Have you had your annual checkup or yearly physical? Are you one of those people who either are too busy, too healthy or perhaps you don’t believe annual checkups are necessary?
As more people exercise and eat healthily, some people are putting off their once a year medical examination. There are even a growing number of doctors out there that do not believe a yearly physical is needed.
Many of the physicians who do not promote the idea of a yearly health exam point to statistics that there is little evidence that annual checkups are making people healthier or reducing premature deaths.
On the other side of the debate, many physicians who are pro-annual exams are pointing out early detection of skin cancers which are on the rise and identifying the onset of cardiovascular disease and other chronic health problems that are essential for proactive healthcare.
Other factors that can drive the discussion to have a yearly checkup comes down to age and gender. The majority of physicians agree people over 50 are more at risk of health issues, making an annual medical exam a good idea.
For women, yearly health screenings are a little more complexed with a few more factors to consider. First, most physicians agree that women over 45 should have an annual mammogram and women over 50 should have a more encompassing yearly medical exam. The consensus is pelvic exam is done every three years. The exception to both mammograms and pelvic exams for adult women is if there is a family history of certain types of cancer; then a yearly checkup is recommended.
Lifestyle choices for both men and women universally become driving factors that should encourage you to have a yearly health checkup. If you are a smoker, obese, heavy drinker, have type-2 diabetes or other chronic illnesses, most physicians would recommend you have an annual health exam.
Most health professionals see value in having regular health checkups. In this day and age of high health costs, catching health issues early on can indeed save your life and your pocketbook. There does seem to be some indications that Americans have fewer health checkups then we did 20 years ago. Reduced yearly visits to the doctor could be due to rising healthcare costs, or perhaps the belief we are healthier now than in the past. Whatever the reasons, skipping your annual medical exam in most healthcare provider’s opinion is never a good idea.
Here are just a few reasons everyone should have a yearly health checkup or physical:
w Proactive wellness – Keep yourself on top of the little things that could turn into more significant issues. Whether you’re dealing with a small skin tag, minor persistent cough or just a swollen lymph node, early observation and detection can stop a severe health issue from developing.
w Affirmation of healthy habits – Having blood work done to check cholesterol, liver enzymes, monitor blood pressure and so forth are all critical indicators of lifestyle. By connecting with your physician and reviewing health metrics, you ensure your wellness. If you are slipping, you can then adjust and correct your lifestyle.
w Catch serious issues early – Skin cancers, breast cancers, and colon cancers are all on the rise. These are significant healthcare concerns and problems that put your life at risk. Early detection of cancer and severe disease can mean the difference between life or death. Medical advances in the twenty-first century are such that it is likely if a medical condition is caught early enough, you will recover.
w Self-care starts with understanding your current health and wellness. By working with your healthcare provider and following your specific vitals such as blood work, heart health, and body composition, you can manage your self-care throughout the year. Having a benchmark on exactly where you are with your health and wellness gives you the owners manual on managing your nutrition and lifestyle habits for optimal health.
There are what some may see as good reasons to put off your annual health checkups. There is even a movement among some healthcare providers questioning the necessity of yearly exams and instead opting for health exams every two or three years depending on age and gender. I believe there are too many variables and too many great treatment options not to have a yearly health checkup. Stay informed, catch issues early and maintain your health through a self-care approach by knowing the essential health numbers that you will get from your annual exam.
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Judd Jones is a Certified Primal Health Coach and Fitness Consultant. He can be reached at jjones@cdapress.com and jhanawellness.com.
Aloha Kakou,
This article above is on Medical Checkups and is more of an advertisement or sales pitch for the Disease Care Industry, better known as the American Medical Drug Cartel.
Checkups only reveal what Is already wrong. That is you have the disease or sickness already if something is found in the check up; it has nothing to do with Health or Prevention. And the misnamed Health system you are attending has already failed you the moment there is a diagnosis.
It’s all about finding what’s wrong and selling you a treatment, a treatment that most always has side effects requiring secondary additional drug treatments and sometimes mutilating surgery.
While the the Big 4 of Disease Care and the American Medical Drug Cartel pocket $4,000,000,000,000.00 ($4 Trillion dollars) a year, or 100 times more than the Colombian and Mexican Drug Cartels profit, none of that disease care money is spent on Prevention, or finding the Cause of the popular diseases that the $4 Trillion is spent on, while still killing millions of Americans early in life, while the disease numbers increase and more and more people get sick.
In other words the systems is bankrupt, it is misnamed when you say Health Care…it is pure and simple and deadly Disease Care, waiting for you to eventually become sick and then sells you a HELLth Treatment that only hides your symptoms and disease and perpetuates your sickness. Get over your Blind Faith in this pseudo science. Think for your self.
Disease and Sickness sell, and who in their greedy mind would want to Prevent the Diseases that make $4 Trillion dollars a year. That’ right, no one…!
Much of Prevention is about Education and doing Healthy things every day to maintain or improve ones own Health. Education needs to start in Kindergarten then thru High School and then you will know as much as any doctor about your body and be able to avoid and Prevent Disease and the HELLth treatments.
One of the simplest Self Health Programs, it’s just a primary start, and only you can do for yourself, every day, is to partake in SWARE:
Sun-Water-Air-Rest-Exercise
SUN
Exposure of at least 7 minutes on both front and back of your body per day for white skin and more minutes the darker your skin is, think natural Vitamin D.
WATER
Drink approximately 1/2 your weight in ounces of water each day. Water increases blood and other body fluid volumes and brings oxygen and nutrients to all of your body and removes the waste products , cleaning your body naturally. If you drink back to back a few large glasses of water in the morning you will excite the Gastro-Colic Réflex ( stomach to colon) wherein you will reduce comstipation by water ingestión but will also move your bowels by this Reflex. All naturally, no chemicals or drugs, save $$$, protect and promote your own Health. Reduce your use of HELLth treatments.
AIR
Yes do some deep breathing to oxygenate your body. Oxygen is used in many important body internal functions. Take out some few minutes a day or more and breathe deep and exhale deep. Think about nothing or about solutions to problems or removing stress from your loved ones. Just the thought is an action.
REST
Sleep well at night, no lights on, no TV or radio, enjoy dark and quiet, no coffee or soda at night or food late in the evening. Be warm. Alcohol is just not good for Health.
EXERCISE
Walk, Bike, Jog, Swim, Surf, Sports on land or water. Enjoy it. Remember Life = Motion…Proof ? All Dead Things Don’t Move. Start out short sessions and build more time on your exercise. You can do it, so just get up and do it…!
S-W-A-R-E EVERYDAY, as to your Health, you can Swear by it…!
And don’t forget your food, you can’t eat food with chemicals or poisons in and in it, and not, over time, expect to not become diseased. Fresh unprocessed, sugarless, and chemical free foods promote Health and Longevity, the rest of the food (filler) reduces your health, shortens your life, and promotes disease in your body.
Be warned: eating foods made from animals including dairy promote the killer diseases. Turns out cow’s milk was meant for baby cows all this time. And animal meat was meant for other animals with claws and fangs and short straight intestinal tracts, and not our 20’ers.
Mahalo,
Charles