Latest / Flourish- A Prisma Health Podcast / Take Charge: Practical Steps for Better Men’s Health

Transcript

Take Charge: Practical Steps for Better Men’s Health · Flourish- A Prisma Health Podcast

• 0:00
  Scott Webb (Host): Both men and women need to take charge of their health.
• 0:03
  But today, we're focusing on men who tend to put themselves on the back burner.
• 0:07
  And my guest today is here to give us a practical guide to men's health.
• 0:10
  I'm joined today by Dr.
• 0:11
  Kevin Ryan.
• 0:12
  He's an internal medicine physician with Prisma Health.
• 0:17
  This is Flourish, the podcast brought to you by Prisma Health.
• 0:20
  I'm Scott Webb.
• 0:21
  Doctor, it's nice to have you here today.
• 0:22
  I was telling you that I may fall under this category of, you know, men who need
• 0:26
  to take charge and understand how to take better care of themselves, their
• 0:30
  hearts, their bodies, all that good stuff.
• 0:32
  So, let's just start there.
• 0:34
  When I say men's health, like, what does that really mean?
• 0:37
  And why do men need to maybe not put their health on the back burner?
• 0:41
  Why do we need to maybe move ourselves to the front burner, if you will?
• 0:44
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 0:44
  Yeah, Scott.
• 0:44
  Thanks for having me today.
• 0:46
  You're certainly not alone in being somebody who, you know,
• 0:49
  maybe avoids seeing the doctor.
• 0:51
  And when we talk about men's health, we talk broadly about screening
• 0:54
  for risk factors, diseases.
• 0:56
  Men's health sometimes specifically refers to prostate cancer,
• 1:00
  testosterone levels, things like that.
• 1:02
  But we also talk about things that affect both sexes, including heart disease,
• 1:07
  things that may affect your daily life in terms of if you're having joint pains.
• 1:11
  You know, we want to take a good look at everything.
• 1:14
  And so, a lot of times that includes labs and regular doctor's visits.
• 1:19
  Host: Yeah.
• 1:19
  And I think it's, you know, just human nature.
• 1:21
  We're all humans.
• 1:22
  You're human.
• 1:22
  I'm human.
• 1:23
  There's a lot of AI out there, but we're not quite there yet here in this podcast.
• 1:27
  And I think that's what we do.
• 1:28
  We just—I don't know if we just kind of bury our heads in the sand a little bit.
• 1:32
  We don't want to know exactly how we're doing if we feel sort of okay.
• 1:36
  But maybe, like, what are some of the most important health screenings that
• 1:39
  we should stay on top of and what ages?
• 1:42
  Like, why is age a factor?
• 1:44
  And what are maybe some of the guidelines, that kind of thing?
• 1:46
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 1:46
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:47
  And so first, we absolutely encourage everybody to have a primary care doctor.
• 1:52
  You know, you want to establish a good relationship with somebody
• 1:54
  so that you know what's going on.
• 1:57
  Specific guidelines, you know, cancer screenings start around age
• 2:00
  45, and that includes colon cancer screening, prostate cancer screening.
• 2:05
  Some other things we regularly screen for, blood counts, kidney function,
• 2:08
  cholesterol levels, diabetes.
• 2:11
  Some of those start around age 40.
• 2:13
  But if you know that you have a family history or at risk of some
• 2:15
  of these things, we encourage you to come in sooner as well.
• 2:19
  So, some of it is knowing what your risks are.
• 2:22
  Host: Yeah, right.
• 2:23
  As you say, risk factors, knowing our family history.
• 2:26
  That, we can't outrun.
• 2:27
  Of course, behavior, lifestyle is a factor, but family history is
• 2:30
  what it is, but knowing it is good.
• 2:32
  And I know, Doctor, that heart disease is a leading concern for many of us
• 2:36
  and especially medical professionals.
• 2:38
  So, what do we need to know about our risk for heart disease?
• 2:41
  And are there some things that we can do to protect our hearts early on?
• 2:45
  You know, don't smoke, stay in better shape, you know, the greatest hits.
• 2:49
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 2:49
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:51
  The heart disease, you know, and hypertension combined with it is
• 2:54
  known as the silent killer, meaning that you wouldn't know that some
• 2:57
  of your risk factors are there.
• 2:58
  So, you want to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
• 3:01
  You want to have your cholesterol levels checked regularly.
• 3:04
  You're right that you want to control your weight.
• 3:06
  You want to exercise regularly.
• 3:08
  You mentioned tobacco and nicotine is a big risk factor as well.
• 3:12
  And so, it's not just smoking cigarettes, but also these days vaping, because that
• 3:16
  can contain nicotine a lot of times.
• 3:18
  If you're experiencing symptoms, meaning if you're getting short of
• 3:22
  breath abnormally, if you're noticing some typical or atypical chest
• 3:26
  pains, things like that, those are things that should be checked out.
• 3:29
  And so, again, good to have a regular doctor who's kind
• 3:32
  of monitoring those things.
• 3:34
  Host: Yeah.
• 3:34
  Have a doc if you can and mention these things, you know, signs,
• 3:38
  symptoms, whatever it might be.
• 3:39
  We know there are some silent things out there as well, but that's why it's
• 3:42
  good to have a primary care doctor, get these regular tests and screenings.
• 3:47
  And, you know, doctor, I think in just sort of speaking for myself
• 3:50
  and, anecdotally, it does feel like mental health, men's mental health
• 3:54
  kind of goes unspoken to some degree.
• 3:57
  Maybe what signs should men watch for, and how can they take that first step
• 4:01
  towards getting the help they need?
• 4:03
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 4:03
  Yeah, you're absolutely right.
• 4:04
  It's one of those things that gets forgotten a lot of times.
• 4:07
  But we consider it a diagnosis just like anything else and
• 4:10
  something that needs to be treated.
• 4:12
  If you're having stress, anxiety, isolation, depression, you know,
• 4:16
  we want to know about those things.
• 4:18
  It doesn't always mean that we need to jump to medications
• 4:21
  or other things like that.
• 4:22
  We have other resources available.
• 4:24
  We have therapists who are great in terms of managing those
• 4:28
  kinds of signs and symptoms.
• 4:30
  But we don't want it to progress to a point where it's something
• 4:32
  that's affecting your daily life.
• 4:34
  And a lot of times it's very easy to, you know, minimize those kind of symptoms.
• 4:39
  Host: Right.
• 4:39
  Yeah, the whole "Just rub some dirt on it.
• 4:41
  You'll be fine," right?
• 4:43
  "Just get back out there."
• 4:45
  I mentioned earlier not too long ago about lifestyle, behavior, lifestyle.
• 4:49
  Let's talk about some of the lifestyle habits, if you will, that we can address
• 4:52
  that are within our control, right?
• 4:54
  Diet, exercise, sleep, alcohol, all those things can impact our health,
• 4:58
  and can we do to help ourselves?
• 5:00
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 5:00
  Right.
• 5:00
  So, we already briefly mentioned, tobacco, nicotine use.
• 5:05
  Alcohol use goes along with that as well.
• 5:07
  The most recent surgeon general recommendations on that are
• 5:11
  really for little to none alcohol.
• 5:13
  And that's just because they've noticed that with every extra drink, your risk
• 5:18
  of not only liver disease or things like that, but also multiple types of cancer
• 5:22
  increases, correlated very well with the amount of alcohol you're taking in.
• 5:26
  Other things like sleep you mentioned is important, and that kind of goes along
• 5:30
  with stress levels that we talked about.
• 5:32
  Diet and exercise are huge.
• 5:34
  So, recommendation is for 150 minutes of exercise every week.
• 5:38
  And that can be broken up, and it doesn't have to be anything extensive.
• 5:42
  It could be a mile or two walk or doing some light weights at home.
• 5:46
  In terms of diet, we want to focus on avoiding frozen foods,
• 5:50
  processed foods, you know, trying to eat healthy generally speaking.
• 5:54
  A Mediterranean or a DASH diet is a good one to follow in
• 5:57
  terms of a heart-healthy diet.
• 5:59
  And you want to track your calories and watch labels and things like that.
• 6:03
  Host: Sure.
• 6:03
  Yeah, I'm going to cut my grass after we're done, and I feel
• 6:07
  like I'm going to get a few steps in there, get some exercise.
• 6:09
  So, it doesn't always have to be some formal thing at the gym, right?
• 6:12
  Or pickleball matches.
• 6:14
  Like, just getting moving is a good thing, right?
• 6:16
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 6:16
  Yeah, exactly.
• 6:17
  Host: That's great.
• 6:18
  You know, I'm sure, Doctor, that testosterone and energy levels come up
• 6:21
  a lot, and I'm in my mid to late 50s.
• 6:23
  We'll just leave it there broadly.
• 6:25
  And I notice I don't have as much energy as I used to have.
• 6:29
  So, what's normal and when should someone consider being evaluated?
• 6:32
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 6:32
  Yeah.
• 6:33
  And so, sometimes those symptoms can be vague, and we talk about testosterone,
• 6:37
  we talk about hormone levels, sometimes thyroid, things like that.
• 6:41
  We know that those levels change with age, but it doesn't have to be
• 6:44
  something that's normal necessarily.
• 6:46
  And so, if you're experiencing excessive fatigue, reduced libido, your
• 6:50
  metabolism is slowing, like you're not feeling right, that's the time that
• 6:54
  you should probably get checked out.
• 6:56
  And those are levels that we can check with regular lab work.
• 6:59
  Sometimes supplementation in terms of medication, things
• 7:02
  like that are necessary.
• 7:04
  We always discuss the risks and benefits of those kinds of things.
• 7:07
  And so, again, that's why it's important to kind of follow regularly.
• 7:10
  But if you have concerns, we want you to come into the office obviously.
• 7:14
  Host: Sure.
• 7:14
  If you could give, you know, one piece of advice for long-term health and
• 7:18
  prevention of some of the stuff we've talked about here, what would it be?
• 7:21
  And maybe how can men build a plan they can actually stick to?
• 7:25
  That's my problem is I always—you know, I start something.
• 7:28
  And then, I lose track, and it just seems like a lot of work.
• 7:31
  So, how can we build a plan that we can stick to?
• 7:34
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 7:34
  Yeah.
• 7:34
  And so first, if you don't have a primary care provider, certainly I would seek one.
• 7:38
  There's plenty that are available, especially within the Prisma network.
• 7:42
  It's good to have somebody that you can turn to and who knows your
• 7:45
  health and can follow that over time.
• 7:47
  Primary care providers act as like the quarterback.
• 7:50
  And so, they coordinate care, they speak with the specialists,
• 7:54
  they're your umbrella.
• 7:55
  And so, they kind of capture everything in terms of your health.
• 7:59
  And you can establish a plan with them that's reasonable,
• 8:01
  something you can stick to.
• 8:03
  You know, we're not talking about making major changes all at once.
• 8:06
  These things happen over time.
• 8:08
  But also, if you're having concerns or symptoms, don't write them off.
• 8:11
  You know, don't say, "Oh, I'm fine.
• 8:13
  I'll, you know, I'll be better tomorrow."
• 8:15
  If it's something that's concerning to you, you should be seen by a provider
• 8:19
  Host: Yeah, of course.
• 8:19
  And if it's something really emergent and scary, you know, call 911, get to the ED.
• 8:24
  But for a lot of these other things, having a doctor, being tested, being
• 8:27
  screened, knowing your family history, all the things we've talked about today.
• 8:30
  I really appreciate your time and your expertise.
• 8:31
  Thanks so much.
• 8:33
  Dr. Kevin G. Ryan:
• 8:33
  All right.
• 8:33
  Yeah.
• 8:33
  Thanks for having me.
• 8:34
  Host: For more information and other podcasts just like this one, head
• 8:37
  on over to prismahealth.org/podcast.
• 8:41
  This has been Flourish, a podcast brought to you by Prisma Health.
• 8:43
  I'm Scott Webb.
• 8:44
  Stay well.