Medical Diagnosis Testing -Not Always Needed

MH900409552MH900432538You may often thought  do I really need all those tests – well finally medical professionals from 17 medical societies have addressed this issue.

They have identified tests and procedures that are likely unnecessary for the 26 medical specialties. Examples of unnecessary tests from the specific medical society include:

  American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Antibiotics for apparent viral respiratory illnesses such as sinusitis or bronchitis

American Academy of Neurology (AAN): Electroencephalography (EEG) for headaches

American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO): Antibiotics for pink eye

American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP): Population-based screening for vitamin D deficiency

American Urological Association (AUA): Routine bone scans in men with a low risk of prostate cancer

Society of Hospital Medicine, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI): PET/CT scans for cancer screening in healthy individuals.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which is new to the list, recommended against performing annual Pap tests in women ages 30 to 65, since doing so offers no advantage over screening at 3-year intervals

 

Visit  for more information ‘Choosing Wisely’ 

 

 

End of Year To Do List -Health Check

You feel fine so you did not take time for wellness check-ups. Yes you were told they were a good idea but…

Whither you have health insurance or not there are certain wellness checkups you need annually. So read this wellness to do list and get the screening you need:

Bone density Scan (for osteoporosis)- for women over 65/men over 70, unless other health issues factor in. Yes men get osteoporosis!  According to results you may need to be tested again in 1, 2 or 10 years.  Painless and non invasive. ‘Porous’ bones affects over 10 million Americans.

Diabetes – over 45  & overweight you need to be checked for prediabetes. Just a quick blood test. If under 45 with one or more risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol or Diabetes during pregnancy), you need the blood test.

Eye Exam – ‘Visual’ exam (what your eye sees) vs. ‘Eye’ exam (inside health of your eye) are recommended once every year or two dependent on age, medical history and findings of last exam. The eye provides tremendous information about overall health – if a trained eye looks in!

Heart Health – every one over 20 should have a ‘lipid profile’ (total cholesterol, components (HDL, LDL) and  triglycerides). If you have normal values – recheck every 5 years. After age 18 blood pressure checks every 2 years if normal.

Skin Test – cancer of skin most common form of cancer in US (listen to DocHandal’s podcast). Only a dermatologist can totally check every inch of your skin start at age 21 and repeat as frequently as the Doc tells you.