Health is expensive, but when sick it can be even more expensive. Therefore, prevention is better than cure. As a precautionary measure, medical check-up This can be done to determine health conditions, as well as detect a disease early on.
The earlier a disease is detected, the sooner help can be given. This way, the disease does not progress to a more serious stage, while preventing more complicated treatment.
Medical check-up needed by women and men, both young and old. Even people who look healthy need to do medical check-up, especially to check the level of health and the possibility of serious diseases that have not yet shown symptoms.
In general, the following can be a list of things to check through medical check-up.
Weight
Body mass index (body mass index/BMI) Abnormal conditions can trigger various diseases. Obesity can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, and cancer. Meanwhile, physical conditions that are too thin are at risk of weakening the immune system, resulting in osteoporosis and anemia. Therefore, it is important to check BMI every 2 years for people under 50 years old and once a year for people over 50 years old.
Actually BMI can be calculated yourself at home. How: weight (kg) / height (m)2. The normal BMI for an Asian population is 18.5 to 22.9. However, if you experience drastic weight loss, are overweight, or have an abnormal BMI, consult your doctor immediately to treat it.
Blood sugar
This test is done for people aged 45 years and over, at least once every three years. However, if you are at risk for diabetes, consult your doctor to get tested immediately, and more often, for example every year.
In addition, if you experience symptoms such as drastic weight loss for no apparent reason, frequent thirst and hunger, tingling in the hands or feet, and frequent urination, take this test immediately to confirm the possibility of diabetes. Before doing the test, you are advised to fast for 8 hours. A fasting blood sugar test will show one of the following results:
- Normal: 70-100 mg/dL
- Pre-diabetes: 100-125 mg/dL
- Diabetes: 126 mg/dL
Blood pressure
Normal blood pressure for people under 60 years old is an upper number (systolic) less than 140 mm Hg and a lower number (diastolic) less than 90, or read 140/90. Meanwhile, at the age above 60 years, the normal standard is less than 150/90 mm Hg. Blood pressure above normal means hypertension (high blood pressure).
For normal people, the test can be done every 1-2 years. Meanwhile, people who have hypertension or hypotension need to have the test every year or more often.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is basically a type of fat that the body needs, but excessive amounts can clog blood vessels and trigger heart disease and stroke. Normal cholesterol is as follows:
- Good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein/HDL) preferably above 60 mg/dL.
- bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein/LDL) preferably below 100 mg/dL.
- Triglycerides should be less than 150 mg/dL.
- Total cholesterol should be below 200mg/dL.
For people with normal health conditions, the test can be done every 5 years, starting from the age of 35 years. But if you are obese, have diabetes or hypertension, have a family history of heart disease or stroke, smoke, this test can be started as early as age 20 and needs to be more frequent. Like a blood sugar test, a cholesterol test requires taking a blood sample.
Health Heart
The heart is one of the vital organs in the human body. Examination of the heart can be done with an electrocardiogram (ECG) test, also known as a heart record. The test is done to determine the electrical activity of the heart. This test can detect an abnormal heartbeat or other disorders such as blocked blood vessels. This test is done if you have symptoms of heart disease, such as chest pain or palpitations.
Eye
Have your eyes checked every 1-2 years especially if you have vision problems. In addition to visual disturbances, the examination in children aims to see the possibility of lazy eyes or crossed eyes. While in adults, the examination can determine the conditions:
- Retinopathy, damage to the blood vessels behind the eyes, for example due to diabetes.
- Glaucoma, optic nerve damage and increased eye pressure.
- Cataracts, cloudy eyes.
Related tests may include:
- Retinal examination: a special fluid is placed in the eye to enlarge the cornea, then light is irradiated so the doctor can see the structures inside the eye.
- Eye muscle examination: the doctor will look at your eye movements.
- Visual acuity check: using a lettered poster.
- Slit lamp examination to examine the eyelids, eyelashes, cornea, iris, lens, and the fluid space between the cornea and iris.
- Perimetry test to check the eye's ability to see sideways without moving the eyeball.
- Intraocular pressure test (tonometry) to check the pressure in the eye.
Skin
To detect skin cancer, an examination may be performed and if necessary, a skin sample or a skin biopsy. Skin cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells in the skin.
The test can be done immediately when abnormal changes are found in the skin, such as a lump; moles that change color, size, or bleed; or the presence of abnormal tissue on the skin that is red, white, blue, or black with irregular borders.
Ear
Get a hearing test (audiometry) if you have hearing loss. Audiometry is used to evaluate the possibility of deafness, determine the type and degree of hearing loss. Examinations in infants and young children are needed to detect hearing problems that can interfere with learning, speaking, and understanding language. The check is done by looking at your response to the sound.
Tooth
No one is free from plaque and tartar. Therefore, it is necessary to have regular dental checkups every 6 months from an early age to detect conditions such as abscesses or purulent swelling due to infection, damage between teeth, damage to the jawbone, impacted teeth due to abnormal growth of wisdom teeth, cysts or tumors.
If tartar is found, the doctor will clean it or scaling. In addition, if there are signs of problems with the teeth, further examination is needed with X-ray to determine what medical action is needed.
Bone
Bone density test aims to determine bone strength and help diagnose osteoporosis (porous bones). Checks are carried out with X-ray or CT scan. The test needs to be done by women 65 years and over, men 70 years and over, or anyone at risk for osteoporosis. Risk factors include long-term use of steroid medications, smoking, drinking alcohol, being underweight, or having a family history of osteoporosis.
Other
In addition to the above examinations, several other tests or investigations may be required, such as screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and hepatitis B for people who are sexually active and have more than one sex partner, as well as lung disease screening for heavy smokers. The following are some of the diseases that include STDs as well as the necessary checks.
- Gonorrhea, requires a urine test. In some cases, fluid samples from the urethra in men and the cervix in women are required, as well as the throat.
- genital herpes, the doctor will check for symptoms and take a sample from your wound.
- HIV, requires antibody testing (immunoassays).
- Syphilis, requires blood tests and examination of fluid from syphilitic sores.
- Hepatitis B, the examination for hepatitis B is the same as the HIV test, which is taking a blood sample to determine the presence and activity of this disease.
How much a person smokes can be measured by the number of smokingpack-year. Number smoking pack-year a person is measured by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes consumed per day by the number of years he has smoked. So for example, a person who smokes 2 packs of cigarettes per day for 4 years is said to have 8 smoking pack-year. Here are some of the risks that heavy smokers have and the checks needed.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), requires a lung function test that measures the amount of air in the lungs, the rate at which air is inhaled and exhaled, and uses an X-ray of the chest.
- Lung cancer, requires CT scan. People aged 55-80 years with 30 smoking pack-year or more and are still smoking cigarettes or have just quit in the last 15 years, and anyone who has a risk of lung cancer after consulting a doctor, should have this examination.
Besides medical check-up mentioned above, make sure you are also aware of certain tests to detect certain types of cancer, which can appear silently, without causing any symptoms. Medical check-up is an effective anticipatory step in detecting the risk of disease in the body. Do it regularly to prevent the development of a more severe level of disease in the future.