What can you do to stay healthy and prevent disease? You can get certain screening tests, take preventive medicine if you need it, and practice healthy behaviors.

Top health experts from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest that when you go for your next checkup, talk to your doctor or nurse about how you can stay healthy no matter what your age.

Screening Tests: What You Need And When

Screening tests, such as mammograms and Pap tests, can find diseases early when they are easier to treat. Some women need certain screening tests earlier, or more often, than others. Talk to your doctor about which of the tests listed below are right for you, when you should have them, and how often.

The Task Force has made the following recommendations, based on scientific evidence, about which screening tests you should have.

• Obesity: Calculate your body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
• Mammograms: Have a mammogram every 1 to 2 years starting at age 40.
• Pap tests: Have a Pap test every 1 to 3 years if you have ever been sexually active or are between the ages of 21 and 65.
• Cholesterol: Have your cholesterol checked regularly starting at age 45. If you are younger that 45, talk to your doctor about having your cholesterol checked if you smoke, have diabetes, have high blood pressure or if heart disease runs in your family.
• Blood Pressure: Have your blood pressure checked at least every 2 years.
• Colorectal cancer: Have a test for colorectal cancer starting at age 50. Your doctor can help you decide which test is right for you. If you have a family history of colorectal cancer, you may need to be screened earlier.
• Diabetes: Have a test to screen for diabetes if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
• Depression: If you've felt "down," sad, or hopeless over the last 2 weeks or and have felt little interest or pleasure in doing things, talk to your doctor about whether he or she can screen you for depression.
• Osteoporosis: Have a bone density test at age 65 to screen for osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). If you are between the ages of 60 and 64 and weigh 154 lbs. or less, talk to your doctor about whether you should be tested.
• Chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases: Have a test for Chlamydia if you are age 25 or younger and sexually active. If you are older, talk to your doctor about being tested. Also, ask whether you should be tested for other sexually transmitted diseases.

Should You Take Medicines to Prevent Disease?

• Hormones: Do not take hormones to prevent disease. Talk to your doctor if you need relief from menopausal symptoms.
• Breast cancer drugs: If your mother, sister, or daughter has had breast cancer, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of taking medicines to prevent breast cancer.
• Aspirin: Talk to your doctor about taking aspirin to prevent heart disease if you are older than age 45 and have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or if you smoke.
• Immunizations: Stay up-to-date with your immunizations:
• Have a flu shot every year starting at age 50. If you are younger than age 50, ask your doctor whether you need a flu shot.
• Have a pneumonia shot once at age 65. If you are younger than age 65, ask your doctor whether you need a pneumonia shot.

What Else Can You Do To Stay Healthy?

• Don't smoke. But if you do smoke, talk to your doctor about quitting. Your doctor or nurse can help you. And, you can help yourself. Make a plan and set a quit date. Tell your family, friends, and co-workers you are quitting. Ask for their support. You can also take medicine and get counseling to help you quit. If you are pregnant and smoke, quitting now will help you and your baby.
• Eat a healthy diet. Emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fat-free or lowfat mild and milk products; include lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts. Eat foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars.
• Be physically active. Walk briskly, mow the lawn, dance, ride a bike or do any other physical activity you enjoy. If you are not already active, start small and work up to 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity most days of the week.
• Stay at a healthy weight. Balance calories from foods and beverages with calories you burn off by your activities. To prevent gradual weight gain over tiem, make small decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity. Remember to watch portion sizes. Talk to your doctor if you have questions about what or how much to eat.
• Drink alcohol only in moderation. If you drink alcohol, have no more than one drink a day. (A standard drink is one 12-ounce bottle of beer or wine cooler, one 5-opunce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. If you are pregnant, avoid alcohol.

Screening Test Checklist

Take this checklist with you to your doctor's office and fill it out when you have had any of the tests listed below. Talk to your doctor about when you should have these tests next, and note the month and year in the right-hand column.

Also, talk to your doctor about which of the other tests listed below you should have in the future, and when you need them.

From Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age—Your Checklist for Health, AHRQ Publication No. 07-IP05-A, February 2007.

Additional Info

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
U.S. Preventive Services
540 Gaither Road
Rockville MD 20850
(301) 427-1364
To order publications: 1-800-358-9295
E-mail: ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov.
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstfix.htm