Embarrassed about asking your doctor something? We’re doing it for you. Our experts are going to answer some of those concerns you might have that are a bit quirky, less dinner chat, more private google search type questions. Our expert doctors are getting the stigma out of the way and getting you on your way to a healthier life. 

About the episode – brought to you by Australian Seniors. 

Join James Valentine as he explores the incredible stories of Aussie characters, from the adventurous to the love-struck. Across 30 inspirational episodes, Life’s Booming explores life, health, love, travel, and everything in-between

Our bodies surprise us in ways we never thought possible as we age, so in series five of the Life’s Booming podcast – Is This Normal? – we’re settling in for honest chats with famous guests and noted experts about the ways our bodies behave as they age, discussing the issues and awkward questions you may be too embarrassed to ask yourself.

This episode, we hear from Sydney GP Dr Sam Hay. Also known as Dr Kiis, Sam is director of the Your Doctors network, health expert for Kidspot, and was host of Embarrassing Bodies Down Under and Amazing Medical Stories.

You'll also hear from geriatrician Dr Simon Grof, who has been a consultant geriatrician at Victoria’s Eastern Health since 2014, and is Chief Medical Officer at Jewish Care Victoria, who talks through some questions of ageing in later life.

And Dr Mohammad Jomaa is a Sport and Exercise Physician, who has a special interest in sports-related injuries and their management, and shares his advice on mobility and healthy exercise for over 50s, to maintain longevity.

 

If you have any thoughts or questions and want to share your story to Life’s Booming, send us a voice note - lifesbooming@seniors.com.au.

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For more information visit seniors.com.au/podcast.

Produced by Medium Rare Content Agency, in conjunction with Ampel Sonic Experience Agency

 

Transcript:

James Valentine: Hello and welcome to Life's Booming, series five of this most excellent and award winning podcast. I'm James Valentine and in this series we're going to ask the question, is this normal? I mean, as we age, stuff happens to us. Our bodies change, things fall off, we get crook, stuff doesn't work as well as it used to.

There's nothing we can do about it, we're getting older, we're ageing. But which bits are normal? Which bits do we have no control over? Which bits can we do something about? That's the kind of questions that we're going to be asking in this series, Is This Normal? of Life's Booming. Now, of course, if you enjoy this series, leave us a review. Tell all your families and friends about it. 

And we want to hear from you as well. You can contribute to this. If you've got questions about things in particular that you want to know, perhaps there's some particular wear and tear happening to you, let us know. We'd love to see if we can answer that question in the series.

We're going to look at things like menopause, gut health, mental health, lots of other burning questions. So think about those areas and if there's something in there that's specific to you that you'd like us to cover, let us know.

On this episode of Life's Booming, we're tackling your frequently asked questions. Embarrassed about asking your doctor something? Today, we're going to do it for you. Our experts are going to answer some of those concerns you might have that are a bit quirky, a little bit less, “I can talk to my friends about this or at a dinner party”.

It's more, I've got to get on Google and search this up on my own. Whether their patients voice them or not, together with our doctors, we're getting the stigma out of the way and we're getting you on your way to a healthier life. Some of you have sent in voice notes to ask us questions. Terrific, thank you so much.

If you want to ask a question, you can visit the website or the link in the show notes and share a voice question. We're going to be chatting to Sydney GP, who's known as Dr Kiis, from army veteran to hit morning radio and director of the Your Doctors network: this is Dr Sam Hay. And you'll also hear from geriatrician Dr Simon Grof as well, and we'll talk about some questions of ageing in later life with him. 

But first up, let's meet Sam. Sam, nice to meet you. 

Sam Hay: Yeah, you too. How are you? 

James Valentine: Yeah, very, very well. I suppose I'm thinking that the relationship with the GP changes as you age. You know, and unfortunately perhaps you start to get to know them really quite well. You see them a lot. 

Sam Hay: Absolutely, I think for younger people, they don't fully understand what the worth of a good GP is to them. And then as people drift through their middle years, they certainly start to have more of a relationship. 

James Valentine: So let's say post 50, what are the kind of things you'd recommend that we, that I should be coming to see the doctor, once a year, once every couple of years?  

Sam Hay: I think there are some people out there who truly are looking after their health very, very well. They have no problems. They're very lean. They exercise a lot. They eat a great diet. They don't smoke. And they have literally nothing going on. And then they come and get a check-up and we literally find nothing.

So those people, sure, they probably can go a couple of years between visits to the doctor. But in general, over the age of 50, I like to see patients every single year for a check-up because we want to pick up very early the major risk factors for the big things that are going to cause problems down the track, and those big ones are heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

James Valentine: And what do you pick up? What are you looking for? 

Sam Hay: Well, we want to do a general check-up. And in that we're looking at blood pressure, weight, waist, from an examination perspective. Then we want to check the history, how are they going, how much exercise are they doing, what's their smoking, what's their general diet like, what are their stress levels, so where does mental health potentially fit into that.

Pretty much all the time we'll do a set of blood tests, and once again, doing a general screen, but trying to pick up the big risk factors that come in, cholesterol, diabetes, a couple of other simple things. And then the major cancers that we need to be screening for. So your major community ones are going to be bowel cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, having a conversation with the doctor about prostate cancer screening.

But then the last bit overall is we're going to look at somebody's family history. So what have they got in the family that might be putting them at more risk and does it influence all of those things? And do I have to do any other tests? 

James Valentine: We've also, you know, again, I'd say if you're 50 and over, you've grown up with the notion you only see the doctor when you're sick.

Sam Hay: Correct. And so it's people understanding that check-up is important. Even if the last three check-ups have been completely normal and fine, what we're trying to do is we're trying to pick up your cholesterol or your diabetes or your blood pressure or something else before it falls off a cliff.

James Valentine: Yeah. This would make such a difference to you, wouldn't it, Simon, if we were all doing this in our 50s and 60s? 

Simon Grof: Oh, absolutely. And I must reinforce that having a good GP is just the number one thing, I think. And we see that in hospitals all the time where some of our older people have not seen a GP for 40, 50 years; there's no-one regular, and just to have that touch point to call the GP who has that relationship and to get some of that background story is just so, so, so crucial. So, couldn't agree more. 

James Valentine: Let's look at a few frequently asked questions. Do you see many 85-year-olds still smoking, Simon? Does anyone turn up? They're out for a sneaky… [inhales].

Simon Grof: People do smoke. Strangely enough, I had a virtual consultation the other day and I logged on. An 89-year-old lady, once again widowed, and she had the whole time during the hour-long consultation, and she kept on apologising saying, “I'm sorry it's a habit I can't give up.”

James Valentine: And what are you seeing in smoking habits, because we are into a generation that have largely given up, you know, at 50 or 60 or so.

Sam Hay: I've definitely seen a drop-off in cigarette smoking and an increase in vaping and a complete misunderstanding about the risks of vaping. 

James Valentine: And what's being misunderstood?

Sam Hay:  What I find fascinating is, what was it, 50 or 60 years ago, the government was endorsing cigarettes ac