What Is Preventative Health Care?

Preventative health care involves taking periodic snapshots of your current health and undergoing appropriate screenings to identify potential health problems before they appear. The hope is that, by getting out ahead of health issues, you'll be able to deal with them before you start accruing health risk factors that may impact your health and your life.

Preventative care for adults, in particular, will often involve screenings for everything from heart disease to cancer to diabetes. It may also include developing better eating and exercise habits to maintain a healthy weight to help you hopefully live a much longer and more fulfilling life.

There will likely be additional costs that you and your health insurance provider may face. Some insurance companies help cover the costs of these services in part or in full since it could help decrease your health care costs later.

What Is Typically Included in a Preventative Health Checkup?

During a preventative health checkup, your primary doctor will do many things you would expect them to do during an annual visit. They'll measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure, check your pulse, and examine you from head to toe.

But they'll also take things further when you want preventative health care. They'll usually ask you to tell them more about your family history so that they can recommend specific medical screenings for you.

Your doctor may also suggest that you have health screenings done based on age, condition, and other factors they'll consider. This will include screenings for:

• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Certain types of cancer (breast, colorectal, cervical, prostate, etc.)
• And more

Additionally, your doctor may check to see if you're current on all the immunizations you should have. They may recommend that you have annual flu shots, booster shots for vaccines you received earlier on in life, and potentially other vaccines.

Your doctor may even suggest you consider taking part in counseling sessions if you have mental health issues or are struggling to break an unhealthy habit.

The overall goal will be to pinpoint any possible health-related problems you might have in the future and start monitoring them now. It'll put you in a much better position to spot these problems when they are easier to address rather than waiting until it's too late to find out about them.

Common Sense Lifestyle Tips for Better Health

Preventative health care is generally a wise decision. Knowing you're taking all the necessary steps to keep yourself healthy may give you peace of mind.

You may also want to consider a few common-sense lifestyle tips you can practice to augment your health.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

Is your diet filled with fatty, fried foods, processed foods, and/or sugary drinks? If so, consider reducing the amounts of these you consume and gradually replacing them with healthier alternatives.

Many Americans are either overweight or obese. It's largely because they do not have a healthy diet, which should mostly made up of whole, natural foods.

Doing something over time as simple as substituting more fruits and vegetables instead of processed snacks loaded with sugar can make a big difference. It'll ensure you get more of the nutrients your body needs, including vitamins and minerals.

Spend More Time Exercising

Another reason why so many Americans are overweight or obese is that most people aren't exercising enough. Adults should be getting about 150 minutes of exercise each week.

If you're falling short of this, it's time to turn it around. Make it a point to start taking more walks and doing whatever else you can to make yourself more physically fit.

Get the Right Amount of Sleep

Getting enough sleep is significant for your body and mind. Yet, millions of Americans don't get more than just a few hours of sleep at night.

You should aim to sleep anywhere from 7 to 9 hours every night. It'll leave you feeling much more refreshed when you wake up and help your body and mind work more efficiently.

Minimizing Stress From Your Life

Stress is a part of everyday life for most Americans. Too much prolonged stress takes a toll on their physical and mental health before long.

Consider ways to eliminate as much stress as is reasonable. Exercising, meditating, eating a healthier diet, and potentially seeking counseling are just a few ways to combat stress.

Stay Up to Date on Health Trends

The health and wellness world is constantly changing. New studies are taking place and uncovering recent health trends you may want to be aware of and learn more about.

Make it your mission to live a healthier life. SupplementRelief provides free wellness lifestyle education here that will help you be more proactive about maintaining your health.

You may also want to browse through other articles on our blog to get more health tips and tricks.