 So you feel healthy and you want to stay healthy. What is it that you need to do to maintain excellent health and well-being? Certainly diet, exercise and lifestyle are important but equally as important is early diagnosis of possible life or at least, well-being threatening conditions. So, what if you do eat right, exercise regularly, keep your weight perfect, and groom yourself impeccably, only later to find that you have a potentially life threatening condition which, if you had found and diagnosed earlier, could have saved your life?
As a physician, I often hear women complaining that the medical profession did not do their job well. Women who find out that they have breast masses and after a biopsy, find that they have breast cancer and that a mastectomy is required. Women, today are still dying from cervical cancer which is so easily diagnosed that there should be no deaths, no need for radical surgery and yet, these are still being performed all across the county.
These medical conditions are not the problem, the doctors are not the problem, the problem is that many women just do not show up for regular breast examinations, mammography, or pap smears. Why? Over the years I have heard many reasons, few of which are really much more than, “I just did not take the time or care enough about myself to see my doctor and get checked, while it was early enough to require only very simple treatments.”
I believe that I need to say that again. Most of these women just did not take responsibility and get their annual preventive medicine check ups... breast exam, pap smear, mammography and a few other basic lab tests any of which could save you from unnecessary medical procedures, surgery and in some cases, losing your life.
As a physician, I try to constantly stress the importance of preventive care. Unfortunately, your insurance company may look at your situation differently. They may see you as a statistic. Most insurance companies are telling women that they should only have breast exams and pap smears every two to three or even more years. Legally, they still need to make mammography available on a yearly basis however, since you need a physician’s prescription to get a mammography and you are being told you do not need exams more than every 2 to 3 years. Now, guess what happens? Women skip mammographies for two or more years.
Many women believe that after 70 they no longer need pap smears, breast exams or mammographies. These same women when they find out that they have breast cancer are often upset at themselves and the medical profession. Too often these same women end up saying, “..but I was not told that I could get breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer.... why is it that no one told me?” Well ladies, I am telling you right now. You could be one of the lucky women who will never have to be concerned about getting cancer or any other fully preventable disease, but still many women will. If you do and you waited too long, did not take advantage of preventive exams and preventive care, how will you feel then? Probably, like the majority of the woman I see who got caught in this predicament, awful!
Preventive Health Screening
It has been said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” No where is that more important than with our health and overall well-being. While there are no clear standards for preventive health screening, there is some agreement over the general areas that should be watched and screened for. In this document we present a generalized guide, a consensus of several published guidelines for watching out for you and your family’s overall health and well-being.
Here is a list of preventive procedures that save lives. They are listed by age groups:
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Prevention Exams For Women
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Type of Exam
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Also Evaluate
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Age 19-39
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Age 40-59
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Age 60+
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Physical Examination
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General health, lifestyle including overall nutrition, exercise, smoking, alcohol/drug use, auto/cycle safety, STD’s)
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Every 3 years
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Every 2 years
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Annually
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Basic exam should include blood pressure, height, weight, temperature and heart rate. Blood pressure should be taken at every exam.
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Breast Self-Examinations
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Cancer of the Breasts
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Monthly
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Monthly
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Monthly
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Breast Exam (by a health care professional)
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Cancer of the Breasts
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Every 1 to 3 years
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Annually
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Annually
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Mammogram or Breast Ultrasound
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Cancer of the Breasts
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N/A*
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Annually
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Annually
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Pelvic Examination and Pap Smear**
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Cancer of the Cervix
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Annually, especially, if using birth control pills, IUD, hormone replacement therapy or you a history of an abnormal Pap smear or breast lumps or masses.
Rectal exam can best be done at this time.
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Chlamydia (by Urine or Culture)
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Chlamydia Infection
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At all pelvic exams if at risk
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Only if indicated, and patient at risk
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Probably not indicated
If not sexual
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Gonorrhea (by Urine or Culture)
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Gonorrhea Infection
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At all pelvic exams if at risk
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Only if indicated, and patient at risk
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Probably not indicated
If not sexual
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VDRL or RPR (Blood Test)
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Syphilis
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At all pelvic exams if at risk
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Only if indicated, and patient at risk
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Probably not indicated
If not sexual
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Digital Rectal Exam and Fecal Occult Blood Test
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Cancer of the Colon and/or Rectum
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Only if symptoms or ? GI bleeding
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Annually over 50
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Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
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Cancer of the Colon and/or Rectum
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Only if symptoms or ? GI bleeding
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Every 3 to 5 years after 50 years of age
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Total Skin Examination
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Cancer of the Skin
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Annually
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Annually
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Annually
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Total Cholesterol (Blood Test)
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Risk of Heart Disease
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Annually
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Annually
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Annually
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HIV Screening (Blood Test)
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Risk of Exposure to AIDS
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Screening is recommended for all persons at increased risk
for HIV infection.
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Correctable Health Issues
The transition into menopause can be very rough for some women, while not so bad for others. However, besides hot flashes, hot flushes and night sweats, your risk of heart disease can rise from a relatively very low risk, to two or three times the risk of just a few years earlier. This is responsible in part because of the loss of the protection provided to you and your body by your biologic estrogen, however, your risks can also increase based on your genetics, age, weight and host of other risk factors that simply just catch up with you. The bottom line is why wait until you have your first heart attack or stroke, like so many women do, to care. Why not put into play now, your own personal Wellness and Prevention program. If you are forty years of age or older, and are otherwise still healthy, it's time to learn how you can protect yourself and never have to worry about having a heart attack or experience what a stroke is all about. While you will want to know what the classic warning signs for heart attack and stroke are — a bursting chest pain that spreads to jaw, neck, and shoulder or headache sudden visual changes, loss of use or sensation on one side of your body — you should Remember that when you experience these symptoms it is already too late to prevent them. You might want to do one other important thing learn how to prevent heart attack and stroke from happening and get started right now in a program to lower your cholesterol, get heart checked regularly. You will want to have a plan and a program to make sure that nothing is sneaking up on you while you are out living and enjoying your life.
If you use excuses such as “I don’t want to use medications!” or “I feel fine, why should I worry!” or “Doctors are always making mountains out of molehills!” Then you are only fooling yourself and no one else. These are excuses and not reasons. Also remember, having regular yearly check ups does not automatically mean you will end up finding out you are sick, or that you will have to start taking medications, nor that someone somewhere, is going to make sure you end up in surgery. It may only leave you feeling better, safer and healthier.
If a harmful or life threatening condition is diagnosed, this means one of two things: 1) This condition was already in process, it was going to happen, and if you had not found it early and done something about it, you might well have ended up being forced to have to use medications, undergo surgery or experience unnecessary pain and suffering, or worse, become disabled or even die. Or 2) You have found it early enough to make small, valuable, lifestyle changes, changes to your diet, your exercise program, or other changes, that can stop the process dead in its tracks or at least from worsening. By doing this, you can help yourself to avoid all of the problems associated with # 1) above.
Prevention is an act of love, self love, self caring and a responsible thing to do. Pick up your phone and call us at 760-320-4292. Make a Preventive Physical Exam Appointment today and make your life better, save your self from the worst by doing what is right and what is best for you.
If you would like to download a printable .PDF version of the Prevention Exams for Women, click here.
For information on Breast Self-Exams, click here.
For more information on Women's Health Issues, click here.
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