Let's Talk About It

here are some topics your provider may bring up

• 1 Bone health

  Bone health

  Osteoporosis is the most common form of bone disease. It occurs when the body loses more bone than it makes, causes bones to become weak and break more easily. Risk factors for osteoporosis include age, gender, ethnicity and family history. You can reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis by:

  • Getting enough calcium and vitamin D.
  • Staying active and doing weight-bearing exercise, such as walking or jogging
  • Maintaining a healthy body weight
  • Not smoking
  • Not drinking excessively

  The test for osteoporosis is called a DEXA scan, which uses dual energy x-ray absorptiometry to test your bone mineral density.

• 2 Bladder control and function

  Bladder control and function

  The bladder is a muscular sac located in the pelvis just above and behind the pubic bone. It stores urine as it is a produced by the body until we go to the bathroom and release it on purpose in a controlled way through the urethra and out of the body. Loss of bladder control is called urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence can occur when the muscles of the bladder squeeze uncontrollably or when the muscles holding the bladder or opening to the urethra become weakened. Other types of bladder function problems can include bladder overflow and the retention of urine. There are a variety of ways we can help with urinary incontinence, so talk to your provider if this is an issue for you. Learn more about urinary incontinence.

• 3 Sexual comfort and enjoyment
• 4 Disease prevention

  Disease prevention

  Sometimes your risk of developing a disease–such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes–is linked to family history or genetics. But there are often steps you can take to reduce your risk. (The fancy term for this is “modifiable risk factors.”) Examples of modifiable risk factors include not smoking, not drinking alcohol excessively, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol. Talk to your clinician about your health and family history and what you can do to minimize your risk.

• 5 Emotional wellbeing

  Emotional wellbeing

  Emotional health and wellbeing refers to our ability to cope with the stresses of everyday life in a positive way and recognize and manage negative emotions, like stress, anger and sadness. Emotional health is very important to physical health because when you’re not able to process negative emotions or manage stress, it can impact sleep or lead to unhealthy coping strategies—such as substance abuse, emotional eating, etc. If you’re having a hard time sleeping, your relationships are suffering or you’d like help finding healthier coping strategies, talk to your provider about a referral to one of our behavioral health specialists.

• 6 Physical activity

  Physical activity

  In the category of ‘what are you doing to take care of you…,” your provider may want to talk about what you’re doing to stay active physically. Exercise reduces your risk of stroke and heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and some types of cancer. It’s also been shown to improve cognitive function and mood. Don’t feel bad if you’re struggling! We can give you ideas for how to get more active that fit within your life.