Staying Healthy Archive

Talking with loved ones about your values and wishes can help ensure you'll receive the type of treatment you want.

 Image: moodboard /Thinkstock

If you're like most people, you've avoided talking about what would happen in the event that you become unable to make your own health care decisions. But as your family and friends gather together during the upcoming holidays, consider carving out some time for an important conversation with a person you trust.

Everyone should have a health care proxy—a person who can speak on your behalf if you lack the capacity to do so. "You don't want to burden your health care proxy with difficult decisions. That's why you need to discuss the choices that you'd make for yourself," says Dr. Lynne W. Stevenson, professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the cardiomyopathy and heart failure program at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Image: Bigstock

When you're exploring a foreign country, a guide who knows the terrain well can help immensely. That's just as true when entering the foreign territory of caregiving. Here, a geriatric-care manager can provide invaluable assistance for individuals and families facing challenging care decisions.

Geriatric-care managers come from diverse backgrounds, from nursing and social work to gerontology. These professionals can help navigate the tangles of family dynamics, round up medical care and necessary services, keep medical personnel on the same page, and cut through the baffling red tape of private businesses and government bureaucracies.

Image: ASIFE/ iStock

Being overweight can lead to a host of health problems, from high blood pressure and heart disease to arthritis, gallstones, and sleep apnea. It can also contribute to foot problems in two ways.

First, excess weight contributes to the misery of common structural problems such as heel pain and arthritis. Any foot ailment is more painful the more weight you put on it. Second, excess pounds increase your chances of developing atherosclerosis, poor circulation, and diabetes — all of which can damage your feet.

Seeking treatment that allows early detection of problems can help save you from prolonged disability.

 Image: Wavebreakmedia/ Thinkstock

One of the most important means of transportation and independence protection in older age is often overlooked: the health of your feet and ankles. Maybe you can't reach your feet anymore, or you chalk up foot and ankle pain to aging. But ignoring foot or ankle problems may lead to long periods of unnecessary disability, including the loss of activities you take for granted, such as driving a car, carrying groceries, or playing with your kids or grandkids outdoors. "Unfortunately, it remains common that people seek our care too late—long after we are able to have the substantive impact we are used to providing," says Dr. Christopher DiGiovanni, chief of foot and ankle surgery at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Overlooked problems

Prevent problems now

A doctor shows up on your computer or smartphone, not your doorstep. Should you try it?

Image: AndreyPopov/ Thinkstock

Getting a doctor's advice no longer requires a visit to the exam room. Thanks to videoconferencing applications (apps) for smartphones, tablets, and home computers, you can experience a virtual visit with a physician at any time, day or night. "The convenience factor is striking. You're home sick, and 24/7 you can see a doctor on your electronics," explains Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, an internist and a Harvard Medical School researcher who studies new ways of delivering health care.

Not just a fad

When to try a visit