Make 2012 your healthiest year

When it comes to our health, it is always best to be proac­tive. Reg­u­lar health screen­ings are impor­tant and can help you find prob­lems before they start or iden­tify them early so you can get the treat­ment you need as soon as pos­si­ble. We at OhioHealth’s Grady Memo­r­ial Hos­pi­tal have put together this list of 10 impor­tant check-ups you should con­sider to make 2012 your healthiest.

Breast and tes­tic­u­lar self-exam 

(men and women; age 20+; monthly) 

Begin­ning at age 20, women — and men — should begin per­form­ing monthly breast self-examinations. Addi­tion­ally, men should begin per­form­ing a tes­tic­u­lar self-exam on a monthly basis.

Blood pres­sure exam 

(men and women; all ages; annual) 

Know­ing your blood pres­sure is impor­tant: whether you are a man or woman, 15 years old or 50 years old.

Den­tal care visit 

(men and women; all ages; biannual) 

Den­tal health is impor­tant for men and women of all ages. It is strongly rec­om­mended that you have bian­nual check-ups to pre­vent cav­i­ties and remove harm­ful plaque.

Phys­i­cal exam 

(men and women; age 20+) 

Phys­i­cal exams are also impor­tant, but how fre­quently you should have them depends on your age. Men and women ages 20–39 should sched­ule a phys­i­cal check-up every three years, ages 40–49 every two years, and then every year after age 50.

Clin­i­cal breast exam 

(women; age 20+; annual) 

At 20 years of age, women should begin hav­ing annual clin­i­cal breast exams with their physi­cian. Once women reach 40 years of age, they should begin sched­ul­ing an annual mam­mo­gram screening. 

Prostate exam 

(men; age 40+; annual) 

Men should begin hav­ing a Prostate Spe­cific Anti­gen blood test PSA screen­ing and dig­i­tal rec­tal exam every year, start­ing at age 50. African Amer­i­cans and men with a fam­ily his­tory should start at age 40. 

Gyne­co­log­i­cal exam 

(women; age 13+; every 1–3 years) 

Women should first have a gyne­co­log­i­cal pelvic exam between the ages of 13–15 and then sched­ule exams every one to three years, assum­ing they have had 3 con­sec­u­tive nor­mal tests.

STD screen­ing 

(men and women) 

Sex­u­ally active men and women who believe they might be at risk for STDs should con­sult with their physi­cians to deter­mine an appro­pri­ate screen­ing schedule.

Com­plete blood count/Urinalysis

(men and women; age 20+)

Start­ing at age 20, men and women should begin screen­ings for cho­les­terol, dia­betes, as well as kid­ney and thy­roid func­tion. Men and women ages 20–39 should sched­ule a screen­ing every three years, ages 40–49 every two years, and then every year after age 50.

Osteo­poro­sis screening 

(post­menopausal women) 

Post­menopausal women should con­sult with their physi­cians to deter­mine an appro­pri­ate sched­ule test­ing for signs of osteoporosis.

Depend­ing on your health sta­tus or risk fac­tors, your physi­cian may rec­om­mend screen­ings or check-ups at dif­fer­ent inter­vals or addi­tional tests. Talk to your physi­cian to find out which ones you need and sched­ule an appoint­ment today. If you don’t have a physi­cian, make it your New Year’s res­o­lu­tion to find one by going to ohiohealth.com and select­ing “Find a Doctor.”

Cour­tesy of Grady Memo­r­ial Hospital.

Posted by Grady Memorial Hospital on Jan 12 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.