WHAT IS PREVENTIVE HEALTH?
Preventive Health covers a broad range of medical services that are available to keep you healthy. Preventive Health screening and testing are proactive measures to identify, slow and stop diseases before they progress. Immunizations and certain medications are examples of preventative actions that decrease your risk of acquiring an infection or disease. If you have a Chronic Condition, information sharing, educational classes and disease focus group meetings are preventative services that can help you understand your disease and play a significant role in slowing its progression.
In the past, medical care focused on treating the immediate need, be it a broken arm, the flu, cancer, or organ failure. Here at Esse Health, we look at the big picture. Each time you visit, we review with you your medications and the status of any condition you already have. We will discuss any information we have received from specialists that you see, any hospital visits you may have had, and answer any questions you may have on anything related to your health. Your Esse Health team wants to be proactive with your health by identifying potential risk factors, diagnosing chronic conditions in their earliest stages, implementing regular screening tests and confirming all immunizations are up to date. By working together with you, we can put you on a plan to better health.
Talk with an Esse Health doctor about how, together, we can keep you healthy.
Medical Milestones for Adults
Preventive health care and understanding medical milestones in your life is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality summarizes and provides clinical considerations from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for adults. To see the full recommendations, click here.
Major preventive health milestones from the USPSTF are below:
Women
Condition | Testing frequency |
Breast Cancer | Mammogram every 2 years between the ages of 40 and 75. If you believe you are at high risk of breast cancer talk to your doctor about screening. |
Cervical Cancer | Pap smear every 1 to 3 years between the ages of 21 and 65. |
High Cholesterol | Check cholesterol regularly starting at age 45. If you are younger than 45, talk to your doctor about whether to have your cholesterol checked. |
High Blood Pressure | Check blood pressure at least every 2 years. |
Colorectal Cancer | Test for colorectal cancer between the ages of 50 and 75. Frequency depends on the type of testing performed. |
Osteoporosis (Thinning of | Test bone density no more often than every two years beginning at age 65 to screen for osteoporosis. If you are not yet 65 but are post menopausal and smoke or weigh 154 lbs. or less, talk to your doctor about being tested. |
Chlamydia and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections | Test for chlamydia if you are age 25 or younger and sexually active. |
Men
Condition | Testing frequency |
High Cholesterol | Check cholesterol regularly starting at age 35. If you are younger than 35, talk to your doctor about whether to have your cholesterol checked. |
High Blood Pressure | Check blood pressure at least every 2 years. |
Colorectal Cancer | Test for colorectal cancer between the ages of 50 and 75. Frequency depends on the type of testing performed. |
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm | If you are between the ages of 65 and 75 and have smoked 100 or more cigarettes during your lifetime, you need to be screened once for abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is an abnormally large or swollen blood vessel in your abdomen. |
