Dr. Elizabeth Rommel shares tips for staying healthy in your 30s.
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Staying Healthy in Your 30s
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Learn more about Elizabeth Rommel, MD
Elizabeth Rommel, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Rommel is a competent practitioner serving the community of Clearwater, Florida. She is a primary care doctor and believes in in the delivery of quality patient care that focuses on patient comfort and seamless recovery. Dr. Rommel is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She earned her medical degree from the University of South Florida and completed her residency at the same institution. Dr. Rommel enjoys sharing her love for a healthy living with her patients to inspire them to reach their health goals. She shares an excellent rapport with her patients, is known for her medical knowledge and dedication. She presently practices at BayCare Medical Group.Learn more about Elizabeth Rommel, MD
Transcription:
Melanie Cole, MS (Host): When you're in your 30s, you may think you have your whole life to get healthy and make better choices about eating and exercising. However, changing your lifestyle to a healthier one really can be challenging at any age, but it seems to be a little harder for us as we get older. So what should you concentrate on in your 30s? My guest is Dr. Elizabeth Rommel. She’s an internal medicine physician at BayCare. Dr. Rommel, it’s a pleasure to have you joining us. As I said in my intro, it gets a little harder. What should we be concentrating on in our 30s that we might not think about?
Elizabeth Rommel, MD (Guest): One thing, as basic as it sounds, is just getting your blood pressure and heartrate checked. A surprising amount of people in their 30s actually may have high blood pressure. About 25% of men and 18% of women between age 35 and 44 do have high blood pressure. Then it’s a good idea to get your blood sugar checked. Obesity is on the rise so much in this country that there's a fair amount of people in their 30s that do have trouble with their blood sugar as well as their cholesterol. For women, they need to be getting their screening for cervical cancer in their 30s. Everybody needs to have the appropriate vaccines in their 30s.
Host: So I'm glad you mentioned cervical cancer. What do we need to know about getting our pap smears? Do we get one every year? If we had an HPV vaccine, do we still get it? Because I think isn’t 30 now about the age when they would have started getting Gardasil when they were teenagers. It’s almost around that time now. So are we still doing paps every year?
Dr. Rommel: Well, we’re still doing pap smears for sure even if you had the Gardasil vaccine at a younger age, but it does not need to be done on a yearly basis anymore. So once you're age 30 and if you’ve had previously normal pap smears, if you do a pap smear along with the HPV testing, then the guidelines suggest an interval between pap smears of three to five years.
Host: Well, that’s great information. Another thing that we notice is as people are in their 30s, they're starting families. They are working a job. Maybe they're buying a house or have already bought one. The stress. Mental health is a really important component of good health and wellness. What do you want us to know about stress and mental health in our 30s?
Dr. Rommel: I think as you mentioned it can be a very busy time where your hours are easily consumed with daily tasks. So I think giving yourself some time off to focus on what are the things in your life that are truly important to you, what are the priorities that are truly going to bring satisfaction?
Host: So what are some of the best ways to work on stress management? What do you want us to know about a good night sleep, good nutrition, and exercise?
Dr. Rommel: The recommendation for exercise are usually 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercise or a combination of the two. It’s good to spread that out over a week rather than just doing one to two days of the longer duration of exercise. Then incorporating some resistance or strength training as well as doing cardiovascular exercise is important. When it comes to sleep, that’s definitely another important subject. I would recommend trying to aim for seven to eight hours of sleep at night. Basic tips for getting a regular good night of sleep is having a regular sleep wake schedule, avoiding napping during the day, avoiding caffeine after noon, and watching your electronics use in the evening. Trying to cut off those screens 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
Host: Well, I'm glad you brought that up. What a good point about the screens because that’s really something people in their 20s and 30s and even beyond. Their screens are what everybody’s all about today. What do you want us to know about those and possibly whether they contribute to or help us? I mean there's a lot of good tech apps out there to help you with nutrition and with stress and with exercise. What do you think of those?
Dr. Rommel: I think there's some great technology available. You might just not want to be using it right before bedtime.
Host: Yeah. I think that that’s important. What about the dentist, Dr. Rommel? Do we have to be seeing the dentist in the 30s? We saw them when we were a kid, and then when we get older it’s crowns and fillings. What about in your 30s?
Dr. Rommel: I think it’s always a good idea to get your teeth cleaned every six months even when you're in your 30s just to avoid any dental issues later on down the line.
Host: So if we want to be our own best health advocate, and especially for women. We’re raising babies and we’re working jobs and we’re taking care of everybody else, what do you want us to know about taking care of ourselves first? We have to put our own masks on before putting on the masks of those we love. What's important for women especially to know?
Dr. Rommel: Like you mentioned it’s making yourself a priority in the midst of juggling all the other daily tasks. So making time for you to get regular exercise, making time to be able to have a nutritious dinner rather than running to a fast food restaurant, making the time to have a chance to unwind and relax with your spouse and with friends so that you're not under constant stress or pressure.
Host: I think as we wrap up, one of the more important screenings or things we can concentrate on as we think about stress and mental health is depression screening. What type of depression screening is available through primary care? What would you tell a patient that comes to you? Wrap it up for us also with your very best advice about staying healthy in our 30s.
Dr. Rommel: Well, we generally ask two basic questions when we’re screening for depression. Have you been feeling down or depressed or do you have little interest or pleasure in doing any activities. If people answer one of those questions positively, then we go forward and talk more in depth about other symptoms of depression like poor sleep, fatigue, lack of concentration. Then as people do have significant symptoms of depression, then we talk about options such as medication or counselling.
Host: Final thoughts for staying healthy in our 30s and beyond.
Dr. Rommel: I think it’s overall about finding balance in all aspects of your life with work and with home and with taking care of yourself, being able to prioritize your physical health as well as your emotional health through a balance of good sleep, good nutrition, good exercise and healthy relationships.
Host: Well, that’s great advice right there. Thank you so much Dr. Rommel for joining us today. To learn more about BayCare’s primary care services, please visit our website at baycare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Melanie Cole, MS (Host): When you're in your 30s, you may think you have your whole life to get healthy and make better choices about eating and exercising. However, changing your lifestyle to a healthier one really can be challenging at any age, but it seems to be a little harder for us as we get older. So what should you concentrate on in your 30s? My guest is Dr. Elizabeth Rommel. She’s an internal medicine physician at BayCare. Dr. Rommel, it’s a pleasure to have you joining us. As I said in my intro, it gets a little harder. What should we be concentrating on in our 30s that we might not think about?
Elizabeth Rommel, MD (Guest): One thing, as basic as it sounds, is just getting your blood pressure and heartrate checked. A surprising amount of people in their 30s actually may have high blood pressure. About 25% of men and 18% of women between age 35 and 44 do have high blood pressure. Then it’s a good idea to get your blood sugar checked. Obesity is on the rise so much in this country that there's a fair amount of people in their 30s that do have trouble with their blood sugar as well as their cholesterol. For women, they need to be getting their screening for cervical cancer in their 30s. Everybody needs to have the appropriate vaccines in their 30s.
Host: So I'm glad you mentioned cervical cancer. What do we need to know about getting our pap smears? Do we get one every year? If we had an HPV vaccine, do we still get it? Because I think isn’t 30 now about the age when they would have started getting Gardasil when they were teenagers. It’s almost around that time now. So are we still doing paps every year?
Dr. Rommel: Well, we’re still doing pap smears for sure even if you had the Gardasil vaccine at a younger age, but it does not need to be done on a yearly basis anymore. So once you're age 30 and if you’ve had previously normal pap smears, if you do a pap smear along with the HPV testing, then the guidelines suggest an interval between pap smears of three to five years.
Host: Well, that’s great information. Another thing that we notice is as people are in their 30s, they're starting families. They are working a job. Maybe they're buying a house or have already bought one. The stress. Mental health is a really important component of good health and wellness. What do you want us to know about stress and mental health in our 30s?
Dr. Rommel: I think as you mentioned it can be a very busy time where your hours are easily consumed with daily tasks. So I think giving yourself some time off to focus on what are the things in your life that are truly important to you, what are the priorities that are truly going to bring satisfaction?
Host: So what are some of the best ways to work on stress management? What do you want us to know about a good night sleep, good nutrition, and exercise?
Dr. Rommel: The recommendation for exercise are usually 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercise or a combination of the two. It’s good to spread that out over a week rather than just doing one to two days of the longer duration of exercise. Then incorporating some resistance or strength training as well as doing cardiovascular exercise is important. When it comes to sleep, that’s definitely another important subject. I would recommend trying to aim for seven to eight hours of sleep at night. Basic tips for getting a regular good night of sleep is having a regular sleep wake schedule, avoiding napping during the day, avoiding caffeine after noon, and watching your electronics use in the evening. Trying to cut off those screens 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
Host: Well, I'm glad you brought that up. What a good point about the screens because that’s really something people in their 20s and 30s and even beyond. Their screens are what everybody’s all about today. What do you want us to know about those and possibly whether they contribute to or help us? I mean there's a lot of good tech apps out there to help you with nutrition and with stress and with exercise. What do you think of those?
Dr. Rommel: I think there's some great technology available. You might just not want to be using it right before bedtime.
Host: Yeah. I think that that’s important. What about the dentist, Dr. Rommel? Do we have to be seeing the dentist in the 30s? We saw them when we were a kid, and then when we get older it’s crowns and fillings. What about in your 30s?
Dr. Rommel: I think it’s always a good idea to get your teeth cleaned every six months even when you're in your 30s just to avoid any dental issues later on down the line.
Host: So if we want to be our own best health advocate, and especially for women. We’re raising babies and we’re working jobs and we’re taking care of everybody else, what do you want us to know about taking care of ourselves first? We have to put our own masks on before putting on the masks of those we love. What's important for women especially to know?
Dr. Rommel: Like you mentioned it’s making yourself a priority in the midst of juggling all the other daily tasks. So making time for you to get regular exercise, making time to be able to have a nutritious dinner rather than running to a fast food restaurant, making the time to have a chance to unwind and relax with your spouse and with friends so that you're not under constant stress or pressure.
Host: I think as we wrap up, one of the more important screenings or things we can concentrate on as we think about stress and mental health is depression screening. What type of depression screening is available through primary care? What would you tell a patient that comes to you? Wrap it up for us also with your very best advice about staying healthy in our 30s.
Dr. Rommel: Well, we generally ask two basic questions when we’re screening for depression. Have you been feeling down or depressed or do you have little interest or pleasure in doing any activities. If people answer one of those questions positively, then we go forward and talk more in depth about other symptoms of depression like poor sleep, fatigue, lack of concentration. Then as people do have significant symptoms of depression, then we talk about options such as medication or counselling.
Host: Final thoughts for staying healthy in our 30s and beyond.
Dr. Rommel: I think it’s overall about finding balance in all aspects of your life with work and with home and with taking care of yourself, being able to prioritize your physical health as well as your emotional health through a balance of good sleep, good nutrition, good exercise and healthy relationships.
Host: Well, that’s great advice right there. Thank you so much Dr. Rommel for joining us today. To learn more about BayCare’s primary care services, please visit our website at baycare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.