August 30th, 2008 by Jason
With all of the news these days refuting the validity and very existence of an annual physical, you may be wondering if it’s worth it. Yes, it is - conditionally. As I mentioned in Part I, you must have a competent doctor, and it’s imperative that you are prepared to get as much out of the visit as possible.
A good doctor will probe your mind more than your body, by asking you dozens of questions about your health over the past year in the search for anything out of the ordinary. He or she should also spend an appropriate amount of time answering your questions, which means you should have some. Know your health risk factors before you go! Additional, non-standard tests may be very worthwhile, although they could be expensive (such as a heart scan to look for plaque).
Two basic procedures that everyone can expect upon showing up for their annual physical are a check of your blood pressure and your weight. Unfortunately, the scales don’t provide you with much information to go on. Someone who is very tall could weigh a lot but still be considered to be at his or her proper weight for that height. This is where your Body Mass Index (BMI) can be very helpful.
Your BMI is calculated by multiplying your weight (lbs.) by 703 and then dividing by your height (inches) squared, or simply divided by your height once and then dividing it again. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs and are 69 inches tall, your BMI would be 22.1 or 150*703/(69*69) = 105450/4761 = 22.1. For an automatic calculator, visit http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), your BMI can be placed within one of four categories:
• Underweight = <18.5
• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
BMI does have limitations, however. For instance it may overestimate body fat in very muscular people and underestimate it in persons who have lost muscle mass. Generally speaking though, it is a valuable tool that goes well beyond what a set of scales alone can tell you.
Additionally, breast and prostate exams as well as all of the other relevant, gender-specific tests should be performed on an as-needed basis annually. Then make sure to get your cholesterol checked, and consider getting a full lipoprotein or lipid profile (a more detailed check of your cholesterol). Knowing your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels is very important. I will be talking more about cholesterol in great detail in upcoming articles, so please come back to know more.
The American Heart Association recommends getting your cholesterol checked via a full lipoprotein profile only once every 5 years if you are 20 years of age or older, and more often after that if your report dictates or you have certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as family history, age, gender or use of tobacco. I think 5 years is too long however, so I instruct my doctor to check every single year, although I am in a higher risk category thanks to my family history.
Regardless of my family history, I’m adaptable and so is my lifestyle, so I want to know on a continuous rather than fragmented basis how my actions (changes in nutrition, exercise, etc.) are affecting my numbers. You’re going to the doctor anyway, so you might as well have the latest and greatest information about your own body available to you. I’m curious to know how the rest of you feel about this particular issue, so by all means speak up if you would like to leave a comment.
Other tests to pay attention to and ask for if not already included in your annual physical are diabetes and blood work to screen for cancers. A colonoscopy isn’t a bad idea, either. Make sure that you hit the ground running with your doctor, and understand your risk for heart disease, stroke and cancer before you get there. You should also talk with your doctor about any other identifiable threats to your health, based upon your family history, lifestyle or environment.
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