I don't go through any medical test until I personally feel any sickness or abnormality. And its more than 10 years since my last medical test.

Dear friends, I forgot to say that I have some friends and colleagues who never, never want to do a health check. But I also never get tired of trying to encourage them :)

Health check up needs tobe done annually in reputed hospital.I undergo these tests.Haemogram, Fasting Blood Sugar, Lipid Profile, Urine Routine, Creatinine, X-Ray-Chest, ECG, Physical examination advice by a Geriatric Consultant.The doctors advice is very useful to control some of the health parameters.This has helped me a lot.I suggest all to undergo these or more tests for betterment of life.

I think, that an annual health tests are a base of the modern health care. We cannot trust them in 100%, because every measurement may be exposed on measurement error. Additionally, many health tests are not prefect, but this is a typical knowledge with an uncertainty. The most basic for me is to check analysis of blood (morphology etc.). It is the most important part of prevention.

@Patrick, Lala, Wojciech: thanks for great advice to all of us. Nobody is getting younger :)

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All of health tests are good there is no disadvantage of any health test.

@Hatem, thanks. Actually, I also do the proper blood tests at the hospital. But nowadays the tests I described above seems popular. Only needs 1 drop of blood, but at the hospital, I think they draw out 5 to 10 ml of blood.

Test are very good preventive diseases, and a big help in convincing about change lifestyle.

Basic test: Glucose, Cholesterol, HDL- Cholesterol, Triglicerides, Uric acid, Urea, Creatinine, GOT (AST), GPT (ALT), (ggt), CBC (hemogram), urine test.

More than 40-45 years, woman: mammography and cytology; men: PSA.

With or without HPV vaccine (human papilloma virus) it's necessary a cytology control when sex in ladies.

Other test depending on family history.

HIV (AIDS) test screening or according to risk factors.

You must look directly cholesterol and blood pressure first than vitamins for example.

We are healthy, till we are investigated :)) As we age, there are bound to be some sort of changes in our body and health and its good to have a regular check-up. But on the other side, I have friends, who continuously have a phobia that they are suffering from something serious, even when they get minor symptoms. So, we should get investigated provided we have a positive attitude and the mental strength to face anything. As Miranda said rightly, no one is getting younger !!!

The lack of basic medical tests is like reading tea leaves. More information always improves the quality of medical diagnosis.

Health test as a providing tool can make a lot of sense. But I hesitate to believe that these tests automatically improve the behaviour of the people. Some times annual health tests have only a single but very important meaning, they improve the income of the involved doctors. A very discussed and typical example is the mammography screening, which is practiced eg in Germany. Indeed they find some tumors earlier, but the death rates don´t change. From diagnosis to death of the patient is a longer time interval, which is not caused by better chances to cure but just caused by the earlier moment of discovery. The typical survival rates don´t change.

Dear friends, thanks for your views :)

I undergo a complete medical test every year, ECG, X ray, teeth etc. as a prerequisite for being allowed to go to Antartica or the southern Islands (Marion, Gough), and have found that provide some evidence as to my state of health...especially the ECG, red blood cell count etc.

Dear Ludwig, I would test you even every half year. You really have a reason to do it. We all know the horror stories of suddenly ill researchers in antartica. I envy you for your interesting and exiting job and whish you a lot of luck.

Well feeling people don´t need annual tests, it´s just wasted money. This holds for annual ECC, blood test, urin tests etc. If you have bad feelings or notice some changes in your body function, you of course visit a doctor and let you been helped.

Therefore in USA a initiative has been founded, to give regular and senseful tips. The URL is:

http://www.choosingwisely.org/

Dear Cecilia, I´m not sure that I understood your statements correctly. But I read a plea for own responsibility. Am I right?

I don't go through any medical test until I personally feel any sickness or abnormality. And its more than 10 years since my last medical test.

My clear opinion is, avoid these annual test if you feel ok. There is a well known phenomenon that people start to feel sick and are loosing their relaxed status if doing too many tests. Typical example is the PSA test for prostate carcinoma with the following biopsies or the annual mammography which really throws the persons in respect.

The risk factors to acquire a disease, is multiplied with age.

For that more of 45 years is an important moment of prevention.

The new sedentary habits are worse for health.

Dear friends, thanks for your posts. I am always wondering if the tests that I described in the question are effective. Or would the results fluctuate at each time the test is carried out?

Even blood test at the hospital that I have done will only give info about the HDL, LDL cholesterol and TG, but not on elasticity of cerebral blood vessel. And so many friends in my college seemed to be 'moderately abnormal' on this matter. What do you all think about this, Prof Kamal, Ahed, Ana, Hanno, Ludwig etc.etc?

Tests conducted annually on their workers is a part of employee and employer relation.

It is purely to identify any risk factor.

raising cholestrol levels, incresed elsticity or decresed elasticity of cerebral vesssels are only statistical numbers. Infact most of them would be indicative of normal tests. The only benefit a person might get is by comparative studies and drawing a mean value.and a standard deviation.

On completion of one year the employee would find it better to go ahead with interactive health evaluation rather than random health evaluation.

In case of Interactive health evaluation the employee would go through a series of questioneers.

After a brief analysis a formal risk evaluaton pattern is evolved.

Rather than random an interactive health package is devised.

Thanks Satyaprasad. Actually each of the staff pays RM30 or about US$9.

Dear Miranda, I think it´s just a matter of costs. In Germany we call it small or large blood test. Most of the hosptal employees try to save money, so they automatically chose the small version.

Would this not just be a 'stab in the dark' unless there are symptoms or health concerns?

@Iain, good phrasing, it meets exactly my position!

While not directly answer your question about the sensitivity or specificity of this specific test (or any impact there might be on health preventative behaviours), you may want to read the latest Cochrane review on annual health check ups.

Krogsbøll LT, Jørgensen KJ, Grønhøj Larsen C, Gøtzsche PC. General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev2012;(10):CD009009.

@Hanno et al, thanks for your responses :))

@Aftab et al., those of us who don't have strong and very elastic blood vessels must be more careful of our health. Eat the right food, like salmon, fish etc to keep fit.

Besides, I have nearly stopped drinking coffee. Tea is better, especially the ginger 3 in 1, with that great creamer, produced by a few brands, including BOH of Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.

I think it is better to prevent diseases. An annual checkup is always better to know how your body is interacting with age, pollution, food, sedentary, etc... I used to do annual or by 2 years checkups.

@Abdalla, here is the mentioned sense of a test, you have a concrete risk, the familiar risk factor either by the genes or by the familiar habit to eat, drink and live.

Dear friends, thanks for your responses.

Yes, obesity, diabetes and hyperlipidimia are currently risk factors in our modern society. Even among children, these are threats.

who actually needs annual tests. If a 26 year old employee is to undergo tests he will not appreciate. but if a 52 year old is asked he will be waitng for the day.. I think there must be some judiciousness in addressing the tests.

There are two points of view: an employer will not want to have an airbus pilot with deteriorated vision - that's a real danger for passengers (and for the costly plane too). Most of individuals are not interested in a routine, yearly health checks, unless they have a good reason, say a history of cancer in their family.

Obligatory health checks contribute more to the database enrichment, making them up to date and more precise, than to the individual well being.

@Marek and all: There are two groups of people who really need health test.The one kind of tested persons are individuals who are responsible for common wellfare or who don´t have any chance to get help if they fall ill. Extreme examples are astronauts, pilots, antarctic researchers. The other group are people who have a familiar risk, or who are already fallen ill like cancer patients or patients with diabetes mellitus.

No annual tests are neccesary for well feeling individuals. They risk to get more and more nervous by tests, experiencing small abnormaties (within the error bars of the parameters or caused by the last cold or infect) and start to feel ill by time without any objective reason.

@Satyaprasad, Marek and Hanno: thanks for your input. Yes, I agree that while tests may be perceived to be necessary to some people, others may not think that they need health tests.

@Hanno, thanks for the great summary. :))

A different scenario, an insurance company, an employee, and agenral public person. Who is diagnosed early with a potential problem of health. Cigarette smoking, how many employess have stopped smoking. Imagine if more than 60% had stopped smoking then the annual incedence of heart attacks could have been halved. what is the use of a test if a lif style could not be changed.

I don't do any health tests unless I feel not Ok, although it will help much to do yearly health tests as it would help to diagnose some hidden diseases. Some tests which I think should be followed specially if its in the family history is for diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.

Wish good health for all

The concept of yearly tests is basically provided for thwo things. One to estimate the risk factor, and second to determine the percentage of cahnces that you may get ill. the other advantage is to armed forces where they will not be taking potentially sick persons. Any industry would not like to invest in treating an illhasness, but would like to see that most of tis employees are getting good care of thir health so that the productivity increses.

Cancer detection is infortunately not possible with routine test except in a few cases of pap smears or periheral smears.

healthy living concept has to be promoted from he schools adn colleges.

Is it important to know if you get ill? All of us will die some day. So please live and dont´t be anxious!

Dear friends, this is so true, 'All of us will die some day'.

So while we live, QUALITY of life is a precious commodity :)