Don't fall behind on these important wellness checks

Sara M Moniuszko, USA TODAY
·5 min read
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Are you up-to-date with all your health screenings? Our medical columnist wants to make sure you're taking the necessary steps.
Are you up-to-date with all your health screenings? Our medical columnist wants to make sure you're taking the necessary steps.

Are you up-to-date with all your health screenings? 

In this week's medical column, Dr. Michael Daignault, an emergency room doctor in Los Angeles, explains the importance of making sure you haven't put off these screenings amid COVID-19, which many did at the height of the pandemic.

Here's more of what he shared: 

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a drastic decline in the number of patients with non-COVID medical emergencies. A CDC study found that overall ER visits declined 42% from March to April 2020 compared to the same time in 2019. Even more concerning, a survey of nine major hospitals in April 2020 showed that the number of severe heart attacks treated in hospitals dropped nearly 40% over the course of one month. Patients were avoiding or delaying care in the ER out of fear of “catching COVID.”

Unfortunately, far too many of my emergency room patients of late are being diagnosed with cancer or progression of their tumors. These patients are suffering collateral damage from the pandemic; they are upwards of two years behind in their critical disease screening appointments or have been unable to follow up as their primary care doctor offices face a daunting scheduling backlog.

I want to get everyone up to speed on the more important recent recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) regarding screening for lung, colorectal and breast cancer.

To learn more about each of these screenings, click here to read his full column.

6 signs you need to unplug from social media for your mental health

While many rely on social media to stay connected to friends and run their businesses, some of us turn to our apps without really knowing what we're looking for – and our reliance on social media can impact our mental health. 

Even celebrities have felt this way. Most recently, Tom Holland announced he is stepping away from social media to focus on his mental health.

In a quick return to Instagram Sunday, the "Spider-Man: No Way Home" star, 26, shared in a video that he deleted Instagram and Twitter from his devices, adding the apps had become "detrimental" to his mental state.

"I have taken a break from social media for my mental health because I find Instagram and Twitter to be overstimulating, to be overwhelming," he told his 67.7 million followers.

Experts say we could all try taking a page out of his playbook.

While social media has its benefits – such as building networks and maintaining contact with others – too much time on these platforms is linked to depression, anxiety and stress, explains Dr. Shahla Modir, medical director at All Points North Lodge Malibu, an addiction treatment center.

Modir says some people can develop an unhealthy relationship with social media platforms and start to internalize "likes" by creating a connection between online responses and their self-esteem.

So how do you know if it's time for you to deactivate Instagram, Twitter or Facebook? We asked experts to weigh in on what signs to look for and how to form healthier habits with social media.

  • If you're comparing yourself to others online

  • If you're compulsively checking your phone

  • If your real-life interactions are suffering

  • If you wake up (or go to sleep) feeling off 

  • If you start viewing yourself negatively

  • If you feel increasingly anxious, depressed or lonely using social media

To learn more about each of these points, click here to read the full story.

I uprooted my life for my boyfriend and he dumped me. What do I do now?

In this week's advice column, a reader wrote in: "I met my boyfriend in June of 2020 on Hinge and we clicked immediately. We moved in together after a year and basically spent the next year acting like a married couple. We did lose a lot of the romance through that, but I always thought we could find it again because we loved each other and were best friends. I had voiced my concerns for the lack of romance in our relationship, and I felt like I eventually started seeing it again. I thought things were on the right path until one day he came home from work and out of nowhere told me that it’s not working out.

He said that at some point he fell out of love with me even though he still loved me. He also said that he was not really attracted to me anymore and didn’t have the desire to be intimate with me. I felt so blindsided because not even three days before, we were hanging out with his family and casually talking about our future plans together.

He told me he started having doubts in January and really started to question if I was his person about a month before he broke up with me. He officially ended it in May. When I asked why he never talked to me about how he was feeling, he told me that he just kind of shoved it down and internalized it. It’s been a month since we broke up and I feel so lost. Everything in me still feels like he’s my person but he apparently doesn’t think so. I moved my entire life out to another town, started a new job and completely changed my life for our relationship, so on top of having to mourn the loss of our relationship, I have to basically start over. I honestly don’t know where to go from here."

To see what our advice columnist had to say, click here.

Today's reads

Serena Williams smiles and poses with her trophy after winning the US Open at the USTA National Tennis Courts in Flushing Meadows, New York on September 11, 1999.
Serena Williams smiles and poses with her trophy after winning the US Open at the USTA National Tennis Courts in Flushing Meadows, New York on September 11, 1999.

Today's pet

Meet Dixie.

Randy says Dixie is the "delight of (their) high rise - everyone knows her name."
Randy says Dixie is the "delight of (their) high rise - everyone knows her name."

Dixie is an 11-year-old miniature pinscher from Memphis who has been taking good care of her owner during the "last couple of crazy years," writes Randy Keith. "We’ve had some great conversations."

We're so glad you have Dixie by your side!

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Important health screenings: don't fall behind amid pandemic