Midlife Checkup: Don’t Skip This Essential Doctor Visit Once You Turn 50

If you are turning 50 soon, celebrate the occasion with a gift that keeps on giving: A midlife checkup.

Sometimes called a health audit, a midlife checkup is a deep dive to assess your body’s current well-being while also evaluating your risk for future health problems that could be prevented or mitigated by acting now.

Don’t skip this important investment in your future – even if you’ve passed the 50 milestone. It will help you understand how your heart, bones, metabolism and brain have changed over the years and how to protect them and stay healthy as you continue to age.

Checkup, Physical or Wellness Visit?

Most visits to the doctor are to treat an injury or illness. When you go in for a regular checkup, routine physical exam or wellness visit, you’re not sick or injured; you just want to find out more about your general health and how to minimize risks going forward.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, it’s important to understand the difference between these types of visits:

• Physical: A hands-on medical checkup that includes a physical examination, blood tests and vaccinations to gauge your current health, diagnose problems and treat existing conditions. Other diagnostic tests are sometimes included.
• Checkup: Another name for a physical.
• Wellness visit: A meeting with your healthcare provider that focuses on prevention and risk assessment, typically without a physical exam or lab work. Medicare, the government health insurance program for those 65 and older, pays for an annual wellness visit but not a physical.

Annual physicals for healthy adults became popular in the mid20^th century, promoted by the American Medical Association and the health insurance industry. The government at the time recommended all adults be examined yearly with the same slate of diagnostic tests. Various studies followed that suggested scaling back that one-size-fits-all approach, and by the 1980s, the official recommendation had changed to a periodic screening with wellness counseling and a physical exam tailored to a patient’s age, sex and risk factors.

Midlife Checkup

The midlife checkup, recommended for adults ages 45-65, is all that and more. It provides not only a snapshot of your current health but allows you and your healthcare provider to develop a blueprint for a healthy future by identifying your risks for specific age-related issues like heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and hormonal changes.

You will undergo some of the same tests – blood pressure and cholesterol, for example. But you can also expect new ones: Mammograms for breast cancer, colonoscopies for colon cancer and bone scans for osteoporosis are all typical. Depending on your health history, your provider may order additional lab tests to discover more subtle issues (thyroid problems or high levels of the hormone cortisol, for example.) A baseline electrocardiogram heart test may be ordered if you have a history of cardiac disease in your family or have heart symptoms yourself or certain other underlying health conditions.

Beyond Screenings

Your healthcare provider will also conduct a full physical exam and discuss your lifestyle and counsel you on possible changes for a healthier future. Expect to talk about:

• A healthy body weight
• Diet and exercise habits
• Alcohol, tobacco and drug use
• Sleep
• Stress
• Depression and anxiety
• Urinary incontinence
• Sexual problems
• Safety practices (wearing a seatbelt and installing smoke detectors, for example).

Additionally, this is a time to check your immunization status and catch you up on any boosters that are due or overdue, including your annual flu vaccine. Two additional vaccines are recommended for older adults, so you may get started on those at your midlife checkup. One is to prevent shingles and requires two doses at or after age 50. The other is to prevent a specific type of pneumonia; one to two lifetime doses are recommended for those 65 and older.

Together, these screenings, immunizations and counseling will give you and your healthcare provider a solid picture of your health today, your disease risks as you age, and the tools to avoid or mitigate future problems while you have time to do so.

This content is not AI generated