T Newsome, MD 00:11
It's time to be well with your health! I'm Nimeet.

Shanna M 00:13
I'm Shanna.

Nimeet K 00:14
Welcome to Adventist HealthCare & You podcast. Today we have an informative episode for Men's Health month about the health issues men are facing, and how they can take charge of their own health and focus on preventative measures and lifestyle choices.

Shanna M 00:28
So when we were talking about what our next topic is for the podcast, we realized we haven't really done one that was focused on men's health. And as I was doing some research, I found that men are 24% less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year. So this stands true at my house. Nimeet, when was the last time you went to the doctor?

Nimeet K 00:50
I'm proudly to say that I visited last month.

Shanna M 00:52
Okay, good for you. Okay, good for you.

Nimeet K 00:54
Got my yearly check. But I do believe those statistics though, actually, i'm surprised it's not worse. Because my parents household or my brother or my family, men typically go to doctors less or follow up less.

Shanna M 01:07
Yeah. Well, we have a wonderful guest today. Dr. T. Newsome. Welcome. Dr. Newsome!

T Newsome, MD 01:13
Thank you so much.

Shanna M 01:14
Thank you. He Dr. Newsome is a internal medicine physician. He's with our Adventist Medical Group office in silver spring right next door to white oak Medical Center. So welcome. We're glad you're here.

T Newsome, MD 01:25
Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Shanna M 01:26
We are going to dig right into it before we start. Dr. Newsome, can you tell us a little bit about what you do here at Adventist HealthCare? I mentioned you're an internal medicine physician. But what does that really mean?

T Newsome, MD 01:36
I know, yeah, a lot of people don't know what that mean. So basically it means I do adult medicine, anybody 18 and up, I joke and say 18 to 118.

Shanna M 01:44
Oh, I like that.

T Newsome, MD 01:45
Are patients that I can see, in my clinic,. I work in the outpatient facility, so I don't do any hospital medicine. Thank goodness, it's completely outpatient. And

Shanna M 01:54
Although we love our hospital medicine physicians.

T Newsome, MD 01:57
I don't need to do it. But yeah, so that's what I do Monday through Friday.

Shanna M 02:01
Okay, you have a special interest in men's health as well.

T Newsome, MD 02:04
I do. Absolutely. Yeah.

Shanna M 02:06
So we love to address myths on this podcast. Can you tell us something you hear often, either from your patients that come in, you know, anything myth related that you kind of have to dispel a lot during your regular clinic practice?

T Newsome, MD 02:20
Yeah, so for men's health specifically, one thing that comes to mind is men will come in after not going to doctor for many months, and a lot of times many years, and they'll have really high blood pressure. And so it'll obviously be something that's been going on for a while. And it's concerning, because it can increase your risk for strokes and heart attacks, like most people know. But the biggest hesitancy to start medicine is because they think it's gonna cause erectile dysfunction. And so that's really important for people and men specifically, and so having to dispel that every single blood pressure medicine does not cause that, is a challenge that I have to really or dispel with patients often. And I often will lead with that it is to let them know, especially when they look really hesitant to start medication like that, to let them know like, hey, it's gonna be okay.

Shanna M 03:05
Okay, that's something we can work through.

T Newsome, MD 03:07
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Nimeet K 03:08
So what are some of the other health concerns that you typically see, that is typically overlooked for men?

T Newsome, MD 03:13
Prostate cancer screenings, like your routine screenings are really important. You know, colon cancer screening is another one that people just kind of shy away from for years, and relatively recently, we changed the start timeframe in terms of colon cancer screening. So that's a big one that people get missed a lot of times especially.

Nimeet K 03:31
It's earlier now, it's 45?

T Newsome, MD 03:32
Exactly, age 45. It used to be age 50 for a while. And so we've, we've changed that. And so if you're not going to doctor, you have no idea how those things have shifted and getting checked up on those things. So and then prostate cancer screening for men specifically for sure.

Shanna M 03:45
When does that one start?

T Newsome, MD 03:47
So it kind of depends. So typically, insurance will pay for starting at age 55. But there are some criteria where if you have an increased family, excuse me increased risk because of family history, it could be as early as age 40.

Shanna M 03:59
Okay

T Newsome, MD 03:59
So it just kind of depends.

Shanna M 04:00
Okay, but even just having the discussion with your doctor, before the age of 55, about your family history, or if you have concerns or other risk factors, even just having that conversation is important.

T Newsome, MD 04:12
Absolutely. Yeah, knowledge is power. So I think that, you know, when you go to the doctor, there's so many things you can learn from your provider or your physician. So, and I think I mean, there's, there's no way you would know that if you're not in medicine, so.

Shanna M 04:22
Yeah, well, and you mentioned, you know, you've had men come in and have not been to the doctor in a couple years or several months or whatever, and their blood pressure is high. And that's a silent symptoms. Silence. I think they call it the silent killer, right?

T Newsome, MD 04:37
Absolutely. Yeah. So that's another thing that I try to dispel with patients is like is that if you're not just because you're not having pain doesn't mean something's not wrong.

Shanna M 04:44
Okay? Good point.

T Newsome, MD 04:45
That's a really big one because people really get attached to the idea of headaches associated with high blood pressure. And that's not always the case. And I actually, it's pretty uncommon to have headaches associated with high blood pressure not to say it can't happen but so with that being said, when people don't go to the doctor like, oh, no I'm okay, I don't feel bad. So therefore, I must be okay. People have ridiculously high blood sugars or newfound diabetes and don't necessarily know it. You don't have to have symptoms to have diabetes or definitely not to be on the verge of diabetes. And then same with high blood pressure, there are plenty of people with ridiculously high blood pressures that have no symptoms whatsoever.

Nimeet K 05:18
So what are some of the measures that men can take up to live a healthier lifestyle, make better choices? What are some of the strategies that they could have?

T Newsome, MD 05:26
I would say planning, so just plan to find a doctor, at least go there at least once a year, I think you can find out a lot about your health just from a visit once a year, awesome.

Shanna M 05:36
It's a good start.

T Newsome, MD 05:36
Exactly, right. It's a very good start. Oftentimes, it needs a couple more visits than that. But at least if you're going in once a year, and you make it a routine for you, you can hopefully increase your number of visits thereafter. Because it is an adjustment, you know, it's something that you have to incorporate into your your lifestyle. I think asking questions is really important too, a lot of times when people don't go to the doctor, often they don't know what the like encounter really entails. And I encourage patients to ask questions, no there's no such thing as a stupid question to your doctor, you might not have time to ask 15 questions, perse. But if you have like your top five have like, Hey, I'm kind of concerned about this, or I heard about this on the news or my uncle or my cousin has this, like, what do you think about that, for me? That can be really helpful to help the doctor know what to do with you and help you feel empowered to be a part of the visit.

Nimeet K 06:22
Yeah, and I'm a data guy, so I love the trend every year of my life. And I noticed my blood pressure is creeping up, but it's not concerning. Whereas if I just got it this year, I would have been not too concerned about it. But over the past few years, I've noticed this going up a little bit. So maybe I should adjust some of the you know

Shanna M 06:39
How much salt you eat, stress.

Nimeet K 06:42
A big problem with salt?

Shanna M 06:45
Well, let's let's talk about stress a little bit, but also another area of men's health that just maybe isn't talked about enough is mental health. And we've stressed on many episodes of this podcast, mental health. And you know, we've talked about it in a variety of ways, but not specifically around men. And so what should men be on the lookout for? What do you encourage when they when your patients come see you?

T Newsome, MD 07:11
Yeah, that's a really, really good question. And a focus that isn't paid attention to enough by patients and sometimes even healthcare providers. I have a lot of patients that come in, and they put up their good, like a good face for me. And then underneath it all, I do a screening and turns out like they're more anxious than you would ever even imagine. And I feel awful, because it's like, wow, like I, you know, I might feel like I missed it. But the reality is, you can be suffering from general anxiety disorder, and you might not show it when you come to the doctor's office for the 15 minutes that I have with you. But when you leave there, you're feeling really awful. And eventually it will catch up with you, and bad things can happen. So I encourage patients to really pay attention to how you feel, it's not normal to be tearful, you know, just because, you know, you got stopped by a police officer or something like that, you know, I mean, it sounds very trivial. But if you're finding yourself crying every day, man or woman, or man or woman, that might be a sign that something mentally might be going on, you know. If you just had a death in the family, that's another big one of somebody that you used to take care of like, that can be a really big adjustment. And it doesn't always mean you need to be on medicine, like that's like a really big fear of patients sometimes. It's like, if I talk about this, my doctor is gonna force me to take some medicine. And I'm gonna feel like a crazy person. And I don't like the C word, I call it the C word. Because it's not, that's not what it is. I tell patients that, you know, if you have high blood pressure, you need to be on medicine to help get it down, so you don't have bad things happen. The same thing happens with mental health. Sometimes you need to be on medicine, just to help you get through this tough time in your life, whether there's death in the family or an injury or something like that. And then eventually, we can get you off of that. So it doesn't become a change in your life forever. But sometimes we just need help, you know, and to get things where they need to be to keep you safe and keep you healthy. And so mental health is really, really important I tell patients is just as important to me as your diabetes or your high blood pressure. If you broke your ankle, you want to get it fixed, right. So it's kind of the same thing with your mental health.

Shanna M 09:02
I like how you said that. And I like how sort of non judgmental it is. It's okay, we're going to talk about it. And we're going to work through it together. And it doesn't mean anything, you know, you're just taking care of yourself.

T Newsome, MD 09:13
Precisely, it's really important. So, and I make it a joint decision. I don't push I never try to push medicine on the patients, you know, even when they were, I tell patients, I said, this is your health and it's not mine, and I'm just here to help you advise you on what we can do. And so if you're not comfortable taking medicine, whether it's diet for diabetes or even high blood pressure, that's your decision, you just need to know what risks there are.

Shanna M 09:32
Yeah

T Newsome, MD 09:33
Because there's risk with mental health and not taking medicine with that too. You know, there's a lot of things that can happen if you're not careful.

Shanna M 09:38
I like though that it's a partnership, you know, people can take an active role it's not a you know, do this, do that, it's you work together and in some people have those fears or those myths or something like that, and it may take a little time to work through that and that's okay, because it's a trusting back and forth relationship.

T Newsome, MD 09:56
Absolutely. Sometimes I encounter patients that are really really anxious are super depressed, I'll say depressed. Like they're really depressed. And it's the first visit with them. And I feel like this is tricky, right? So like I don't, I don't like to push new medications on the patients when I first meet them, because we're establishing they're getting to know me, I'm getting to know them. And people, my experience is people don't like the idea of having to be forced to take things and when it's that first encounter, even though your depression can be really poorly controlled, and probably for years, I again, I put them, I try to empower patients to make that decision for themselves. And then we'll definitely readdress it again when I see them again. But that's sometimes the difficult parts of my job to kind of figure out what to do.

Shanna M 10:34
Well and even sometimes just talking about it helps, though, and it often maybe could be just the first step towards towards better health, both physically and mentally.

Nimeet K 10:43
I think one of the societal norms is that when somebody asks you, how are you doing? The normal answer is i'm good, i'm fine, nothing beyond that. And that's what you expect to hear, too. And I think one of the things that we want to encourage our community or patients go into the hospitals or the providers is just to be open, right? When providers are asking how are you? Be honest respond exactly how you feel, and that's your time to shine. And you know, the amount of information they'll give, the more help they'll get. But I think the first couple of meetings can be challenging with establishing the relationship.

T Newsome, MD 11:11
Precisely.

Nimeet K 11:12
So I think patients, in addition to finding the right provider, also ensuring that they are doing their part in building that relationship as well would help them the most.

T Newsome, MD 11:20
Absolutely. I agree.

Shanna M 11:21
So we started by talking about the stat around men not visiting the doctor as often as maybe they should be. Let's talk about some of those barriers, specifically, those in marginalized communities, minorities that, you know, have some have some of those barriers or have trouble accessing services. So how can,how can you as a provider in our communities work towards overcoming those things?

T Newsome, MD 11:49
Yeah, that's a really great question. And a challenge even, especially for providers like myself, because we have a wide array of patients, some that, you know, work nine to five, and you know, they're in businesses and all that stuff. One of the positive things that came after COVID was like telehealth visits became very popular. And so patients don't necessarily have to leave their homes to come to the doctor every single time. So I try to utilize that to the best of my ability with patients, you know, other aspects in terms of transportation, giving them resources, like Metro access can be helpful for our older community, or even the disabled community that need help with transportation in that regard. Those are some of the things I try to utilize when I can with patients, you know, just being open when patients can get to the doctor, whenever that may be, even though it's not my might not be their scheduled time I try to be accommodating, once I've gotten to know the patient, it can be a little tricky if I don't know what your situation is and it's my first time meeting you type of thing. But once I get to know the patient and know their family and know, you know what type of barriers they have in that regard, you know, I think I can be helpful with that. Sometimes it can be challenging though.

Shanna M 12:52
Yeah, I think to just being open to their own points of view, right. Their cultures, their beliefs are going to influence how they access care or their trust,

T Newsome, MD 13:03
For sure.

Shanna M 13:04
with health care providers, and just building that as as you've been saying throughout this, it sounds like you really try to build that that trusting relationship. And that goes a long way.

T Newsome, MD 13:12
For sure. Yeah, I think another barrier that we don't talk enough about is having a provider that looks like you, you know, like there's not enough minority providers. And it's challenging, and it's more of a systemic thing. But that can be really challenging for patients, because they don't, there's certain populations that are not trustworthy of medical providers in general, but it helps to kind of put that guard down, when somebody looks like you. I have a lot of patients that come in to my office and solely say that they only came to see me because I look like them. And it's good, because there's not enough of us, you know, as an African American male, provide care, you know, especially in the primary care setting, right? Like we have specialists and, and not enough minority specialist. But nonetheless, you know, those aren't necessarily the doctors that patients really necessarily need, you know, as a primary care provider, it can be really helpful to kind of navigate this healthcare system, when you have a primary care provider that looks like you to be at the base level to kind of get you where you need to be.

Shanna M 14:05
Yeah, and I was gonna say and help navigate, even if it's say they need a cardiologist, you know, you mentioned high blood pressure and you know, maybe they need a cardiologist. And if it doesn't look like them, but it's someone that you've met, and you have a relationship with that might help.

T Newsome, MD 14:18
Exactly, yeah.

Shanna M 14:19
Ease some concerns, maybe not all of them, but it could it could help a little bit.

T Newsome, MD 14:23
It does, it does. Absolutely, I have close relationships, as a primary care provider, I have close relationships with a lot of specialists that I know that they're going to provide the type of care that that particular patient needs. And that's one of the things I love about primary care is I get to help navigate this system. You know, like we said, for my patients, as I get to know them, I know what their needs are and what type of specialist can be really helpful because every doctor is not created equal. You know, we're not all the same. We're all people. We all have things that we focus on, things that are important to us as people, but you know, overall, we just want to make sure that we're providing the best care for our patients that we can.

Nimeet K 14:55
How could family or loved ones help send their loved ones to the provider. So let's say if i'm not comfortable going to the doctor, how come my wife or somebody else help me go to the provider?

T Newsome, MD 15:05
That's a good question. So I think the best thing you can do is help the male if we're talking about men here, make that decision for themselves. So I think what people get into trouble is you try to force people to do stuff. And it works, right. Like, I have patients, especially my male patients that came in and I always ask him, I said, what brought you in today? Like, what made you come to the doctor? You know, when was the last time you went to the doctor? Five years ago. And I say, oh, why did you come in today? My wife made me come. That's like a very popular and almost expected response at this point, which is good. I mean, at least there here.

T Newsome, MD 15:33
Exactly, or I have my young males, that say my mom got me this appointment. A really popular one for them, too. So and that's okay, I don't mind that. I don't think that's bad, you know, and hopefully, once they have the encounter with me, they feel more comfortable making that decision to come in on their own moving forward. But I do think that there is a subset of men that don't necessarily want to be, feel forced to go to the doctor and become apprehensive about the whole experience once they're forced, so you know and I think encouragement, and patients can be really helpful in those settings, just to say hey, you know, if your toes hurting, maybe you should see a doctor about that and kind of make it like, yeah, my toe is hurting, I do need to go to the doctor and they become, they become empowered to make that decision themselves. You know, you just kind of have to know which loved one you're dealing with and what how they respond to certain things to get what you want. I.e. to get them to go to the doctor.

Shanna M 15:33
At least they're there.

Nimeet K 15:34
That's the response I give.

Shanna M 16:28
Yeah, it's interesting. The way it works at my house is I try to make our appointments together, which I know is not ideal for everyone, because everybody has different schedules and different availabilities for work and things like that. But if I know it's flu shot time, i'm like, I get mine at work, but my husband and my son, i'm like, i'll schedule yours both together at you know, a local retail outlet.

T Newsome, MD 16:51
That's good. Yeah.

Shanna M 16:53
And so or, you know, if it's a place where we all can go like a dermatologist or something like that, I’ll be like, let's all go together, and then we'll have dinner afterwards or lunch or something.

T Newsome, MD 17:03
Family time, I love it.

Shanna M 17:04
So that's what, but again,

Nimeet K 17:06
It works.

Shanna M 17:07
It doesn't work for everyone, and I completely, you know,

Nimeet K 17:10
It works for your family

Shanna M 17:11
It works for our family, it might not work for every family, but I try to do that when I can.

Nimeet K 17:15
So Dr. Newsome so you touched upon this, but how does the perception of masculinity? How does that affect men's mental health?

T Newsome, MD 17:22
I think people relate mental health or difficulties with mental health with weakness. And that's a really big thing for men, right? Like men don't want to be weak and anything weak is frowned upon. And, and it's not, I think that, not I think but it's health you know, some of the things you can't control, a case in point, you know, there are genetic components, if you have family members that suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, all those things that I honestly screened for during physicals.

Shanna M 17:47
Oh, cholesterol, blood pressure, all of that. And that's all there. There's, there's family history, genetic things for all of those.

T Newsome, MD 17:53
So you can be predisposed, doesn't mean you have to have depression, just because your mom suffers from depression, but the likelihood of it occurring can be more likely. And so it could be something that you really need to hone in on or pay closer attention to because you can be, it can be detrimental if you miss it. So but to answer your question for the masculinity component, I think that the problem is that society makes people feel especially men that they have to be the strongest, they cannot be weak and therefore unfortunately, they associate mental health or difficulties with mental health with a weakness which that needs to be dispelled. So that way men feel more comfortable having those difficulties and being expressive about them, so that way they can get the help that they need.

Nimeet K 18:30
Yeah. And perhaps you need to, like just call out the elephant in the room and say, you know what, this is not how should we proceed? If there's something that you need assistance with, you're just like anybody else. You could have weaknesses, you could have strengths, but let's talk through those.

T Newsome, MD 18:42
For sure. Yeah.

Shanna M 18:43
Yep. And

Nimeet K 18:44
What are some of the resources and tools dedicated to, I guess, addressing some of the men's health or I guess, focusing on some of the things that men's health may have higher affinity to?

T Newsome, MD 18:55
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think the internet nowadays is it's a pretty good resource, at least to get you started. I think anybody that you trust, right, so I think, you know, if you have a friend that's like, you know, that they take care of themselves, and they go to the doctor all the time, they're really knowledgeable, they're like, their wife is really knowledgeable or something like that. If it's a peer, sometimes they have a lot of information you trust them, right? Like they've been friends for 15 years or a family friend for 20 years and what not. You can even start there and say, hey, like, you know, i'm a little nervous, but do you have and I have patients that come in all the time that say, and I asked him, I said how did you hear about us here at Adventist and White Oak? They say oh, my friend recommended you, you know, or my doctor recommended me you, my specialist recommended you so ask ask your peers as well as they can. They don't always have the best information, but at the same time, they can be a starting point to let you know where you should be going type of thing.

Nimeet K 19:38
So what you're saying is that make sure you ask or Google things but don't validate that, validate that with a healthcare provider. Make sure that point is clear.

T Newsome, MD 19:47
Please, thank you.

Shanna M 19:48
All right. Nimeet, Do you have anything else?

Nimeet K 19:51
No, I think you answered a lot of great information.

Shanna M 19:53
I think we talked about a lot. Dr. Newsome before we go, is there anything that you want to add specifically around men's health, anything you want to encourage them to do, any tip? Anything like that? We've talked about a couple things like go to the doctor regularly. But is there anything else?

T Newsome, MD 20:08
Yeah, I mean, I would say be, be mindful of like the silent assassins, you know, like, I mean, we didn't, we talked about that as well. But if I had to leave anything, there are things that you cannot feel that can be problems with your health, you know, and we didn't talk too much about this, but sexual health is a big one, too. And so, you know, especially for my younger men, you know, just because you're not having symptoms, doesn't mean you might not have something. So, you know, getting checked out regularly, and practicing safe habits can be helpful in general and needs to be thought about amongst everybody, especially men, you know.

Shanna M 20:42
And you don't have to go to an urgent care or clinic for the like, if you're a young man, you find yourself, find yourself someone like Dr. Newsome, like a primary care, establish that care. And you can help with all of those and then continue that relationship.

T Newsome, MD 20:57
Exactly. Yeah. So your primary care provider, and that's, this is probably another component. Or another thing I want to leave people with. If you don't like your primary care provider, you can find another one. You know, it's a relationship. And every primary care provider is not for everyone. We want to do the best we can, but we are people and you are a person and you have the right to choose somebody that you feel comfortable and confident with.

Shanna M 21:20
There's so much information out there now with ratings and reviews, and photos and videos where you can actually get a really good sense of the office and the provider before you even go in.

T Newsome, MD 21:32
Know what you're walking into.

Shanna M 21:33
That's right. That's right.

T Newsome, MD 21:35
We didn't have that 20 years ago.

Shanna M 21:37
All right. Well, this was great. Thank you, Dr. Newsome. We hope you'll come back again.

T Newsome, MD 21:41
Thank you.

Shanna M 21:42
We loved having you! To find more information about Dr. Newsome visit AdventistHealthCare.com and click on find a doctor to search for him. To learn more about Adventist Medical Group, you can find it at AdventistMedicalGroup.org. And we'd also love to hear from you our listeners. Let us know if you like the podcast by leaving a rating or review or you can email podcast at AdventistHealthCare.com and let us know what healthcare topics you want to know more about. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you get new episodes. Thank you and be well