McKinney - Baylor Online Newsroom - Baylor Health Care System

Like Reynolds, you may think you’re too busy for an annual physical, screening
test or minor medical procedure. But “sacrificing an hour or an afternoon or
even two or three days of your life is a lot more efficient than sacrificing weeks
and months of your life” for treating more-advanced disease, Reynolds says.
Here’s what you can do to guard against common diseases that strike men:
THREAT:
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Strategy: Get your numbers in line
“The number-one killer of men
is cardiovascular disease,” says
Heather Bass, M.D., a family medicine
physician on the medical staff at
Baylor Medical Center at McKinney.
When fatty plaque deposits build up
in blood vessels, they can cause heart
attack or stroke.
Just like tracking business goals,
you can’t measure your progress
if you don’t know your numbers.
Keep an eye on your blood pressure,
cholesterol and weight.
“Generally speaking, you’re not
going to feel bad from high blood
pressure or cholesterol,” Dr. Bass says.
“So you don’t know you have them
until you get the screening done.”
Improving your diet and exercise
habits can help modify weight and
cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
If lifestyle changes aren’t enough,
medication may help reduce your
heart disease risk.
THREAT: CANCER
Strategy: Talk to your doctor about
necessary screenings
Lung, prostate and colon cancer
are the top three cancers in men.
“Screening is the biggest way to
catch colon cancer in its early stages,”
Dr. Bass explains. “Anytime you
can catch a cancer early, before it
spreads, you have a better outcome.”
If everyone older than 50 would
get recommended screening tests,
colon cancer deaths could be reduced
by as much as 60 percent, the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says.
“It’s important to have regular
visits with your primary care
doctor so you know if
you need to screen
earlier,” Dr. Bass says.
You can also discuss the risks
and benefits of screening for
prostate cancer by means of a digital
rectal exam or prostate-specific
antigen testing.
Smoking is the culprit for about
90 percent of lung cancer deaths in
men. “If you don’t smoke, don’t start,”
Dr. Bass says. “If you do, quit.”
See your doctor if you experience
symptoms such as chest pain,
chronic cough, coughing up blood
or unexplained weight loss.
THREAT: DIABETES
Strategy: Be physically active
and lose a little bit of weight
Being overweight and inactive are two
major risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
“Losing weight and exercising have
been proven to decrease your risk of
developing diabetes,” Dr. Bass says.
Losing just 5 to 7 percent of your body
weight can delay or prevent diabetes,
according to a National Institutes of
Health study. Even without weight loss,
exercise can help lower blood sugar,
other research has shown.
“Diabetes affects every system in
the body,” Dr. Bass says. Uncontrolled
high blood sugar puts you at risk
for heart disease, stroke, vision loss,
kidney disease, erectile dysfunction,
and nerve damage that causes a loss
of feeling in the feet and legs.
It can be hard to make time for
your health in the midst of work and
family responsibilities, Reynolds
acknowledges. “But if I’m gone, I
can’t take care of my family. Your
physical health is more important
than anything else.”
Acting now can preserve your
ability to enjoy life in the future. “You
need to catch these health conditions
in their early stages,” Dr. Bass says,
“so you can prevent complications
as you get older that can limit your
ability to be active.”
Should You Head
to the ER
“There are situations in which it is
clear that you need to go straight to
an emergency room,” says Christa
Lambert, emergency department
manager at Baylor Medical Center
at McKinney. “But other times, it’s
not such an easy decision.”
As a general rule, Lambert
advises people to use urgent care
centers for ailments such as earaches,
throat pain, fevers that can
be controlled with medication,
simple sprains and cuts, or during
evening and weekend hours when
your doctor’s office is closed.
Should you require emergency
care, Baylor McKinney’s emergency
room is ready for you. “We are a
full-service ER, which means we are
capable of stabilizing all emergent
conditions,” Lambert says. “We utilize
electronic health records as well,
which increases the safety and timeliness
of care. In addition, we work
closely with local EMS providers to
provide seamless, quality care to
the community.”
More Than an ER
Emergency care is just one of
the services offered at Baylor
McKinney. Learn more at
BaylorHealth.com/McKinney.
Emergency photo: ©Blend Images/Photoshot
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