Health & Fitness
The Importance of Yearly Checkups and Medical Tests
Cleveland Clinic is sponsoring a Family Health and Wellness Fair at Lorain County Community College Saturday, Sept. 17.
Cleveland Clinic is sponsoring a Family Health and Wellness Fair at Lorain County Community College Saturday, Sept. 17. We’ll be offering a host of health screenings and wellness tips. These events are a great way to gather more information on your health between your yearly doctor visits.
With that in mind, I thought I would describe a few tests that everyone should have when they have their yearly physical. For men, the following tests are recommended by many physicians:
- Fasting blood sugar – At least one fourth of U.S. adults are known to have pre-diabetes, a condition defined as having impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or both. People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
- Fasting lipid profile – This includes total cholesterol, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels.
- High-sensitive C-reactive protein – High levels of this inflammatory biomarker are predictive for future heart problems.
- Vitamin D level – Low levels are associated with osteopenia, osteoporosis, breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease.
- PSA level – To screen for prostate cancer.
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Women do not have to have the PSA test, but they should have a routine breast exam and pap smear.
These tests are important because the sooner we can detect a health problem, the better the treatment options we have at our disposal.
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For more information on the Family Health and Wellness Fair at Lorain County Community College, click here.