Health Screening Guidelines

Check This	20 Years	30 Years	40 Years	50 Years	60+ Years
Your Family’s Health History	x	x	x	x	x
Blood Pressure	x	x	x	x	x
Cholesterol	x	x	x	x	x
Colon and Rectal Cancer			x	x	x
Dental Health	x	x	x	x	x
Diabetes	x	x	x	x	x
Eye Health	x	x	x	x	x
Prostate			x	x	x
Weight	x	x	x	x	x

Why Your Family Health History?

If you have a family history of any particular medical condition, you may be at high risk for that condition. Regular monitoring by your GP will help with prevention.

Why Blood pressure?

Blood Pressure readings can detect high blood pressure (hypertension), which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Once you hit 40 years of age it is best to have your blood pressure tested every year or more frequently as your doctor recommends.

What Happens?
An inflatable cuff is wrapped around your upper arm. It measures the amount of pressure your heart generates when pumping blood through your arteries (systolic pressure) and the amount of pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats (diastolic pressure).

Why Cholesterol?

High cholesterol increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, often without causing signs or symptoms.

What Happens?
A cholesterol test (done after fasting for 12 hours overnight) is a blood test that measures the fats in your blood. It measures total cholesterol, HDL (high-density lipoprotein = “good cholesterol”), LDL (low density lipoprotein = “bad cholesterol”) and triglyceride (blood fat) levels. Your cardiovascular risk can be accurately estimated from this information.

Why Colon & Rectal Cancer?

New Zealand men develop this cancer more frequently than women, and have the highest rate of any population group in the world. Tests are used to detect precancerous growths or cancer in the colon and rectum.

What Happens?
There are different tests the doctor may recommend depending on a number of factors: A stool test, a CT colon scan, or a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy is an examination which allows the doctor to examine the entire length of the colon visually. A thin, flexible tube with a tiny camera at the tip (colonoscope) is inserted into the rectum.

Why Dental Health?

A regular dental exam helps protect your oral health and monitor for signs of other problems.

Dental infection can spread to other parts of your body and cause more serious infections.

Diabetes increases your risk of gum disease, cavities, tooth loss, dry mouth and a variety of oral infections. Conversely, poor oral health can make your diabetes more difficult to control. Infections may cause your blood sugar to rise and require more insulin to keep it under control.

Why Diabetes?

Glucose, or blood sugar, is vital to your health because it's the main source of energy for the cells that make up your muscles and tissues.

What Happens?
A fasting blood sugar test measures the level of sugar (glucose) in your blood after fasting for at least eight hours. If your glucose test under these conditions is abnormally high, your doctor will arrange for a more detailed test to confirm or exclude diabetes.

Why Eye Health?

Regular eye exams help protect your vision — from vision correction to detection of glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts and other eye problems.

What Happens?
If you have any visual symptoms or a family history of some eye conditions, your doctor will refer you to an eye doctor ( ophthalmologist) Your eye movements, side (peripheral) vision, eye pressure, colour vision and the sharpness (acuity) of your eyesight will be checked.

Why Prostate?

Prostate cancer that is detected early — when it's still confined to the prostate gland — has a better chance of successful treatment. When the prostate gland is under stress it produces more PSA (prostate specific antigen – a protein,) and this leaks into the blood. Elevated levels of PSA can be one of the first clues that the prostate may have an infection, or benign or malignant enlargement.

Prostate cancer can only be diagnosed beyond doubt from a tissue sample taken in a biopsy, usually carried out using a fine needle under local anaesthetic. (Source: Prostate Cancer Foundation of NZ)

What Happens?
A PSA test is a done by taking a sample of blood. In a DRE (digital rectal examination) test the doctor inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum and feels the prostate gland for any sign of abnormal enlargement or firmness.

It is recommended that both tests be carried out at regular (eg. annually) intervals in all men in mid-life and beyond.