Essential Health Screenings to Schedule Before the New Year

Health screenings are tests that look for specific diseases before you show any symptoms. These tests can detect diseases early in their development, when they’re easier to treat and treat successfully. You can get many screenings at your primary care doctor’s office, usually during your annual physical.

If the doctor needs to follow up on any of the information, they may refer you for further testing or to a specialist.

At Primecare Family Practice, board-certified family practitioners Maryline Ongangi, APRN, FNP-C and Lewis Nyantika, APRN, FNP-C, conduct health screenings for their patients in and around Arlington, Texas. As it’s important to get a number of screenings done each year, the team weighs in on what you should schedule before New Year’s is upon us.

Which health screenings are essential to get?

There are a number of health screenings you should get each year. While many will be included with your annual physical, some have to be scheduled separately or at a different facility. These include:

Blood pressure

Your blood pressure is a measure of your cardiovascular health. As most cases of high blood pressure don’t come with any symptoms, the only way to know what your numbers are is by screening for them.

Blood pressure is measured using an inflatable cuff around your upper arm, and it’s reported as two numbers: systolic (upper number) over diastolic (lower number). To be in the normal range, your reading should be 120 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury)/80 mm Hg or less.

A high blood pressure reading can indicate that your arteries are clogged, and your blood flow is compromised. It’s important to treat high blood pressure before it leads to a heart attack or stroke.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy fat that your body needs to do things like build cell membranes. The trouble is, your body produces all the cholesterol you need, but you get additional amounts from the foods you eat, primarily from animal products.

If you have too much cholesterol, it can form a sticky plaque in your arteries, restricting blood flow. As the arteries harden and narrow, a condition called atherosclerosis, your risks for heart attack and stroke increase.

Like blood pressure, high cholesterol doesn’t come with any noticeable symptoms until you hit a crisis. The only way to determine your level is through a health screening. It comes in the form of a blood test that examines the lipid panel.

Diabetes

In 2021, according to the CDC, 38.4 million Americans (11.6% of the population) had diabetes, and many more had prediabetes. Diabetes is a group of diseases that occur due to problems with the manufacture or use of the hormone insulin. All forms are characterized by high blood sugar levels, which can damage tissues and organs and even lead to amputations.

The A1C test is a blood test used to diagnose diabetes. The result shows the average blood sugar level over the past 2-3 months by determining what percentage of hemoglobin in the blood is glycated, or covered with sugar.

The higher the A1C level, the poorer the blood sugar is being managed and the higher the risk of complications related to diabetes.

If caught while still in the prediabetes form, the condition can be managed and even reversed, which is why health screenings are so important.

Complete blood count (CBC)

A CBC is a blood test used to look at overall health and diagnose a wide range of conditions, from iron-deficient anemia to infection to leukemia.

The test measures:

• Red blood cells, which carry oxygen
• White blood cells, which fight infection
• Hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells
• Hematocrit, the number of red blood cells
• Platelets, which help blood to clot

A CBC determines the levels of each type of cell and if they’re normal, above normal, or below normal. Such changes can point to a medical condition that calls for more testing.

Gender-specific screenings

Women should have a yearly mammogram starting about age 40. This X-ray image of your breasts can be used for breast cancer screening or for diagnostic purposes, such as to follow up on specific symptoms or unusual findings on another imaging test.

Men should be screened for prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The PSA test is a blood test that screens for prostate cancer.

The test measures the amount of PSA in your blood. This protein is produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a gland specific to males. Results of the test need to be reviewed to determine if cancer is present or if another, more benign, condition is the cause of an elevated reading.

Have you had all your health screenings this year? If not, make getting them a priority before the new year. Call Primecare Family Practice at 817-873-3710 to schedule, or book online with us today.