What preventive tests are worth performing?
Research Calendar
Preventive examinations are designed to protect our health. Doctors recommend them to detect health problems at an early stage of disease, that is, when there is a possibility of a complete cure. Their value, therefore, cannot be overestimated, and their performance is an expression of self-care. They play a special role in oncology. Some cancers develop in the body without giving symptoms, and regular preventive examinations give a chance to detect the disease and undertake treatment.
An important premise and indication for preventive testing is the age of the patient and the possibility of developing the disease in question. These are two factors that are important in prognosis, while allowing to implement treatment at an early stage. Our proposed calendar of preventive examinations arranges examinations according to medical indications.
What preventive examinations to perform regardless of age? Basic preventive examinations.
Doctors recommend that certain preventive examinations be performed regularly and regardless of age. They are divided into those that should be performed once a year and those that prophylactically only need to be performed once every 5 years.
Perform 1 time a year
- basic blood, urine tests,
- Blood pressure measurement, weight control,
- examination of nevi with a dermatoscope at a dermatologist (self-observation of nevi on the skin once a month).
Perform once every 5 years
- Lipidogram (measurement of blood cholesterol levels),
- Abdominal ultrasound and chest X-ray.
What preventive tests should I do in my 20s?
After the age of 20, additional preventive examinations are recommended. What these tests are, we describe in detail in the following calendar of preventive additional tests.
Between 20 and 30 years of age:
WOMEN
- Once a year, a gynecological examination with cytology,
- Monthly breast self-examination (between the 6th and 9th day of the cycle),
- Breast ultrasound every six months - women at risk,
- Once a year mammography - women at risk.
MEN
- monthly testicular examination,
- Proctological examination of the prostate - men at risk.
Between the ages of 30 and 40:
WOMEN AND MEN
- A visit to an ophthalmologist with a fundus examination every 5 years.
WOMEN
- A one-time ultrasound of the reproductive organs.
MEN
- monthly testicular examination,
- Proctological examination of the prostate - men at risk.
Between the ages of 40 and 50:
WOMEN AND MEN
- ECG every 3 years,
- Gastroscopy once every 5 years,
- Annual fecal occult blood test,
- Annual chest x-ray - smokers,
- bone densitometry study.
WOMEN
- Transvaginal ultrasound of the reproductive organs every 2 years,
- Breast ultrasound and mammography once every 2 years,
- A one-time test of thyroid hormone levels in the blood.
MEN
- Once a year, a prostate examination per rectum,
- X-ray of the lungs every 2 years.
Above the age of 50, the above tests should be continued, increasing in frequency:
WOMEN AND MEN
- Repeat abdominal ultrasound every year,
- Colonoscopy every 5 years,
- ECG every six months.
and additionally perform:
WOMEN
- Gynecological examination with cytology and ultrasound of reproductive organs and testing of thyroid hormone levels once a year,
- Breast mammography every 2 years.
MEN
- Prostate examination per rectum every 2 years,
- determination of the PSA antigen level in the blood once a year,
- Testicular examination by a doctor once every 3 years,
- Monthly self-examination of the testicles.
Preventive examinations should be done regularly, at any age and even when our mood is good. Any abnormalities that are detected early are easier to regulate, and cancer detected early is curable! That is why it is worth and necessary to be examined.
Medical consultation
doctor Agnieszka Król-Krawczyk
Specialist in family medicine