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This is Your Health First, the most beneficial health program on radio with doctor Joe Balati. During the next hour, you'll learn about health, wellness, and the provention of disease. Now here's your host, doctor Joe Bellotti.
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All right, So on the program tonight, I had been overseas on vacation for a couple of weeks.
My wife and I.
We went to Austria and Switzerland and marvelous vacation. But there was a very very important issue that I not that I learned because I was always aware of this and my wife has always been in a loving way harping on this to say that to travel nowadays, you have to be in pretty good darn shape. It seems as if the airports are getting bigger and longer, and man, you got to really be in good shape. And so to talk about this, we're going to spend a good
part of the program tonight. We have a physical therapist that's going to be coming on Alison to hang and we're going to talk about the state of the human We're going to talk about issues that are going to make your vacation less than a vacation, and of course, strategies to make you perform better or you know what you need to think about. Because all of my patients we talk and we get to know them, and some of them are coming up to retirement age and they're like, yep,
I when I retire, I am going to travel. But they're not thinking that they are overweight, have diabetes, and they have heart disease. And here you are a sixty five year old man or woman lugging a twenty pound carry on schlepping through airports around the world or locally. You don't have to go to the other side of the world, but it puts into perspective that you have to be in pretty good shape to travel nowadays. So we're going to we're going to get to get to
that shortly. The other thing I want to talk about here just for a few minutes, And as many of you know, I am a hepatologist.
I take care of people with liver disease.
And one of the conditions is alcohol related liver disease. And yesterday I participated in a really marvelous conference that one of my colleagues put on at Euston Methodist Hospital, and we'll be talking about that more in the weeks to come about alcohol, not so much alcoholism, but alcohol related liver disease. And a couple of things have changed in the world of alcohol. We no longer call it alcoholic livid disease. We call it alcohol related liver disease.
Because when you say you've got alcoholic liver disease, that word alcoholic carries a bad connotation and really doesn't make people feel comfortable. So we've shifted in some of the terminology to say alcohol related hepatitis, alcohol related liver disease, and the main thing at this conference there were some marvelous national and international experts talking and there are many many new therapies that we have in the realm of alcohol related liver disease. But the key thing is timing.
These medications and therapies work far better when we get these patients under our watchful eye, typically in the ICU, on a timely basis. But what we see all of us in liver disease, we see patients literally sitting in ICUs or hospital beds, not getting the care they need because many in healthcare and this is a sad thing, but it is true they feel as if the person that has alcohol related liver disease code name, you're an alcoholic.
This is a self induced problem, and so we're going to punish you and not give you opportunities to get the care you need. So this is where families, relatives need to advocate for these patients. And so the message tonight before we take this break, if you have a loved one with alcohol related livid disease and they're not getting the attention they need, reach out to me. Well, no matter where you are we will get you situated
at a center that is a bit more progressive. All right, we're going to take a quick break on doctor Joe Galotti. Doctor Joeglotti dot com is our website. Stay tuned, we'll bright back. Welcome back everybody, Doctor Joe Galotti.
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That is our goal, our goal, all right, As I was saying earlier my wife and I were traveling through Austria and Switzerland. And you know I've said before, and I wrote an article about this in the newsletter.
A couple of weeks ago.
We will always take what I would say is an active vacation. We're not really sitting by a pool or a beach. We are out hiking and exploring and doing all kinds of active stuff. But you have to be in pretty good shape to do this, and what that means means a lot of different things to different people. And so tonight we have Alison Tahang.
She is a physical.
Therapist with Burcutt Physical Therapy here in Houston, Texas, and we're going to have Allison shed a little light and reality on all this. So Alison, thanks for coming on tonight and being part of the program.
Thanks for having me, doctor Glotti. I'm happy to be here.
Well, we should say that you were sitting quietly in the studio Free Week a few weeks ago when your son Jack was here as a guest budding future medical student. I hope, and so I think when we left, I said we got to get you on, Allison.
So here you are a few weeks later.
Yeah, here I am. It's fun to be on the other side of this and get to share a little bit about what I do in my perspectives on travel.
Yeah, it really, it really is interesting. And as I was saying earlier, the night is for all this is. You know, we had a trip that we just finished the other day through Austria and Switzerland, and it was a very active vacation, a lot of touring around and going up cathedral steps and climbing up mountain sides, and it really takes a lot out of you. So from your perspective as a physical therapist, first of all, why don't you just spend moment explaining what a physical therapist is.
Let's keep it real simple.
What what is it?
What is one?
Wow?
So as a physical therapist, it's it's my job to talk to my patients and find out what their impairments are, what they are not able to do physically, and then figure out ways to help them recover from those impairments and get back to doing what it is that they want to do.
Right now.
I would say that most physical therapy clinics or facilities, they may specialize in different types of injuries, different types of patients. But at the thirty thousand foot view and the years that you've been a physical therapist, is it possible to declare what the state of witnesses with the adult population here in the United States? And again, you're seeing a slightly jaded population in that they're.
Coming to you.
They may have had some sort of surgery, they had a chronic illness about infection, a stroke, et cetera. But by and large, what are you seeing as far as the state of the physical fitness of the patients you're working with.
Well, I think the typical American is probably in denial about the actual physical shape they are in. You knows, as we work, and we work and we work, we become more sedentary, and we come for a really long time, and then we dream of these vacations or even if it's just a trip, you know, one hundred miles down the road Disney family. We dream of these.
Events, and then when we get out there, we go, oh, my gosh, I'm in a different environment. They're the streets are uneven, they've got stairs, they've got steps, the curbs or even different heights than what I'm used to at home, right, and things just get hard, and I think we don't we envision ourselves or my patients envisioning themselves is being able to do everything they've always been able to do, right.
And so there's there's a level of denial about our physical fitness states, right because you know, for the most part, we don't put ourselves out there.
No, we really we you know, we don't.
And as I've said so many times before, patients when we're having a conversation about their illness or we're talking about the plan of care we have for them or their future aspirations, I would say almost everybody that is in and around that retirement age now it may be fifty five, it may be seventy. One of the things they will always say is we want to travel. You know, some will throw in I want to go fishing, I want to do more hunting, you know, all kinds of things.
I just want to sit home and watercolor whatever you want to do. But I'd say at least fifty percent of the patients say they want to travel, and you look at them to say, man, you have poorly controlled diabetes, you're overweight, you have some underlying heart disease. Traveling is
going to be tough. Now, my travel or your travel, Allison, may not be the same as theirs that they want a more pedestrian type of travel, but even traveling through the airport is a bear, and that that really is what sort of you know, triggered me to think about this. So is it fair without throwing the entire population under the bus here? And that's not my goal or to belittle anybody. Can you say that the patients you're seeing
may be more chronically ill today than fifteen twenty years ago. Y, Absolutely, most people do have a chronic illness or.
I hate to say, a burgeoning chronic illness, that something that might be coming along that they're not aware of. And then they try to travel and man, they're short of breath or they've got to drag a suitcase with them and they have a backpack or a handbag and a jacket and just juggling those items becomes really difficult. And then you're jostled around by all of the crowds, right the airport agents are yelling at you to get
on the plane. You know, even walking down the air the line, the aisle, right, the aisle of an airplane can be a challenge when you're you're finagling all of your equipment.
Right, and you know people don't you know, we could talk a little later about you know, what fitness means with agility and balance and things like that. But you know, nowadays, you know, like you said, walking from the back of the plane to the front to use the lavatory bathroom, whatever you want to call it, it's it's not easy and you need and you need that balance and sort of agility.
M That's true even in a in an environment where it's dark outside or it's poorly lit. And if you have balance challenges, right, you're you're going to be at a disadvantage. Yeah, no it it probably don't even realize it or there Yeah, you get into that spot.
And the other The other real point here in the message for everybody listening tonight is that it is so important.
If you are forty, forty five, fifty, and.
You have these aspirations of you know, working till you're sixty or sixty five or seventy, you have to start investing in your health now, not only so that you can avoid all these chronic diseases, but you have in a sense the freedom to do what you want when it is time to throw it all in.
And just go and have fun. What's your thought on that?
Oh? I think you know, if your goal is to travel, then you've got to be in top shape. Now you've got to get started, and you're not even get started. You need to continue being in good shape in your forties and fifties and keep working on that throughout your sixties and seventies, right that you're able to do those
things that you dream of. Exactly, A lot of people find it's too late to build up that endurance to have the stamina, the reserves that's required just to walk through the airport right much less you know, figuring out a train.
Station right right.
No, No, it's so true, and you know, to me, it is just so sad that people work their entire life and then they can't really enjoy the fruit of all their labor. Okay, Allison, we are going to take a quick break news, weather, traffic. I guess we'll hear about the astros as well. We're going to take a break right now. I'm doctor Joe Galotti. Don't forget doctor Joegalotti dot com.
We'll be right back.
Welcome back, everybody, doctor Joe Galotti. So glad you're able to join us tonight on your Hell first every Sunday between seven and eight pm. And on the line tonight is Allison Tahang. She is a physical therapist with bur Cut Physical Therapy here in Houston, Texas.
You know, Alison.
The name of that song is pretty Woman Walking. Well, it's pretty woman and the line is walking down the street with a walker or cane. Hopefully that's not what we see too much. I got you there.
We see it all the time, I know.
So tell tell everybody a little bit about burke Cut Physical Therapy.
What kind of work you will do there?
Okay?
Well, Birket Physical Therapy was started about ten years ago Cam Burkett. She started the clinic working in the female pelvit health arena and including you know, helping women with incontinent issues and then pre and postpartum issues, and they started working with men who'd had have some pelvic floor challenges as well. We do some orthopedics. We work with women who have had breast cancer and her challenged with lympedema issues.
Wow.
And then we also work in the vestibular arena. I'm a certified vestibular therapist and I work with people.
Now wait, wait, wait, wait, vestibular the everyone's sitting wait a second.
Vestibular. I can't even spell it. What is vestibular?
So your vestibular system is part of your inner ear and it controls your balance. Right, So your balance is controlled by your vision, your inner ear, and the sensation or the appropriate reception in your.
Feet mm hm.
And so these how they your ability the world and stay upright?
Well, that's all important. We don't want anybody to fall.
So just to recap what what really was the start of this discussion was recent travel overseas and the travel through the airport I found was really excessive this this trip and my wife and I have traveled all over, but for both of us to look at each other.
And say, what the heck is going on here with the airport travel.
So we flew's from Houston to Chicago O'Hare and then we had to switch terminals. Now I don't know if it was the E terminal, the F terminal, whatever it was,
but the international terminal. We had to walk from where we were and we were trying to be smart about it, and we carried on our luggage, so we had probably thirty five pound bag wheelie bags with a carry on walking the length of o haare Then they tell us we have to go down a flight of stairs, no elevator, no escalator, carrying this bag down a flight of stairs, to then walk out further onto a bus, get it onto the bus, and then only to have to carry
it further to get to the gate. And even for someone that I would think is in pretty good shape, this was pretty demanding.
Now on the way home, it was no better.
Walking from the airport in Boston. It was about two and a half to three miles of walking through the terminal to get to our car at the end of the day. So, Allison, this is certainly a bit of a stress test. I'm sure that many people you work with that don't work walk more than a quarter of a mile a day. What are your thoughts on the dream of travel but having to get through the stress test of these big airports we all go to.
I mean it's hard, right. You look at that and you go, who can do these things right at this time in our lives, especially someone who has retired and is ready to get up and go, And they realize, Man, I don't know how that get up and go anymore. And you know airports. Airports are enormous, and then you
also are dealing with all the people. And in the United States, I can say airports have the walking sidewalks, and they have the little shuttle lands, and they have people who can, you know, get to a wheelchair and push you back and forth to the gate. But you know, if you're going to go travel abroad or travel across the country, you don't want to have to deal with
that stuff. So you've got to know in advance of your trip that you can handle just getting through the airport before you can even dream of handling your vacation exactly now. And that takes a big.
Toll on people, No, it does, and I and and I would also say the added sort of wild card here is you're under stress.
You're rushing.
It's not so much, Hey, take a very casual walk out to the mailbox and back, or walk your dog, and you know you're getting some exercise. It is now your late there is pressure. People are pushing you. It's loud, and I think that adds another really physiologic stress on your heart and your lungs and you know your muscles. Now for somebody that is going to be traveling that may have back or knee or hip trouble. What advice
might you have? And the next the next segment, we're going to talk more about sort of prevention, but what what strategy that they need to have if they are going to travel and have to deal with stairs and walking up hills and long airport runs.
Well, I mean, first you've got to exercise, and you've got to get yourself in a place where you are as painfree as possible, right, you know, so that you can tolerate climbing the stairs and running down the terminal. We've all had to do that. You know, our flights are late and we have to run, and you know, you've got your furniture, your furniture, you've got your luggage and family members and you might have kids, your grandkids, and it's a huge cognitive stress on you as well
about your galatia. And I think that's something we haven't even mentioned, is the physical stress, but also the cognitive stress. You know, you're you're in your seventies and you're retired, and you know your brain's not working quite as fast as it used to. Those neurons aren't firing, not at all. You throw all that stress into the bucket and you could set yourself up or just a big oops.
Yeah, no, of course, no, no, exactly before we take the break here, Alison, in the clients that you're working with, that you are in that active face of rehab, does anybody tell you or ask, Look, we are going on a cruise, we are going to a national park. Am I fit to do this? Does that conversation ever come up in the process of being rehabbed?
Sure? That's what it's the most fun as a physical therapist. If I have a specific goal that a patient wants to prepare for, I can tailor my treatment to address those. So I might be able to use a rocker board if someone's going to be on a cruise ship and they can stand on it and rock back and forth and work on their balance, or we can work on stairs from time to time. But that's what makes being a physical therapist fun.
Is preparing people for those absolutely. Sure, yeah, no, I think that would be very rewarding. All right, Alison, one final break coming up here. We're going to be getting into a little bit more prevention and how you all need to look at yourselves from a physical, physical therapy standpoint. I'm dot to Joe Glotti Your health First.
Stay tuned back in a minute.
Welcome back, everybody, final segment of this.
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I do want to say one thing.
This show is constantly fact checked, and my wife sent me a message to say, what are.
You talking about?
Carry ons are thirty five pounds? She said they're generally fifteen to twenty five pounds. So I correct that, even though I feel like I'm carrying a thirty five to forty pound carry on. And we're on with Alison to hang with Burhut Physical Therapy. Alison, are you a heavy packer or a light packer or do you check your bag every time?
I am a heavy packer and I do both. Sometimes I carry on and sometimes I check.
Well.
On this trip, my wife and I thought we were not so much being bright about it, but on the first leg from Houston to Austria, we had our you know, we carried on our bags, one sort of medium sized bag we put in the overhead. On the way home, we checked the bag because we knew what a hassle it was lugging this thing through the airport. We knew there was going to be a connection, and so we
just we just modified that. So in the in the final few moments here, Allison, you know, my thoughts are for everybody listening, what can we do to be proactive? And really the name of the game with everything health
and wellness related it is being proactive. So I look at this as whether you are taking a trip to Disney, which requires a heck of a lot of walking, going to Europe or other parts of the world, you're taking a cruise, you're going camping, strategies for stamina, strategies for strength, and what would you say is a relatively simple way anybody tonight listening could do some sort of a self assessment to you know, identify you know, problems that could be unmasked when they go travel.
Sure, well, you know we say it all day long at our clinic. Is it exercise is your medicine?
Right?
Exercise can cure so many things and make so many things better, And so I can't stress that enough. You know, you've got to put yourself in good shape in order to enjoy and experience the life that you want to have. Right, a good test to see how you're doing the easiest one. Can you get up from the floor? Can you get up from the floor without using your hands? Can you get up from the floor using your hands or do
you require furniture? Do you need to be able to get yourself to a chair to help you stand up from the floor. That that is a huge test of strength, range of motion, balance, everything that you need in order to address the day to day challenges of travel. You know you need to be able to climb stairs. Sure, you need to be able to climb stairs that might not be the same height or depth, that might have a railing, that might not have a railing. Those can
throw some some wrenches in your plan. If you want to go up and see, you know, whatever it is up at the top of the stairs, you've got to be able to get there exactly. Can you reach overhead and maybe not just reach a head? Can you lift something over your head so it is your carry on and you need to get that up in the bend above your seat. Can you lift something over your head and not lose your balance. The last thing you want to do is lift up your suitcase and have it
fall on somebody else. So you need to be able to do those sorts of things. As a balanced therapist, I'm going to add in, you need to be able to do all of those things in the dark or in poorly lit areas. We use, we use our vision, We use our eyes a lot for helping us maintain our balance. And the world, you know, the light changes. You're going from a bright indoors to a dark outdoors or the other way around, and you're you've got to adapt your vision quickly, and just.
That can throw off your balance right exactly, So.
Yeah, you need to be able to do these functional tasks. Walking is super important, and you know, exercise is not hard to come by. You can walk in place in your house, you can walk up and down steps, you can walk around the neighborhood. There are hundreds of free exercise classes online exactly. The YMCAs have their Silver Sneakers program which are fantastic, and I think you know, some
insurances even cover different exercise programs at different facilities. So not being able to exercise is a poor, poor, poor excuse exactly.
Now, you know, I think stretching is underrated and underdone. Thoughts on that and even for preparation to say, yes, we are going on a cruise, a vacation, to Disney trip whatever in two to four weeks. In addition to you know, more walking, going upstairs, getting some strength, working on your nutrition, which is a whole other topic, what about stretching, because you know, the more limber you are, the more you'll be able to stretch and reach and move your your joints around.
That's very true. Stretching always makes you feel better. It prepares you for the exercise or the activity at hand, and it helps you recur from whatever exercise that you did. Yeah, if you don't have the ability or the range of motion in your ankles, your knees, your hips, your shoulders that you used to have, you're going to be limited in the activities that you want to do.
Right right now, you know, stretching feels good.
It's a great way to calm down, calm your system, and recover from what you've just taken on the weekend warrior or whatever.
And I would say throw in for extra credit a good deep muscle massage as well. Now, a lot of my patients when we bring up going on an extended trip, and I will not inhibit them from going, but I would just give them a little fair warning to say, buyer, beware, make sure you pay attention to steps and strength and all this other stuff. A lot of them will tell me, no, no, no, don't worry, doctor GILLOTTEI I got it covered. I have a personal trainer, and the trainer is working with me.
To me, that's sort of a fifty to fifty crap shot that they really are properly working with them to prevent disease. You know, are people coming to you for proactive rehab? Do you always need a physician's prescription? What can you tell us in thirty seconds?
So to see a physical therapist, you can have an evaluation without a physician's order. But in order for us to treat you, we do have to have a doctor sign off on our plan of care, which means we just send the doctor information and the doctor has to sign it and say go ahead and do that. I would love it in a dream world people could come to PT as a proactive resource exactly if we could say everybody needs to see a pt once a year for just to check in. Right, the world would be a healthier place.
You know, And I think I think you know, go ahead, sorry, go ahead.
I think personal trainers are great. There are really good ones out there, but there are some bad ones out there as well, and so you do need to be cautious and make sure that what they're telling you to do makes sense.
Absolutely, all right, Alison to Hanging. It's always a pleasure chatting with you. You shed a lot of light and I think the most important thing everybody needs to check in on their physical state. You know, we worry about blood pressure and diabetes and weight and all that other stuff, but your physical wellness is very, very important. Alison. We will hear again from you soon, I hope.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Alrighty Well, I think that about wraps it up for tonight. We covered physical therapy. We covered travel. We covered the potential pitfalls of traveling through these ginormous airports around the world. I think one of the worst is Frankfort. Frankfurt, Germany is a behemoth of an airport and.
It could easily be two to three.
Miles just going from one one gate or terminal to another and it is there.
There is no help for you out there. You are on your own.
And we also talked a little bit about alcol and alcohol related livid disease on how if you are dealing or you know somebody that's dealing with alcohol related liver disease, timing is of essence and you need to get that person to a credible liver unit somewhere in the country. Of course, we're very blessed here in Houston, Texas with our group at Houston Methodist Hospital. But you have to be your best advocate. That's something I tell everybody every single day. All right, So wrap it.
Up for tonight.
We will see you next Sunday evening at seven pm. And don't forget go to doctor Joegalotti dot com. Check out all we have there. Maybe pick up a copy of my book Eating Yourself Sick if you need a new.
Book to read.
All right, take care everybody, We'll see you next Sunday night.
You've been listening to Your Health First with doctor Joe Glotti. For more information on this program or the content of this program, go to your Health First dot com.