The Top 10 Health Screenings for Men
From work, to family and friends, men usually have lots of things to worry about and that have pretty much preoccupied all the time. It is no surprise that a good number of them usually don’t have time to take care of themselves health wise. There is also the fact that almost a quarter of the men in the U.S don’t have medical cover. What all this means is that a sizeable amount of men rarely get themselves screened regularly to find out if they have any health problems. The thing about the body is that it catches up with folks if it isn’t taken care of. Screening is important in taking care of one’s body as it enables one to know about any medical conditions early enough and at a stage that is easy to manage and treat them. It also helps one know if they are at increased risk of developing a certain infection and as such work to prevent such a scenario. That is why health screenings are important for the health of men, and this article will look to highlight 10 of the most important health screenings men should ensure they take.
Screening for abdominal aortic aneurism
This should be done, without fail, in men who are between 65 and 75 years of age and have ever smoked tobacco before. This is done using an imaging machine such as an MRI, a CT scan or an ultrasound and reveals information such as if there is an abdominal aortic aneurism present and if so its size and its extent to enable doctors to deal with it and prevent it from rupturing.
Screening for blood cholesterol
This is a very important screening and as such every man should ensure they get it done as soon as they hit the age of 35, and should be repeated regularly, with experts recommending that you shouldn’t go for more than five years without having it checked. However, for those men who smoke regularly, are overweight or obese, have a relative who has previously had a heart attack before they hit 50, have high blood pressure, diabetes or a history of heart disease should have their cholesterol checked a lot earlier, at the age of 20.
Colon cancer screening
This screening is important as it enables men to be screened for colorectal cancer, that is cancer of the colon and rectum. It should be done form men at the age of 50, although men with a family history of colorectal cancer should get screened a lot sooner. One can either get a sigmoidoscopy which examines only the lower colon or a colonoscopy which examines the entire colon. For obvious reasons, the colonoscopy is the one you should aim to get done.
Blood pressure screening
Another very important screening that every man should have done especially since its results will enable you to know high likely you are to suffer from heart conditions such as heart attacks. It should be done regularly, with the folks over at frontlineer.com recommending that those with other cardiovascular risk factors to have it checked more frequently.
Screening for depression
The number of men suffering from depression has increased a lot in recent times, with most of them suffering in silence. It is therefore important to have yourself screened for depression especially if you are exhibiting symptoms such as a feeling of hopelessness, losing interest in activities you previously enjoyed, feeling sad, anxious among others.
Screening for hepatitis C
If you were born between the years of 1945 and 1965, you were born to a mother who had this virus, you received a blood transfusion before the year of 1992, received blood clotting factors before 1987, ever shot-up or injected drugs or you need dialysis due to kidney failure, then you need to be screened for hepatitis C as per frontlineer.com.
Diabetes screening
This is yet another important screening for men, with those men with high blood pressure or are taking medication to control the same being advised to be screened for diabetes. Other symptoms that should lead to one being screened for diabetes include severe persistent thirst, frequent urination, increased hunger, unexpected weight loss among many others.
Prostate cancer screening
This is yet another very important test that all men should ensure they undergo, as per the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com. There are two types of tests as far as this screening is concerned, digital rectal examination which involves the physician inserting a finger in the rectum and feeling for the prostate gland and see if it is enlarged or the prostate-specific antigen test which is blood test basically testing for a certain protein produced by the prostate gland, that can be high levels in men with prostate cancer.
Screening for obesity
This is done through the use of the body mass index calculator, so that one can know if they are at their ideal weight or are at risk of going obese. It is an important test as people with obesity are much more likely to suffer from heart attacks and other serious conditions.
HIV screening
This should be done for all men who are under the age of 65, without any exceptions as is covered over at frontlineer.com. Those that are over the age of 65 should see a doctor about the matter of getting tested for the same.
The above are the top 10 health screenings that all men should ensure they get, with more on this to be found over at frontlineer.com.
