Health is not the absence of disease but the end product of all your habits, physical, emotional and intellectual.  I am regularly asked by patients about what they can do to avoid acute problems in their health and improve some of their chronic problems. They want better health and almost always I recommend they begin to do something new. Usually, this is something simple and they always find something they can implement out of the suggestions I provide.

I would like to answer your toughest questions about health.  Please use the form at the end of the post to give me permission to email you with answers to questions and to submit your questions. Once you have submitted a question and verified that you do want an answer, you will only have to hit reply to emails you receive to ask future questions.

Here is an answer to I question I hear frequently this time of year.  The question is asked by people who come to see me in the Urgent Care Clinic of The NC Family Doctor where I am employed as a Physician Assistant. The question is: “How can I avoid getting sick like this?”  The patient usually has an infectious illness with various symptoms like fever, runny nose, yellow mucus, cough, body aches, fatigue, poor sleep, head ache, sore throat and ear discomfort.

My answer concerns their habits.  I always encourage smokers to consider quitting. Often they tell me they think they should but are not ready and I ask them to make a list of all the benefits of smoking and all the benefits of quitting.  I ask them to post their lists on their mirror and to carry one with them and add to it when ever a new thought occurs. When they get enough reasons to go through the pain of habit change, they will and they will control their oral habit and not gain weight.  I have a few suggestions to help them with this.

Then I ask about how much sleep they get, they need 8 hours of no light hitting their eyes. How often they sanitize or preferably wash their hands. How much non-carbonated, unsweetened, non-caffeinated fluid (water!) they drink - 2 quarts per day is needed when well, more when symptoms occur.  Do they take Vitamin D3 during the year when daylight is shortened?  About 1000 IU (international units) per day for adults over 20 and under 65 is recommended. Do they exercise when they are healthy?  Lifestyle or scheduled exercise with an adequate calorie intake is very important to maintaining the immune system.  Do they eat a diet that is balance in key nutrients.  If they are over weight the ratios of nutrients (fat, carbohydrate and protein) may need to change to induce weight loss.  They have to eat a number of calories adequate for their ideal weight and activity level.

Obviously, this is a grocery list or more like a grocery store inventory and I encourage them to implement as many as they need.  Drinking water, taking vitamins, getting more sleep are all much easier than exercise regularly etc…  I invite them to join my weekly calls and coaching programs so I can help them with questions and with motivation as well as implementation.

What are your questions?  Sign up and ask me anything about your health.

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