Maintain Regular Health Screening
Your general doctor will likely recommend preventive care depending on your individual history and risk profile.
Keep in mind that not every year requires medical attention. However, it’s always best to keep your return visit intervals consistent with what you want to achieve.
That means if you are patient and seek comfort from your doctor, they may suggest monthly instead of quarterly checkups. It also depends on how much risk there is for you.
If you have a family history of certain diseases or conditions, you should consider going more often. But remember all people need vaccinations, physical exams, and other health services.
What constitutes enough visits has been defined as 21 days each for adults and children respectively. If you go another way, use this assessment tool here.
Detect Health Problems before they get too bad
Despite all the awareness about cancer, it still is the most common cause of death among women, accounting for 2 out of 3 deaths. Overall, cancer causes 8% of deaths in men and 7% of deaths in women.
So how can you protect yourself from more serious medical issues? The easiest way to do this is by having regular health screenings. These are exams that allow doctors to find any potential health conditions earlier than usual.
Mostly for preventive purposes, these exams are recommended throughout your lifetime. However, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), many people avoid these examinations because they don’t know what to look for or what to expect.
The good news is that even if you aren’t experiencing symptoms, screening visits can help identify diseases early when they are easier to treat. Early identification and treatment are important as studies show getting diagnosed with certain conditions like breast cancer will improve your chances of survival.
Early Detection means Better chances of Treatment
More than 90% of cancers are slow-growing. However, without screening tests, you may find something has already occurred when only surgery can detect it (as in the case of nodules).
Likewise, screening detects things like bladder cancers which otherwise would have remained silent until they become serious.
Many studies show that frequent screenings improve outcomes. For example, one study conducted at Durham Veterans Hospital found that every two years screened patients aged 50 to 74 reduced their risk of dying from any cause compared to those who didn’t get screened.
They also noted that for each additional year of screening, the patient mortality rate was lowered by 1%. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that full cancer screenings, starting at 45, improved survival rates by 5%.
However, there are some contraindications or reasons why people shouldn’t receive regular screenings. For instance, women should not be routinely tested for breast cancer. Rather, this is primarily recommended for older men experiencing abnormal sexual symptoms such as low testosterone.
Furthermore, research suggests that humans begin ageing around age 35; therefore, unless you’re planning an operation, stopping the clock now becomes important. Some believe we start losing muscle mass near our mid-30s, too.
Health Screening Tools can help you
With increased access to health care, there is now more opportunity for diagnostic testing to identify diseases.
More specifically, screening tests are medical exams performed as part of a routine visit with your doctor to check if you have any symptoms of the disease.
These screenings can be done months or years after the initial diagnosis.
Medical professionals use these tests to screen for earlier detection of cancer and other chronic illnesses.
It’s important to note that even in countries where various cancers are detected through early screening, research has not determined a reduction in mortality rates.
However, discussion of this subject continues, with scientists being challenged by professional organizations over concerns regarding over-diagnosis and overtreatment.
Overdetection refers to the situation when a patient receives a positive screening result, despite having no chance of experiencing an adverse event within his or her lifetime.
Overtreating occurs when patients receive intensive treatments for excessive amounts of time after a first treatment episode in hopes they will still respond positively.
Both over- and undertreating have negative consequences for patients. Diagnostic testing may benefit people who meet guidelines to start testing, but otherwise, it’s best to avoid screening unless your risk for certain conditions exceeds the average.
In those cases, there’s also evidence suggesting that screened individuals might save lives by receiving needed interventions.
Consider Monthly Health Screening
Although medical professionals recommend that you check your overall health once per year, there are many excellent reasons to do it more frequently.
Many diseases can have symptoms that will alert you to their presence in your body.
That’s why I think it is important to not forget the importance of having regular health screenings throughout the rest of your life. When you’re already going to your doctor every month for menstrual cycle-related issues, getting one every three months at least makes sense.
Regularly screening yourself for health issues may even save you money in the long run. For example, if you need endoscopy surgery, you would normally pay around $10,000 for this test.
However, by doing blood tests prior to any invasive procedures, doctors are able to see what areas need attention before a problem occurs.
Annual health screening
While there are no guarantees that health screenings will detect minor illnesses, early detection of potential problems may help save you money in the long run. Emergency room visits are often expensive, not to mention time consuming.
For instance, cancer is already widespread when it is detected. By then it has usually reached the advanced stages.
Still, people get these tests every year for preventive care. It is up to each person to decide if they want to do this.
It also depends on how informed we as individuals are about our own health. If someone does not believe in doing self-exams or taking annual exams, they likely should not be having any medical scans or surgeries.
Most healthcare professionals today agree that regular screenings make sense for most adults. Here’s why:
Not all diseases have symptoms; doctors know only after testing, assessing risks and benefits. So while aspirin for heart disease can prevent strokes and deaths, it remains important to test your actual heart before taking anything.
Furthermore, some things such as colonoscopies and bone densities can go undetected without testing. These days, however, new techniques and technology exist to improve undiagnosed conditions.
Undoubtedly, advances in genetic mapping and sequencing have made due credit to human beings. Today, it is cost-effective to map and sequence genes that increase the risk of major diseases so patients can specifically be tested for them.
Ongoing training is important
With all of the attention paid to infectious diseases these days, it’s easy to forget about some of the most common chronic infections we deal with in doctors’ offices. More often than not both patients and doctors are unaware that these more common infections may be contributing to or causing someone’s symptoms.
As medical professionals, we know it’s crucial to keep our eyes and ears open for potential causes other than infection.
Many times people come into my office because of issues they have had with their health. They either feel tired or have fatigue, experience muscle pain, have weight fluctuations, suffer from depression, etc.
It’s critical to consider what you might eat and how you might exercise when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep at night. These are important factors that can affect your attitude and state of mind.
We discuss nutrition and encourage appropriate exercise, as needed, but we also look at overall wellness and health habits. I ask about smoking status and history (including a number of cigarettes), alcohol intake, medications, supplement use, nutritional supplements, and obesity/weight loss surgery.
The right Doctor is Important
You should never receive sub-par medical care because of a lack of insurance or money. Doctors have a duty to provide the best treatment for your condition, whether that be expensive or cheap
If there are multiple treatments, they need to give you access to the most effective one. For instance, studies show that screening with colon cancer tumors does not result in changes in policy when it comes to treatment ($89 versus $90 every month).
However, awareness can be increased by informing patients about this type of screening. It is also helpful to explain that though potentially painful, a test like this gives an accurate diagnosis.
Lastly, make sure that all of your questions are taken care of before leaving the office. There’s nothing worse than coming back from surgery since you forgot to ask why you were being admitted!
Make sure you detect your own changes
It is impossible to know if you are healthy unless you take an honest look at what counts as health for you.
Your definitions of health, wellness, and fitness can be very different from others. You may not even realize that there’s a difference between “health” and “wellness” because they mean something different to you.
That is why it is important to know your norms (what is normal) when it comes to health and lifestyle choices.
You should feel comfortable with the measures you use to stay healthy. If you need help adjusting your diet or exercise habits so you can achieve your goals without overworking yourself, ask your doctor or trusted nutritionist for advice.
They can help you set smart goals that will improve your health and minimize injuries.
We hope this article was helpful and informative. Please share this information with your loved ones and friends, especially if they have not had a health screening in a while. It’s important to get routine screenings, as they can improve your chances of staying healthy and active in the long run.
Thank you for reading our blog, and we look forward to bringing you more valuable content in the future!