Health checks
Many people are proud of being able to claim that they "never go to the doctor".
In some ways this is good news because it means they have no illness needing medical attention.
But it might mean that they are missing out on some important preventive checks, which can help keep them healthy.
These checks include:
- blood pressure;
- Pap smear and breast examination (for women);
- vaccination status (for example, pertussis [whooping cough] boosters are recommended if you have close contact with young children, and measles vaccination is recommended if you were born before 1966 and were not fully vaccinated as a child);
- cholesterol level;
- blood sugar level to check for diabetes; and
- faecal occult blood test in those over 50 to look for early signs of bowel cancer.
Health checks can be very important in preventing problems or detecting them in the early stages.
Remember:
- you don't have to be ill to see the doctor once in a while; and
- doctors like seeing their healthy patients as well as their sick ones.
Last Reviewed: 03 November 2010
- 1. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice. 7th ed. Melbourne: RACGP, 2009.
2. The Australian immunisation handbook (9th ed.). Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing; 2008. http://immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/Handbook-home (accessed 13 Sep 2010).
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