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Know Your Numbers
Dr. Trapani (Primary Care Physician) discusses the importance of knowing your health numbers related to cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and body mass index.
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Learn more about Dominick Trapani, DO
Dominick Trapani, DO
Dr. Dominick Trapani is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association. He is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Pediatric Advance Life Support and Advance Life Support in Obstetrics. His clinical interests include preventative medicine, chronic disease management, joint injections, and minor dermatologic procedures.Learn more about Dominick Trapani, DO
Transcription:
Know Your Numbers
Amanda Wilde (Host): Preventative health measures stop a problem before it even starts. When it comes to cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and body mass index, you need to know your numbers, that is according to Dr. Dominic Trapani, Primary Care Physician at WakeMed Primary Care.
This is WakeMed Voices, a podcast from WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm Amanda Wilde. Dr. Trapani, thank you for being here today. Now, is there some mnemonic to remember all those things that I need to get measured?
Dominick Trapani, DO (Guest): Thank you for having me today, Amanda. There isn't a specific mnemonic for those things to go over, but often after you have blood work drawn, it helps the follow-up with your primary care doctor. And we can walk you through all of the numbers and what they mean.
Host: Now, why is it important to know your health numbers related to cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and BMI body, mass index?
Dr. Trapani: So knowing your numbers helps you to maintain healthy lifestyle. And also if there's an abnormal number, then you can work with your primary care doctor to address that and improve those numbers, which will lead to a long, healthy, happy life.
Host: And what sort of things might I be preventing from happening by following the numbers?
Dr. Trapani: Patients who have high cholesterol, that can lead to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, vision disease, and also same goes for elevated blood sugar and blood pressure.
Host: Now, when we're talking about cholesterol, blood pressure, well, not blood pressure. We know that's through the band, but are these blood tests mainly cholesterol, blood sugar.
Dr. Trapani: Yes, the cholesterol and blood sugar screening are done through a blood draw, either at a yearly physical or at an employee wellness screening.
Host: And then we have weight and body mass index. I guess those are things we can actually follow ourselves.
Dr. Trapani: Definitely things like your weight and your blood pressure are things you could check at home, if you wanted to buy a home blood pressure monitor and also a scale.
Host: So how often should I get these numbers measured? I guess you need a baseline to start from, right?
Dr. Trapani: Yes. Good time to get your blood work would be at a yearly physical with your primary care doctor. And then based off those results, if everything are in normal ranges, it's typically just once a year. If there's some abnormal findings, then the doctor will help you determine when you should follow up, whether that's one month, three months or six months.
Host: So when the numbers do go out of the normal range, then what happens? It sounds like the first thing is I'll see my doctor a little more frequently and do a little more closer monitoring of all of these areas?
Dr. Trapani: Exactly. The first thing we would do is we would pull up your results from your cholesterol screening and we would review the actual numbers and decide if they're in a range that would need medication or just, I would recommend lifestyle changes like healthy diet along with regular exercise.
Host: The old standbys, they still work.
Dr. Trapani: Yes, exactly. Yes. This, the simple things sometimes work best.
Host: No, we're still looking for that magic bullet, but for now it's diet and exercise. Can my numbers be abnormal without my having symptoms?
Dr. Trapani: Yes. That's a great question because often, blood pressure can be quite elevated and most people don't know they have high blood pressure because you typically do not have symptoms.
Host: So really this is all about monitoring yourself. As I talked to different, especially primary care physicians, I get the feeling, a lot of people don't come for yearly physicals, but this is part of the process, right? If you're going to do the numbers, you said, do that annually. That's probably part of an annual physical seeing your doctor and as I said, doing those preventative measures, to keep healthy.
Dr. Trapani: Definitely a yearly physical includes, screening blood work, such as the cholesterol, blood sugar, and also we do your weight, height and your blood pressure. And then we would decide if any of those things are abnormal and how we would address them along with discussing any cancer screenings or vaccines that might be recommended for your age.
Host: Perfect. Is there anything else you'd like to add about knowing your numbers?
Dr. Trapani: So my initial recommendation to most patients is always, live a healthy lifestyle, which includes, getting 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, which is about two and a half hours. And that's includes just brisk walking that doesn't have to be anything too hard. And then also along with that, eating a healthy diet, for example, the Mediterranean diet is typically what I recommend because that's been shown to lower risk of heart disease, stroke, lower blood sugar, and cholesterol.
Host: The Mediterranean diet being? Can you describe that in a nutshell?
Dr. Trapani: The reason I recommend the Mediterranean diet to my patients is because it has been shown to reduce risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes. Along with cholesterol numbers, and along with physical activity, this will help your health be much better. But, a traditional Mediterranean diet is based on foods available in countries that border the Mediterranean sea in Europe. The foundations of this diet include an abundance of plant type foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, olive oil as the principal source of fat instead of butter, cheese and yogurt consumed daily in low to moderate amounts, fish and poultry, such as chicken, also consumed in low to moderate amounts a few times a week, occasional red meat, but not frequently, fresh fruit for desserts instead of added sugars or processed foods.
And also the best part is a small glass of wine daily, usually with your meals.
Host: Well, that's a good reminder of what foods to focus on. Cause there's so many choices out there and they're not all healthy. So it's diet, exercise and monitor yourself, know your numbers.
Dr. Trapani: Exactly right. Amanda,
Host: Thank you, Dr. Trapani.
Dr. Trapani: Thank you for having me today.
Host: To learn more or schedule an appointment with WakeMed Primary Care visit wakemed.org. I'm Amanda Wilde with WakeMed Voices brought to you by WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks for listening.
Know Your Numbers
Amanda Wilde (Host): Preventative health measures stop a problem before it even starts. When it comes to cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and body mass index, you need to know your numbers, that is according to Dr. Dominic Trapani, Primary Care Physician at WakeMed Primary Care.
This is WakeMed Voices, a podcast from WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm Amanda Wilde. Dr. Trapani, thank you for being here today. Now, is there some mnemonic to remember all those things that I need to get measured?
Dominick Trapani, DO (Guest): Thank you for having me today, Amanda. There isn't a specific mnemonic for those things to go over, but often after you have blood work drawn, it helps the follow-up with your primary care doctor. And we can walk you through all of the numbers and what they mean.
Host: Now, why is it important to know your health numbers related to cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, and BMI body, mass index?
Dr. Trapani: So knowing your numbers helps you to maintain healthy lifestyle. And also if there's an abnormal number, then you can work with your primary care doctor to address that and improve those numbers, which will lead to a long, healthy, happy life.
Host: And what sort of things might I be preventing from happening by following the numbers?
Dr. Trapani: Patients who have high cholesterol, that can lead to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, vision disease, and also same goes for elevated blood sugar and blood pressure.
Host: Now, when we're talking about cholesterol, blood pressure, well, not blood pressure. We know that's through the band, but are these blood tests mainly cholesterol, blood sugar.
Dr. Trapani: Yes, the cholesterol and blood sugar screening are done through a blood draw, either at a yearly physical or at an employee wellness screening.
Host: And then we have weight and body mass index. I guess those are things we can actually follow ourselves.
Dr. Trapani: Definitely things like your weight and your blood pressure are things you could check at home, if you wanted to buy a home blood pressure monitor and also a scale.
Host: So how often should I get these numbers measured? I guess you need a baseline to start from, right?
Dr. Trapani: Yes. Good time to get your blood work would be at a yearly physical with your primary care doctor. And then based off those results, if everything are in normal ranges, it's typically just once a year. If there's some abnormal findings, then the doctor will help you determine when you should follow up, whether that's one month, three months or six months.
Host: So when the numbers do go out of the normal range, then what happens? It sounds like the first thing is I'll see my doctor a little more frequently and do a little more closer monitoring of all of these areas?
Dr. Trapani: Exactly. The first thing we would do is we would pull up your results from your cholesterol screening and we would review the actual numbers and decide if they're in a range that would need medication or just, I would recommend lifestyle changes like healthy diet along with regular exercise.
Host: The old standbys, they still work.
Dr. Trapani: Yes, exactly. Yes. This, the simple things sometimes work best.
Host: No, we're still looking for that magic bullet, but for now it's diet and exercise. Can my numbers be abnormal without my having symptoms?
Dr. Trapani: Yes. That's a great question because often, blood pressure can be quite elevated and most people don't know they have high blood pressure because you typically do not have symptoms.
Host: So really this is all about monitoring yourself. As I talked to different, especially primary care physicians, I get the feeling, a lot of people don't come for yearly physicals, but this is part of the process, right? If you're going to do the numbers, you said, do that annually. That's probably part of an annual physical seeing your doctor and as I said, doing those preventative measures, to keep healthy.
Dr. Trapani: Definitely a yearly physical includes, screening blood work, such as the cholesterol, blood sugar, and also we do your weight, height and your blood pressure. And then we would decide if any of those things are abnormal and how we would address them along with discussing any cancer screenings or vaccines that might be recommended for your age.
Host: Perfect. Is there anything else you'd like to add about knowing your numbers?
Dr. Trapani: So my initial recommendation to most patients is always, live a healthy lifestyle, which includes, getting 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, which is about two and a half hours. And that's includes just brisk walking that doesn't have to be anything too hard. And then also along with that, eating a healthy diet, for example, the Mediterranean diet is typically what I recommend because that's been shown to lower risk of heart disease, stroke, lower blood sugar, and cholesterol.
Host: The Mediterranean diet being? Can you describe that in a nutshell?
Dr. Trapani: The reason I recommend the Mediterranean diet to my patients is because it has been shown to reduce risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes. Along with cholesterol numbers, and along with physical activity, this will help your health be much better. But, a traditional Mediterranean diet is based on foods available in countries that border the Mediterranean sea in Europe. The foundations of this diet include an abundance of plant type foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, olive oil as the principal source of fat instead of butter, cheese and yogurt consumed daily in low to moderate amounts, fish and poultry, such as chicken, also consumed in low to moderate amounts a few times a week, occasional red meat, but not frequently, fresh fruit for desserts instead of added sugars or processed foods.
And also the best part is a small glass of wine daily, usually with your meals.
Host: Well, that's a good reminder of what foods to focus on. Cause there's so many choices out there and they're not all healthy. So it's diet, exercise and monitor yourself, know your numbers.
Dr. Trapani: Exactly right. Amanda,
Host: Thank you, Dr. Trapani.
Dr. Trapani: Thank you for having me today.
Host: To learn more or schedule an appointment with WakeMed Primary Care visit wakemed.org. I'm Amanda Wilde with WakeMed Voices brought to you by WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks for listening.