Highly recommended health screenings for women
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Highly recommended health screenings for women
Women are very good at taking care of others but they should not forget to take care of themselves. An important part of taking control of their health is to schedule routine health screenings to detect any potential problems early on so as to avoid a more serious health situation.
Just like regular exercise, stress management, and choosing nutritious foods are all vital to promoting their health, women need to view regular health screenings as no different as regular maintenance of the vehicle they drive. Every so often the oil needs changed and the tires either rotated or replaced reducing the possibility of a breakdown extending the life of their ride. Women can improve the quality of their life when they make those appointments for regular screenings of her health and well-being helping prevent health complications and potentially deadly disease.
The best cure for disease is prevention. The following 5 health screenings are key to maintaining good health and for detecting problems in their earliest stages. So, when a woman is planning a strategy to improve her healthy habits, she should include these 5 screenings:
1. Bone density test
The US Preventative Task Force recommends women aged 65 and older be screened for osteoporosis with a bone density test. Any women with risk factors for osteoporosis, such previous fracture or low body weight, should be screened at a younger age. For this painless test, called a DEXA scan, a woman lies on a table while a low-dose machine captures images of her bones. The results of a bone density test helps a doctor make recommendations about what a woman can do to reduce her chance of breaking a bone.
2. Heart screenings
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States yet few women do much to take action to prevent it. There are five tests to help assess a woman’s heart health – blood pressure, HDL or “good” cholesterol, LDL or “bad” cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose.
Blood pressure should be taken at least twice a year and should be around 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or lower. A reading at or above 130/80 mm Hg is considered elevated blood pressure which increases the risk for hypertension.
Total cholesterol levels which include HDL, LDL, and triglycerides, are important indicators of a woman’s risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
Blood glucose is measured by a blood test called the Hemoglobin A1C. This test gives a picture of a person’s average blood glucose (blood sugar) control for the past 2 to 3 month indicating whether a person has prediabetes, diabetes, or not. For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1C test is between 4% and 5.6%. Hemoglobin A1C levels between 5.7% and 6.4% indicate increased risk of diabetes, and levels of 6.5% or higher indicate diabetes.
3. Mammograms
One out of eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. An important part of breast health is to have regular screenings of the breasts to catch breast cancer at its earliest stage possible increasing chance of survival. A mammogram is a screening test for breast cancer involving compressing the breast between plates for x-rays images to be captured. A woman should ask her doctor at what age to begin mammograms depending on her family history of the disease and other health factors.
4. Pelvic exam/pap smears
All women starting at age 21 and until age 65 should have a pap smear every three years if not more frequently depending on her doctor’s recommendation and her individual health status. Pap smears are done to help detect early signs of cervical cancer. A pelvic exam is a yearly examination of a woman’s genital system and is a way for doctors to look for signs of illness in certain organs in a woman’s body. The exam looks at organs including the vulva, vagina, uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, along with the bladder and rectum which are also usually included in the exam.
5. Skin exam
Years of spending too much time in the sun can show up decades later with both nonmelanoma and malignant melanoma skin cancers. Skin exams are fast, easy and an effective way to track early detection and treatment. Monthly, women should examine their skin at home, carefully inspecting the skin all over the body, looking for any signs of new moles or changes to existing moles, any of which could be signs of skin cancer. A yearly in-office exam by a dermatologist is also recommended for further inspection.