Your Essential Guide to Health Tests: What You Need and When

Staying on top of your health is crucial, and regular check-ups are the best way to do it. But where do you start? Use this quick year-by-year guide as your roadmap to better health.

Why Regular Health Checks Matter

Let’s face it, being a woman isn’t always easy. From menstruation to childbirth and menopause, we’ve got a lot on our plates. It’s no surprise that we tend to visit the doctor more often than men. While it might seem like a hassle and an expense, these regular check-ups are worth it. They can truly be lifesavers and help us live longer, healthier lives.

Understanding our bodies empowers us to take charge of our health. It helps us feel more positive about the challenges life throws at us as we get older. Here’s a rough guide to the tests and numbers we, as women, should keep track of.

Every Year

Cholesterol

This blood test measures one of the important fats circulating in your bloodstream.

What to look for: When you have your cholesterol checked, you’ll be given a series of numbers: LDL, HDL, total cholesterol, and the total cholesterol to HDL ratio. Your doctor will be looking for a low LDL number (less than 2), a high HDL number (1 or more), and a total cholesterol of below 4. The total:HDL ratio should be below 4, too, to be considered ideal.

What to do: If any of your numbers are out of whack, your doctor will consider your overall health. High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, so your doctor will want to get it down. Clean up your diet and prioritize whole foods like vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. Think olive and vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and avocado, rather than animal and coconut fats. Choose whole grains over refined carbohydrates and boost your intake of lentils, chickpeas, and beans.

What to search: Mediterranean diet – it’s the gold standard for healthy, plant-focused eating.

Blood Sugar

This test measures how much glucose you have in your bloodstream.

What to look for: Your blood sugar is checked via a test called HbA1c. It shows an average of your blood glucose levels over the previous three months. If your HbA1c is over 40, it’s a sign of prediabetes, and if it’s over 50, it indicates type 2 diabetes. Both of these are serious and will need treatment.

What to do: A prediabetes diagnosis will likely mean some lifestyle changes are needed. Start with your diet – follow the cholesterol advice; the same applies here. Boosting your exercise and getting your weight into the healthy range can help stop prediabetes from developing into full type 2 diabetes. If you’re diagnosed with diabetes, all of the same lifestyle steps will help, and you might also be prescribed medication to keep it under control.

What to search: Diabetes New Zealand has great resources for newly diagnosed individuals.

Skin Check

Get your doctor or dermatologist to examine your body from top to toe, checking for any changing or troublesome moles or freckles.

Blood Pressure

This test measures how well your heart is pumping blood around your body.

What to look for: Your blood pressure is expressed as two numbers: the systolic pressure followed by the diastolic pressure. An “ideal” blood pressure is 120/80. Your doctor will flag it if your blood pressure is between this and 140/90 or higher. At that level, it’s high blood pressure, or hypertension, and needs to be addressed, as it can cause a heart attack or stroke.

What to do: If you’ve been told you have high blood pressure, your doctor may offer medication to lower it. You’ll also be advised to get your weight down (if you’re overweight), cut salt and salty foods, and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.

What to search: The DASH diet – it’s been shown to lower blood pressure.

Dental Check

It’s one of our least favorite checks but one of the most important. Gum health, in particular, is connected to overall health in many ways, including the surprising link between gum disease, heart attack, stroke, and heart disease.

Every 2 Years

Mammogram

Once you’re over 45, you’ll start getting invitations for breast screening. Make time for these appointments to detect any early signs of breast cancer.

Cervical Screening

Your medical practice should remind you to go for these appointments to check for signs of cervical cancer. Make sure you attend.

Every 5 Years

Bowel Screening / Colonoscopy

Talk to your doctor about whether you’re a candidate for a colonoscopy. If you have a family history of bowel cancer or have had any unusual changes in bowel habits, make sure you mention this. By the end of 2021, if you’re over 60, you should expect a letter inviting you to take part in the National Bowel Screening programme. Take the time to send in your sample – it could be a lifesaver.