In women the breasts should be examined yearly by a professional. This does not take the place of monthly breast self exams that all women should be doing the first day of their period. Mammograms yearly are recommended beginning at the age of fifty and less often depending on the practitioner. A screening DEXA bone density scan I recommend at the age of forty in women and, for men, I recommend a screening heel bone density scan. The former is more accurate and should always be done if the heel bone density is not optimal. The heel bone density is performed in local Pharmasave drug stores regularly. The DEXA scan can be ordered by your GP or you can make your own appointment at Madronna Xray in Nanaimo. The cost is around $120.00 and is well worth it if you can start treating a weakening of your bones right away rather than leaving it for later when it becomes more difficult to treat. Be sure to get a copy for your own records so that you may compare future tests. Another simple yearly test for osteoporosis is the measurement of your height!

Serum ferritin is a blood test to determine your iron stores. In menstruating women this level tends to be too low i.e. less than 50 and needs treatment with iron supplementation. In men and postmenopausal women we are concerned that the readings become too high i.e. over 80. Excess iron in the body is well documented to cause diseases of aging including heart disease and arthritis. If the ferritin is too high the simplest remedy is regular donations of blood. If this is not possible due to the health of your blood then intravenous chelation is the next treatment of choice.

The urinalysis can determine if you are passing sugar in the urine in the case of diabetes, and it can evaluate kidney function or infection, which can go unnoticed for years, as there are often no symptoms.

A few quick in-office tests we offer in our clinic, which can be done as screening tests, are the oxidata test and the heavy metal urine test. The oxidata test is a simple test performed on the first morning urine to determine if you have enough antioxidants in your body. In spite of good supplementation these levels may be too low. The same urine can be tested for heavy metals. Most people don’t realize the extent to which we are all at risk for these accumulations. The most common are lead, cadmium (car exhaust and smoking), mercury (from ingesting fish such as tuna and mercury amalgams in our teeth) and aluminum (common ingredient in many foods including baking powder and pickles and easily leached from pop cans).

A comprehensive chemistry screen which includes thyroid, kidney, immune and liver function is routinely performed at naturopathic clinics every few years to rule out declining function with age. Naturopathic optimal ranges reflect values that are used for preventive medicine and are discussed with the patient. These normals do not reflect the traditional medical model. MD’s rarely routinely do these comprehensive tests due to prohibitive costs to MSP.

These tests and exams are well within the budget of most everyone and if performed regularly will give you an accurate picture of your health and give you tools to help you build your confidence as you make changes in your lifestyle that do make a difference as you age.

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