Prioritizing Physical Activity for Your Health and Advocacy for Your Healthcare[Podcast Series]
[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Archelle Georgiou
Dr. Archelle Georgiou is a physician, podcaster, former healthcare executive and journalist.
[1:07] Clinician perspective on healthy aging
“And that's striking to me, because our bodies early in our lives are pretty consistent, and then later in our lives are not. And so I have to believe that in between, it's about how we live our lives, and that's important.”
[2:17] Starting healthy aging early
“If you really want to impact it, you have to be thinking about it much earlier in your life, because it is the environment you expose yourself to, how you live your life, your lifestyle, what your priorities are, that make a difference about how you're going to age when you're in those advanced years.”
[3:48] Teaching health literacy
“It is just as important to be literate in health as it is to be literate in science and math and English and all of those other very important subjects, and yet we don't have an infrastructure in the country and a method in the country to do that.”
[7:13] Learning how to advocate for your health
“I explain that learning how to advocate for your own health is not a skill that we develop as we age and as we have chronic illness. And it is a set of skills that one has to learn. They're not innate and they're not natural, especially in the paternalistic healthcare world that we live in.”
[11:10] Establishing that patients and clinicians are on a level playing field
“Clinicians and patients are on a level playing field when it comes to your health. We have to have that mindset in order to move forward.”
[15:28] The importance of community in Blue Zones
“And so what the striking thing I saw, besides aging individuals who were incredibly strong and alert and awake and just so vibrant. But it was that the community didn't segregate itself into age demographic groups where the young people hung out and the old people hung out and people were isolated. It was all one, and that actually is one of the core elements of the Blue Zones, is that there is community.”
[20:38] Moving naturally as part of healthy aging
“I've been to Ikaria many times. I have never once seen a piece of exercise equipment or a facility called a gym at all. They might exist. I certainly haven't seen them, and that's because they don't work out. They just move naturally because of the, of the type of life that they live.”
[23:39] Making a difference in your health
“I do try to frame everything through the lens of what can you do to make a difference in your health given this topic.”
[29:08] Prioritizing physical activity for your health
“I think the most important piece of news you can use for health is that physical activity is the single most important thing that you can do for your health. Hands down, no question. Nothing holds a candle to the impact of physical activity on your health.”
