5 health tests to take after turning 50

Turning 50 is a milestone, especially when it comes to elderly health. That’s why it is imperative for people over 50 years of age to get regular health checkups in order to improve their quality of life. By taking time out to schedule regular health checkups, you and your doctor can detect any underlying problems before they escalate into something serious. For the past decade, there are tremendous ongoing changes in lifestyle that keep men’s health at risk.
Lifestyle factors such as the use of tobacco and alcohol, diet, and poor physical activity are closely associated with myriad chronic health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
Here are a few diagnostic tests that should be part of any health checkup for men over 50.

Dr. Janakiram Bobbillapati, Head of Microbiology at TRUSTlab Diagnostics says, “Everyone over 45 should get their blood sugar or glucose checked. Your doctor will ask you to get this test done if you have symptoms of high blood sugar such as unintended weight loss, slow healing, or unusual thirst.

A complete cholesterol test measures four types of lipids, or fats, in your blood. The test is used to determine the total amount of cholesterol in the blood, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides. Out of these, LDL is considered to be bad cholesterol, too much of which raises your risk of heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis.

According to Dr. Bobbillapati, “For adult men over 50 years, high blood pressure or hypertension can be especially dangerous as it increases the risk of developing coronary artery disease that can lead to life-threatening episodes such as heart attack and stroke, and kidney diseases.”

Although all men are at risk for prostate cancer, the risk greatly increases with old age. The PSA test measures the level of PSA, a protein produced by the prostate gland, in the blood. Elevated PSA levels can indicate the presence of prostate cancer or other prostate-related conditions. Men who are 50 years or above are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.