MAINTAINING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE THROUGH MEDICAL SCREENING

Have you been as conscious about your health as you age? What are your ways to track and maintain good health? Some people always make sure to be healthy and they always look on how to monitor their health. They may also go and take the medical screening.

Medical screening is necessary to determine what ails a person. It will also enable the doctor to provide the best mode of treatment, save a life, lessen the duration of treatment as well as the costs of health services. However, there are things to be observed to be able to obtain accurate results. The outcome may be compromised by several factors depending on the type of medical test, the time of the appointment, the food you ate beforehand, the capability of the medical technologists, the quality of the screening equipment, and much more. Thus, it is important to know how to prepare for an examination to obtain accurate result results and save your life.

Some vital tests are cholesterol screening, blood pressure screening, Pap smear, mammography, and colon cancer test.

A cholesterol screening measures the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. A blood sample is taken to determine the number of milligrams of cholesterol (soft, waxy fat) contained per deciliter of blood or mg/dl. It is important for a person to know its cholesterol level because too much of it can lead to an increased risk of stroke or heart attack. A level of less than 200mg/dl is desirable, 200 to 239 mg/dl is said to be borderline high, while 240mg/dl and above is high cholesterol level.

To move through the bloodstream, cholesterol rides along with lipoproteins. The ratio of cholesterol carried on HDL (High-Density Lipoproteins), a good cholesterol, to that of the LDL (Low-Density Lipoproteins), a bad cholesterol, has an effect on one’s health. That the risk of a heart attack occurring is increased if HDL reading is below 35 mg/dl or the LDL level is 160 mg/dl and above.

To obtain the most accurate results, you have to fast 12hours before the test and eat a dinner that contains only a moderate amount of fat. A high fat meal like fried chicken or a heavy alcohol intake can cause a temporary increase in your triglycerides, which is another fat in the blood.

It is also important to schedule the test because a bad injury or severe illness like pneumonia can cause a temporary decrease in the total cholesterol reading. When one is severely sick or hurt, the liver stops producing cholesterol temporarily.

Blood pressure screening detects abnormally high blood pressure or hypertension. It is a condition, which increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and aneurysm and kidney failure among others. This test measures the pressure your blood exerts on the arteries and is expressed as a ratio. Blood pressure is optimal if it is 130/85 mm/Hg or below normal if it is 135/85 mm/Hg and 139/89 mm/Hg is high normal. One high reading is not enough for a physician to diagnose high blood pressure. Another test is needed, then twice more or two other days.

There are some factors that may lead to a temporary rise in blood pressure such as smoking, drinking coffee right before the test or when one is stressed, emotionally disturbed, and angry. Thus, try to relax, be calm, and do not get upset if possible.

Pap smear is another medical test, which is designed to find or diagnose abnormal cells that could indicate the development of cervical cancer. It is a gynecologist or a primary care physician who will perform the test and also do a pelvic examination. This involved scraping of sample cells from the cervix to determine cancer, precancer or other abnormalities such as infection or inflammation as with herpes or yeast.

There are instances when false negative results occur like when collected samples do not have enough cells or when there is a failure to obtain cells from the abnormal area. The presence of blood or other fluids in the cell sample can also obscure irregularities.

To obtain accurate results, it is best to schedule the Pap smear test in between periods or menstrual and for those who have partners, avoid sexual contact within two days of the test. If one is on birth control foams or creams, stop using it for five days before the medical test. This is because all foams and creams may leave residues that can potentially contaminate the specimen. Avoid douching three days prior to the Pap smear test for it can wash away some cervical cells.

Mammography can uncover suspicious changes that may subsequently turn out to be benign such as cysts or fibroadenomas or cancerous.

Using body lotions, deodorants r putting powder on or near the breast before the mammogram can lead to inaccurate results. It may appear as spots on the X-ray and may be construed as calcification. That is, the presence of calcium deposits which can indicate that some benign or malignant process is ongoing.

A stool occult blood test, digital rectal examination, sigmoidoscopy (examination of the rectum and the sigmoid colon with the aid of sigmoidoscope), colonoscopy, and barium enema are used to screen for colon and rectal cancer. The stool or fecal occult detects microscopic amounts of blood in the stool, which could be caused by cancer, an ulcer, or hemorrhoids, which are either benign or serious.

To obtain accurate result be extra careful with what you eat before the fecal occult test. Certain food which can cause a false positive result are bananas, turnips, red meat like beef, other fruits like pears and grapes particularly the black one. Medicines like aspirin, ibuprofen, piroxicam, and iron supplements may cause gastrointestinal bleeding that can be seen in the stool. Caution should be observed with respect to vitamin C supplements because it can suppress evidence of colon cancer, thus giving a false negative result.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by undergoing medical test will be good. However, we must also consider disciplining ourselves with the foods we ingest to avoid diseases that might develop in our body. Proper diet plus health check-up equals a healthy body.