COMMON DISEASES OR CANCERS
Life style/behavioural e.g. Obesity, bad dietary habits, lack of physical activity Smoking, alcohol intake problem
Communicable diseases/Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Chlamydia Syphilis Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Vascular diseases Anemia, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Dyslipidaemia
Psychosocial Depression and stress
Cancers Skin, cervix, breasts and colorectal
Elderly Osteoporosis, hearing and visual impairment, falls risk and polypharmacy
Others
ABO blood grouping and RH incompatibility Patristic infestation
Epidemiology of diseases makes use
of the age of an individual to predict the liability to develop certain diseases and cancers based on extensive studies done in this field. In other words, your age is one of the parameters used to predict each person risks.
Based on the best available evidence,
certain measures have been recommended by many task forces in the world for each stage of individual life. Recommendations for women differ
from those for men due to differences in incidence of diseases and to differences in nature of human body for each sex.
IF AGE IS ONE OF THE PARAMETERS, WHAT WILL THE OTHERS BE? The family physician reviews other parameters such as: Past medical history of certain diseases Family history of chronic diseases and cancers: certain chronic diseases as hypertension and diabetes mellitus and cancer of breast and colon are more common in certain families Social history including type of your profession, diet, physical activity, smoking,
alcohol and drugs intake Sexual history: sexual activity, gender, number of partners, contraceptive measures used and past history of venereal diseases Psychological history: as definition of wellness includes physical, mental and psychological health Vaccination history: the past vaccination history would help in planning booster vaccinations e.g. DT vaccine and new vaccinations in adults at certain ages and in the presence of chronic diseases e.g. pneumococcal and influenza vaccines History of any abnormal changes in an individual’s body as noticed by the patient himself can be of great value to attract attention of his doctor and to help in detection of cancers at the very early stages.
Age group Most common health problems in men
20-39 years Venereal diseases, bad dietary habits, obesity, excessive alcohol intake and lack of physical activity
40-59 years
High blood cholesterol level, hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and colon cancer
Above 60years High blood cholesterol level, hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, colon cancer, visual and hearing impairment
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TESTS USEDTO SCREEN
Height, weight, BMI, history taking The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Interview Version, the CAGE Test
Urine or endo-cervical swab for Lipase chain reaction or Polymerase chain reaction VDRL Tuberculin skin testing
Haematocrite, BP measurement, FBS, lipid profile History taking Skin examination, pap smear, mammogram and occult blood
Risk assessment and screening bone mineral densitometry, Snellen chart, whispered voice out of field of vision and history taking
Blood group and Rh testing Stool analysis
«Family doctors should take a pro-active approach in opportunistic health education and evidence- based screening»
WHAT COMES AFTER TAKING A THOROUGH HISTORY? Now, the family physician performs the physical examination, which includes measuring body weight, height, body mass index, blood pressure, examination of neck, breast, abdomen, genitalia, searching for any abnormal moles and performing pelvic and rectal examinations. The physician concludes by asking
certain laboratory and radiological investigations based on all the data collected in history and physical examination.
He also does assessment of the
cardiovascular risks by using the Framingham coronary prediction algorithm and assesses the intervention benefits by calculating the needed number for five years to prevent an event.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WELL PROGRAMMES? Many advantages have been observed: Early detection of unhealthy lifestyle habits, which lead to chronic diseases, such as following an unhealthy diet rich in
Most common health problems in women
Venereal diseases, bad dietary habits, obesity, excessive alcohol intake and lack of physical activity
High blood cholesterol level, hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, colon-, breast- and cervical cancer
High blood cholesterol level, hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, colon-, breast-and cervical cancer, osteoporosis, visual and hearing impairment
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