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Health & Wellness

10 Essential Health Screenings Every Adult Must Prioritize for Longer Life

“Forget the full-body MRI. Remember the screening tests that truly protect your health.”

Photographer: MART PRODUCTION
In these final dog days of summer, take a moment to reaffirm the simplest and most powerful tools for staying healthy: timely, evidence-based screening tests. Forget the full-body MRI and the blood test that promises to predict your future. Remember, as if your life depended on it, the screening tests that are proven protectors of your health.
Here is a list that could be brought in your pocket to your next medical appointment. Agree on a schedule for when and why you might have any of these tests, and get on waiting lists if necessary.
1. Blood Pressure Check
You can do it at your local pharmacy or at your doctor’s office. High blood pressure is among the easiest risk factors to identify, and to correct through lifestyle changes. Don’t let it quietly damage your arteries, leading to heart attack and stroke.
2. Colorectal Cancer Screening
It’s not anyone’s idea of a good time, but a colonoscopy (or a less invasive stool test) can catch cancer in its early, curable stages. If you’re 50, or over, or have a family history, don’t delay. A little discomfort now beats a devastating diagnosis later.
3. Blood Sugar / HbA1c
Diabetes can creep into your life slowly and unannounced. A simple blood test can show whether your body is quietly losing its grip on glucose control. This is a test where early intervention can change everything.
4. Cervical Cancer Screening (Pap + HPV Test)
Today’s guidelines now space these tests further apart, but they still matter. If you’ve ever doubted whether preventive medicine saves lives, look at the decline in cervical cancer deaths since the Pap test was introduced.
5. Mammogram
There’s debate around when to start; some say 40, others say 50. Mammograms don’t predict, or prevent cancer, but they do help catch breast cancer early. Talk to your doctor about your individual risk. The key is not just having the test but knowing when and why.
6. Bone Density Test (DEXA scan)
For women over 65, or anyone with risk factors, a bone density scan can uncover osteoporosis, or osteopenia, long before a slip on the sidewalk becomes life-altering. Good prevention also means exercise, calcium, and vitamin D.
7. Skin Cancer Check
Especially if you’re fair-skinned, mole-prone, or once thought baby oil at the beach was a great pairing, get checked. Trained eyes can spot trouble that yours may miss.
8. Prostate Cancer Screening (PSA + DRE)
This one’s controversial, and rightly so, but for men over 50, and those with risk factors, it’s a conversation worth having. A PSA test shouldn’t automatically lead to treatment, but it can start a dialogue that leads to wise choices.
9. Cholesterol Test (Lipid Panel)
Another controversial one. You don’t need to chase a perfect number, but knowing your LDL, HDL, and triglyceride levels gives you a window into your cardiovascular future. Know that there is a natural alternative to the statins.
10. Mental Health Screening
You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit, and your best friend may diagnose you better than your doctor. An open conversation can be the starting point to acknowledging the early signs of depression or anxiety, both of which affect physical health, relationships, and longevity. Everyone needs help now and again. Reach out if you need it.
Honourable Mentions:
Hearing tests (your spouse will confirm if you need one!), vision checks, and dental exams deserve their place. Not just for comfort, but for quality of life and even cognitive protection.
Get checked and be well.

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Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, MD is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecology at Harvard. His storied medical career began as a general practitioner, ship’s surgeon, and hotel doctor. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of women’s health. In 1975, he launched his weekly medical column that has been published by national and local Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Today, the readership remains over seven million. His advice contains a solid dose of common sense and he never sits on the fence with controversial issues. He is the author of nine books including, “The Healthy Barmaid”, his autobiography “You’re Going To Do What?”, “What I Learned as a Medical Journalist”, and “90+ How I Got There!” Many years ago, he was successful in a fight to legalize heroin to help ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. His foundation at that time donated $500,000 to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School. At 93 years of age he rappelled from the top of Toronto’s City Hall (30 stories) to raise funds for children with a life-threatening disease through the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  Diana Gifford-Jones, the daughter of W. Gifford-Jones, MD, Diana has extensive global experience in health and healthcare policy.  Diana is Special Advisor with The Aga Khan University, which operates 2 quaternary care hospitals and numerous secondary hospitals, medical centres, pharmacies, and laboratories in South Asia and Africa.  She worked for ten years in the Human Development sectors at the World Bank, including health policy and economics, nutrition, and population health. For over a decade at The Conference Board of Canada, she managed four health-related executive networks, including the Roundtable on Socio-Economic Determinants of Health, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the Canadian Centre for Environmental Health, and the Centre for Health System Design and Management. Her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government included coursework at Harvard Medical School.  She is also a graduate of Wellesley College.  She has extensive experience with Canadian universities, including at Carleton University, where she was the Executive Director of the Global Academy. She lived and worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese fluently. Diana has the designation as a certified Chartered Director from The Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University.  She has recently published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called No Nonsense Health – Naturally!

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