways to pick… Continue reading How to Find a Good Complementary Health Practitioner
The Ultimate Get-Fit-For-Free Plan
Everyone knows that it’s healthy – even lifesaving – to get and stay fit, but there can be a host of obstacles in the way. Getting fit can cost time, money and can even be socially awkward for older people who might not feel at home in trendy gyms. And while the coming winter may… Continue reading The Ultimate Get-Fit-For-Free Plan
Learning to Live with Chronic Pain
Chronic pain comes in a wide variety of forms, and the causes are many. Recent studies show that nearly one third of us — more than 100 million Americans each year, suffer from back pain, joint pain, arthritis; neck and muscle pain, headache and other types of recurrent pain. People who suffer from chronic pain… Continue reading Learning to Live with Chronic Pain
Why You Need A Personalized Health Journal
By Nancy Wurtzel Two years ago, just before a long-planned vacation, I came down with a summer cold. At first it was only a minor inconvenience, but midway into my trip I was feeling horrible. My ears were causing the most discomfort. They were both plugged, which left me feeling light-headed and sleepy. Seeking relief,… Continue reading Why You Need A Personalized Health Journal
New Guidelines for Making Critical-Care Decisions
Experts have developed guidelines aimed at avoiding conflicts between physicians caring for patients with advanced illness, and the families of those patients. “Neither individual clinicians nor families should be given unchecked authority to determine what treatments will be given to a patient,” explained Douglas White, M.D., M.A.S., UPMC Chair for Ethics in Critical Care Medicine,… Continue reading New Guidelines for Making Critical-Care Decisions
Choosing the Right Doctor for You
Editor’s Note: You might be looking for a new doctor for any number of reasons – you’ve moved, for example, or your doctor has retired. Here, from the National Institute on Aging, are some strategies to help make the search more productive and easier: Types of Primary Care Doctors Your primary care doctor is the… Continue reading Choosing the Right Doctor for You
Good Contact Lens Care = Good Eye Health
So many of us (30 million, actually) wear contact lenses that it’s easy to think of them almost as a natural part of the eye—and something that doesn’t need a lot of our attention. But while contacts are usually safe and effective, they do carry some risks, including serious infections, if you don’t care for… Continue reading Good Contact Lens Care = Good Eye Health