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New year, fresh start, and health on track
The start of the year is full of goals and fresh plans, but preventive health often gets overlooked. If you want the energy and focus to follow through, your health needs to be part of that plan.
Healthy adults should have a general check-up every year to catch issues early and stay on track. Here are the key health checks to tick off your list:
Physical Exam
A physical exam is an assessment of your overall health, during which a healthcare professional evaluates the basic functions of your organs to help you maintain wellbeing. Your exam may include the following:
- Vital Signs & Metrics: Blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, temperature, weight, BMI, waist circumference
- Heart & Lungs: Listen to heart and lung sounds with a stethoscope
- Head & Neck: Inspect head, eyes, ears, nose, throat, mouth, teeth, and tonsils
- Abdomen: Examine the abdomen, liver, spleen, and bowel sounds
- Neurological: Check reflexes, muscle strength, coordination, balance, and sensation
- Skin & Nails: Inspect skin, hair, nails, moles, rashes, and lesions
- Extremities / Musculoskeletal: Assess joints, range of motion, swelling, and limb changes
- Gender-Specific: Male – testicular/prostate exam; Female – breast/cervical screening
Blood Work
Blood tests give your healthcare provider insight into how your body is functioning. They may assess blood cells, minerals, and other substances. Common blood tests include:
- Complete blood count (CBC) test: count and measure blood cells, platelets, and hemoglobin levels.
- Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP): may include blood glucose test, calcium blood test, sodium levels and more.
- Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP): Includes everything in a BMP with additional liver function tests.
- Electrolyte Panel: measures key minerals like sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate.
Mental Health Screening
A mental health screening helps identify challenges to your emotional wellbeing and provides guidance for support. It can include:
- Standardised questionnaires to measure symptoms
- Behavioural and lifestyle assessment
- Professional observation
You may also choose to include additional preventive checks depending on your needs and age. This can include a vision or hearing test, a review of your vaccination status, and a lifestyle discussion to help round out the picture of your overall wellbeing and catch issues early.
Key takeaway
There’s no better time to align your health with your yearly goals. Don’t put your health check on the backburner, take action today for a healthier tomorrow.
Your wellbeing, your way
Maximise your wellbeing by knowing what your body needs. From supplements and healthy meals to tracking key health metrics, WHEREFIT helps you stay on top of your health at every check-up and milestone.