With each New Year many of us make resolutions about how we wish to make major life changes. Moving into 2021 this desire is amplified with many of us having experienced a challenging year for our physical and mental health throughout 2020. This is an important time for all of us to take stock of both our physical and mental health and what we can do to optimise them. I wrote recently about mental illness and as such in this post I will focus on physical health.

When looking at optimising our physical health we often focus on visible goals such as improving our physical fitness or our self-image, yet what is most important and often related to these, is preventative health. Preventative health involves looking at risk factors and screening programs to prevent disease from occurring. It involves sitting down with your GP, discussing the history of not only your health but also your family’s health, and determining what can be done to optimise your health. In doing so this can reduce your risk of developing disease or detect early disease that is often much easier to manage. To try and cover the broad range that this post encompasses in a single post would be impossible and hence it is important to discuss your health with your GP. However the following are some general preventative health milestones to trigger seeing your GP:

• General cardiovascular risk screening
  • Beginning at the age of 45yo unless risk factors are identified
  • In Australians with indigenous heritage screening is recommended to begin at 35yo
• Diabetes risk assessment and screening
  • Beginning at the age of 40yo unless risk factors are identified
  • In Australians with indigenous heritage this is recommended to begin at the age of 18yo
• Bowel cancer screening
  • Beginning at the age of 50yo in those with no family history
• Breast cancer screening
  • Beginning at the age of 50yo in those with no family history
  • Women are encouraged to carry out self-examination so they are aware of the consistency of their breast tissue and to identify any lumps
  • As such they should discuss this with their GP on the best way to carry out self-examination
• Cervical cancer screening from 25yo
  • Note that there have been changes in recent years with regards to this screening process, so it is best to discuss this with your GP
• Prostate cancer screening
  • There is no defined rule regarding commencing screening however generally speaking this occurs at the age of 50yo in those with no family history

This is not an exhaustive list and should not encourage you to only seek review at these times. If you have not discussed any of this with your GP in the past, then now is the best time to do so. This will allow your GP to determine when you should commence screening.

By Dr Nicholas Byrne