Getting recommended health screenings can...
- Discover health problems earlier when they are easier to treat.
- Provide important information to help you stay healthy now and in the future.
- Reduce your risk of developing some types of cancer including colon cancer.
- Detect high blood pressure and high cholesterol and help determine the best treatment, which can reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.
- Discover diabetes, which can help you better manage and control the disease and avoid many of its complications.
Health screenings are an important part of maintaining good health, especially as you get older. Many deaths could be prevented if people got simple, regular health screenings as recommended by their doctor.
Health screenings can detect problems early, when chances for successful treatment are greatest. For example, colon cancer is the most preventable type of cancer, but many times few symptoms occur early when it is most treatable. A routine exam can detect a colon polyp (growth) before it becomes cancerous, and it can be easily removed.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Missouri, but people who routinely have their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and treated if necessary, improve their chances of preventing and controlling conditions that could cause a heart attack.
When you get the health screenings recommended for you, you’re taking a simple but very important step toward a better quality of life and quite possibly, a longer life.
It’s never too late to get the health screenings you need. The first step is to visit your health care provider to discuss the tests that are right for you based on your age, gender and family health history.