Human beings live a relatively long time, at least in comparison to most animal species. Overall, we rank in the top ten percent of all species when it comes to long life, nowadays. A lot of that long lifespan can be directly credited to improvements over the last hundred years in public health programs like vaccinations, purifying water, antiseptic surgery techniques and eradication of a few major diseases, such as smallpox.

So, given that we tend to be living longer lives, we really need to ask ourselves the question “what is the right age to start health screening and regular checkups?”

The answer itself isn’t as cut-and-dried as we’d like it to be, unfortunately. Generally, the frequency and interval of health screening and regular checkups occurs on a kind of scale, where we get more of that sort of preventive medicine both in our younger, pre-teen years and in our older so-called “senior years” of age 50 and over.

But, the answer also has to factor in the individual personal medical circumstances that each person may have undergone in the past or is currently undergoing in the present. By this, we mean have they had a serious or life-threatening illness like cancer that they’ve managed to beat, or are they undergoing an illness at present? Now, once we’re able to satisfactorily address those input factors, we’ll be able to more accurately set a precise timeframe.

When we’re young and in our pre-teen years, we may not have yet had all our immunizations or we may not yet have fully developed natural immunities to various bugs and illnesses out in the world. That’s why a regular checkup on a yearly or bi-yearly basis may be a good bet.

This allows the pediatrician (child doctor) to gauge the health of the growing child in an intelligent manner. Once kids hit their teens, checkups can generally be done on a longer time range going all the way up to every five years.

Young adults and adults up to age 30 can get away with checkups every two years, for the most part, except for PAP screening in women and also regular breast self-examination. There are also some recommended individual screening tests once we hit age 40, but nothing too complicated.

At age 30 and onward, regular annual checkups should be mandatory, as well as regular screenings for certain male or female issues that tend to appear as we age. Check with your doctor or local health maintenance advocate for a list of screening tests which should be done.

Intelligent planning and forethought in getting medically screened can make a world of difference to any person’s quality of life. Try to adhere to an effective yet simple-to-follow healthcare plan whenever possible!

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