Yep, it’s that dreaded time of year. Despite the fact that I feel great and don’t think anything is wrong, you never know. You hear lots of stories about a blood test or some other test that reveals something nasty and unwanted. And so, I take myself (having fasted for 12 hours for the blood tests) to my regular doctor and the cold, corporate land of “finding and fixing” medical conditions that even the best of modern medicine has become. Don’t get me wrong. If something really is wrong with me, I want my doctor and his huge New York City teaching hospital network to treat me and look after me. They are best at finding and treating issues that are emerging or have already gotten serious. But prevention is my job, not theirs. The static result of my medical exam is a bare minimum, not the optimal health I am seeking. I know lots of people who do OK on these exams yet are not nearly as healthy and/or active as I want to be. Our modern version of professional medicine has a lot to learn in regard to prevention, especially as people get older.

I’ve already told my doctor all the things I do to maintain my health in my now mid 70’s, so he knows my preventive protocols. For some of it, he rolls his eyes, like detoxing and fasting. He does agree with lots of my preventive activities, especially the exercise part. He’s also read Peter Attia’s book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, and agrees with most of it (partly because Attia is a “real doctor”), but he says, “Who has time to do all that stuff?” My answer is “I do,” and so should anyone who is serious about maintaining health and function, and wants to live as long as possible.

Doctors are real people, with subjective views and different takes on every aspect of medical subjects. I devote a whole chapter in my book to visiting 4 doctors and getting different advice from each of them as to how I can live long and stay healthy. So, who I choose to look after me on this front is also subjective. In my case, I choose to team with a good-natured doctor who pays attention to details but is clearly a hard-core medical guy in his approach. He gives me options to do things my way, in part because he recognizes I am not his typical patient at my age. Yet I’m sure he would get much stricter with his advice for me if he felt something was really wrong.

Early Detection

The purpose of these yearly check-ups is early detection, and that is what a good doctor will do. Is something different than before? Is anything bothering me? Some of it is talking and some of it is testing. In my case, he is always impressed at how active I am and surprised that I don’t need any prescription drugs to manage anything.

Yet early detection begs the question of just how early do serious conditions start? There is now a growing body of evidence that excess calories and excess sugar, combined with much lower overall movement and too much sitting and being sedentary, begins to create the preconditions for serious later-life diseases as early as our 30s and 40s! It seems that much of modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry don’t want to recognize this connection, or if they do, they will “treat” it with drugs to combat obesity, lower A1C numbers, and address high blood pressure rather than prescribe dietary changes, exercise, meditation, and other proven and effective “self” treatments.

The Results?

Whew! I can relax on this front for another year. All my tests came back optimal. Blood pressure, EKG, BMI, and all metabolic, lipid, and urinalysis panels came back within normal range. My testosterone is slightly high, which he attributes to the amount of exercise I do. My PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test was also normal, which can sometimes be a nasty surprise for men indicating prostate cancer.

While this snapshot brings relief, it is only one metric I rely on to regularly assess my health. During my daily morning routine, I check my Heart Rate Variability (HRV), pulse and blood oxygen, and check in with my visceral and emotional body to see how I feel that day, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. My own assessments are just as important as what the doctor says. My health begins with me, and I am using the medical world as my consultants, not outsourcing my health to them wholesale.