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Worst Health Mistakes Young People Make

— YouTuber and physician Dr. Mike talks about misconceptions Gen Z, millennials have about health

MedpageToday

In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by "Dr. Mike" on social media, discusses common health pitfalls in young people.

Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):

Varshavski: Being a board-certified family medicine physician, I treat patients of all ages. But I have noticed a disturbing trend amongst my young patients where they have some significant misconceptions about their health that I want to debunk right now. Huge thanks to Aflac for sponsoring this video. Let's get started. Peewoop!

Young people rely on urgent care far too often and that's not to say that there is an inherent problem with urgent cares. They are actually a valuable tool that we use in the healthcare system to decrease the strain that has been put on emergency rooms. However, receiving urgent care is not the same thing as receiving primary care. Because when you develop a relationship with a primary care physician, you see them over the course of your life through multiple visits. That establishes something that's known as continuity of care, where the doctor gets to know you, gets to know your symptoms, what's normal, what's not, what medications you prefer, and do you even prefer taking medications. Therefore, the outcomes are consistently better when you have good continuity of care.

There is this belief that if you take the right vitamin or the right IV drip, or eat a lot of superfoods, that must mean you're healthy. When we are talking about health, it's not about one nutrient or one type of calorie. It's about a holistic image of your health. If you are eating perhaps a diet rich in healthy foods, that's one part of the equation. But if you're then shorting yourself on sleep by getting 4 hours every single night, you're actually going to have negative health outcomes because health is multifactorial. All of those things have to happen in combination in order to get good-quality outcomes. That's why I frequently say you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Both have to happen if you're looking to lose weight.

On the flip side of the equation, some young people think that they can buy good health by doing unnecessary screenings, blood tests, maybe even peptides or whatever it is on the market. But the reality is many of these things, if not all, are unproven, so at best they won't work and at worst they'll hurt you. There is actually evidence coming out showing that many of these substances can cause harm. Antioxidants that are used to decrease the risk of inflammation and cancer, when taken in too high of quantities, can actually cause an increased risk of cancer. Again, these are just preliminary studies, but it's important to know that there is no such thing as a shortcut for good health.

Seeing a subspecialist for even the most simple of conditions. Now, look I know fully well as a primary care physician that a cardiologist can treat elevated blood pressure. I know that an ear, nose, and throat [ENT] surgeon can treat a sore throat, but why would they? They have very busy schedules that are reserved, in the ENT's case for surgery, and in the cardiologist's case for complex cardiologic conditions. Use primary care to your advantage. We're trained in the most common conditions. We're trained to know when to escalate care to a specialist. Allow us to guide you to give you the best care. In fact, if I had to round up the number of patients I see specifically for high blood pressure alone or sore throats, it's probably going to be higher than the subspecialists themselves.

The notion that looking healthy on the outside means you're healthy on the inside is not always true. If you look good on the outside, you could still have terrible mental health. People don't know that's an invisible medical condition. You could look great on the outside, have great numbers on the scale, for example, but then on the other hand have terrible cholesterol numbers and terrible blood sugar numbers. When I say terrible, I mean terrible for the potential risks that can then decrease the length of your life as well as the quality of your life. Instead of assuming just because you look good, that must mean everything is OK, work with your doctor, go in for a preventive visit, and figure out if truly everything is all optimized.

"Who wants to live until 100 anyway?" I have heard my own nephew say this.

Steven: Do you understand that logic?

Varshavski: The reality is it's not just about the length of life, which by the way becomes more and more important as you age -- because everyone wants to continue living -- and then second of all it's also about the quality of your life. Yes, it may be true that not even the majority of smokers will get lung cancer, but the huge majority of long-term smokers will develop conditions that will hurt quality of life. Quality of life really means the enjoyment of life, being able to be independent, being able to go out with your friends, interact with others, have a healthy cognitive state so you could play games or whatever your most favorite hobby is.

One of the main reasons I'm so passionate about this topic is because of Aflac's new wellness survey. You see, Aflac commissioned a survey amongst U.S. adults between ages 18 to 65 to better understand their relationship with their doctors and the rest of the healthcare system. The results, well, they are sort of as I expected. The majority of young people like Gen Z and millennials reported using urgent care primarily for their health needs. It's not just a pattern I have noticed in my practice, it's happening all across the U.S. I just explained why relying on urgent care to provide primary care isn't a great idea.

Another alarming trend from the survey? Men are less likely to visit the doctor. Fellas, this isn't great news. I know logistically it can be difficult to find time to visit your primary care doc and it could mean taking time off of work, which is a headache, believe me, I get it. But ignoring a health concern might just be making the problem worse and creating more expensive series of medical visits down the line.

Oddly enough, one of the most effective ways to get people to visit the doctor? A gentle nudge from a friend or loved one. Seriously, the survey found that the majority of people not only felt a friendly and loving push convinced them to visit the doctor, but that it resulted in positive health outcomes and they were glad about the recommendation in the first place. We don't need to shame people, but simply reminding your friends and family about the importance of getting things checked goes a really long way. Aflac is encouraging people to take control of their health by prioritizing proactive care, preventive screenings, and routine medical exams. It's truly about getting ahead of problems.

Watch the video above for more.

, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 12 million subscribers.