By Cleopatra Murphy

Freeport News Reporter

cleopatra@nasguard.com

As the body ages it is increasingly important to undergo regular checkups to monitor your health Dr. Stephen Avallone said.

While speaking at the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting earlier in the week Avallone, a physician with Cleveland Clinic in Florida suggested that people speak to family members about their health because it influences what will happen in their own lives.

He noted that illnesses people should be curious about include cancer, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, osteoporosis and thyroid disease.

Speaking on the topic of Health and Wellness and Preventative Medicine, Avallone said as the body becomes older it can become more susceptible to illness and therefore requires greater maintenance.

"At 40-years-old, most of us aren't kids anymore at that age and we do need to realize that we are vulnerable to certain illnesses and we have a good chance of effectively combatting two main causes of death, which are heart disease and cancer," he said.

Avallone stressed the importance of the early detection of diseases, risk factor assessment and management and preventative interventions, which he said can be instituted if doctors are aware of the status of a patient's health.

He said it is also important for individuals to eat right as they age, noting that what goes in the body should also come off it.

Avallone noted that burning calories is equally important as consuming them, adding that the older a person gets, the harder it becomes for them to lose weight.

"When you are in your 20s it comes off very easily and very rapidly. When you hit 40 plus it's going to take a little more time, a little more effort and you've got to work at it," he said.

Avallone said one pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, adding that an exercise regimen that includes walking can help to maintain a healthy weight level.

"Walking four miles an hour for 30 minutes at least four days a week should be everyone's goal," he said. "If you don't like walking you can do biking, you can do swimming, you can do elliptical machines and I recommend that you do a little bit of everything so that you don't get bored of any one thing."

He noted that the body becomes stiffer with age so it is important to maintain flexibility by stretching.

Broaching the topic of cancer, Avallone noted that one third of cancer patients suffer from smoke related cancer.

He noted that individuals under 40 should have a physical exam conducted every three years if they do not suffer from a chronic disease like diabetes, persons 40 to 50 should undergo a physical every other year and people over 50 should consider having a stress test conducted every three to four years.

Avallone noted that Cleveland Clinic's Executive Health program has had numerous success stories adding that a 56-year-old man from the U.S. Virgin Islands who had a prior history of Hodgkin's Disease is cancer free today because of early detection.

He said the man who has undergone radiation for the disease had begun having difficulty swallowing and began losing weight.

"We coordinated care with the necessary subspecialists and it resulted in diagnosing and the treatment of his esophageal cancer," Avallone said.

He noted that Cleveland Clinic attracts many patients from The Bahamas, Grand Cayman and the U.S Virgin Islands.

"Sometimes they come to us a little later than they probably should. Sometimes they are coming to us really early. I see people from Nassau coming to me in their 30s and they know that they only have to come every three or four years, but they'll come in annually. These are the types of people that are proactive in their health care," Avallone said.

He noted that in a two-month period last year, the institution had diagnosed and treated mutli-vessel coronary disease, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer, colitis and hyperparathyroidism.