Prevention is the best medicine

Your primary care doctor not only looks after your physical health, but also checks in with your spiritual and mental health, caring for the whole person. He or she is your partner in prevention, not just treatment.

“Many people wait until they’re sick to see their primary care doctor, but our role is much broader than treating illness,” said Jagat R. Patel, MD, a board-certified family physician with Baptist Primary Care. “Our priority is prevention. We recommend screenings and tests based on each patient’s age and overall health to help identify potential issues before they become serious.”

8 life-saving health screenings

1. Blood pressure test

Known as “the silent killer,” high blood pressure doesn’t always have symptoms but can lead to stroke, blood clots, heart failure and other serious medical conditions.

“Nearly half of adults have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and we’re unfortunately seeing it more often in children, as well,” Dr. Patel said. “That’s why checking blood pressure is a standard part of every visit.”

Those who have known complications or a family history of high blood pressure should be monitored more frequently. At-home blood pressure monitors can be purchased at your local pharmacy.

“Understanding your family health history is essential,” Dr. Patel said. “It helps physicians determine whether patients may need closer monitoring for conditions like high blood pressure or other hereditary health risks.”

2. Pap smear

Ladies, we’re talking to you! A Papanicolaou (Pap) smear is a screening for cervical cancer that tests for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix. It’s an essential part of a woman’s health care.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women between the ages of 21 and 65 be screened for cervical cancer with a Pap smear every three years. Average-risk women ages 30 to 65 should be screened every five years with both a Pap smear and an HPV test.

Women younger than 21, older than 65, and those who have had a total hysterectomy don’t need to have a Pap smear.

“This screening allows us to detect cervical cancer at a very early stage, and sometimes even before the disease fully develops,” Dr. Patel said.

Because nearly all cervical cancers are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), your doctor may recommend the HPV vaccine.

3. Cholesterol test

Our bodies need a certain amount of cholesterol, but buildup of the “bad” cholesterol type (low-density lipoprotein or LDL) can be dangerous and increase the risk of heart disease. “Good” cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein or HDL) helps remove other forms of cholesterol from your bloodstream and is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Can’t remember which is which? You can think of LDL as “lousy” and HDL as “healthy.”

Cholesterol testing is often done during routine blood work. For those without risk factors like obesity, family history or high blood pressure, recommended screening should begin at age 35 for males and 45 for females.

“High cholesterol often develops without noticeable symptoms until it has already affected the arteries,” Dr. Patel said. “Routine bloodwork allows us to detect elevated cholesterol early and intervene before it leads to more serious heart problems.”

Tips for maintaining good cholesterol levels include:

• Eating a heart-healthy diet
• Exercising regularly
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Quitting smoking

4. Mammogram

Like Pap smears, mammograms save lives by finding breast cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be successful. Beginning at age 40, women should have an annual screening mammogram. For those with a family history of breast cancer, screening should start earlier.

Annual mammograms lower a woman’s chance of death from breast cancer by 30-40%, according to the American College of Radiology. Are these mammogram myths keeping you away from your regular screening?

5. Calcium scoring

Coronary calcium scores are measured with a cardiac CT scan, a noninvasive test to learn more information about the presence and extent of calcified plaque in vessels that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

“Coronary calcification is a marker for cholesterol plaque. It correlates with the severity of a patient’s coronary artery disease but doesn’t correlate with the degree of narrowing of the arteries,” said Pamela Rama, MD, a cardiologist with Baptist Heart Specialists. “As the score increases, the likelihood of significant coronary artery disease and cardiac events increases over the next 5 years.”

Dr. Rama recommends calcium scoring to patients who are older than 35, especially smokers or those with a family history of early coronary artery disease. She said some patients simply want to know their calcium score to be aware of their risk for a cardiac event like a heart attack.

A score of 0 means the risk of a cardiac event is less than 1% over the next 10 years, while a score of 1-10 means there’s a small amount of plaque and risk for heart attack is low. Scores can range all the way to over 400, which is extremely high risk for a serious cardiac event – about 10% to 20% over the next decade or two. Based on the severity of the findings, a patient can then work with a cardiologist to develop a plan of action to prevent a major cardiac event.

6. Colonoscopy

A colonoscopy is an exam that views the inside of the colon, or large intestine, and rectum.

“Colonoscopy continues to be the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening,” Dr. Patel said. “Current guidelines recommend that average-risk men and women begin screening at age 45 and repeat it every 10 years, though individuals with higher risk factors may need earlier screening. I also understand that not everyone is comfortable with having a procedure like a colonoscopy, and the preparation required is often the biggest concern for patients. For those individuals, a stool-based test like Cologuard® can still serve as a good screening tool. While colonoscopy remains the most comprehensive option, Cologuard is a reasonable alternative for some patients. However, if a Cologuard test comes back positive, a colonoscopy would still be necessary to confirm and evaluate any findings.”

7. Depression screening

If you’ve had a physical or well visit recently, your health care provider likely asked these two questions:

• Over the last two weeks, how often have you had little interest or pleasure in doing things?
• Over the last two weeks, how often have you been feeling down, depressed or hopeless?

These questions, known as the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 or PHQ-2, are inquiries about the frequency of a depressed mood.

“These questions are an important first step in identifying patients who may benefit from additional mental health support,” Dr. Patel said. “From there, we can conduct a more comprehensive evaluation or connect patients with behavioral health specialists if needed. Additionally, Baptist Health’s Collaborative Care Model makes it easier for patients to access behavioral health services through Baptist Primary Care.”

8. Diabetes test

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for abnormal blood glucose and type 2 diabetes in adults ages 35 to 70 who are overweight or obese, and also recommends repeating testing every three years if results are normal.

Diabetes is a long-term disease in which the body can’t regulate the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes, which is less common, is often diagnosed in children or teens. With this disease, the body makes little or no insulin. With type 2 diabetes, which often occurs in adulthood, the body is resistant to insulin.

A diabetes test can detect prediabetes, thus allowing patients to make lifestyle changes like losing weight, increasing activity and eating a healthy diet, to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes can lead to many health issues, including heart disease, kidney damage, a weakened immune system and more.

Each patient is unique in terms of family history and other disease risk factors. Your primary care physician will know which screenings are right for you and offer an individualized approach to your health care.