An Ounce of Prevention

Healthy Living Tips for Men and Women Through the Ages of 30, 40, 50 and Beyond

By Jill Taylor

A wise man once said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” When we were children and teens, we had no idea how wonderful life was, living without a care in the world. Our 20s weren’t so bad either, if only we would have stopped stressing about finding a perfect job, settling down, becoming grown ups too quickly. But here we are, in our middle ages. Just when we finally feel comfortable in our skin and find peace, we’re hit with it: We are getting older. And with age comes an unwelcome high-risk health status. No matter how young you look or feel, the reality is that as you enter these decades, you are about to come face to face with new threats to your health.

“As you get older, your risk increases for a number of diseases,” said Dr. Arnold Mellits, an internal medicine specialist with the Laureate Medical Group, Atlanta. “For some diseases, your risk increases exponentially with each decade.”

Those diseases include heart disease, cancer and diabetes, to name a few. And the nature of the risks people face during these years is tied closely to gender. One of the more obvious examples would be breast cancer — while men can certainly be affected by the disease, it is much more common in women.

Although you can’t do much about the march of time, that doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel to Mother Nature. Many of these conditions are preventable, and experts say that vigilance during middle age can not only reduce the risk of developing disease later, it can slow the progression of existing health problems and increase the chances of finding developing
disease in the early stages.

According to Dr. Susan Tanner, of Spherios Medical Center, Roswell, your best bet on remaining healthy during middle age and beyond is to take steps early now.

“During your 30s, you may already be demonstrating some risks for disease that don’t affect the way you feel — you can begin to develop health issues that won’t have any symptoms to tip you off,” she said. “Being informed and maintaining a good relationship with your doctor can open the door to these issues being detected and corrected before they become manifested as a full-blown disease.”

Your Health in Your Thirties

If you haven’t become well acquainted with your doctor by the third decade of life, now is the time. Your personal history, including that of your close relatives, becomes a determining factor with respect to the vigilance your doctor uses to monitor your health.

“You may be predisposed to health risks simply based on your genetics,” Tanner said. “If members of your family have been diagnosed with certain diseases, then your doctor may decide to begin screening during your 30s, when otherwise you may not have undergone tests until your 40s.”

In both men and women, the risk of developing hypertension and diabetes increases with your girth and eating habits, so the scales have become more important. Unfortunately, most people are deep into career and family responsibilities by this age, and it is easy to adopt lifestyle habits that encourage weight gain. And while medications are available to help with some of these issues, the best way to take care of yourself is the old fashioned way.

“Pills are not a cure for problems created by an unhealthy lifestyle,” Mellits advised. “They won’t always work. The best approach to maintaining a healthy weight is diet and exercise.”

30 For men

Testicular cancer is most common in men under the age of 40, so not only should a testicular exam be a part of your routine physical, but you should be performing regular self-examinations as well.

“Men who perform regular self exams are going to be better able to pick up subtle changes that occur in their testicles,” Mellits said. “Changes in texture to lumps and bumps are important to notice. Cancer will feel hard, almost like bone.”

Prostate cancer is unusual in men under 40, but if you have a male relative that had prostate cancer during his 40s or if you’re black, the risk is raised and your doctor may choose to begin screening during your 30s. Prostate cancer occurring in men under 40 tends to be more aggressive, so it is particularly important to catch the disease in its early stages.

30 For Women

In addition to raising the risk of several diseases, being overweight during childbearing years can have a negative effect on fertility. Furthermore, your diet is also becoming a major factor in the future health of your bones. Osteoporosis, a disorder in which the bones become increasingly porous, brittle and subject to fracture, is caused by a loss of calcium and other mineral components and commonly strikes post-menopausal women.

“A woman’s bone density peaks around 35, so worrying about it at 49 when you have the first signs of menopause is a little late,” said Dr. Genevieve Fairbrother, a gynecologist and obstetrician with Obstetrics and Gynecology of Atlanta.

According to Fairbrother, the average diet supplies approximately 600 milligrams of calcium per day, and women should ensure that they get 1200 to 1500 milligrams to decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis later on.

By their 30s, women should be screened for cervical cancer by pap smear every two to three years, more often if they have had a positive result in the past or are known to have human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted virus that is associated with cervical cancer.

If you haven’t done so earlier, now is also a good time to perform regular self-breast examinations. By getting to know your breasts, you’ll be better able to detect changes that could be indicative of cancer.

Your health in your forties

As a general rule of thumb, the same health issues you are concerned with in your 30s apply in your 40s as well. But if you haven’t been living a healthy lifestyle in prior years, you could begin to see the effects.

Vision changes are not uncommon as people enter their 40s, so you may have noticed that reading isn’t as easy as it used to be. Annual eye exams are now a good idea.

The fourth decade of life is also the time that the thyroid, the important little gland that produces hormones that drive our metabolism, may also become less effective. “Especially in women, a decrease in effective thyroid function can cause metabolic changes that lead to weight gain,” Tanner advised. Therefore, a thyroid hormone test may be recommended by your doctor.

40 For men

According to Mellits, men are more likely to die of heart disease than anything else, and 85 percent of heart disease occurring during the fourth decade happens in men. Simple tests for high blood pressure or cholesterol may point to a need for lifestyle modifications, or, in some cases, medication to keep your heart healthy longer. Men with diabetes, hypertension or who smoke may also undergo an electron beam scan of the heart to determine their cardiovascular risk.

In addition, men over the age of 40 should begin regular screening for prostate cancer, which includes a rectal exam and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. And no, you can’t get away with the PSA test alone — unfortunately, prostate cancer is not always detected by the test, so the rectal exam is a must.

Men in their 40s may also begin to experience enlargement of the prostate, known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a common condition that causes quality of life issues, such as the need for more frequent urination.

“Many men begin to worry about prostate cancer with BPH, but the two are really not associated,” Mellits said. “As a matter of fact, most men with prostate cancer do not experience symptoms, unless the disease has significantly progressed.”

And like women, men in their 40s may also begin to experience hormonal changes, and this may be reflected in a drop in sex drive or libido.

40 For Women

Mammogram time! Yes, it is uncomfortable, but it is the gold standard in screening for breast cancer. The images the doctor collects now for your breasts will provide the baseline against which future images will be compared for subtle changes.

Women may also start to experience symptoms of perimenopause, the interval that marks the body’s transition into menopause. The levels of hormones rise and fall unevenly, causing many women to experience mood swings, menstrual irregularities and hot flashes or sleep problems. If this occurs, your doctor may recommend that you take a low-dose birth control pill to help control your symptoms.
And speaking of mood swings, many women go through these hormonal changes during the busiest time of their lives, often balancing responsibilities at home, a career and relationships with their spouse and children. According to Fairbrother depression has a huge impact on women, with up to 75 percent experiencing it at some point in life. Her take home message: Don’t soldier on — when your feelings start to impact your quality of life and ability to function, the best course of action is to ask for help.

Your health in your fifties

Just as in your 40s, your health in your 50s will require continued monitoring for the issues previously discussed. “During your 50s, the main change in maintaining good health is that vigilance becomes higher,” Mellits said. “You tend to start seeing the manifestations of poor health.”

If you haven’t done so before, at 50 you should begin screening for colon cancer. Common tests include a rectal exam or a colonoscopy, a procedure in which a special type of endoscope enables the doctor to see abnormalities in the large intestine.

50 for men

Erectile dysfunction sets in for many men during their 50s, but unlike the decade before, this condition is less likely to be due to libido/ hormonal changes and more likely associated with diseases that disturb the circulation. This underlying problem could pose a serious health risk, so it is important to tell your doctor.

50 for women

Most women experience menopause during their 50s, but don’t think you get out of a pap smear because you’ve stopped menstruating. Screening for cervical cancer remains an important part of maintaining your health.

However, you’re now at higher risk for developing osteoporosis, so now is the time your doctor may recommend bone density screening. Women at this age also have an increased risk of heart disease, and may undergo an electron beam scan of the heart to determine cardiovascular risk.

The symptoms of hormonal change continue into menopause, but there is controversy regarding the benefits and risks associated with hormone replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy had been the gold standard of treatment in menopausal treatment, not only because it alleviated bothersome symptoms, but because it offered protection against osteoporosis and heart disease. But in July 2002, a large trial demonstrated that combination (estrogen and progesterone) therapy to be associated with increased risk of conditions such as breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and dementia, and many physicians discontinued prescribing.

Today, women navigate murky waters in deciding how to approach treatment of uncomfortable menopausal symptoms. Some women turn to alternative medicine and lifestyle changes to relieve discomfort, but for others, hormone replacement therapy may still be the best alternative. To decide what’s best for you, talk to your doctor about your specific circumstances.

The Moral of the Story

Whether you are currently in your 30s, 40s or 50s, how healthy you are today has direct implications for your health in the coming years. Your best prescription for future good health is to monitor known health risks, stay physically fit, and provide your body with proper nourishment — starting now.

“For many illnesses that shorten life, patients have some personal responsibility to control,” Fairbrother said. She lists lung cancer and cardiovascular disease due to smoking, skin cancer due to sun exposure and diabetes due to obesity as prime examples.
Tanner concurred. “It’s important to ask yourself if you are doing the day-to-day basics of keeping your body running well. Are you eating good, healthy foods? Are you staying active? These are critical considerations.”

“I think a lot of people take better care of their automobiles than their bodies,” she continued. “I mean, they’ll take cars in for an oil change or tire rotation, but they don’t consider the necessity of seeing their doctor for regular check ups.”
Ladies and gentlemen, pop your hoods. Your future depends on it.

Health Tips for 30 somethings

If you have taken up walking or shooting hoops during your lunch break, pat yourself on the back. But don’t assume that you are getting the amount of
exercise you need.

Mellits recommends to his patients that they exercise at least three times a week, 45 minutes each time, and monitor their pulse rate to see how effective the exercise is. You know you’re getting a healthy workout if you hit a target heart rate of approximately 25 percent of 220 minus your age.

Likewise, now is the time to take care of other unhealthy lifestyle habits, like smoking, which sends your risk for heart disease and cancer into proverbial orbit. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer among women and the most fatal, and there’s not a good screening test for it — if you smoke, stop now.

Moles on your skin should be monitored for any changes, especially if you’ve been a sun-worshiper in the past. And make sunscreen with a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 a regular part of your routine year round, covering all portions of the skin exposed to sun. This will not only help protect you from skin cancer, but also from premature aging.

Health Tips for 40 somethings

Manage your stress load so that you don’t place your own needs last on your list of “to-dos.” Tanner points out that when you don’t take care of yourself, not only do you jeopardize your health and well being, but you’re not so great at taking care of anything or anyone else, either.

A physician, wife and mother, Tanner offers herself up as a prime example of how health can suffer when you’re too busy to pay attention.

“I was busy, busy, busy, always trying to fix everyone in the family and neglected myself,” she said. “It took a lot of pain before I got the message and made changes. But as a result, not only am I healthier today, my kids are too, much more so than when I was absorbed in my tasks.”

Health Tips for 50 somethings

Erectile dysfunction in men during the aging process is not uncommon, but don’t think that the cure is simply a matter of jumping on the Viagra bandwagon. It could actually be a symptom associated with something much more serious.

“There are two main causes of erectile dysfunction, and they are very different problems,” Mellits said. “The libido can be affected by hormonal changes, that’s true. But especially in older men, erectile dysfunction can be associated with poor blood flow, which is indicative of problems like atherosclerosis.”

If you’re over 50 and experiencing erectile dysfunction, don’t put off going to the doctor. Your body could be giving you signals that you have circulatory problems associated with heart disease, diabetes or another serious condition.