Know Your Risk

When you see your primary care provider, be sure to review your family history, current health concerns and overall lifestyle. This information helps you and your provider understand your risk for certain illnesses, and it gives you both an opportunity to prevent them.

“An example may be the way we evaluate someone in their thirties or forties with a family history of heart disease,” explained Kevin Moore, MD, family physician at CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group –  Primary Care in Bardstown. “For that patient, I will look at their cholesterol and blood pressure levels, but we’ll also discuss exercise, diet and tobacco use, to see what some things are that we can do to affect change.”

Identifying your individual risk factors doesn’t mean those factors have to determine your outcome. You can’t change some risk factors, but many are within your control. These range from lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet or quitting smoking, to staying on top of annual screenings and wellness visits.

“My background as an army doctor helps me teach patients to be resilient,” Dr. Moore said. “I want them to feel confident they can be proactive about their health.”

Virtual visits are now available. Call 859.313.2255 to schedule one today. 

A version of this article originally appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of Spirit of Health. For more stories like this one, subscribe to Spirit of Health magazine today.