Do you understand your own disease risk? Why do doctors ask you what your parent or grandparents illnesses/cancers or cause of death? There are ways to learn about your disease risk? Disease risk assessment is a scientific tool that uses quantitative data on health risk factors (like age, weight, cholesterol and glucose levels, family history of disease, etc.) to calculate a person’s risk of getting certain diseases/conditions.
Preventative Screening that is disease-specific is one of the best screenings you can have. Your annual doctor visit should always include tests for cholesterol levels and can learn your Body Mass Index. But, disease-specific testing helps you identify where your greatest risks are and see where to focus your efforts. This helps you discover how to have the greatest impact on your health (for instance, by exercising, controlling your blood pressure, quitting smoking, etc.).
Additional preventative screenings can measure your risk of developing 6 chronic diseases. Heart Disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
Sign up for Obamacare. Preventive care is free under Obamacare. Read here on all the preventative screenings that are covered under Obamacare. And use this list to make sure your own care provider is offering these tests. And you can always go to an outside provider that tests you without insurance.