Preventative health:
In a nutshell:
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The third pillar of healthy living is preventative health.
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It is meant to prevent or detect certain diseases before they can cause serious illness.
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You need to see your primary care doctor once a year to make sure you are up to date with all your screenings and immunizations.
Many of you may have heard the phrase preventative health. But what exactly is preventative health and why is it so important?
Preventative health refers to a slue of medical tests, procedures and immunizations that aim to prevent you from getting a debilitating disease or to detect it in its early stages when the treatment can be more effective. Despite significant advances in medicine, we still only have a few true preventative measures at our disposal. And although some of these preventive measures may be time consuming and an inconvenience, we always remind our patients that the disease they are meant to prevent is significantly more time and life consuming.
For instance, one of the best ways to prevent colon cancer or detect it in its early stages is a colonoscopy, a procedure where a camera is inserted into the colon through the rectum looking for abnormal growth. And yes, a colonoscopy is time consuming (you need a whole day off work) and does not sound like such an appealing process (who wants a camera up the bottom?). But guess what, colon cancer is a whole lot more life consuming. It may require a significant surgery to take part of your colon out, and you may end up with a bag where stool is collected that you have to manually change out regularly. You may also need radiation, chemotherapy and many days off work. Worse case scenario, you may not survive it.
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So yes, some of these preventive measures may be inconvenient, but the inconvenience is nothing compared to the disease they are intended to prevent. Therefore, please, make sure you follow up with your primary care doctor and get the appropriate preventative measures.
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Here is a table of all the screening tests you need:
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Preventative testing based on your age:
21-39
Cancer screening:
Cervical cancer (females)
Other screening:
HIV
Hepatitis C
Immunizations:
Annual flu vaccine
Tdap every 10 years
Gardasil (up to age 26)
21-39 years
21-39
Cancer screening:
Cervical Cancer (females)
Breast Cancer (females)
Colon Cancer (starting at 45)
Other screening:
Hepatitis C (if not already done)
Immunizations:
Annual flu vaccine
Tetanus every 10 years
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40-49 years
21-39
Cancer screening:
Cervical cancer (females)
Breast Cancer (females)
Colon Cancer
Lung cancer (50 years in at risk patients)
Other Screening:
Hepatitis C (if not already done)
Immunizations:
Annual flu vaccine
Tetanus every 10 years
Shingles vaccine
50-64 years
21-39
Cancer screening:
Breast cancer (females)
Colon cancer
Lung cancer in at risk patients
Other Screening:
Bone density (females)
Aortic aneurysm ultrasound in male smokers
Immunizations:
Annual flu vaccine
Tetanus every 10 years.
Pneumonia vaccines (2)
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65-75 years
21-39
Cancer screening:
Breast cancer optional in females
Other Screening:
None
Immunizations:
Annual flu shot
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76 & above
Cancer screening:
Immunizations:
Other screening tests:
