“Hi Mr. Danladi, what were you doing in the hospital today? You didn’t tell me you were sick.” “No: I wasn’t; I went for my routine health check. I give my body a treat every January before getting into work mode for the new year.” “Wow! You dis oyinbo man,” “routine what? When you’re as fit as a fiddle? I don’t undergo such tests because I don’t have the money to waste!”
Does this sound like you? Health checks are unnecessary when you feel as fit as a fiddle, right? Sorry, nothing could be farther from the truth! Routine health checks are not for the rich, neither are they for the “oyinbo man.” they are useful for everyone and they could save your life! Some simple, inexpensive but very essential health checks include:
Diabetes is a silent disease; it typically manifests as frequent urination, weight loss, frequent drinking of water, but not in all cases. In most persons, however, it manifests at high blood sugar levels with serious complications. The disease could go unnoticed in many people. Therefore, your best bet to finding out early if you’re diabetic is having a regular sugar check.
When last did you check your blood pressure? Remember what the values were? Maybe you’ve not checked your blood pressure because you feel nothing is wrong, anyway. Again, you’re wrong. High blood pressure may be symptomless and only manifests with complications, such as a stroke or heart attack. Please, go for a routine blood pressure check today.
Yeah, let's talk about your weight. We like it big in Africa, don't we? In fact, we celebrate heavyweight as a sign of affluence and your friends hail you because they think being big means living big. What you might not know is that the bigger you get, the greater the strain on your heart and the closer you get to several obesity-associated diseases. You can stay in the safe zone by simply checking your body mass index (BMI) regularly.
Routine eye checks are invaluable. This is because as you age, your risk of certain eye conditions including glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy increases. Although annual eye checks are recommended for people older than 65 years old, you need to take the tests more frequently, if there’s a family history of eye disease, a personal history of eye disease, or underlying medical conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure.
Regular pap smears with an occasional mammogram are necessary for early detection of cervical and breast cancers respectively in women. For men, routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screen to detect prostate cancer is necessary. For everyone, routine colonoscopy, or a camera test to view the bowels, helps to screen the bowels for colon cancer. These tests can be done as frequently as recommended by your local or national health guidelines
How good are your teeth? Very strong, right? Maybe as strong as chicken bone crackers at home and bottle top openers at parties?! You wouldn’t know how much damage you’ve done to your teeth until you visit the dentist: you're not supposed to crack bones except they are that soft and definitely; turning your teeth into bottle openers should be a no-no. How much damage have you caused? Only the dentist can tell you this.
Take-home: routine health checks are somewhat like checks you make for your vehicle every other morning before driving out. You check your tyres, check your fluids, and assess your brakes to ensure your car is in top condition every time you drive. The same goes for your body. You don’t wait until there is a breakdown before you do something; check regularly, do these routine health screenings to ensure your body stays healthy.
