In this fast-paced life, nobody has time for themselves. Every 6 months, each one of us gets a notification on our phone for getting our vehicle serviced. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 30 lakh car or a scooter we get it serviced in order to avoid any big expenses in the long-term, So the same way of thinking is applicable for your body as well.
We live in a highly toxic world where lifespan is decreasing and there ‘n’ number of diseases developing at an increasing rate.
There are a lot of reasons why a full body checkup is important and they are:
- Lowers healthcare costs: Just like we take care of our gadgets and get them serviced to avoid any big expenses, our bodies should get diagnosed and treated before something major happens and thus a full body checkup saves on costs.
- Increases life span: By avoiding any fatal diseases and knowing what might cause a problem can help you take preventive measures and increase your lifespan significantly.
- Stops growth of any disease: Getting a proper diagnosis can stop the growth of any disease. For example, cancer is treated in its early stages easily. A concept of early diagnosis is already there for Cancer and other diseases that might run in your family, this helps you in taking preventive measures before the disease develops into something serious.
- Reduces complications: Now that a doctor has a proper report on your body, complications during surgery can be avoided.
- You get to know your body: A full body checkup encompasses numerous tests which tell you all of the things that are not fine in your body. Some allergies or any chronic diseases that might be developing can also be brought to light.
- Motivates you to live a healthier lifestyle: Getting to know about chronic diseases or any other illnesses at an early stage can help you take preventive measures and motivate you to live a healthier lifestyle. For example, if someone is diagnosed with borderline diabetes because of stress then they won’t indulge in high stressful situations and lead a healthier lifestyle.
- Motivates you to live a healthier lifestyle: Getting to know about chronic diseases or any other illnesses at an early stage can help you take preventive measures and motivate you to live a healthier lifestyle. For example, if someone is diagnosed with borderline diabetes because of stress then they won’t indulge in high stressful situations and lead a healthier lifestyle.
- Keeps you informed of the latest advancements: Getting a full body checkup can be beneficial as it tells you about new updates on your body and as well as about any advances that are happening in the medical sphere.
- Can identify stress-related diseases: We all live in a stressful environment it can be work pressure or the pressure to submit an assignment at school or college, traffic while driving, unpredictable weather, etc. any situation that you consider can cause stress. Furthermore, a full body checkup will help you and your doctor understand what is wrong with your body and find what stress has been doing to your body, stress is detrimental to your body.
Types of tests and why are they there?
1). Complete Hemogram
- What’s a complete Hemogram?: A complete hemogram is the complete test of your blood. The word “Haemo” means pertaining to blood. Above all, this test checks for three things; Red Blood cells, White blood cells, and platelets.
- Preparation: The Hemogram test requires no preparation. Experts perform this test on a sample of your blood.
- Why is it important?: A hemogram or CBC is important because it can help you and your doctor evaluates your overall health. In addition, this test helps diagnose diseases like Leukemia and Anemia.
2). Thyroid Tests
- What’s a thyroid test?: According to the doctors I had consulted at Redcliffe Life Diagnostics, a thyroid test tests for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine (T4) whose levels determine the level of activity of your thyroid.
- Preparation: A thyroid test doesn’t require much, if your doctor wants you to get certain blood tests then you might have to fast for some time.
- Why is it important?: The thyroid is a gland that is near your throat. This little gland controls the metabolism of your body. Apart from this, getting a test for the thyroid is extremely important as a lot of the organs in your body depend on the thyroid for better functioning.
3). Urine Routine & Microscopy
- What’s a Urine routine and Microscopy?: This is one of the common tests that doctors recommend nowadays. Your urine routine contains physical, chemical, and microscopic testing of your urine.
- Preparation: Make sure you drink a lot of water but not an excessive amount. An excessive amount may cause you to give inaccurate results.
- Why is it important?: While the color of your urine says a lot about the functioning of your kidneys and your body. Also, a urine test checks the function of your kidneys or any underlying infections. It’s always a better idea to consider urine routine testing.
4). Liver Function Tests
- What’s a Liver Function Test?: Your liver produces a chemical called bile which helps out a lot in your digestion. Therefore, a Liver Function test helps you measure certain proteins and enzymes in your blood and the health of your Liver.
- Preparation: For a liver function test, doctors may ask you to fast for 8 or 12 hours prior to the test.
- Why is it important?: Measuring the health of your liver, testing for some enzymes and proteins are the main objectives of this test.
5). Kidney Function Test
- What’s a Kidney Function Test?: A kidney test is simply a urine and blood test that can help identify the functioning of the kidneys. Kidneys help filter the blood and excrete the waste material as urine.
- Preparation: A kidney function test doesn’t require much preparation. A KFT requires a day-old (24 hours) urine test sample and a blood test. For this, you should consult your doctor on how they have planned the test and what is best for you.
- Why is it important?: As Kidneys play such a vital role in balancing the fluids in the body and excrete out waste materials as Urine amongst many other important functions.
6). Lipid Profile Tests
- What’s a Lipid Profile Test?: Lipids are a group of fats that play a significant role as a source of energy. Medical experts consider a lipid test as a cholesterol test. According to the doctors, cholesterol is some sort of wax-like substance present in the cells for energy. Also, one can use this energy for various important purposes.
- Preparation: The general rule of thumb is to submit a blood sample after fasting for 12 hours, in case of a heart attack or any kind of surgical procedure you should wait for at least a period of 50-60 days, I would suggest that you consult your doctor before going for a test.
- Why is it important?: Doctors recommend a Lipid profile test to measure good and bad cholesterol levels. In addition, it helps to assess the body for Cardiovascular diseases.
Time intervals required for regular tests
The intervals at which a person considers testing, totally depend on a couple of factors like their age, etc. The number of test increase with age as you are prone to more diseases as you grow older. While I believe that everyone should avail a health package because we never know what might happen next but we can always get an idea.
