Breast cancer would be a good example. Mammograms have been able to pick up the disease at such an early stage that it is potentially curable. There is a good chance now that if it is detected early, the patient is more likely to die of some unrelated cause.
Early detection of other conditions, for example diabetes or obesity, allow treatment , so preventing further complications of the disease, like a heart attack.
In the old days, people only went to see the doctor when they felt sick. Now they are starting to see the doctor even when they feel well. They want to know if they have any risks for diseases , or if they are in the early stages of some diseases, where early treatment can result in a cure.
Hence, the birth of health screening as an industry. In some countries, it's a business. You can buy health screening packages, where tests are done on every part of you - blood samples, urine samples, stool samples can all be taken, and a scope can be stuffed into practically every orifice. Everything can be seen nowadays. Unfortunately, not all conditions can be detected early. And not all tests are equally good at detecting conditions.
Some tests sold as part of a complete health check-up may not necessarily exclude a condition, or reduce one's chances of dying if picked up. In fact, over-investigation may even lead to unnecessary further tests, procedures and a lot of anxiety.
So who should do health screening ? People with family histories of certain medical conditions should go before they develop symptoms. eg, a strong family history of heart attacks, certain cancers. Most people above 40 should consider getting themselves checked at least once, and then maybe 3 yearly if no problems are detected.
Companies use health screening to determine if potential employees are suitable for the job. Others use it to determine if their employees are still fit on the job. Some jobs can be dangerous for people with certain medical conditions ( would you really want a truck driver to have a history of uncontrolled fits?) , and other jobs can be dangerous for the worker's health ( eg. industries with machines that produce loud noises would need to regularly screen their workers for hearing problems).
So what about otherwise well people who are just worried and want to get tested, just to make sure ? There are no hard and fast rules. In some countries, you pay the money, you get the test. No problem right ? Well, there are some things you may want to look out for before deciding to do the test.
Is the test safe ? Will it harm me ? Colonoscopy ( a scope inserted up your rear end to check the large intestine) has a small risk of perforation or bleeding. Your doctor needs to determine the risks versus the benefits of the test. A CT coronary angiogram ( a scan of the heart arteries to see if they are blocked) involves a lot of exposure to radiation.
Is the test easy to do ? Screening for obesity using the BMI is easy. Testing blood for high cholesterol or high sugar, is easy. So is a Pap smear for cervical cancer.
Is the test accurate ? No use doing a test if the results don't give you a good answer. eg. the blood test for the cancer marker for colon cancer may go up in other medical conditions, or not be raised in early cancer. So a "normal" result doesn't mean anything. Neither does a "raised" result.
Pap smears, mammograms, tests for BMI, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol are reasonably accurate.
Does the test make a difference? Mammograms do detect breast cancer early enough for treatment. Pap smears detect cervical cancer in its pre-cancerous stage. Cure rates are high. So the tests are worth doing.
What is the test trying to look for ? Some people just want to have their whole body scanned in the hope of detecting some small tumour. It doesn't work that way. Perfectly healthy people may have variations in their organs, or benign cysts and growths. We don't all look the same inside. This may lead to unnecessary further tests, even operations, not to mention the terrible stress the patient has to undergo while waiting for results.
So before you go for health screening, ask you doctor about the tests you are going to do. It's good to have more knowledge about your own body. And it helps if you can take steps today to prevent diseases. But you do need to understand what you are going to do.
Now, can you guess what the biggest obstacle you'll face is likely to be? Is it the hard physical exercise? The disciple of sticking to your diet? The cost? The correct answer is, none of of the above.
The one thing that will really ruin your chances of success is simple: listening to other people's nonsense! That's right - the world is full of people just aching to wreck your plans. And the scary thing is that they'll often be friends and loved ones. If you want to succeed, you'll have to learn to ignore other people's nonsense.
Be prepared for the fact that you're going to be faced with people who will tell you that your whole endeavour is stupid or selfish or somehow "wrong." Oh, they're quite happy to see strangers on television or in movies being successful; when that happens they call it "inspiring." But when someone in their midst - like you - tries to change their life, it suddenly becomes a different matter. It stops being inspiring and becomes threatening. They respond to that threat with mocking comments, discouragement and guilt trips.
People like this will give you all the reasons in the book about why "you can't do it." Of course, what you're really hearing are their own feeble attempts to justify to themselves (not to you) why they don't make a change. You'll also invariably hear them preaching about how you should "learn to be realistic." They just love talking about being realistic. It doesn't matter to them if things suck or not - at least they can feel proud and noble for being realistic!
They've even come up with a whole bunch of names for people like you: obsessed, fanatical, selfish, unrealistic, dreamer, intense, and my personal favourite, "type-A personality!" Well, I've come up with a name for them in return - I call them crab-people.
You may have heard the old story about the crabs in the bucket. Fishermen know that if they put one crab into a bucket, it will be able to climb out and escape. But if they put several crabs in the bucket, none of them will escape, even if there's no lid. Why? Because when one crab tries to climb out, the others will all grab hold and pull it back down.
Once you start on the road to your perfect body, keep an eye open for crab-people; I promise it won't be long before they come scuttling over to you and try to pull you back down. Occasionally they may do it out of spite or jealousy. Or they might be deluded that they're trying to save you from yourself and your craziness. But more often they're probably just afraid of being left behind if you change your life.
A common situation is where a woman will tell her husband or boyfriend that she doesn't want him to get in shape and prefers him "cuddly!" The truth is probably that she's afraid if he gets too attractive, another woman might try steal him away.
And I'm afraid it doesn't stop with comments. You're going to run into active attempts to sabotage your program. This will come in the form of people - again, often apparently well-intentioned - who'll try to make you eat junk or miss your training. They're very good at making you feel guilty for not having that dessert or cake. They'll claim that they "made it just for you" and will tell you that "just one won't hurt" or that you can "start your diet tomorrow." They've got an answer for everything.
A huge number of these people actually have no clue that they're eating junk. They're very good at ignoring what they see in the mirror, and they honestly and truly believe that they're eating healthily. They'll try to convince you that the piece of apple pie they're trying to force on you is healthy because it's made with fruit!
They'll even try to persuade you that you're the one who's not healthy! They'll claim that you're getting "too thin" (they also like to use the word "gaunt"); that your new lifestyle is "extreme"; and that you're going to drop dead any day now unless you start to eat more normally. Of course, a quick look at what shape these people are in will generally tell you all you need to know.
What these people have in common is that their opinions invariably come from second-hand sources and dubious "experts." If you listen carefully, it's always something that they "read" or "heard" or "watched." You'll never hear words like "worked at" or "persisted" - or even "tried" - coming out of their mouths. But they don't let a little thing like zero experience get in their way. Whatever you say to them, they'll tell you the opposite. They'll conveniently ignore the fact that you look a hell of a lot better than they do, and still try to prove you wrong.
My own experience showed me how destructive listening to other people's nonsense is. You can have all the right training equipment, the best workout clothes, the most advanced sports shoes, but if you don't prepare yourself for other people's nonsense, then it's all for nothing.
I'll leave you with a funny story before I finish. Not long ago I was staying in a hotel while on a trip overseas. One morning in the restaurant, some woman confronted me, evidently upset about how little I was eating. Didn't I know it wasn't good to eat so little and that breakfast was the most important meal of the day? (It's not, in case you were wondering.) She really got upset with me when I told her I was very happy to have lost 20 kg of fat. "Losing so much weight isn't healthy," she hissed at me.
"I see," I replied. "Well, since I lost all that weight I've stopped having lower back pains and the depression I suffered from is also gone. I sleep more soundly at night and have much more energy during the day. I've got much better hair and skin. My doctor tells me my cholesterol is way down and that I'm at far less risk of having a heart attack. He also says my blood pressure has been reduced, my lungs work better, and that I'm now much less likely to get diabetes and possibly even cancer."
Both Karen Cheong & Nick Hallale are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Karen Cheong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Heart Conditions, Business and Finance and Financial Planning. Karen Cheong is the author of Lose Fat, Gain Life ! Obesity and its related diseases reduce the quality of one's life and shortens one's lifespan too. Take action today.For your free BMI calculator and free receipes for healthy living , visit. Karen Cheong's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.
Nick Hallale has sinced written about articles on various topics from Build Muscle, Fitness and Disease & illness. Dr. Nick Hallale, creator of . The Apollo Program is a 12-week body and image transformation system for men, combining modern. Nick Hallale's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.