Make a New Year’s resolution you can stick to this year—set and keep your preventive care appointments in 2022.
As adults, we all get busy or don’t want to step on the scale, but going to your annual physical, getting vaccinations, and undergoing important procedures like mammograms and colonoscopies keep you and your family healthy and ready to enjoy life, travel, sports, and other pursuits.
Why is preventive healthcare important?
Preventive healthcare aims to prevent illness and assist in the early detection of specific diseases while encouraging the promotion and maintenance of good health.
Preventive approaches can detect a wide variety of diseases early in their course, sometimes even if no outward symptoms are present. This includes certain cancers, cardiac disease, risks for stroke, diabetes, and depression, among others.
Diagnosing diseases earlier will result in easier treatment, better outcomes and can drastically increase your lifespan.
What should you schedule and when?
The annual physical exam with your primary care physician. This is a time for you and your physician to check in with any health concerns and lifestyle choices—smoking, alcohol use, diet, and exercise. Along with having your vital signs taken (such as blood pressure and heart rate), your doctor will listen to your heart, which could help detect any murmur or irregular heartbeat, and lungs, which might sound like wheezing or crackles. Depending on your age, an EKG, chest x-ray, or other screening tests may be ordered.
The physical should assess all your major body systems, including an abdominal exam, testing of your muscles and reflexes, and looking at your skin and nails. All offer important clues as to your overall physical health. To find a physician, visit http://www.doctors.summerlinhospital.com, or call 702-388-4888.
Vaccinations. Your doctor’s office or nearby pharmacy offers a variety of important vaccinations. While we are attentive in keeping our children vaccinated throughout their childhood and teen years, adults shouldn’t neglect their own health! Vaccinations for flu, COVID-19, shingles (for adults 50+), pneumonia (for adults 65+), and tetanus shots are excellent prevention tools, along with others as recommended by your physician for hepatitis, HPV, and meningitis.
Mammograms. According to the US Preventive Services Task Force, a screening mammogram between ages 40 to 49 should be an individual one, followed by biennial screenings for women ages 50 to 74. Women’s risk of breast cancer increases as they age. It’s important to share health histories among family members and with your health care providers to determine the best time for this procedure. To schedule a mammogram at the Breast Care Center at Summerlin Hospital, call 702-233-7337, option 1.
Colonoscopies. Schedule a colonoscopy between ages 45 and 50 to check the health, changes, or abnormalities in the large intestine (your colon) and rectum. If you have polyps, they will likely be removed during your colonoscopies, thereby decreasing your risk of colon cancer. Typically, a colonoscopy is scheduled for every 10 years, but sometimes it’s a shorter timeframe—your gastroenterologist will make any recommendations for follow-up care.
When to schedule an urgent visit with your doctor. While preventive exams are important, sometimes you shouldn’t wait. Rectal bleeding, blood in the stool or urine, new lumps in the breast or genital areas, or a general feeling of unwellness are all urgent reasons to schedule an immediate appointment with your doctor.
When to go to the ER or call 911. In some medical situations, time lost can forever damage your heart, brain, or other organs. Call 911 if you or someone you are with is having severe chest pain or pressure; signs of stroke; stopped breathing; incurred an injury to the head, neck, or spine; a seizure; poisoning; severe allergic reaction; suicidal thoughts. Generally speaking, if a person or unborn baby could die or be permanently disabled, it is an emergency.
Summerlin Hospital Medical Center is a full-service acute care facility and is accredited as a Primary Heart Attack Center and as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. The Children’s Medical Center at Summerlin provides advanced care to infants, children, adolescents, and teenagers and has a separate pediatric ER.
Remember the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"? Maintaining and improving your health is important. Regular preventive health care along with following the advice of your doctor can help you and your family stay healthy.
Heart Attack Symptoms*
Chest discomfort that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back; pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach; shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort; cold sweat; nausea; lightheadedness.
Cardiac Arrest Symptoms*
Sudden loss of responsiveness – no response to tapping on shoulders
No normal breathing – the person does not take a normal breath when you tilt head up and check for at least five seconds.
Stroke Symptoms*
Face droop or numbness – ask the person to smile
Arm weakness – is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
Speech difficulty – slurred speech, unable to speak, or difficult to understand.
Time to call 911 and get to the hospital immediately.
*Source:
http://www.heart.org/en/about-us/heart-attack-and-stroke-symptom