Magazines target providers and pounds
Gynecologists, internists, and family physicians all want to be your primary care provider. But can any one doctor provide comprehensive care? This hot debate is the focus of a report in the July/August American Health for Women. Feeling that gynecologists are the likeliest to understand their health concerns, many women are turning to them for services beyond those traditionally rendered. They are consulting their OB/GYNs for general checkups, screenings, immunizations, and counseling in other words, for primary care. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Washington, DC, 54% of women who routinely go to OB/GYNs consider them their primary care providers.
Tips on deciding what type of doctor to choose as your primary care provider, and advice for how to "shop" for that doctor once you’ve made an informed decision, are highlights of the article. The debate on doctors in a particular specialty acting as "jacks-of-all-trades" is visited, as is the increasing movement toward cooperation among specialty departments in hospitals. Issues related to health insurance coverage also are addressed.
"Sick? Tired? Check Your Thyroid." A discussion of causes, symptoms, and treatments for thyroid disorders appears in this article in July’s Better Homes and Gardens. Properly treated, thyroid problems can be managed fairly easily. Detecting them is often the tricky part. Hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid problem. Causing a slowdown in metabolism, symptoms can range from feeling tired and sluggish to weight gain, sensitivity to the cold, a puffy face, dry skin, constipation, or irregular menstrual periods. The Boston-based Thyroid Foundation of America reports that 11 million Americans have this condition. Untreated, it can cause high cholesterol, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, and infertility. Studies suggest that half the people who are hypothyroid are unaware of it, says Loren Wissner Greene, MD, an endocrinologist at the New York University School of Medicine. In women, the symptoms often are mistakenly attributed to menopause.
About a million people suffer the opposite disorder: hyperthyroidism, which sends the body into overdrive. Symptoms include rapid heart beat, muscle tremors, weight loss, hair loss, and anxiety, among others. Women, particularly those in their 30s and 40s, are more likely to become hyperthyroid than men.
Thyroid ailments are easily diagnosed once a highly sensitive blood test is administered. The test is not routine in regular health exams, but some medical experts believe it should be. A study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that regular testing of men and women 35 and older would be as cost-effective as checking blood pressure or testing cholesterol levels. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, based in Jacksonville, FL, urges older adults, especially women, to have regular thyroid tests even if they are not experiencing symptoms.
McCall’s June issue gives the lowdown on getting your vitamins from pills vs. from foods. Until recently nutritionists didn’t have much use for supplements, but persuasive research is changing that. Numerous studies find that your body may benefit from higher doses of certain nutrients than previously thought. Consuming 100 to 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin E each day, for instance, can reduce the risk of heart attack by up to 75%. But getting enough from food alone may prove challenging in today’s low-fat world the vitamin is found mostly in high-fat foods such as vegetable oils, mayonnaise, margarine, nuts, and seeds.
"If less than 30% of your calories comes from fat, you’re probably consuming only 10 IU of E," notes Walter Willett, MD, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. That’s a good reason to take vitamin E, especially since there is little evidence of a downside, he says.
The article also reveals new findings along with words of caution related to intake of vitamin B, C, beta carotene, calcium, and iron supplements. In spite of the mostly positive news about supplements, experts maintain that pills are no substitute for healthy eating. Yet they still are unsure exactly what in fruits and vegetables is so beneficial. Research shows that when you eat a healthy diet including two to four servings of fruit and three to five servings of vegetables a day, you get reasonable amounts of several vitamins and probably do not need high doses of any one.
So you aren’t a perfect "10." Maybe your body is wisely doing what is best for you even if that means adding a few pounds where you would like to subtract. "In Praise of the Imperfect Body" in the July issue of Good Housekeeping considers the sometimes perplexing ways in which the female anatomy works. Have you ever exercised and exercised and still not managed to take that extra weight off? Consider your stage of life. Perhaps you are nearing menopause. It actually benefits menopausal women to be slightly overweight because estrogen is stored in fat cells, and estrogen can prevent some of the more unpleasant side effects of menopause. The article provides a gentle reminder that our bodies are, after all, designed to help us do our life’s work. They’re not meant to be clotheshangers! ß
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