Coordinating communication between your doctors is up to you
From 1951 to 1968, Mickey Mantle sustained 14 serious injuries on the ballfield and still managed to win three MVPs, a Triple Crown and seven World Series. Fortunately, the Yankees could coordinate the care Mantle got with all the various doctors who treated his head-to-toe traumas.
For the average person today, getting all your doctors to talk to one another — and to know what’s going on with your health — is pretty, well, uncoordinated. That’s why it’s up to you.
A study in the Annals of Internal medicine reveals that 30 percent of seniors see five doctors a year, and many see even more. If that’s you, it may provide targeted expertise for what ails you, but the downside is that you need to make sure each specialist knows what all your other doctors, including your primary care provider, are up to in terms of medications, lifestyle recommendations and diagnosis or identification of disease or potentially troubling conditions. And your primary care doctor needs to get all the data from each specialist, so it can be in one place for review. So at each appointment:
■ Ask for your records of that day to be emailed to you. Create a digital file and print them out.
■ Take all your medical records of medicines, treatments, diagnoses, etc. with you to every doctor appointment.
■ Ask questions. “Is anything you’re doing or prescribing contraindicated with the meds I take or other treatment I am getting?”
The effort is worth the improvement that you’ll receive in overall care.
The multibenefits of multivitamins
This year’s top draft pick, Trevor Lawrence, got a five-year contract and signing bonus of $42.2 million. Clearly, there’s a huge payoff with that multiyear deal.
But, frankly, we don’t think it’s nearly as life-changing as taking a good multivitamin can be. That’s a multideal with no risk of a concussion — and a solid promise of better health.
Why you need a multi: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that only around 12 percent of American adults get the 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables that are recommended daily. That creates a huge nutritional deficit, setting you up for everything from cancer and depression to osteoporosis, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease and gut biome dysfunction.
The 2020 Dietary Guidelines identified “nutrients of public health concern” as vitamin D, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber and iron. Plus, vitamins A, C and E and mineral magnesium were highlighted for being underconsumed.
What makes a good multi: Keep all doses near the daily values, unless your doctor says to take more. (Check the label.) Superdoses can backfire — for example, too much alpha tocopherol vitamin E can increase risk of prostate cancer and lung cancer in smokers. You want a minimum of mixed tocopherols/vitamin E. Go for a wide variety of nutrients — calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, iodine, zinc, copper, manganese, choline and trace minerals, and vitamins A/beta carotene, C, D3, E and K and all eight B vitamins. Take half a pill morning and night to keep nutrient levels steady.
Chronic stress and your cancer risk
Chronic stress makes for complex plot lines and great acting. Take Jack Lemmon in 1973’s “Save the Tiger” or Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006). Their stress-plagued lives and resulting meltdowns made cinematic history. But off the screen, that kind of relentless tension makes trouble, not careers.
It’s long been known that chronic stress can lead to everything from depression and heart disease to gastro problems and dementia. But new research shows how it is intertwined with the development and progression of cancer.
A study published in Cell Reports says that stress causes cellular and receptor changes that allow the stress hormone norepinephrine to suppress your immune system and give cancer a clear shot to take hold and grow. Fortunately, you do have control over your stress response. So, for long-term immune strength and reduced risk of cancer, try these strategies:
Practice forgiveness. Johns Hopkins Medicine says making a conscious decision to let go of negative feelings is a powerful stress-reducer. “As you release the anger, resentment and hostility, you begin to feel empathy,” says Dr. Karen Swartz, director of the Mood Disorders Adult Consultation Clinic. Then, you gain health-promoting peace and happiness.
Do aerobic exercise. It immediately reduces levels of stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. Aim for 30-60 minutes most days.
Make smart food choices. Tamp down stress-fueling inflammation by eating whole, unprocessed, sugar-free, high-fiber foods.
Improve sleep habits. Have a set bedtime, ditch digital devises for an hour before you hit the hay and make the room dark, cool and quiet.
Eat to sleep, perchance to dream
In “Heartburn,” Meryl Streep (Rachel) and Jack Nicholson (Mark) eat spaghetti carbonara in bed — and they’re headed for a breakup. In “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Renee Zellweger (Bridget) snuggles under the covers for a rendezvous with excessive amounts of comfort food. Neither is a formula for a good night’s sleep. But there are foods that can improve your sleep — just don’t eat them in bed, or too close to bedtime.
Soy: A 2015 study in Nutritional Journal found that eating two servings a day of soy, which is rich in isoflavones, increased sleep times and quality and was especially helpful to postmenopausal women.
Fiber-rich foods: A study out of the Obesity Research Center and Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University revealed that the more fiber you eat, the better quality your sleep — in part because it ups the amount of slow-wave sleep you get. (Slow wave is the deepest phase of nonrapid eye movement sleep.) This may be because fiber stops blood sugar swings. A study in PlosOne found that folks with higher glucose levels had poorer sleep. And another study found that 62 percent of people with prediabetes have poor sleep.
Fish — especially salmon: Seems that salmon (as well as canned tuna and halibut) boosts levels of B6, which is essential for making the sleep hormone melatonin.
Other sleep-friendly foods include tart cherry juice (it ups the availability of sleep-inducing tryptophan and quells inflammation), B6-rich bananas and green leafy vegetables like kale that contain calcium and magnesium (a deficiency of either makes it harder to sleep).
Sat fat — it’s hiding in foods you think are healthy
While she’s training, tennis phenom Serena Williams refuses to eat red meat — opting to use ground turkey in her taco treats. “I can’t live without ground turkey,” she’s declared. Seems Serena knows to avoid excess inflammatory, artery-clogging saturated fats. But is she — and are you — aware of saturated fat that shows up in unexpected places?
■ A large blueberry muffin (you think the berries make it virtuous) contains as much sat fat as a serving of meat lasagna!
■ That three-quarter cup of yogurt you enjoy? Five grams of saturated fat. The same amount of plain, nonfat Greek yogurt? Zero grams.
■ A cup of instant noodles can pack more saturated fat than a medium-size order of French fries. Ramen noodles have 7 grams of saturated fat per serving; McDonalds small French fries? Only 1.5 grams of saturated fat.
■ Hidden tropical oils like coconut and palm are in energy bars, baked goods, breads, margarine, pizza dough and, yes, Impossible Burgers (8 grams of saturated fat in 4 ounces!). Palm oil has 7 grams of saturated fat in a tablespoon. Coconut oil has 12 grams and is about 90 percent saturated fat, which is a higher percentage than butter (64 percent), beef fat (40 percent) or lard (also 40 percent).
Now, you can’t and don’t want to avoid all saturated fat: You get 6 grams in a 7-ounce serving of heart-healthy, omega-3-rich salmon. And there are 2.2 grams in 4 ounces of ground turkey. For nonvegetarians, that’s the healthy way to get the 13 grams or less a day that’s recommended by the American Heart Association.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
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