Ladies, protect your health with these measures
It was approximately the year 1500 that the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus first used the adage “prevention is better than cure”.

He was right and forward-thinking. Prevention is essential when it comes to medical care.

Preventive care is crucial in maintaining optimal health and wellness throughout life.

Emphasising the importance of regular checkups, screenings and vaccinations encourages individuals to take proactive steps to safeguard their health, spot any issues early, and lower their risk of developing serious illnesses.

In this article, I have summarised the preventive care that a woman should know and do.

Regular checkups

Many of us may feel that a regular health checkup is not necessary unless you are feeling unwell.

However, we tend to forget that even humans need to do regular health maintenance to keep our health in top-notch condition.

During regular health checkups, your doctor will be able to update your health history, measure important vital signs, do a thorough physical examination, and conduct a series of necessary investigations, including imaging tests like a pelvic ultrasound.

The information obtained will enable your doctor to detect any deviation from normal health parameters and advise you accordingly.

Furthermore, this routine checkup allows you to address any other concerns or symptoms that you may have, as well as any lifestyle factor that may impact negatively on your health.

A regular checkup becomes more important if you have chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) or thyroid disease.

By being proactive, you can optimise control of the disease, prevent any complications and improve your long-term health.

If you are trying to conceive, this will also greatly improve your fertility health.

According to the American College of Obstetricians And Gynaecologists, all women are encouraged to have an annual checkup with their gynaecologist, even if they are not due yet for their Pap smear or cervical screening test.

Health screening

Health screenings are essential to detect health conditions or diseases in the early stage.

This will enable appropriate and effective early stage intervention and treatment to be started if needed.

This will prevent disease progression, and sometimes, can offer a complete cure from chronic conditions like cancer.

The type of screening tests depends on your age, health history, family history and other risk factors.

Common screening tests include measurement of blood pressure, breast ultrasound or mammogram for breast cancer, Pap smear or cervical screening test, bone scan for osteoporosis, and blood tests for diabetes and cholesterol.

Depending on your age, other additional screenings may include colonoscopy for colorectal cancer, and hearing and vision impairment tests.

Early detection through screenings allows for timely intervention and treatment, reducing the risk of disease progression and complications.

For example, any abnormal cells detected via a Pap smear or cervical screening test can be further evaluated to rule out pre-cancerous cells that lead to cervical cancer.

These pre-cancerous cells (known as CIN) can be eliminated via a simple surgical procedure.

A similar strategy is used for breast cancer prevention.

Moreover, during a health screening appointment, your doctor has an opportunity to speak to you about lifestyle changes, fertility health and contraception for women who require it.

It is important to follow and adhere to a recommended preventive screening guideline.

Do your screenings within the recommended specified interval and be proactive to safeguard your health and wellbeing.

HPV screening

During your Pap smear, you can also request to screen for exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV can be tested from the same sample taken for the Pap smear.

Knowing whether you have been exposed to HPV or not will help when it comes to evaluating your risk for cervical cancer if your Pap smear shows abnormal cells.

This also helps your doctor to plan further tests in the event of an abnormal Pap smear.

Therefore, it is encouraged to get a HPV test during a Pap smear.

You can also opt for a cervical screening test, which checks for the presence of HPV directly.

How frequently you will need to repeat these tests will be decided by your doctor based on your risk factors.

Egg reserve test

You may be wondering why I have included the egg reserve test as part of the preventive care strategy.

A woman’s egg reserve represents her fertility level.

The higher the egg reserve, the better her fertility should be.

A woman’s fertility is at its peak between her late teens and late 20s.

Her fertility starts to decline after the age of 30, with the decline accelerating after the age of 35.

Thus, it is advisable for a woman to know her egg reserve, especially if she is planning to start a family at an older age.

Based on her egg reserve, a woman can make an informed decision about her fertility journey.

Vaccination

Vaccination is one of the important methods of disease prevention.

Vaccinations work by stimulating your body to produce an antibody that helps protects against infection or reduces its severity.

During childhood, a Malaysian female should have received vaccines for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB), HPV, polio and Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal), as well as Japanese encephalitis for those living in Sarawak.

As an adult, there are some recommended vaccines you may consider taking, such as the influenza and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines (if you have not yet caught chickenpox).

You should also consider taking the HPV vaccine if you have not received it yet.

The HPV vaccine was only introduced in the National Immunisation Programme for girls aged 13 from 2010, so those aged over 13 in 2010 would not have received the free vaccines.

As previously mentioned, HPV virus exposure increases your risk of cervical cancer.

The virus can also cause genital warts and cancers of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus, mouth, throat, head and neck.

The HPV vaccine can be taken by both women and men.

Other vaccines that are recommended for adults are those for S. pneumoniae (pneumococcal), measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, based on your risk factors.

It is important to keep up to date with your vaccinations to protect yourself and others in the community by creating herd immunity.

So take proactive steps today to start your preventive care because health is your true wealth.

Dr Agilan Arjunan is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and fertility specialist. For more information, email starhealth@thestar.com.my. The information provided is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
Women,Women's health,screening,HPV,cervical cancer,Pap smear,vaccination
There are a few important steps and tests women can take as part of preventive care.