Dr. Borislava Burt-Libo is back to tell you how to be a healthy woman—and stay a healthy woman—all the days of your life.

Life is busy, especially for a woman. If you are like most women, you are constantly running around taking care of everyone in your life—significant other, children, parents, grandparents, etc. And  you go to school or work and run a household. You are a comforter, a healer, a confidante. But are you running on empty? On most days, there just isn’t enough time in the day to take care of your own needs. And let’s face it, even the most tireless of us need to take a little time off for ourselves—to reboot, to manage our health and to be taken care of—so that we can continue on our quest to take care of the world around us. Don’t let this idea of rebooting daunt you. The truth is that all you really need is a little time each a day and just a few days each year to ensure that you stay a healthy (and happy) woman.

What To Do On a Daily Basis

Stress is our worst enemy, it contributes to ailments and aging. Here are a few tricks that take only minutes a day to help fight stress:

Stay active. Take time each day (25 to 30min is all you need) for some form of exercise, be it power walking, yoga, pilates, swimming, jogging (strollers with babies are allowed). Your pulse will go up in minutes and you may even break a sweat as you dance around the house while cleaning or washing dishes or as you chase after your toddler who is no doubt feeling mischievous.

Make the right choices with food and drink. Do have vegetables and fruits, do eat lean meats and cheeses, do drink six to eight glasses of water per day. Do stay away from greasy, fried foods, from simple carbohydrates, from sodas, etc. Ladies, we all know what’ s good and what’s bad, and what works for us and what doesn’t.

Do get enough sleep. That means six to eight hours work for most of us.

Do stay away from vices such as smoking and alcohol.

Take time to breathe.  Five minutes is all you need sometimes. Close your eyes, tune out the noise around you and take nice deep breaths, thinking of something pleasant or nothing at all. Find time to do your favorite hobby—read a good book, sing– it’s good for the soul.

Treat yourself. Go for a mani/pedi on your lunch break or on the way home. A nice, relaxing massage is even better if you can find the time. And above all, no matter what happens, even if the world is crashing down around us – try to remain positive.

What To Do Yearly

Make time in your busy schedule to see your doctor. Just one or two visits per year are vital to staying healthy. Prevention is key.

Besides a thorough history and physical examination, your age and presence or absence of certain risk factors will gear your doctor towards screening for certain conditions. Here are the screening landmarks to expect at your annual visit:

Ages 13-18

Your doctor will make sure that all your immunizations are up to date— namely Tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis booster; hepatitis B vaccine, if not given previously; meningococcal vaccine before high school; and human papillomavirus vaccine. If sexually active, girls in this age group will be offered screening for sexually transmitted diseases as well as counseled about safe sex and pregnancy prevention.

Ages 19-39

Starting at 21 years of age, women will be offered a cervical cytology examination, otherwise known as Pap smear, which is a screening test for cervical cancer and can detect presence or absence of HPV. Screening for sexually transmitted infections, such as chlamydia is once again offered. Women in this age group will also be instructed on self breast examinations.

Ages 40 -64

Besides cervical cytology screening, women will now be referred yearly mammograms for breast cancer screening. Colorectal cancer screening is advised starting at 50 years old with colonoscopy (as dreaded as it is by some – it is the gold standard for diagnosis and hopefully need not be repeated sooner than every five to 10 years). Your doctor will order cholesterol screening, which is usually done every five years starting age 45; screening for thyroid disorder also done every five years starting age 50; and screening for diabetes, which is done every three years starting at 45 years old. Calcium intake with vitamin D as well as exercise will be stressed for the importance of bone strength.

Age 65 and older

For women of this age, the same screening applies as the women over 40, with addition of one important test: bone density evaluation, also known as Dexa scan. Also, women will be offered a very important pneumococcal vaccine.

Women of all ages should also remember yearly skin cancer screening. Do wear sunblock and limit sun exposure to 15 to 30 minutes per day. And don’t forget the dentist, your teeth and gums have a lot to do with your health.

So, my dear ladies, this is the basic rundown of the standard testing that most of us will need to undergo in our lifetime to remain healthy. Certain screening and preventive measures may be offered earlier depending on presence or absence of certain genetic and environmental health risk factors.

Your life will probably always be busy and at times even hectic. However, taking care of yourself need not be an overwhelming task. Hopefully, you can find a little time to make the right choices and get the appropriate care with just a few doctor visits each year. Staying healthy on a daily basis must be made into a top priority so that we can keep on taking care of the world and be a healthy woman, mind, body and soul.

To get on your healthy woman track, call 732.431.1616 to book your appointment today.

A journey of 40 weeks of pregnancy begins with one doctor’s visit—one that will be indelibly etched in your memory and part of the fabric of your family’s folklore forever.

Here, Healthy Woman Dr. Borislava Burt gives us the inside scoop on the many medical milestones of pregnancy from verifying that you are indeed pregnant to the ultrasound that can show you the sex of the baby to the not-so-beloved glucose test (gulp!) and beyond.

Pregnancy is an amazing event that culminates in the most wondrous gift of all: the birth of your child. Being pregnant is indeed amazing, but it can also be confusing especially for a first time mom-to-be. Besides the myriad of questions that continually pop up into your head (What type of food should I eat; What are the best vitamins to take?; Can I drink coffee or color my hair?), many women wonder about how soon they should see their doctor and what to expect from visit to visit.

Here’s what to really expect when you are expecting:

The Dating Scene

Accurate dating is of the essence in managing pregnancy. There’s a lot more to it than just knowing your due date. For a doctor, a patient’s estimated due date is very important for monitoring fetal development and knowing when to interfere if something is worrisome. Most patients may not realize that the earlier the due date is established, the more accurate it is. The best time to see your doctor is at approximately six to seven  weeks after the first day of your last menstrual period. Dating is done based on your cycle as well as an ultrasound.

First Things First

Once your pregnancy and due date are confirmed, your first visit will involve you and your doctor discussing your medical history along with a full physical examination. Your doctor will try to identify any factors in your health that may pose certain risks during your pregnancy, such as a history of preexisting elevated blood pressures or diabetes. The first visit will also incude baseline pregnancy blood testing as well as referrals for ultrasounds. Blood work will assess your level of immunity and/or exposure to certain infections, such as hepatitis and rubella, as well as establish your blood type and check whether you have anemia.

Testing! Testing!

Thanks to modern science, you will also be offered testing for some of the more common chromosomal anomalies, such as Down syndrome. This can be done via blood tests and/or ultrasound or more invasive testing, such as amniocentesis or CVS (chorionic villous sampling). Predictability of these tests ranges anywhere between 76 to 100 percent, depending on the method chosen.

Ultra Cool

At roughly 20 weeks into your pregnancy, you will be scheduled for a very detailed ultrasound, which, besides giving you a glimpse of your little miracle, will check to make sure that all fingers and toes are there as well as assess the rest of his or her anatomy. This is also the most common time to find out whether the stork will be dropping off a little boy or a little girl on your doorstep.

Oh, Sugar!

Several weeks later, more blood work will be done, including the dreaded glucose testing. But have no fear ladies, it’s really not that bad – drink it cold and fast and it will be over before you know it.

The Heart of the Matter

Then soon to follow are more frequent physical examinations in order to assess whether your body is getting ready for delivery. And as for the rest—all those questions and concerns—your doctor will be sure to address them all and give you the guidance you seek. From the first visit to the last, your doctor will be there with you every step of the way—through the nausea, through the weight gain, through the heartburn, through the uncomfortable and sometimes incessant nudging underneath your ribcage. But despite all that, you will forever remain in wonder of this beautiful, indeed amazing process of pregnancy—and you will never tire of hearing the galloping, thumping sound of another human being’s heart inside your beautifully growing belly.

About Borislava Burt-Libo, D.O.

Dr. Borislava Burt-Libo grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. She graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a major in psychology and a minor in biology. She then received her medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, where her medical education emphasized administering to each patient as a whole individual and caring for one’s health and well-being comprehensively and thoroughly, rather than treating just one symptom at a time. Dr. Burt then completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn and went on to practice in a private setting in Brooklyn and Manhattan for two years. Dr. Burt now lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children. She is fluent in Russian.