Doctor, Protect Thyself With These Tips
Often in the drive to provide the best care for patients, we physicians are quite neglectful in caring for ourselves. But never has there been a more important moment in history to give ourselves better care than during this pandemic.
I use a memorization technique that I call The Good Health Code of 18. Add up the following numbers for an arithmetic goal and a mnemonic device to help healthcare professionals maintain their own good health over the long term.
- One – Go screen-free for at least one hour before bedtime each night. The blue light emitted from phone and computer screens suppresses the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and disrupts much needed rest.
- Two – Limit red meat to no more than two meals each week and focus on boosting immunity by consuming more of the vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables.
- Three – Strive for at least three vigorous exercise sessions of 25 minutes each per week, plus two muscle-strengthening activities, meeting CDC recommendations for adults. Jogging, bicycling and rowing are good examples of vigorous activities that can improve circulation of immune cells during and afterward for several hours.
- Five – Aim to reduce stress over the next five weeks by finding and implementing a tried-and-true program of mindfulness training and meditation. A brand-new study has found that a self-care mindfulness program assigned to 78 healthcare professionals for such a duration significantly reduced scores on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), compared to a control group. Check out what Duke Integrative Medicine offers.
- Seven – Allot yourself a minimum of seven hours of sleep nightly. Eight hours is even better. On those hopefully rare occasions when it's just not possible, half-hour naps can be highly restorative and immunity building as well.
Bottom line: A direct relationship exists between stress and a decreased ability for the body to fight infections and COVID-19. Managing stress will help you resist infection now and abate chronic conditions later.
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Neil H. Baum, MD is medical advisor to Vanguard Communications and author of two books: Marketing Your Clinical Practice - Ethically, Effectively, and Economically, now in its 4th edition, and The Complete Business Guide to a Successful Medical Practice.
Dr. Baum has been dubbed "Dr. Wiz" for his love of magic and his urology specialty practice.
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