Contributed by – Healthians Team

Can you remember the last time you went for a preventive health checkup?

We often hear about preventive health checkups and how important it is after a certain age. But how many of us actually go for it?

Importance of preventive health checkups

Our health is mostly dependent on our habits and the food we eat. In a nut shell, unhealthy lifestyle makes us prone to various health risks. A regular health check-up can help in diagnosing the problem before it really starts or finding it at an early stage. This can help in starting with an early treatment and making the prognosis better.

Getting the right health services, screenings, and treatments are steps that aid your probabilities for a longer and healthier life. A preventive health checkup is unarguably really important and should be imbibed in our lives. It holds much more importance when it comes to older people. As we age, our bodies become weak and so does our immune system which increases our chances of falling sick, making it absolutely necessary to go for regular health checkups.

Purpose of preventive health checkups in adults

What can be more important than good health? Do we all not wish to grow old healthy? And how do we ensure good health?

A healthy lifestyle is definitely the key, and so is regular preventive health checkups. The knowledge of what is going inside you is the most powerful tool to keep major health issues at bay.

Here are the many benefits that a simple preventive health checkup comes with. Lets look beyond the fear of the needle prick!

Physical well-being

  • Primary preventive measure to know the true status of your health
  • Identification of various risk factors for chronic diseases
  • Detection of diseases that have no visible symptoms
  • Optimum way to prevent secondary infections
  • Proper counselling of patients by the doctors to promote healthy habits as per their reports
  • Reduction in physical suffering with the help of early detection and timely treatment
  • Healthy option to grow old

Emotional well-being

  • Recovery from a chronic disease and hospitalization is a stressful time for both the patient and their family
  • Reducing the mental stress and trauma with the help of early detection and timely treatment

Financial well-being

  • Preventive health checkups are much cheaper than hospital bills
  • Chronic disease management bills that include frequent doctor consultation fees and the cost of medicines is steep. Preventive heath checkup saves you all such costs
  • Almost zero absence from work due to illness, keeping your productivity quotient high
  • Tax savings u/s 80D

Health checkups are the best gift you can give yourself, after all it is better to be safe than sorry.

How often do we need a health check-up?

We all understand the need of preventive health checkups in our lives but it is also important to know when and how often we need to go for such checkups:

  • If you are under 30 and healthy: If you are not a smoker, not over-weight, exercise regularly, do not suffer from any major disease then you need to go for a health checkup once every 2-3 years.
  • If you are between 30-50 years: Healthy individuals in their thirties must go for a health checkup once every 1-2 years. But if you have a sedentary lifestyle, smoke and drink, or are over weight, then you should opt for a preventive health checkup every year. 
  • After 50 years: People above 50 are more prone to various health issues, they must get  health checkup done every year.

A regular health checkup also helps in building a relationship and history with your physician. Recommendations about the frequency of health check may be different for people who take medication and suffer from chronic diseases or risk factors. Our age, health, family history and lifestyle majorly defines how often we need to go for health checkups.

Common screening test performed

After a certain age preventive health checkups are a must. Even if you are healthy and do not suffer from any disease it is of utmost importance that you regularly go for your health checkups.

Preventive healthcare embraces health services like screenings, check-ups, patient counselling to prevent diseases and other health problem. It also helps to detect various diseases at an early stage when the treatment is likely to work best and help you fight it better. Some of the most common screening test performed in the preventive health check-up are:

Some of the common yet important health checkups for men are:

Some of the common yet important health checkups for women are:

  • Breast cancer examination
  • Mammogram
  • Osteoporosis screening
  • Pelvic examination and pap smear
  • Skin cancer screening

We are so busy with our daily lives that we often forget how important good health is. Always remember to go for a preventive health checkups as a healthier you is always a better version of you. Let us buck up as it is time to take a step forward towards good and healthy living.

Do something today that your future self will thank you for. So, stop ignoring your health and go for a health checkup.

Get a preventive health checkup

Preventive Health
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