June is Mens’ Health Month. It is important to focus on health and screenings year around. Research has found that preventative health screenings are not always a priority amongst men.
This is due to multiple factors that include lack of time, access to care, individual perceptions, screening procedures or social stigmas.
Ernest Aquino
Jonei Delgado
Visiting your doctor can be scary as men are at higher risk for heart disease, lung cancer and HIV. Men are also subject to health problems that don’t affect women, like prostate cancer.
However, seeing your primary doctor regularly and completing recommended health screenings can lead to early diagnosis and treatment, improve quality of life and prevent premature death.
There are a number of exams and screenings that should be completed annually and others that occur at specific ages. Below are common screenings that are recommended by the National Institute of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force.
Annual examsAnnual exams are yearly visits to your doctor to check your overall health and to make sure you do not have any medical issues that you are not aware of. These exams include your physical, dental and eye exam.
These exams are the perfect time to ask your provider about any problems or symptoms you are experiencing. During your physical exam, your doctor may ask you to complete laboratory tests that include a complete blood count, chemistry panel and urinalysis.
Your doctor may also recommend getting specific immunizations if you are not up-to-date and ask you about lifestyle factors to measure your health risk — diet and exercise, alcohol and tobacco use, and depression.
Heart diseaseAsk you doctor if you are at risk for developing any type of cardiovascular diseases as men are at greater risk compared to women.
On Guam, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death. Discussing risk factors with your health care provider such as blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and triglyceride levels and improving lifestyle behaviors such as diet, stress and smoking can reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
Colorectal cancer Talk to your doctor about getting screened if you are age 45 to 75.
While the preferred screening method is the colonoscopy, your doctor may recommend a non-invasive screening, such as the stool-based fecal occult blood test. This test is used to detect blood in your stool. Blood in the stool means there may be bleeding in the digestive tract from a variety of conditions.
Ask your doctor if the FOBT is appropriate for you.
Lung cancerIf you are between the ages of 50 and 80 years old and have a 20-year pack history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years, ask your doctor about completing a low-dose CT scan to screen for lung cancer.
Prostate cancerIf you are between the age of 55 and 69, talk with your doctor about a prostate exam and if it is appropriate for you. This exam generally include a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test and digital rectal exam.
Free screenings
If you are unable to go to a clinic, there are community resources that provide free screenings for blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, body weight, body fat percentage and body mass index. These free screenings are not meant to provide a diagnosis, but to give you basic information about your health.
Taking control of your health before chronic conditions develop can significantly improve your quality of life, as “prevention is better than cure.”
