Your annual checkup might not be as beneficial as you think. While preventative healthcare visits have been associated with more disease diagnoses, regular screenings don’t decrease death rates or other measures of poor health, according to a review of previous studies recently published in BMJ.
Researchers from the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen reviewed 14 clinical trials with a total of 18,880 participants. They found that regular health checks (defined as screening for more than one disease or risk factor in more than one organ system) didn’t reduce cardiovascular deaths, cancer deaths, or deaths from other causes. Testing didn’t even make a dent in the number of additional physician visits, stress levels, disability rates, and likelihood of hospitalization among people who underwent regular health screenings—even though there were about 20 percent more diagnoses per patient, according to one six-year study that the researchers reviewed.
Just as alarming: people tend to grossly overestimate the benefits of preventative tests like mammograms, and preventative treatments such as blood pressure meds, according to a survey of 997 people recently published in theAnnals of Family Medicine.
There are a number of reasons as to why preventative healthcare check-ups aren’t as protective as you’d expect. For starters, certain medical tests simply aren’t sensitive enough to detect the earliest signs of disease. Moreover, testing could lead to false-positive results, which can trigger invasive follow-up procedures and stress, and ultimately heighten your risk of developing actual health issues. Or, on the other hand, your doc may declare you the picture of health, falsely inflating your confidence. That could cause you to carry on with unhealthy behaviors, or pick up new ones.
That said, don’t take this as permission to stop going to the doctor. “Screening is not the definition of preventative medicine. It’s just one piece of a preventative medicine strategy,” says Roberta Lee, MD, Vice Chair of the Department of Integrative Medicine, Director of Continuing Medical Education, and Co-Director of the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel’s Continuum Center for Health and Healing (CCHH) at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. “Advice you get from your doctor and how well you follow that advice—they’re equally important factors in the outcome of your diagnosis, healthy or not.”
It’s important to be as vigilant about your quality of healthcare as you are about your health. “If your doctor isn’t giving you information about your lifestyle, physical activity, and diet, you haven’t had a preventative health visit,” says Lee. The next time you see your doc for an annual checkup, make sure you’re getting the attention that can save your life by addressing these topics, if she doesn’t tackle them first:
1. Stress
“Experiencing chronic stress without addressing it is about as bad for your health as smoking cigarettes,” says Lee. After all, dwelling on daily stressors can double your risk of chronic health problems, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Moreover, you might be treating symptoms such as change in sex drive, fatigue, chronic headaches, change in appetite, insomnia, or IBS, when you could be fixing the problem with effective stress-management habits.
Ask this: Are any of my physical or medical problems being caused by stress?
2. Diet
Go over your dietary habits with your doctor, including what you eat, and your eating habits. (If signs of the most common type of disordered eating sound familiar, this might be a difficult conversation to have. See NationalEatingDisorders.org to get the help you need.)
Ask this: What kind of diet should I be eating, and which nutritional supplements should I take?
3. Sleep
If your sleeping habits leave you groggy or deprived, make sure you mention it. You could be at risk for depression, weight gain, or even death, if you’re one of the 50 percent of women who have sleep apnea.
Ask this: Am I getting enough sleep now? If not, how much sleep should I be getting?
4. Exercise
A recent National Cancer Institute study linked staying active and working out in your leisure time to a longer life expectancy. But even if you exercise regularly, spending too much time on your butt can double your risk of diabetes, plus increase your risk of heart disease and death, according to a recent review of more than 80,000 people. If you’re sitting too much at the office, a doctor’s note may be your ticket to getting a standing desk (and longer life) from your employer. See your HR department for details.
Ask this: What kind of exercise should I be doing to maintain my health, and do I sit too much?
5. Testing
While testing does have its limitations, you should get a blood test and any other tests your doctor recommends based on your age (i.e., a mammogram at 50), personal risk factors (i.e., high blood pressure), and family history, which will impact whether and when you should be screened. Also know that more testing isn’t always better. For instance: “If you’re 30, it’s not a great idea to begin having mammograms because it will increase your levels of radiation, and can be costly, since insurance probably won’t pay for it,” says Lee. If you want to play it safe, tell your doc to check your vitamin D and iron levels: while this isn’t always part of a boiler-plate blood test, your period could be causing levels to dip.
Ask this: Which health tests do I need at this age? Do I have any disease risk factors, based on my health, lifestyle, and family history, that I can be tested for now?
photo: Siri Stafford/Photodisc/Thinkstock
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18 Self Checks Every Woman Should Do
The Secret to Living Longer
Do You Really Need an Annual Checkup?
