AARP Hearing Center
Key takeaways
• Cardiologist and internist Dr. Adam Rosenbluth recommends prioritizing regular health screenings after turning 50.
• Detect health issues early with vital tests like blood panels, urine tests and cancer screenings.
• Leverage your doctor’s guidance to interpret results and build a strong foundation for lifelong wellness.
Summary
Turning 50 is a milestone that calls for a new approach to your health, and regular health screenings after 50 are more important than ever. Dr. Adam Rosenbluth emphasizes that your primary care doctor should become your key partner in staying healthy by monitoring vital signs, managing routine checkups and ordering more comprehensive tests. These include blood tests for anemia or diabetes, cholesterol and lipid panels, urine tests and crucial cancer screenings such as colonoscopies, mammograms, and prostate exams.
Prioritizing these essential screenings helps detect health issues early, often before you have symptoms, and provides a valuable baseline for your future care. Dr. Adam encourages patients not to wait for something to go wrong but to use preventive care to avoid bigger health problems and ensure long-term wellness. Your doctor is there to help interpret your results, offer guidance, and advocate for your ongoing health as you navigate your 50s and beyond.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full Transcript:
[0:00:00] Doctors should be your partner in health care,
[0:00:00] and there’s no other doctor-patient
[0:00:05] relationship as important as your primary care
[0:00:05] physician, which is why I really appreciate
[0:00:11] this question from an Ask Dr. Adam column
[0:00:11] reader.
[0:00:14] I’m over 50.
[0:00:14] What kind of things should my doctor be looking
[0:00:17] for now,
[0:00:19] I know for a lot of you out there in your 40s
[0:00:19] and 50s,
[0:00:23] it’s easy to say, I’m still young, I feel great.
[0:00:23] I really don’t need to go to the doctor unless
[0:00:28] something is wrong.
[0:00:29] Here’s what I say to that.
[0:00:31] Your primary care doctor’s role is to check in
[0:00:31] with your body.
[0:00:36] These appointments should not only be to find
[0:00:36] out if something is wrong,
[0:00:40] but to also prevent bad things from happening.
[0:00:43] So, we as doctors want to be armed with
[0:00:43] information.
[0:00:48] We’ll monitor your vital signs like blood
[0:00:48] pressure, heart rate,
[0:00:52] your eyes, ears, weight gain or loss with each
[0:00:52] visit.
[0:00:57] Then, once you reach middle age, we start
[0:00:57] ordering other, more comprehensive tests like
[0:01:03] blood tests that can detect different medical
[0:01:03] conditions such as anemia,
[0:01:07] infections or leukemia.
[0:01:09] A cholesterol test or a lipid panel determines
[0:01:09] the level of fatty buildup in your arteries.
[0:01:15] High cholesterol levels are often asymptomatic.
[0:01:19] So while you may feel nothing, it can increase
[0:01:19] your risk for coronary artery disease or heart
[0:01:25] attack.
[0:01:25] Your doctor may also ask you to take a diabetes
[0:01:29] test.
[0:01:29] Based on your results, it can catch prediabetes
[0:01:33] early and can help people prevent or delay type
[0:01:33] 2 diabetes.
[0:01:37] Urine tests can detect a wide range of
[0:01:37] disorders such as urinary tract infections,
[0:01:44] kidney disease and diabetes.
[0:01:46] And even if nothing comes up, all these tests
[0:01:46] give us a baseline if things start
[0:01:53] changing in the future.
[0:01:54] Next, we’ll want to get those all-important
[0:01:54] cancer screening tests done.
[0:02:00] I don’t have to tell you that finding cancers
[0:02:00] in the early stages can significantly improve
[0:02:06] your prognosis, but I do like to remind all my
[0:02:06] patients, especially when I know they don’t
[0:02:12] want to do it.
[0:02:12] You should be getting regular colon cancer
[0:02:15] screenings after age 45.
[0:02:18] A colonoscopy is not only a diagnostic test,
[0:02:18] but also a preventative one.
[0:02:23] For male patients, your doctor should recommend
[0:02:23] getting a prostate-specific antigen test to
[0:02:28] look for signs of prostate cancer and a digital
[0:02:28] rectal exam to look for abnormal bumps or other
[0:02:34] changes of the prostate gland.
[0:02:36] And then for ladies, routine mammograms are so
[0:02:36] important to detect any early signs of breast
[0:02:42] cancer.
[0:02:42] In addition, women should also routinely be
[0:02:46] getting Pap smears.
[0:02:48] With all these tests and screenings, your
[0:02:48] primary doctor is your personal guide for these
[0:02:54] results.
[0:02:54] They help analyze them and recommend next steps
[0:02:58] in your health journey.
[0:03:00] Their role is to do so much more than to check
[0:03:00] your blood pressure and your heart rate.
[0:03:05] They are a powerful advocate for your long-term
[0:03:05] health.
[0:03:09] For more advice like this, please check out my
[0:03:09] Ask Doctor Adam column on AARP.org.
[0:00:00] Doctors should be your partner in health care,
[0:00:00] and there’s no other doctor-patient
[0:00:05] relationship as important as your primary care
[0:00:05] physician, which is why I really appreciate
[0:00:11] this question from an Ask Dr. Adam column
[0:00:11] reader.
[0:00:14] I’m over 50.
[0:00:14] What kind of things should my doctor be looking
[0:00:17] for now?
[0:00:19] I know for a lot of you out there in your 40s
[0:00:19] and 50s,
[0:00:23] it’s easy to say, I’m still young, I feel great.
[0:00:23] I really don’t need to go to the doctor unless
[0:00:28] something is wrong.
[0:00:29] Here’s what I say to that.
[0:00:31] Your primary care doctor’s role is to check in
[0:00:31] with your body.
[0:00:36] These appointments should not only be to find
[0:00:36] out if something is wrong,
[0:00:40] but to also prevent bad things from happening.
[0:00:43] So we as doctors want to be armed with
[0:00:43] information.
[0:00:48] We’ll monitor your vital signs like blood
[0:00:48] pressure, heart rate,
[0:00:52] your eyes, ears, weight gain or loss with each
[0:00:52] visit.
[0:00:57] Then, once you reach middle age, we start
[0:00:57] ordering other more comprehensive tests like
[0:01:03] blood tests that can detect different medical
[0:01:03] conditions such as anemia,
[0:01:07] infections, or leukemia.
[0:01:09] A cholesterol test or a lipid panel determines
[0:01:09] the level of fatty buildup in your arteries.
[0:01:15] High cholesterol levels are often asymptomatic.
[0:01:19] So while you may feel nothing, it can increase
[0:01:19] your risk for coronary artery disease or heart
[0:01:25] attack.
[0:01:25] Your doctor may also ask you to take a diabetes
[0:01:29] test.
[0:01:29] Based on your results, it can catch prediabetes
[0:01:33] early and can help people prevent or delay type
[0:01:33] 2 diabetes.
[0:01:37] Urine tests can detect a wide range of
[0:01:37] disorders such as urinary tract infections,
[0:01:44] kidney disease, and diabetes.
[0:01:46] And even if nothing comes up, all these tests
[0:01:46] give us a baseline if things start
[0:01:53] changing in the future.
[0:01:54] Next, we’ll want to get those all important
[0:01:54] cancer screening tests done.
[0:02:00] I don’t have to tell you that finding cancers
[0:02:00] in the early stages can significantly improve
[0:02:06] your prognosis, but I do like to remind all my
[0:02:06] patients, especially when I know they don’t
[0:02:12] want to do it.
[0:02:12] You should be getting regular colon cancer
[0:02:15] screenings after age 45.
[0:02:18] A colonoscopy is not only a diagnostic test,
[0:02:18] but also a preventative one.
[0:02:23] For male patients, your doctor should recommend
[0:02:23] getting a prostate-specific antigen test to
[0:02:28] look for signs of prostate cancer and a digital
[0:02:28] rectal exam to look for abnormal bumps or other
[0:02:34] changes of the prostate gland.
[0:02:36] And then for ladies, routine mammograms are so
[0:02:36] important to detect any early signs of breast
[0:02:42] cancer.
[0:02:42] In addition, women should also routinely be
[0:02:46] getting Pap smears.
[0:02:48] With all these tests and screenings, your
[0:02:48] primary doctor is your personal guide for these
[0:02:54] results.
[0:02:54] They help analyze them and recommend next steps
[0:02:58] in your health journey.
[0:03:00] Their role is to do so much more than to check
[0:03:00] your blood pressure and your heart rate.
[0:03:05] They are a powerful advocate for your long-term
[0:03:05] health.
[0:03:09] For more advice like this, please check out my
[0:03:09] Ask Dr. Adam column on AARP.org.
