Everyone loves celebrating those milestone birthdays. The 21st birthday outing is considered the first major birthday of adulthood that always requires planning for the perfect outfit, the complete guest list and the most memorable bar or club to generate enough stories to keep you going until your 30th birthday. Another must-do for those big birthday celebrations is scheduling a doctor’s appointment. Gone are the days of your parents taking you to the pediatrician and someone else asking all the questions for you. Starting at age 21, make sure every big birthday celebration also includes a discussion with your doctor. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America, and there are ways to prevent it and ways to detect it early. To try and keep all that pep in your step for many years to come, here are the top questions to ask for every major birthday, all focused on cancer prevention and screening.
For your 21st birthday, after you recover from one or two of your first alcoholic beverages, call your doctor to schedule your first pap smear. The initiation of pap smears has led to significant reductions in cervical cancer deaths. It’s not going to be the most fun part of your birthday week, but it could save your life. In addition to pap smears, there’s a new tool in the fight to prevent cervical cancer: the HPV vaccine, also known as Gardasil or Cervarix. This is recommended for women through the age of 26, so if you didn’t get it in your younger days, make sure to get it for your 21st birthday. A shot to prevent cancer is as good a birthday present as one can get.
Age 21 is also a good time to take note of your family history. The recommendations for your later years are general recommendations, but your family history may change those. Get your family members together for your birthday and write down diseases that are present. If anyone had cancer, the age of diagnosis is important too, so take that down. How many family members should you know? The more the merrier, but for starters, definitely get the medical history of your parents and siblings.
The big 3-0 is another major milestone in cancer prevention. While in your 20s you should continue to get pap smears at least every three years, at age 30 you may be able to space them out to less frequently. Ask your doctor about adding on HPV testing to your routine pap smear.
The 40th birthday is where it gets complicated. Previous recommendations were to start getting mammograms to screen for breast cancer at age 40; this was recently changed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Breast cancer screening at this age may not be for everyone. It may or may not be the right time for you, but it’s definitely the right time to start asking your doctor about breast cancer screening.
At age 50, a lot starts to happen. Most women should start breast cancer screening, and this is almost always with a mammogram. Men and women should start screening for colon cancer. There are a couple ways this can be done: One is by having your stool tested for the presence of blood (called a fecal occult blood test). Another is with a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, a procedure where a small camera is used to look at your gut. Talk to your doctor about which test would be best, but sign yourself up for one of them!
Folks ages 50 to 70 (born between 1945 and 1965) should also get screened for hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a viral infection that can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure and puts you at increased risk of liver cancer. To be tested you only need a simple blood test. It’s only recommended once in your lifetime so once you get it, you don’t need to again.
Those ages 55 to 80 who have a heavy smoking history may need to be screened for lung cancer. If you’re currently a smoker, you should stop. A “heavy” smoking history is anything more than 30 “pack years” and current or recent smoking. Thirty “pack years” equals one pack per day for 30 years, or half a pack per day for 60 years or two packs per day for 15 years. Be honest with your doctor about how much and how long you smoked, and she/he can help determine if you would benefit from lung cancer screening. Screening is simple and is just a CT (or “cat”) scan; you lay down on your back, the bed moves back through what looks like a big donut and a few minutes later there is a picture generated of your lungs. There may be more required if they find something, but that’s where to start.
The fun doesn’t stop at 65 — but some of the screening may be able to stop. If you’ve had regular pap smears for cervical cancer screening, you may be able to scale back. At 75 you may be able to scale back even further. There’s little information and guidance on the benefits of cancer screening after age 75, so talk to your doctor about which tests you may still benefit from doing.
There are not screening guidelines for every cancer. If you see something, such as a changing mole or lump that won’t go away, say something. In the meantime, raise a glass and make an appointment to talk to your doctor about cancer screening. To your health!
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Cancer Screening at Every Birthday: What to Ask Your Doctor originally appeared on usnews.com
