Medical Exams You Should Schedule Now

 

Photo by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash

There are a number of medical conditions we'll all face as we age - arthritis, malnutrition, heart disease, cancer, cognitive and balance difficulties, depression - so it's important to stay up to date on your condition by visiting a doctor for regular exams. But there are also different tests and screenings you should remember to ask about.

• Cholesterol and blood sugar checks

• Cancer screenings

• Dental exams

• Eye exams

• Prostate and breast exams

• Gynecological exams 

Read more about these exams and why they're important on Maeflowers at Medium. 

You should also occasionally go over your prescription medications with your doctor to ensure they are doing what you need them to do. For example, if you've changed your diet, quit smoking, quit drinking, and lost weight, you may find it possible to decrease or discontinue prescriptions for lipids or hypertension. (Only do this under advisement from your doctor based on exam and blood results.)

Another question to ask your doctor is whether you're up to date on vaccinations. Most offices follow the CDC schedule. In particular, tetanus is repeated every 10 years, influenza every year, and the hepatitis series is new in the last 10-20 years. In addition, according to the CDC< all adults over a certain age should be tested for HepC at least once.

Screening allows early treatment, which results in better outcomes!

What We Got Wrong with the U.S. COVID Response

Photo by CDC from Pexels

 

I have held an unpopular opinion since early in the coronavirus pandemic — the United States should have locked down completely. I have added more unpopular opinions on top of that in the past year and a half in criticism of the health agencies, both American and international. Though whether it’s unpopular really depends on the audience, as I know a lot of scientific and medical professionals would agree with me. 

With bad public messaging, unmitigated viral spread, lack of testing and quarantines, and inherent issues in the health care system, read my commentary at Medium on what the U.S. got wrong about COVID-19. 

 -------------------

Want to read more Medium articles each month? Use my link to subscribe as a Medium member and you'll support me and other writers, as well as have access to member-only articles, newsletters, publications like Maeflowers, and other features.

Women and the Affordable Care Act

As a woman who is self-employed I've found health insurance to be cost prohibitive. Many American women have run into the same issue, and we've seen in recent months that some of the basic hormonal treatments women use are misconstrued for various purposes (despite being required medication for some women). Women and health care appear to be at odds in the political sphere.

Though we can't fix all the problems women face with Congressional actions, the Affordable Care Act addressed some of the issues women have with insurance rates by regulating insurance companies in regards to not being able to deny women coverage and not being able to charge them more simply because they have particular anatomical features (i.e. a uterus, ovaries, and breasts). In 2014 these aspects of the law take effect (that is, if the Supreme Court doesn't overturn it).

Healthcare.gov outlines all of these features on their website.

The signed Affordable Care Act

Read the Healthcare bill

The Health care bill being debated by members of the House of Representatives is available here.

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about it. Now you can read it for yourself. Save a copy on your desktop and use the search function of your PDF reader to find words that matter to you.

Measles and Rubella

I have written synopses of the childhood viral diseases Measles and Rubella.

The take away information - children between 12 and 15 months of age should receive the MMR vaccine, with a booster at least 4 weeks later or by the time they enter Kindergarten (4-6 years of age) to confirm immunity.

Women who are planning on getting pregnant should be tested for Rubella to ensure their immunity. Those who are not immune should be vaccinated for Rubella at least 28 days prior to becoming pregnant to prevent birth defects. 25% of women who are susceptible to rubella and exposed to the virus in their first trimester have babies with eye defects, heart defects, hearing loss, mental impairments, and movement disorders.

Health Affairs Analyzes Presidential Healthcare Proposals

Health Affairs has published two analyses of the health care programs proposed by the presidential candidates. Neither equal universal health care, but McCain's would result in an even worse insurance system.
For the analysis of Obama's plan read here
For the analysis of McCain's plan read here

Recommended read: The Big Fix

I would like to recommend the book "The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers" by Katharine Greider. The first few chapters have my head spinning. Loopholes, litigation, false patents, and stays against generics have increased the cost of medicine and limited patient options. Written about 5 years ago, the book provides some recent history and helps fill in the knowledge gaps about the pharmaceutical companies holding the lives of millions in their pocketbooks.

The third world in the U.S. - it's real

Rural regions of Virginia have a lot in common with other regions of the United States - distance between neighbors, questionable economy from plant shut downs or company withdrawals (think GM and Flint, Michigan; the gold rush ghost towns of the West; and the New England papermill towns), and a lack of health insurance. But the region also has a lot in common with Guyana and East Africa - thousands of people show up to get treated at a free medical and dental expedition. So many, in fact, that hundreds are turned away.

What does this say about the country in which these individuals live? It says that healthcare is not a priority, people really don't matter, and the state of things is worse than we think. Recent figures released by the CDC showed that 15% of all Americans are uninsured. That means that in a room of 100 people, 15 have no way to care for their teeth, eyes, diabetes, high blood pressure, pregnancies, infections, migraines, cancer, flu, whooping cough (it's coming back!), or anything else they may contract, present with, or suffer from. And how many more only have basic coverage without dental, eye, or both?

These numbers, sadly, include the government programs. They are not covering everyone, which they are supposed to do. Changes are needed to prevent many areas of the U.S. from becoming the third world.