Making a check-up appointment is an important investment in your health. However, a check-up that is not prepared correctly can lead to misleading results and cause unnecessary concerns or overlooked findings. You can get the highest efficiency from your examination by following the steps below.

1 Week Before Appointment

• Prepare a list of medications: Note down all medications, supplements and herbal supplements (name, dose, duration of use) that you use regularly. Some drugs directly affect blood values.
• Compile your family health history: List the chronic diseases (heart, cancer, diabetes, thyroid, etc.) seen in your mother, father and first-degree relatives.
• Write your complaints: Take note of any symptoms you have noticed in recent months, even those that seem minor, to convey to your doctor.
• Bring your vaccination card: Keep vaccines such as flu, tetanus, hepatitis B with you to check their up-to-dateness.

The Night Before the Appointment

• Stay hungry from 22:00 at night: At least 8-12 hours of fasting is essential for fasting blood sugar, insulin resistance and triglyceride tests. Water consumption is free.
• Do not drink alcohol: Alcohol impairs liver enzymes, triglyceride and uric acid values. It should be discontinued at least 24 hours before.
• Do not exercise heavily: Intense physical activity raises creatine kinase (CK) and other muscle enzymes; This may misinterpret the results.
• Sleep early: Blood pressure and pulse measurements taken from a tired body may be different from normal.

Appointment Morning

• Ask your doctor about your morning medicine: Get approval from your doctor about whether medications such as blood pressure medication and thyroid medication should be taken before the morning check-up.
• Do not smoke: Smoking affects blood pressure and some respiratory tests.
• Drink plenty of water: Adequate fluid consumption facilitates blood collection and improves the quality of the urine sample.
• Wear comfortable clothing: Procedures that require blood pressure measurement, ECG and undressing for examination become easier.

Special Notes for Women

Complete blood count hemoglobin values may be affected during menstruation; If possible, it is recommended to make an appointment 3-5 days after the end of menstruation. The postmenstrual period (days 10-14) for the mammography appointment provides a more comfortable shot as the breast tissue is less tense.

During the Inspection

Communicate honestly and openly with your doctor. Do not hesitate to provide information about your smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep patterns and eating habits; All this information is necessary for accurate evaluation. Take 5 minutes at the end of the appointment to ask any questions you may have.

A prepared check-up means a healthy future. Contact our clinic for your appointment.

Every year, millions of people around the world die due to diseases that could have been easily treated if they had been detected earlier. It is possible to prevent many of these losses; all that is required is a regular check-up screening. Here are critical diseases that can be caught early with check-up and the contribution of early diagnosis to treatment.

1. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Hypertension is known as the “silent killer”; Because the vast majority of patients do not feel that they have high blood pressure for many years. Untreated hypertension paves the way for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. However, it can be diagnosed early with a simple blood pressure measurement and easily controlled with lifestyle changes or medication.

2. Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes

According to the data of the Turkish Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1 out of every 7 adults in our country has diabetes and most of these patients are unaware of their disease. Individuals detected in the prediabetes stage by fasting blood sugar and HbA1c tests can largely prevent the full development of the disease with nutrition and exercise regulation.

3. High Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Risk

High LDL cholesterol accumulates silently on the vessel walls for years, leading to atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis). High cholesterol detected by the lipid panel reduces the risk of heart attack by 30-40% with dietary changes and, when necessary, statin therapy.

4. Colorectal Cancer

When colon cancer is caught at an early stage, the 5-year survival rate is over 90%; In the advanced stage, this rate drops dramatically. An annual occult blood test from the age of 45 and a colonoscopy every 10 years detect early polyps before they become cancerous. Screening should start at an earlier age in those with a family history.

5. Thyroid Diseases

Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland) can mimic fatigue, weight gain, and depression; Hyperthyroidism can manifest itself in the form of palpitations and irritability. This disorder, which can be detected within minutes with the TSH test, is fully controlled with the right drug treatment.

6. Kidney Failure

Chronic kidney disease causes almost no symptoms in stages 1-2. Kidney dysfunction detected early by blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and urine albumin test, the rate of progression can be greatly slowed down; The need for dialysis can be postponed or avoided altogether.

7. Liver Diseases

When the liver is damaged, it does not feel it until the very late stage. ALT, AST and GGT values in the routine biochemistry panel indicate conditions such as fatty liver or chronic hepatitis at an early stage. Viral hepatitis screening (HBsAg, Anti-HCV) can prevent cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Early Detection: The Difference in Numbers

The differences in the table reveal that regular check-ups are not just a health routine, but a real life-saving habit.

Take care of your health; Find the disease before it finds you. You can contact our clinic to make your check-up appointment.

In the pace of modern life, we often fail to notice the silent signals our body sends us. We attribute fatigue to workload, headaches to stress, shortness of breath to lack of air. However, some of these complaints may be the first harbingers of diseases that can lead to serious consequences if not noticed in the early period. At this point, annual check-ups become vital.

What is Check-Up?

Check-up is a comprehensive medical examination and screening process to evaluate the general health status of the body, even if there is no complaint yet. This package, which consists of blood tests, urine analysis, imaging methods and physician evaluation, scans multiple systems simultaneously.

5 Main Reasons That Should Be Done Once a Year

• Catches silent diseases: Many diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and early-stage cancer progress without symptoms for a long time. Check-up reveals these silent dangers.
• Reduces the cost of treatment: A disease diagnosed early can be treated in a much shorter time and at a lower cost than an advanced stage.
• Identify risk factors: A personalized risk map is created by evaluating all family history, lifestyle and biochemical values.
• It measures the effectiveness of existing treatments: It is clearly seen with regular check-ups whether medication and diet therapy work in individuals with chronic diseases.
• Provides mental peace: Instead of living under the uncertainty of the question “Do I have anything?”, managing your health with evidence-based information is also psychologically relaxing.

At what age, every how many years?

General guidelines recommend that healthy individuals between the ages of 18-40 should be born at least once every two years; It recommends that individuals aged 40 and over undergo a complete blood count, biochemistry panel and physician examination once a year. If there is a family history of heart disease, cancer or diabetes at an early age, this frequency should be increased.

The Cost of Postponing the Check-Up

According to World Health Organization data, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. A significant portion of these deaths can be prevented by early screening. Similarly, the rates of early detection of common cancers such as colorectal cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer have increased significantly in the last decade thanks to screening programs.

What Happens After Check-Up?

The results are evaluated holistically by the internal medicine specialist. Annual follow-up is planned for normal values; lifestyle changes are recommended in cases where limit values are detected; In case of abnormal values, referral is made to the necessary branch. The main goal is not to treat the disease, but to prevent the disease from occurring.

Don’t leave your health to chance. You can contact our clinic to make your annual check-up appointment.