University of Wyoming

What Will Keep You Well?

By Dan Radosevich, M.D.

SHS Staff Physician

Which health care breakthrough will prove to provide college students with the greatest increase in the number of healthy years of life?

Will it be the conquest of AIDS? How about implementation of the recently completed

Human Genome Project? Will the answer come from the field of embryonic stem cell research?

I think the answer is: None of the above.

I think that we already know most of what needs to be known to improve the health of American society as a whole. The next truly great “breakthrough” for medicine will occur when people start implementing that which we already know are effective, healthy strategies for living.

The following thoughts are offered in the spirit of sharing with you information that you may find useful, and which we often don’t have time to fully discuss during clinic visits. If any of the items piques your interest, please feel free to make an appointment with one of the Student Health Service medical staff, such that we might discuss any or all of your concerns.

Radosevich’s Recommendations for Preserving Your Health

1. Don’t drink and drive. Nothing kills more young adults than the lethal combination of ethanol consumption and the operation of a motor vehicle.

2. Be very circumspect regarding the use of alcohol in general. The four leading causes of death in adults between the ages of 18 and 39 are:

A. Motor vehicle crashes C. Suicide

B. Homicide D. Injuries (non-motor vehicle)

Each on the above list is *often precipitated* by use of alcohol. The surest way to stay alive to celebrate your graduation is to avoid alcohol. Ethanol is usually in the mix if there’s misbehavior on campus.

3. Don’t keep loaded, unlocked guns in your house, apartment, or room. Time and again, the weapon intended for self-defense is used to kill or injure someone other than a criminal perpetrator. Usually a child, a friend, or the owner himself is the one who is shot.

4. Try to get some aerobic exercise most days of the week; the more, the better. Walking or running 5 miles per day is powerful medicine that can prevent or treat obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and coronary artery disease.

5. Try to maintain a reasonable body weight through a combination of exercise and a prudent diet. The easiest way to decrease caloric intake is to limit food that is obviously high in fat content. Make whole grains, vegetables, and fruit the mainstay of your diet. Many diets are touted, but any diet will succeed if daily caloric intake is less than daily caloric expenditure.

6. Use good discretion with regard to sexual behavior. Have respect for yourself and others. Issues to consider may include possible pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, legal issues, and heartbreak.

7. Don’t smoke cigarettes. The paradox is that cigarettes don’t greatly affect health until long after the young adult years. Cruelly, they’ll cripple you long before they kill you. It’s better to quit while you’re young. Help is available to you at wy.quitnet.com.

8. Wear a helmet while riding a bicycle or motorcycle. Consider all the effort you’ve invested in your education by improving your mind. Don’t risk brain injury by striking your unprotected head.

9. Get recommended medical screening tests. For example, having regular Papanicolaou testing is an effective intervention for a woman to reduce her likelihood of developing cervical cancer. Have your blood pressure and weight checked every year. Each adult should have his/her cholesterol and triglyceride level checked every five years beginning at about age 25. If you have a family history of high cholesterol, consider having screening at an even younger age.

10. Take advantage of available immunizations:

Influenza (“Flu Shot”): Prevents a truly horrible respiratory infection. Get immunized every year before Halloween.

Hepatitis B: Prevents a blood-borne viral liver injury. Everyone should consider receiving the Hepatitis B series.

Varicella (“chicken pox”): Anyone who hasn’t had a verifiable case of chicken pox in the past should consider immunization. This is especially important for women who may become pregnant.

Hepatitis A: Prevents liver injury from a contaminated water/food source. Consider this vaccine if you travel much to areas where Hepatitis A is endemic, such as equatorial, developing countries.

Meningococcal (“Meningitis Shot”): Recommendations regarding this vaccine have been in flux over the past years. The most recent recommendations are that freshman students who are living, or will be living, in residence halls (i.e. dorms) should receive this immunization. Immunization may prevent a rare but very severe form of bacterial meningitis.

Tetanus/diphtheria: Everyone should have a booster every ten years.

11. Think twice… then think a third time, about allowing your skin to be pierced or tattooed. The current fashion will surely soon come to pass. Needles can transmit Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV.

THE PUNCH LINE: If I could distill everything I know about medicine and the preservation of health into a single, short sentence it would be: Get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily, and don’t drive a motorized vehicle after drinking alcoholic beverages.

Most of the information in this essay can be found in various, eclectic sources, but here are some websites that provide sound information:

The “Go Ask Alice” website, hosted by Columbia University has a great deal of pertinent health information.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/

The Centers for Disease Control (”CDC”) is a compendium of information maintained by an agency of the federal government.

http://www.cdc.gov/node.do/id/0900f3ec80059b1a

“Wyoming Quitnet” is a state agency that is dedicated to help you quit using any type of tobacco product.

http://wy.quitnet.com/

Cordially,

Dan Radosevich, M.D.

What Will Keep You Well?

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