Symptoms, Self-Monitoring and Testing

Today, people are encouraged to take more responsibility for monitoring their health. You can be more actively involved in your health care - even when you feel fine - by being alert to. warning symptoms and signs of disease, by performing self-examinations regularly, by having recommended medical tests, and, in some cases, by performing certain other tests at home.

The purpose of many medical tests and self-examinations is to detect cancers at an early stage (when they can still be treated).

It is also important to identify high blood pressure and raised blood cholesterol levels before complications develop.

People already suffering from specific illnesses (such as asthma or di-abetes) and those who are undergoing long-term drug treatment may need to have other health checkups. They, too, are encouraged to monitor their condi-tions as closely as possible.

Preventive Health

It was once common to see your doctor only if you felt sick. We now know that an apparently healthy person can have a serious disease over a long period of time, during which there may be no overt signs or symptoms that anything is wrong.

Seeing your doctor when you are not sick will help you establish a good doctor/patient relationship (which will ensure a better understanding of your state of health).

You and your doctor can discuss ways you can improve your health. Your doctor also may suggest tests to look for "silent" conditions, some of which may run in your family.

To be of value, screening tests need to fulfill certain conditions. They must be reasonably accurate, with a minimum of false-positive results (cases incorrectly diagnosed) and false-negative results (missed diagnoses).

They also must be simple to administer, acceptable to the patient, and inexpensive enough that they can be done for many people.

Effec-tive treatment must be available for the diseases the tests are designed to detect. Finally, evidence must indicate that early treatment improves the chance of cure.

The Pap Smear - A Success Story

The cervical (Pap) smear has contributed remarkably to the prevention of cancer of the cervix. The test is quick and easy. If the results show unusual or cancerous change, treatment usually results in a complete cure. This test has reduced deaths from cervical cancer by up to 68 percent in the past 30 years. n

Source : AMA Medicine Journal.

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