How often have you been to see your physician in the last 12 months? Once, not at all? If this is the case then this is an article just for you, to remind you exactly why regular checkups are necessary for your long term health. My physician Lisa M. Cannon M.D. regularly tells me that I should be going to see her more often and to be fair, she is absolutely right. These are the reasons which she always gives me as to why I should go more often, and why you should as well.
Cost of Healthcare
You may think that regular checkups are going to cost more money, and whilst this is true, it is only true in the short term. The reason being that if an issue is found earlier, it can save you money in the long run. Let’s say that you pass out and after testing you discover a disease, you could be in for an expensive bill, if however the issue had been spotted earlier, you’d have saved an awful lot of money.
Blood Tests
Blood tests will be used to check for an array of afflictions and illnesses and having a test every couple of months will be able to provide your physician with a good measure of what your blood is doing. Getting a test every couple of years will provide varied data which won’t help to diagnose issues as well as regular testing will.
Healthcare
Everyone has probably walked out of the doctors once or twice feeling scolded for not living a healthy lifestyle, but that feeling disappears pretty quickly and many go back to their unhealthy lives. When you are getting a lot of checkups however, your overall health is constantly in your mind and that pressure can help you to live a better lifestyle through exercise and healthy eating.
Mortality
Simply put, in the case of many diseases, the earlier that you are able to diagnose it, the longer and better quality life you are going to be able to live. Taking cancer as an example, once you have it, every day that passes without it being diagnosed is taking months of your life expectancy. Regular checkups will give you the best possible chance of survival if you contract a terminal disease.
Small Changes
The body will often have signs of a problem before it turns into an illness and through regular checkups you can prevent this from happening. For example high cholesterol or blood pressure has many secondary affects which can cause you some serious damage. If however you are made aware of these issues early on, you can take action against those, rather than having to treat ailments which have been caused as a result of your inaction.
Try to ensure that you see your physician every 3 months at least in order to enjoy these healthcare benefits.