Well, age is just a “number” for sure, but it does have its flip side too! The human anatomy is designed with a “time-tag”. Longevity and a healthy one at that requires proper regimen of fitness and maintenance. This becomes more imperative in the current time what with the present day life styles and tensions are gnawing away at both the physical and psychological well being of individuals.
This is more so with women folk as they try to balance a hectic personal and professional lives simultaneously.
Periodical as well as age milestone health tests for women will provide a timely “state of the body” reports. They also warn of the impending metabolic changes in the body to help us take preventive steps. After all, “prevention is better than cure”.
While the gender inequality is on the decline world over, when it comes to matters of health, the ‘fairer’ gender are more prone to different and possibly more diseases with age. Women who cross the threshold of 35 years need to go through periodical health tests for women to have a tab on their current health and possible warning signals for future.
The ‘must-do-tests’ for women over 35 years of age can generally be categorized into three different segments, based on the essentiality aspect of them. 1. Compulsory. 2. Vital 3. Recommended.
1. COMPULSORY TESTS:
- Vital Vitamin Tests:
Vitamins form the essential nutrients which help in maintaining and boosting bone strength and improving the immune system. While bones are the load bearing framework of the body, a strong immune system keeps you insulated from diseases. Vitamin D and Calcium synthesize nutrients in the body and they both start to deplete in their functions with age. Their deficiency manifests in the form of joint pains and weak bone strength. It is a must to get a periodical screening of efficiency of these two vitamins so that you can be wary of the threat of chronic ailments like back and spinal pains, arthritis, osteoporosis etc.
Similarly Vitamin B12 is another crucial component of human system. It helps in building up muscle strength, health and its improvement. Its deficiency can sap energy levels in the body, ring in generalweakness, irritative behaviour, fatigue, forgetfulness and overall loss of interest in life. A very high percentage of population (about 70% of women) are prone to Vitamin B12 deficiency and that is a reason enough to be watchful and get tested periodically.
- Thyroid Test:
Thyroid a part of the human endocrine system is a vital gland which produces, stores and releases hormones into the bloodstream to reach to all the cells of the body. The hormones produced by the Thyroid, namely T3, T4 and TSH, play a major role in controlling the metabolic rate and protein synthesis. This gland tends to function in an erratic manner in women past 35 years of age as they go through various stages of life cycle like pregnancy, delivery, lactation and menopause.
Malfunction of Thryroid is reflected by unexplained weakness, loss or gain of weight, fall of hair, brittling of nails.
2. VITAL TESTS:
- Anti-Cancer Tests:
Cancer has become a commonplace disease because of various causative factors such as environmental and food pollution, life styles, genetic predisposition etc. These dreaded cells gain momentum with age and cause irreparable damage in the body. The incidence of cervical and breast cancer in women is very high once they cross the age of 35 years. Regular pap smear tests (preferably once in two years) are vital for that age group women.
- Complete Blood Picture:
Commonly called as CBP, women above 35 years of age would do well to go through this test, particularly the Lipid profile test. This profiles the blood accurately and reveals the levels of good and bad cholesterol in the blood stream. The bad variety of cholesterol can potentially damage vital organs of the body like heart and brain as they hinder blood supply.
3. RECOMMENDED STANDARD CHECKUP FOR WOMEN :
- Diabetes Test:
Changing life patterns, skewed working hours, excessive dependence on junk food have collectively succeeded in ravaging the health of individuals in a very large scale. Consequently, life style related diseases like Diabetes has become a common ailment among most people crossing 35 years of age. Blood tests to rule out Diabetes is advisable if there is strong history of Diabetes in the family.
- Blood Pressure Check up:
High or low blood pressure is another life style related ailment affecting a large section of the present day people. While in some cases the blood pressure is high than the normal levels (Hypertension) some people fall prey to lower blood pressure levels (Hypotension). Strong family history or possible side effects of medication can usher in this health issue.