Trusted information for your health.

The danger of falls sometimes hides in plain sight. Many older adults in their seventies or eighties want to keep moving, walking confidently, staying active, and doing so safely. Fall prevention is about more than balance.

A few things worth checking

• Lighting: Keep hallways, stairs, and bathrooms well lit. Consider a night-light for the path to the bathroom.
• Floors: Remove loose rugs, cords, and clutter. Watch for uneven or weather-affected surfaces.
• Reaching: Be careful reaching for high shelves or into the attic, especially when standing on a chair or stool.
• Shoes: Supportive, well-fitting shoes are safer than going barefoot or wearing slippers.
• Bathroom: Consider grab bars and nonslip surfaces.
• Stairs: Use handrails, and avoid carrying anything that blocks your view of the steps.
• Vision: Keep eyeglass prescriptions current and address vision problems.
• Medications: Some can cause dizziness, drowsiness, or drops in blood pressure. Ask your provider to review them, especially if you take several medications.
• Getting up: Pause after standing before you start walking.
• Walking aids: The right aid can support your independence.

Also be mindful of weakness or loss of leg strength, pets underfoot, and dehydration. Keep a phone or emergency device within easy reach, and use it when needed.

Perhaps most importantly, don’t wait for a fall to start the conversation. A previous fall, new unsteadiness, fear of falling, or changes in walking deserve attention. Our goal is to help you keep walking confidently.

Understanding Hypertension Care: Beyond the Numbers

High blood pressure can affect the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes, and blood vessels over time, often without noticeable symptoms. At Advanced Internal Medicine of the Woodlands, we believe hypertension care is about more than a blood pressure reading.

It includes:

• Blood pressure: Understanding your readings, monitoring them appropriately, and working toward an individualized treatment goal.
• Heart health: Assessing cardiovascular risk and watching for heart disease and heart failure.
• Kidney health: Monitoring kidney function and, when appropriate, screening for kidney damage.
• Vascular health: Assessing blood vessel health and risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), which can reduce blood flow to the legs and contribute to nonhealing wounds or tissue loss.
• Brain and eye health: Recognizing hypertension as a major modifiable risk factor for stroke and vascular cognitive impairment, and understanding its potential effects on the eyes.
• Cholesterol and metabolic health: Considering cholesterol, diabetes, prediabetes, weight, and other factors that influence cardiovascular and kidney health.
• Lifestyle and medications: Paying attention to nutrition, sodium, physical activity, sleep, and other lifestyle factors, and taking medications consistently.

Because hypertension can be silent, regular follow-up can help assess control, identify complications early, and keep preventive care on track.

Understanding Diabetes Care: Beyond A1C

At Advanced Internal Medicine of the Woodlands, we understand that diabetes care is much more than checking your blood sugar or A1C. Good long-term care also includes monitoring and reducing the risk of complications that can affect the heart, kidneys, nerves, eyes, and feet.

What should adults with diabetes pay attention to?

• A1C and blood sugar: Understanding how well blood sugar is controlled over time.
• Blood pressure: Monitoring an important cardiovascular and kidney risk factor.
• Cholesterol: Assessing cardiovascular risk and determining appropriate treatment.
• Kidney health: Monitoring kidney function and screening for early signs of diabetic kidney disease.
• Heart health: Assessing cardiovascular risk and addressing modifiable risk factors.
• Vascular health: Paying attention to circulation, particularly peripheral artery disease and blood flow to the legs and feet.
• Nerve health: Being alert to symptoms and screening for diabetic neuropathy.
• Eye health: Keeping up with recommended diabetic eye examinations to detect changes early.
• Foot health: Checking for changes in sensation, skin integrity, and circulation, and addressing problems before they become serious.

Diabetes is a long-term condition, and good care is about prevention, early detection, and ongoing management—not simply treating a high blood sugar reading. Regular follow-up with your healthcare professional can help identify problems early and keep preventive care on track.

After 17 years of practicing medicine in The Woodlands, I have come to believe that preventive care is less complicated than we sometimes make it and can be deeply rewarding in improving quality of life.

Everyday preventive care

1. Know your numbers: Blood pressure, lipids, glucose or A1C where appropriate, weight, waist measurement, and other relevant measures.
2. Keep up with age- and risk-appropriate screening: Breast, prostate, colon, and cervical cancer screening; osteoporosis screening; and other tests personalized to you rather than a universal checklist.
3. Stay current on vaccinations.
4. Move your body regularly. It does not have to mean running a marathon.
5. Eat mostly real, less processed food and maintain a sustainable weight.
6. Sleep. Your body and brain need time to rest and recover.
7. Don't smoke; be thoughtful about alcohol and other exposures.
8. Take care of your teeth, eyes, and hearing, along with other health needs that may seem peripheral.
9. Pay attention to mental and social health.
10. Wear sunscreen with SPF 50.
11. Wear a seat belt while in a moving vehicle.
12. Establish a relationship with a primary care physician (PCP). Don't wait until something is seriously wrong.