Healthy Living: Priorities for your doctor visit

New numbers from the CDC show nearly half of us have delayed getting necessary care because of the pandemic.

The past 13 months have certainly taken a toll on us all, both mentally and physically. The CDC says 40 percent of people have put off getting care from their doctor.

Dr. Drew Oliveira is the senior executive medical director with Regence. He says, "Many people have gotten unhealthier over the past year."

He says a lot of our questions can actually be answered through Telehealth. People have been taking advantage of the resource, as Telehealth visits have climbed by 5,000%.

Dr. Oliveira says, "Many times you are going to want to be seen and physically examined as well."

That is obviously hard to do through Telehealth. So, once you muster up the strength or courage to finally go in to see the doctor, what should you talk about?

Dr. Oliveira says alcohol and drug use has gone up and physical activity has gone down, "It is estimated that over 40% of people in the U.S. have gained an average of 29 pounds."

He says our lack of physical activity can lead to unhealthy chronic conditions that may have been ignored and need to be diagnosed.

Another thing that is often ignored if our mental health, "It’s not something many people will talk about with their primary care providers, but it is an important thing to do."

Dr. Oliveira says 40%-60% of us have had depression as a result of the pandemic and now is the time to get some of your questions answered, for your health, "Go in, get seen, get back on track so that we can all live you know our optimum lives and health as we enter this next normal."

Another thing Dr. Oliveira says setting up appointments for your kids might be something to consider too as a lot of kids are not fully immunized because they were not going to school last year.