Charlie Maxx and Kristen Herrmann interview Dr Nermin Lazarus
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00:00Hey, thanks for joining us for this special Women's Health Month chat.
00:03I'm Charlie Max with 92.5 XTU.
00:05And I'm Kristen Herman from 95.7 Vet FM.
00:08And we've got a special guest with us today from Virtual Health.
00:11It's Dr. Nermeen Lazarus.
00:13Good morning and thanks for joining us.
00:15Good morning. Thank you for having me.
00:17Well, I'm going to just jump right in front of it and get to the elephant in the room.
00:21As women, we multitask. We're good at it.
00:23There's all the balls up in the air.
00:24We're taking care of everybody's fires.
00:26And what do we do?
00:27We ignore ourselves.
00:30And in the past year, that has become so evident because we're making sure our kids are safe and healthy.
00:37We're making sure our parents are safe and healthy.
00:40We were making sure work was getting done, school was getting done at home.
00:43We've ignored our health for at least 12 months.
00:47If you're a woman this month, what should be the first couple of things you should promise yourself to do to keep yourself healthy?
00:54Well, I guess in a nutshell, we need to be a little bit selfish this year coming forward.
01:00We've taken care of everybody last year for the last several years.
01:03That's all we do is we take care of everybody but ourselves.
01:06That nagging little symptom that we kind of blow off because we have to take care of, like you said, our kids, our parents, our lives, our jobs.
01:14Now it's time to be a little bit selfish and take care of ourselves.
01:18Is there one specific test of all of the regular health care tests?
01:23I don't want to say regular because they're all important, but that we should be on most specifically.
01:28If you haven't had this done in the last couple of years, let's get it on the calendar.
01:32The annual physical is probably the most important because that's where we do all of our screenings.
01:37We did early detection, things for cancer, for diabetes, for heart disease.
01:42All of those things can be detected or searched for during the annual physical exam.
01:47So if anything, that's the one most important appointment to make.
01:50Have you had your annual physical yet?
01:53I have not, and I didn't have one last year either.
01:56No, I actually don't even have a primary care physician.
02:00So Dr. Nazareth, if you're taking on new clients, let me know.
02:04A lot of women, we go to the OBGYN, we go to our specialist if we have a problem,
02:10but a lot of women, younger women specifically, do not have a primary care physician.
02:14So before the annual physical, find a primary care physician.
02:17So I want to ask, and maybe there's not a way that you can tell this specifically,
02:22but those little nagging warning signs, you had mentioned that earlier when we started talking,
02:26you feel fatigued all the time.
02:28Maybe for some reason you've got some shoulder pain that won't go away.
02:32Women's symptoms aren't always what we read about when it comes to certain diseases or conditions.
02:38What are some of the things as women that should throw up red flags if we're feeling them?
02:43So you bring up a very good point.
02:44So women don't, you know, the studies years ago always were involved men.
02:49So they went typical, for instance, chest pain was that classic crossing substernal chest pain
02:54with shortness of breath, but women don't always get that.
02:57So if we get some nausea with the activity or if we get jaw pain with, you know, that's just not normal.
03:03We should, those are sometimes some of the red flags that we should go see a doctor about
03:07because we don't get the typical symptoms, especially for heart disease.
03:10And it's true also that you can eat right, you can eat healthy, you can exercise and still have underlying conditions.
03:17Correct. That's correct.
03:18Even the healthiest person could still have heart disease or some underlying issue.
03:22Then that's why the primary care physician is a great place to start to look for those things.
03:26I know that we need to be doing a number of different screenings throughout our lives,
03:30but I don't really know the ages that we do them.
03:33Like I know I'll eventually need a mammogram, but I don't know at what age I need to ask about that.
03:37What is kind of the timeline that we should look to for different screenings and tests?
03:42So for specifically for mammograms, so women age 40 and older, colonoscopy,
03:47they just recommended lowering the age from 50 to now 45 to screen for colon cancer.
03:54A pap test starting at age 21 for all women.
03:57And the timing varies depending on your risk factors and things.
04:01Blood pressure check, you should come in every two years at least,
04:04or if you have family history, even sooner, at least once a year.
04:09Cholesterol checks every year after the age of 50 and every few years prior to that.
04:15So things like diabetes, we have to check every three years or so,
04:19unless again, family history will be sooner.
04:22Bone density tests, we should check once at least at age 65 and every few years after that.
04:27Skin cancer checks, you should go to your dermatologist at least once a year.
04:30So good for you.
04:33It's the freckles.
04:36Right there, like that's women taking care of other women, you know.
04:40When's your appointment?
04:42Yeah.
04:42Well, let's go back to Christmas.
04:46It's funny because this last year, like we talked about, it's been different for all of us.
04:50We've done things differently.
04:52We've probably not eaten as healthy as we've liked.
04:54We've probably gained a few pounds.
04:55I'll admit I have.
04:57I get on a scale.
04:58I'm like, oh gosh, where did that come from?
04:59So I guess, Dr. Lester, my question is, should we not feel bad about that?
05:04Should we not feel, because that's more pressure that we're putting on ourselves as women.
05:08Oh, I failed.
05:09In some capacity, I didn't do it right.
05:11We should kind of maybe back off of that.
05:13Absolutely.
05:14One of the things I tell my patients, because it has been a very rough year and COVID-19 isn't
05:18just a virus.
05:19It's a weight gain for a lot of women, unfortunately.
05:21So, you know, you just have to start from scratch.
05:25Take today's time zero and just move forward because looking back does nothing, but you
05:30feel like you failed.
05:31Correct.
05:31So starting now, starting fresh, getting a good exercise and diet habits, you know, relearning
05:38how to eat with the new lifestyle that you have, the new normal, as they say, figuring
05:43out what works for you and going forward.
05:46And do not look back because it does nobody any good.
05:48So basically the box of Tasty Cakes, probably not a good idea for dinner anymore.
05:53Throw them out today.
05:55Time to have some.
05:56That's a little depressing.
05:57I still have a couple of Girl Scout cookie boxes left and I will not go those up, but
06:02I can take a little bit, some more steps there or something like that to try to combat that.
06:07At first they were like, we're not going to sell Girl Scout cookies.
06:09I'm like, we're safe.
06:10And the next thing I know you could buy them online.
06:12I was like, well, there goes that.
06:14That was a bad move.
06:16Yeah.
06:17We didn't even have to try to find them.
06:18They came to us.
06:20Oh, it's hard.
06:21It's hard.
06:22And you know, with stress, we tend to eat more.
06:24We tend to not exercise as much.
06:25The fear of going out was relevant last year.
06:28Right.
06:29If you are looking at our day zero, like you mentioned, and we're going to start a healthy
06:34lifestyle and a healthy plan, is there a guideline that you can tell us what to start with?
06:40Because you know, you can open the internet and Google and find all of these suggestions
06:44about never eating carbs again, or all you should eat is fat.
06:47Or, you know, if you have one piece of rice and a sliver of chicken, you'll lose 20 pounds
06:52in a half an hour.
06:53None of it's true.
06:54It really comes down to basic diet.
06:57So that's actually a good point.
06:58So one of the things that they say, these fad diets and things, they never work.
07:04They may all work for the short term, but they never work for the long term.
07:07And most people regain the weight and then some.
07:09So that's why they call it healthy lifestyle changes rather than a diet.
07:13Because whatever you do needs to be something you can sustain forever.
07:17It's whatever you, it can't be for the next two weeks or until the next wedding or what
07:21have you.
07:22It has to be forever.
07:24So that's why, you know, the healthy lifestyle with low fat, low carb, not no carb, not no
07:29fat, you know, is a more sustainable type of healthy diet regimen.
07:35Exercise at least 150 minutes a week.
07:37And they actually found that it doesn't have to be 30 minutes at a time.
07:40It can be in 10 minute increments, you know, in the morning and then in the afternoon.
07:45But that 150 minutes seems to be the key or more, obviously, of exercise per week, because
07:52the more you move, the more metabolism burning that you have will help.
07:58That helps with the excuses, too.
07:59If you say 10 minutes, you're all very busy, like 10 minutes, I can do 10 minutes.
08:05And even if it's just that 10 minutes that day, it's still better than not doing anything,
08:09which is, in a lot of cases, that's what I'll do.
08:11Yeah.
08:11And I try to do little things that help.
08:14Like, I'll park a little bit further away than I have to, just to get the extra steps.
08:19And I'll take the stairs sometimes if it's easier.
08:22And I know, you know, like you say, we're always pressed for time.
08:25I don't know any woman who's not pressed for time.
08:27But just to take that extra few minutes to walk around the block, when you're walking
08:31the dog, maybe go an extra half block and then come back to add in the steps.
08:36And really, not only for your health, for your mental health as well, because that's
08:40part of being a healthy lifestyle.
08:42And with women, we're carrying a lot of pressure.
08:45Right.
08:45Exercise is so important for mental health as well as physical health, for sure.
08:49Now, Dr. Lazarus, you've gone through years of schooling.
08:52You're a primary care physician at Virtua.
08:55What do you do to step away and recharge your battery?
08:59You know, I have to be honest.
09:01During COVID, it was tough for me as well.
09:02Same thing.
09:03I was very stressed dealing with my patients and having, you know, family issues with,
09:07you know, COVID and things like that.
09:09But same thing now.
09:10I started playing tennis.
09:11I started hiking.
09:13And I can't even tell you the change it has made in myself mentally and physically.
09:17I feel physically stronger, mentally better.
09:19And so I've tried to lead by example.
09:22And I'm doing those things for myself this year as well.
09:25And time zero for me was a few weeks ago.
09:28There you go.
09:29Good for you.
09:30Keep up the great work.
09:31I think that COVID has been an experience forever.
09:35I mean, just a really hard year.
09:37But it also, it made us really appreciate our health more than ever.
09:41It made us appreciate being outdoors and being able to exercise and hopefully one day be with
09:46people again.
09:47But I really think that this is a good time with May being Women's Health Month to just
09:51kind of start at ground zero.
09:53Now, I'm going to start today or maybe tomorrow.
09:55I'm going to sleep off the vaccination.
09:59Well, Dr. Lazarus, thank you again for joining us today.
10:02We appreciate your time.
10:03Any final thoughts, key things that we should be doing when we finish here?
10:07We know Kristen's going to call and get a primary care physician.
10:09What are some of the things we should do as we walk away from this today?
10:12Well, to sum everything up, really, the most important thing is find yourself a primary
10:17care physician.
10:17Make your appointment for your annual physical.
10:20Get your screenings done, your blood work.
10:23Manage your stress.
10:24Start a healthy lifestyle.
10:26Changes today.
10:28And also, you know, go to your specialist for your screenings, your pap tests, and your
10:32dermatologists, and your cardiologists if you need to.
10:35Get those testing done this year.
10:37That's your goal for this year.
10:39And it really, like, as you're listing that, it sounds like a lot, but it's not.
10:42It starts with making that appointment with your primary care physician.
10:46Correct.
10:46Dr. Lazarus, primary care physician at Virtua.
10:49I'm going to try to make an appointment with you.
10:51Thank you so much for talking with us.
10:53Thanks for all of your tips.
10:54And I will be writing some of these tips down and definitely following your advice.
10:59Thank you so much for having me.