Health Checkups: An Important Matter That Cannot Be Overlooked Nowadays, people live in stressful conditions, working excessively without enough rest, living against time, and eating hurriedly. Taking care of the body to be strong and ready for various activities is better than waiting to get sick and then treating it later. Regular health checkups are therefore an important factor because they help identify risk factors for diseases, leading to behavioral changes that cause diseases, vaccination, medication, or certain chemicals to prevent diseases. A valuable health checkup must have a purpose focused more on prevention than treatment, which truly benefits those who undergo the checkup and can also indicate the overall health and strength of the body very well.
The basic principles of good health are simple methods starting with lifestyle adjustments by taking proper care of oneself, including exercise, diet, rest, disease prevention, annual health checkups, and reducing or quitting harmful habits. This may also include maintaining a clean, well-ventilated environment around the home. Following these guidelines is well known to promote strong health, reduce frequent illness, avoid preventable diseases, and increase longevity.
Annual Health Checkup
Health checkups… an important matter that most people often neglect because remember that our bodies never get a moment to rest. Even during sleep, all organs continue to work constantly. Annual health checkups are necessary for all ages. In children or adolescents, general health and dental checkups may be done. For working-age adults, lung function tests, blood tests, and urine tests are needed for basic assessment. For those aged 35 and above, more detailed health examinations are required, such as checking heartbeats, liver function, blood lipid levels, and blood sugar levels. Women should add cervical cancer and breast cancer screenings, among others. Additionally, those at higher risk for certain diseases, such as obesity, family history of diabetes, direct relatives with heart disease, familial high cholesterol, various cancers, or frequent illness, may need to start screening before age 35 at least.
Appropriate Health Checkups for Each Age Group
Health Checkup for Ages 20-30
From childhood to adulthood and starting work, people often focus on beginning their careers and forget about health care, including health checkups. Most people in this age group are healthy and rarely ill but should see a doctor for an annual health checkup regularly because diseases often begin in this age and affect later years. For example, the beginning of blood fat accumulation, where high cholesterol levels increase the risk of ischemic heart disease. It is recommended that those aged 20 and above check cholesterol at least every 5 years. Nowadays, many young people have high blood fat, possibly because they think they are still young and do not pay much attention to diet and often neglect exercise. For females, ovulation, menstruation, and sexual activity occur, and sexually transmitted diseases such as HPV infection are causes of cervical cancer. Therefore, regardless of age, once sexually active, even without any problems, pelvic exams and cervical cancer screenings should begin. Another important matter is checking immunity to certain diseases, such as hepatitis B virus immunity, because lack of appropriate booster vaccinations may lead to illness later. Additionally, this age group undergoes screening to prepare for married life, to assess overall health, and to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, some of which can be vaccinated against, such as hepatitis B virus (women should get HPV vaccination before sexual activity) or hereditary diseases that can be passed to children, for planning prevention and consulting with doctors.
Health Checkup for Ages 30-50
Focus on physical examinations for working adults or executives. Generally, this age group works hard and often forgets to allocate time for exercise or health care. Annual physical exams are necessary to provide baseline information on the body’s condition, monitoring systems such as cardiovascular, lipids, diabetes, etc. Especially for those over 40, stress accumulates from work and family life, leading to various diseases caused by unhealthy lifestyles, such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, lung cancer, and liver cancer. Health checkups for this age group should focus on screening for these diseases along with planning lifestyle adjustments to prepare for a healthy transition into menopause. Women aged 40-60 often experience increased cholesterol levels due to estrogen deficiency after menopause. Therefore, blood cholesterol tests should be done at least once a year. Additionally, breast cancer screening is important; early detection of small lumps leads to better treatment outcomes. Mammograms help differentiate whether breast lumps are likely malignant and can detect lumps too small to feel manually. Mammograms should be done every 1-2 years, preferably when breasts are not swollen or tender, usually at the end of the second week of the menstrual cycle counting from the first day of menstruation. Also, pelvic exams and cervical cancer screenings should not be forgotten. Women should always record their menstruation details, including the first day, duration, number of sanitary pads used daily, and whether blood clots are present, to facilitate accurate diagnosis. Vision problems such as presbyopia often occur at this age; when reading distance changes, an eye exam is recommended immediately, or at least every 2 years if no issues arise. Skin exams should be done at least once a year to detect skin cancer, especially for abnormal dark skin or rapidly growing moles. Some gum diseases may become more frequent, so dental checkups twice a year should not be neglected.
Health Checkup for Ages 50-70
Focus on detailed physical examinations and organ function tests, along with consultations with specialists using important systems and special diagnostic equipment. This age is considered menopause, a period of bodily decline, the extent of which depends on health care accumulated during working years. Health checkups at this age should emphasize diseases caused by organ degeneration, such as heart, kidney, brain, abdominal organs, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer. Stool tests for occult blood and rectal exams should be done at least annually. Additionally, Sigmoidoscopy or Colonoscopy, which uses a flexible tube with a lens and light source to examine the distal, middle, and proximal large intestine and distal small intestine via the rectum, should be done every 5 years (earlier if there is a family history of colorectal cancer, e.g., starting at age 40). Vaccination status for infectious diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, and tetanus, which often recurs in the elderly, should be checked. For men, special attention should be given to prostate cancer, and for women, mammograms, pelvic exams, and cervical cancer screenings remain important. Even with reduced sexual activity, pelvic exams should be done at least once a year. Ischemic heart disease risk increases after menopause due to decreased estrogen causing lipid imbalance and easier arterial blockage. Both men and women in menopause should have bone density tests annually, as about 50% of those over 50 experience bone degeneration, thinning, and fragility, leading to fractures and poor healing.
Regular health checkups are still very necessary and important for health care because they help identify risk factors for diseases, leading to behavioral changes that cause diseases, and provide knowledge on how to prevent other potential diseases. Valuable and cost-effective health checkups must be purpose-driven with a focus on prevention, conducted by professional doctors and nurses, which benefits and gives confidence and reassurance to those undergoing health care.
