“Prevention is better than cure”, the phrase is perfectly suitable to an ailing individual. The common man has often been heard saying this to the one who has fallen sick in some way or the other. Sickness, illness, being unwell showcases the importance of health checkups. What are these heath checkups? A health checkup is a regular examination of a human being’s body functionality. These checkups are conducted to determine whether the limbs, nerves, joints, muscles are all in good shape and working properly. One should never give it a miss as it can aggravate an ailment which may not be known to either patient or doctor.

In reality, we do not give due significance to health checkups. We often tend to become lazy when it comes to examination of body. Our work schedule is such that 9 out of 10 times we don’t get to visit a doctor. It is this lack of interest that hampers the functioning of body later on. Most of the patients complain about developing acute symptoms of a particular disease when they age. However, doctors have a simple explanation for this. They say, “If you would have given a part of your hectic 24 hours towards health checkups, things would shape different today.”

Structure of a health checkup

Besides examining overall body functionality which includes eyes, ears and teeth, an average health checkup evaluates the working of lungs, heart, kidneys, digestive and immune system. Sometimes some intricate cancer-specific tests are also included in regular health checkups such as Prostate-Specific Antigen (PFA) for men and mammography, gynecological examinations for women.

The list of some common tests in a regular health checkup is given below:

·         General examination (weight, BP, pulse rate etc.)

·         Lab investigation comprising a complete Haemogram. 

·         Lipid profile to check the functioning of heart.

·         Liver function test.

·         Kidney function test.

·         Blood sugar.

·         Chest X-Ray.

·         Treadmill test to check the heart rate.

·         Ultrasonography of the abdomen.

·         Routine urine examination.

Getting the right kind of health checkup is detrimental for our health. Regular health checkups are essential to detect any existing health issue which may pose problems later on. 

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