Editor’s Note: Healthy Resolutions: 2014

Items related to health and well-being appear on many lists of New Year’s resolutions. Here is a simple list of “to-do’s” to help you take optimum care of your health in 2014:

First, be sure that all your screening tests are up to date—mammogram, colonoscopy, skin and gynecologic exams. Also, a lung CT scan is now recommended if you are or were a smoker in the past 15 years and you are between the ages of 55 and 79.

Second, update and check your vaccine schedule—if you’re over 50, the Zostavax (shingles) vaccine is recommended, and if you are over 60, a pneumonia vaccine is advised every 10 years. If you have unique health risks, such as hepatitis C, or you are a frequent overseas traveler, consider getting a hepatitis vaccination too.

Third, do a medication examination—all prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and supplements too. Check the labels to make sure they have not gone past the expiration date. Also, be sure to keep all medications

in heat-proof cabinets; non-expired medications that have been stored in a steamy bathroom or near a hot stove or oven and are over a year old should be discarded. If you have a travel medication kit, be sure those medications haven’t expired and that you have emergency supplies of all your prescription medications on hand. If you have been taking the same dosages of certain supplements, such as calcium and vitamin D, for years, talk with a health care provider about the dosages that are appropriate for you; for some supplements, recommendations have changed.

Last but not least, yearly physical examinations are a great time to take stock of your medical risks and revise your prevention strategies. In spite of the controversy about yearly physical examinations, I remain in favor of these. A yearly exam also gives you the opportunity to review your medications (including supplements) and lifestyle habits (diet/exercise), report any changes to your physician, ask any health-related questions you have, and learn about any new developments that might be of benefit to you.

—Editor-in-Chief Orli R. Etigin, MD

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