Family Doctor 2007 - (Page 39) feeling great PREVENTIVE SERVICES Step onto the scales — if you are overweight, it can cause many health problems. Prevention: What you can do to stay healthy Blood pressure. High blood pressure damages blood vessels and raises the risk of stroke, kidney failure, heart disease and heart attack. Catching high blood pressure early can encourage you to make simple changes in your life before it becomes a serious problem. If you’re 18 or older, you should have your blood pressure checked at least once every 2 years. If you’ve had high blood pressure in the past, your doctor may want to check it more often. Cholesterol. Too much cholesterol in your blood can raise your The old adage still holds true: “Prevention is better than cure.” With this in mind, follow these guidelines for a healthier, longer life. By Angelike M. Gaunt burden of illness is completely preventable. While it’s true that gender and family history may put you at higher risk of certain conditions, these factors only account for part of your risk. In many cases, the choices you make about the way you live play a much bigger role in how healthy you are. Exercising, eating a healthy diet and not smoking are a few things you can do to prevent many health conditions. Any positive changes you make in these areas can improve your health and reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and stroke. H eart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are some of the most common causes of disability and early death in the United States. For many people, much of this early risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Men who are 35 or older and women who are 45 or older should have their cholesterol checked regularly. If yours is too high, you and your doctor can decide which lifestyle changes, such as exercise and diet, you need to make to lower your cholesterol levels. If diet and exercise alone don’t help, your doctor may prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs. Colorectal cancer. If you’re 50 or older, you should be screened for colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is among the leading causes of cancer death, but it can be prevented. Screening tests can detect growths (also called “polyps”) on the inside of your colon before they become cancerous. People who are at higher risk for colon cancer should be screened earlier than age 50. Angelike M. Gaunt is an associate editor with the American Academy of Family Physicians, headquartered in Leawood, Kan. DID YOU KNOW? The top 10 causes of death in the United States are: 1 Heart disease 2 Cancer 3 Stroke 4 Chronic bronchitis and emphysema 5 Accidents (many are related to alcohol) 6 Diabetes 7 Influenza and pneumonia 8 Alzheimer’s disease 9 Kidney disease 10 Infection Preventive screening Regular visits to the doctor also improve your chances of staying healthy. Preventive screenings can alert you and your family doctor to problems before they become more serious. Depending on your age, gender, family history and health condition, you may need different types of screening tests. Talk with your family doctor about which tests are right for you and your family, and about how often they should be done. Measuring up. Being severely overweight or obese can cause coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Knowing how much you weigh may help you recognize when it’s time to make certain changes to the way you eat and how active you are. Depending on your age and health, your doctor may measure your height, weight and waist circumference, and calculate your body mass index (BMI) regularly. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION American Academy of Family Physicians http://familydoctor.org/175.xml MedLine Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001921.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/ healthymen.htm and http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywom.htm familydoctor 2007 39 http://familydoctor.org/175.xml http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001921.htm http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywom.htm http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm
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