Contents:
- Medical Video: Mayo Clinic Minute: Pap test recommendations
- Why is women's health screening important?
- Here are some screening for women:
- Medical Check Up
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Osteoporosis and broken bones
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Glaucoma
Medical Video: Mayo Clinic Minute: Pap test recommendations
Everyone knows the saying, "Prevention is better than cure". Well, health screening is an effort to prevent disease. The goal is to detect disease as early as possible so you can control the disease. Screening for women includes physical examinations, medical tests, laboratory tests, or radiological examinations.
How important is it to do screening for women? What screening do women need? Here's the full review.
Why is women's health screening important?
Health screening can help women to:
- Detect diseases faster. The sooner you find a disease, the easier it will be to treat the disease. Therefore, the chances of recovery are even greater.
- Study disease risk factors. Some of these risk factors include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or obesity which can cause heart disease, diabetes or cancer. By knowing the risk factors, you will be motivated to make lifestyle changes that can prevent the disease that might be caused.
- Monitor your health. By looking at the history of screening results, you can see your health condition from time to time.
Here are some screening for women:
Because each woman's body is different, you may have certain diseases that have not been detected because of no symptoms. Or do you have many health complaints for no apparent reason? That's why you should do various screening for the following women.
Medical Check Up
Medical check-up (MCU) is a comprehensive health examination that is usually carried out routinely every six months. The MCU can include checking blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, and blood sugar which helps you detect risk factors that trigger heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stroke, or others.
MCU can be done in health facilities, such as clinics, health centers, or hospitals. We recommend that you make a schedule first before doing the MCU.
Breast cancer
For early detection of breast cancer, you can do an examination with mammography, which is the process of examining the human breast using low-dose X-rays.
For those of you who are 20 or 30 years old, you need to do a breast examination every one to three years. For those of you who are 40 and above, you need to do it every year because the risk of breast cancer increases with age.
However, if your family has a family history of breast cancer or has a greater risk factor for breast cancer, you need to do a breast examination more often.
Cervical cancer
A Pap smear can help you find abnormal cells in the cervix. These abnormal cells can be removed before turning into cancer cells.
You can get the first pap smear when you are 21 years old (or after marriage) and do it regularly every three years. If you are 30 years or older, you can screen cervical cancer along with an HPV test at least every five years.
Sexually transmitted diseases
If you are married or have been sexually active, you also need a venereal disease test regularly, which is every year. Screening is needed, among others, to detect chlamydia, gonorrhea, or HIV / AIDS.
Osteoporosis and broken bones
This disease can be detected by special X-rays called dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure bone strength and detect osteoporosis before it occurs.
Screening for women is very important, especially for those of you who are 65 years or older. However, if you have risk factors for osteoporosis, you may need to start the examination faster.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Detection of HIV / AIDS can be done by ELISA or IFA tests. The test will be done twice if the first examination results are positive or if you have high risk behavior, but get a negative result. If the results are negative, you are encouraged to continue to take HIV prevention. If the results are positive, you will get ARV treatment.
Remember, the faster HIV is detected, the longer the life expectancy that can be sought.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the fluid pressure in the eyeball becomes too high so it can damage the optic nerve and cause blindness.
For early detection, you can do an eye examination to the ophthalmologist. People without risk factors or symptoms of eye disease can do a basic eye examination, including a glaucoma test, at the age of 40 years. But if you have a risk factor, you need to immediately take an eye check for early detection.
