Overview

Many of us live a hectic life today be it tiring social engagements or pressing deadlines. However, in all this hustle-bustle we are more likely to neglect our health. As good health helps us enjoy life and live well, there is a great need for preventive care.

The cause of most of the fatalities or deaths are due to chronic disease and half of these can be prevented by knowing early symptoms and risks with proper screening and regular checks. A regular check will not only assess your overall well-being, but can also detect any disease or health risks before they strike. In fact, preventive health checks can actually be lifesaving, as they update us on how fit and healthy we are.

Preventive health care and wellness checks are generally tailored to prevent diseases and conditions that may be caused due to many factors including the individual’s genetic predisposition, environmental factors, lifestyle choices and disease agents.

Why Should You Go for a Preventive Health Check?

The global burden for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like Cancer, Cardiovascular diseases, High Blood Pressure, High blood Sugar (Diabetes), Cancer, etc. has increased at a rapid stage. Currently, more than 38 million people have lost their lives worldwide in a year owing to NCDs. In India alone, 17% of deaths are unfortunately, related to NCDs.

People living, especially in the cities, are more exposed to NCDs. Fortunately, most of these diseases are preventable, if detected and treated in the early stages of development and /or can be managed easily if not curable in a few cases.

Health checks help you identify a potential disease or condition even if you feel perfectly alright, without any symptoms. Timely detection with right management can result in better medical outcomes and lower your risk of serious complications.

How Can Regular Checks Benefit Health?

Regular wellness checks can help you find out if you have any serious disorder that you may not know of, and which needs treatment. Regular health checks can detect potential serious illnesses in early stages, when you do not even show any symptoms. That is why they are so important.

When you schedule health screening regularly, you may have the chance of knowing any lurking condition, which can be addressed thus ensuring that you maintain a healthy life. For example, if you have high blood sugar, high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, you may not know about it as their symptoms are not so visible in the early stages.

The earlier a doctor diagnoses certain condition and starts providing treatment for it, the better are the chances of effective recovery. There are several tests you should undergo with every wellness check you schedule. Those tests include blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, mammogram, genetic testing for certain cancers (breast or ovarian cancer for some women), osteoporosis screening including many others that your healthcare provider may recommend.

Why Should Preventive Health Check Be a Priority? – The Significance of Wellness Checks and Preventive Health Care

Most of us do not like going to a doctor, but it should be on the top of your priority list. Even if you think you are fine and are in top form, leading a healthy lifestyle with healthy diet, regular workout and no drinking and smoking habits, regular health check are very, very important. Ensuring that you are up-to-date on preventive care is the most significant thing you can do to stay healthy.

Preventive wellness check do not just detect potential disease but can also help in avoiding the physical pain you may have to endure in case you have an underlying disease and it intensifies. Please remember that most of the diseases can be prevented and also cured if detected early. In addition, it is no secret that health care is very expensive, and regular wellness checks can save a lot of money too.

It is better to pay for simple preventive health check rather than ending-up spending a fortune on treatment of a potentially serious disease that can become untreatable sometimes.

What screenings are right for you?

There are many preventive screenings geared toward all age groups. However, some tests are exactly geared toward certain types of individual. For instance, for women’s health, preventive care specialists usually recommend certain screening tests like mammograms that can predict or detect breast cancer risk, every year or twice a year depending on the age. Women are also recommended to go for Pap test, in which a doctor check the cervical cells for any abnormalities, to detect cervical cancer.

Men also have some preventive screening tests aimed at their health. If you have ever smoked or are still a smoker, you will be asked to undergo several tests that can detect any underlying conditions associated with smoking. Your doctor will also ask you to get screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm risks. Abdominal aorta is the abdomen’s largest artery that can get weakened by smoking. For men tests to detect prostate gland tumours is also included.

For children, preventive care like immunization for whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, polio, etc. are the most significant in terms of saving costs and reducing mortality rates and disease burden. For children health screenings are often recommended as the child grows,

for behavioral development, blood disorders, infections and many more. Other screening tests are available especially for newborns, children and adolescents.

Conclusion

You should check with your health care provider on what preventive health checks are for you. Give yourself a gift of preventive health check every year around your birthday. Schedule a visit or call your doctor to check if there are any important tests you should take. By investing an hour or two, you may probably be able to add many more years to your life.