A guide to screenings and vaccinations at every age

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets guidelines for when and how often men, women, and children should screened for and vaccinated against certain diseases. It's important to keep up with these recommendations to keep yourself and others healthy. When it comes to fighting an illness, the sooner doctors detect and diagnose the problem, the more likely it is that it can be effectively treated.

Many factors contribute to the early detection of disease, but staying up-to-date with scheduling yearly physical exams and screenings is one way of the best ways to maintain your health. Annual physical exams tend to fall down on people's to-do lists as they age, but Dr. Ishvari Panarker, family medicine physician at AMITA Health in Palatine said scheduling your annual check-up is one of the most important things you can do at any age.

It's important to know what your general baseline of health is so that when a change does occur, it's quickly noticed and treated. During your yearly exam doctors will check your weight to make sure you're in a healthy range for your height and age, take your blood pressure, and often order blood work. Dr. Panarker said analyzing your blood test results helps physicians catch abnormalities that might be asymptomatic such as high cholesterol or thyroid conditions.

“We counsel you on your weight and how to help you get to your weight loss goals, thereby reducing your risk factors for heart attack, strokes, and multiple other diseases,” said Panarker.

Doctors also use physicals as a time to remind patients to stay up-to-date on eye and dental appointments as well as alert people to newly developed moles that may warrant a skin check with a dermatologist to screen for skin cancer.

Vaccinations and screenings for women in their 20s and 30s:

• Td/Tdap vaccinations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a Tdap booster (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis) for adults and then Td booster every ten years. The CDC also recommends women get a Tdap vaccine during every pregnancy to help protect the baby and advises family members to consider a booster if they're going to be around babies or newborns. “We're more concerned about whooping cough in that it is making it's way back into the community and just want to boost everybody's immunity for that,” said Panarker.

• Pneumonia vaccine. If you have asthma, are a smoker, diabetic, immunocompromised, have heart disease, lung disease, kidney failure, or alcoholism, Dr. Panarker recommends thinking about getting a pneumonia vaccination as well. “It's a good idea to talk with your physician regarding your own medical history and certain risk factors where we may choose to give certain vaccinations earlier or later,” said Panarker.

• Pap smear. Women should typically have their first pap smear at age 21.

“Typically it's recommended in your 20s to do a pap smear every two years and in your thirties and above do a pap smear every three years,” said Panarker. Regular pap smears can help physicians catch cervical cancer in its early stages as well as other abnormalities that can plague the reproductive system.

• HPV Vaccination and Screenings. Panarker said women in their thirties can be regularly screened for human papillomavirus, HPV, but should discuss this with their physician. Women should also consider receiving the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, before they turn 26. “Starting and completing the vaccination is something a woman should generally consider,” said Panarker.

• STI testing. At any point in a sexually active woman's life, she can be screened for STIs. Panarker said it's recommended that women age 24 and younger undergo regular screenings for chlamydia.

Vaccinations and screenings for women age 40 and older:

• Mammograms. “Depending on your primary care provider's preference, a lot of women choose to start mammograms either at the age of 40 or 50,” said Panarker. Women can determine with their physician whether they will get a mammogram annually or every other year.

• Colonoscopy. Panarker recommends getting a colonoscopy at age 50, although it can be done earlier if there's a strong family history of colorectal cancer, other risk factors, or a clinical indication that a colonoscopy needs to be done sooner.

• Lung Cancer Screening. A low-dose CT scan should be done annually to screen for lung cancer in people 55 to 80 who have a 30 year history of smoking, are currently smoking or have quit within the last 15 years.

• Bone density screening. Post-menopausal women should consider undergoing a bone density screening to check for signs of osteoporosis. Panarker said these screenings usually begin at age 65, but can be done earlier based on a patient's risk factors.

• Hepatitis C screening. Those between 1945 and 1965, a.k.a. the baby boomers, are advised by the CDC to be screened for hepatitis C, as that age group is five times more likely to have this disease than other adults. “It's gotten quite aggressive about trying to test and diagnose any missed hepatitis C diagnoses only because we do have a cure for it now, where we didn't, say a decade ago,” said Panarker.

• Shingles vaccination. The CDC recommends that people 60 years of age or older receive the shingles vaccine whether or not they recall having chickenpox. More 99 percent of Americans over 40 have contracted chickenpox at some point, which is caused by the same virus as shingles. Panarker said when you have chickenpox as a child, the virus lives in your body for the rest of your life. When it becomes activated at any point it can cause shingles. A shingles vaccination is recommended at age 60 to help boost your immunity regardless of previous shingles episodes.

To stay current on recommended vaccinations, screenings, and general health information visit healthfinder.gov for more information.