Once patients hit fifty, regular screenings become a routine part of life. However, Dr. Naveed Fazlani says, screening and treatment intervals can be confusing to patients, who often read conflicting reports. Dr. Fazlani, who regularly works with patients suffering high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, clears up the confusion by detailing a few critical issues that require screenings after the age of fifty.
By the age of fifty, the risk of hypertension in post-menopausal women has begun to catch up with men’s risks, according to Dr. Fazlani. For patients that have high blood pressure, regular monitoring will become important after age fifty, he states, with medications available to lower it. To keep blood pressure levels low, Dr. Fazlani explains that your physician may start you on an exercise program and have you reduce your sodium intake.
The risk of heart attack and stroke also increases as you age, according to Dr. Naveed Fazlani, who recommends a daily dose of aspirin to help thin the blood and reduce risks. If you are still engaging in tobacco consumption, he may recommend tobacco cessation counseling, as you’ll begin to notice more health problems as you get older if you keep smoking.
Cancer becomes a concern for doctors of patients over fifty as well, he says. Physicians will conduct screenings for lung cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer. Dr. Fazlani points to American Cancer Society recommendations that women over age 40 have mammograms each year. Patients should have colorectal screenings every five years, Dr. Fazlani indicates, but after age 50 men should discuss exams for prostate cancer with their physicians. Good news for women, Dr. Fazlani reports, is that the American Cancer Society allows cervical cancer screening to slow down to every three years from age thirty on. By age 70, women may choose to stop having pap smears altogether, he adds, assuming the past three pap smears have been normal.
An annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all adults, Dr. Naveed Fazlani points out, but as you get older that yearly vaccination may become more vital than ever. Dr. Fazlani also recommends a one-time pneumococcal vaccination at age 65, as well as a vaccine to protect against a varicella-zoster infection.
Dr. Naveed Fazlani, board certified in Internal Medicine, has been actively practicing in the Cincinnati area since 1996. Dr. Naveed Fazlani is founding partner of Midwest Medical Group in Mt. Healthy, a fourteen-physician practice that provides outpatient and hospitalist services. For more information, visit drnaveedfazlani.me