7 Checkups and Tests Men in Their 50's Should Get
The years over age 50 are the prime of your life unless, of course, illness gets in the way. It’s important to have a strategy for men’s health checkups that include screenings of some common issues you may face at this age.
For example, according to the National Council on Aging, 90 percent of people over 55 have hypertension. And hypertension, which is high blood pressure, is more prevalent in men. What are some preventative health tests important for men over the age of 50?
Blood Pressure Checks
You already know that high blood pressure is common in men, but you may not realize that it is also a very treatable disease when you know you have it. All it takes in most cases to get your blood pressure under control is medication and lifestyle changes. Health apps for people over 50 like Mighty Health can help you make positive lifestyle changes as well as remind you to take your medication. They call hypertension the silent killer, though, because the only way people know they have it is to get screened.
Blood pressure measures how hard the heart must work to send blood to the arteries and blood flow resistance in the arteries. The harder your heart works, and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.
Unchecked hypertension can put you at risk for significant over 50 health problems, including:
Heart attack
Stroke
Kidney problems
Vision loss
Dementia
For most people, there is no identifiable reason for high blood pressure. It’s is simply something that tends to happen even with healthy aging. For others, it may be a complication of another medical condition such as kidney disease.
Everyone should have their blood pressure checked at least once every two years if it falls within the normal range, meaning lower than 120/80, and more often if it runs high. You can check it at home with your blood pressure machine, at the doctor’s office, or even in some pharmacies.
Blood Cholesterol Tests
High cholesterol is another common condition that men don’t realize they have without proper screening. Cholesterol is a substance that the body uses to make hormones and helps to digest food. The problem is your body makes all it needs, but cholesterol is also in many foods as well. Following a less than healthy diet can lead to a buildup of cholesterol in the blood. That excess cholesterol can end up on artery walls as plaque and put you at risk for cardiovascular disease, blood clots, heart attack, and stroke.
Men should start getting their cholesterol checked as early as age 45. A cholesterol test is a simple blood test. The lab will measure four types of lipids in your blood:
Total cholesterol - An ideal reading is below 5.2 mmol/L.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol - The desirable reading here is about 1.5 mmol/L
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - The best LDL reading depends on your general health. Anyone with coronary artery disease should look for an LDL reading of below 1.8. If you are in good health, LDL from 2.3-3.3 mmol/L is acceptable. Anything above 3.4 is high.
Triglycerides - Triglycerides should be below 1.7 mmol/L
Prostate Cancer Screening
There are over 191,000 prostate cancer diagnoses each year, and 60 percent of them are in men over 65. Early detection can increase your chances of survival, which is why many men start having this test done around age 50.
Physicians use two tests to screen for prostate cancer:
Digital rectal exam - By inserting a gloved and lubricated finger into the rectum, the doctor can feel the prostate’s surface to check for irregularities.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test - The PSA test can help to detect cancer early. The test looks for an enzyme in the blood typically present in small amounts in healthy men. It can also be elevated in men with prostate cancer or another prostate condition such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Screening for prostate cancer is done once a year, especially if your [PSA level is 2.5 ng/mL or higher.
Testicular Exams
Often testicular exams occur at the same time as a prostate screening. Testicular exams are something men have throughout their lives, though. You should do your self-exams at home feeling for hard lumps, bumps, or changes at least once a month and have a regular exam by a doctor once a year.
Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy is the best screening tool for colon cancer, a condition that kills more than 53,000 people each year. Colon cancer is a cancer of the large intestine or rectum. It can begin as small clumps of cells in the colon called polyps.
A colonoscopy allows a physician to visually examine the colon's inside wall, looking for these bumps and removing them if necessary. The test takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes and is done in a hospital under sedation.
Most men have their first colonoscopy right around age 50. If it is necessary to remove polyps, your doctor may recommend another one every one or two years.
If there is no sign of cancer, the recommendation may be anywhere from five to ten years, depending on your risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, low-fiber diet, obesity, or if you have symptoms of colon cancer or polyp growth. Lifestyle changes can significantly reduce your risk, like eating a high fiber diet and exercising regularly. Our Mightly Health app is perfect for the man looking to make some changes and lower his colon cancer risk.
What are the Signs You Should Have a Colonoscopy?
Some common signs to watch for include:
Blood in the stool
Stomach pain or cramps that do not go away
Unexplained weight loss
Skinny stool
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
An aneurysm is a bulge in the main artery that can burst at any time. Men between the ages of 65 and 75 have a higher risk of developing an aneurysm in the aorta, the body’s largest artery. It extends from the heart’s left ventricle through the abdomen and then splits into two smaller arteries. A ruptured aortic aneurysm could bleed out in seconds, leading to death.
Screening for an abdominal aortic aneurysm is necessary for men, especially if they have ever been smokers. Seventy-five percent of aortic aneurysms occur in people who once smoked, and they are more common in men. Although the real risk begins around age 65, you can start discussing the screening with your doctor anytime after age 50.
The screening is a simple imaging test, usually a computed tomography (CT) or a magnetic resonance imaging study (MRI). They can also look for them with an ultrasound.
Skin Check
Melanoma is one of the most dangerous cancers because it often goes unnoticed. Men over the age of 50 are two times more likely to develop melanoma than women. They have a higher risk for other types of skin cancer, too, such as:
Non-melanoma basal cell
Squamous cell
A doctor, probably a specialist like a dermatologist, will examine the entire body using a magnifying device during a skin check. The recommendation is for men and women to have a professional skin check once a year.
Breast Cancer
It’s a condition that many associated with women, but it does occur in men, although it is less common. Awareness is more critical than screening when it comes to breast cancer in men.
Chances are your doctor will do a quick breast exam during an annual physical, but men over the age of 50 should be aware of the risk factors and breast cancer symptoms.
Risk factors include:
Age - The risk increases as you grow older.
High levels of estrogen can occur as a side effect of some medications, as a result of obesity or alcohol use, or as a complication from liver disease.
Klinefelter syndrome - A genetic condition that causes men to have lower levels of male hormones and higher estrogen levels.
A family history of breast cancer, including genetic mutations like abnormal BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes
Radiation treatments
Breast cancer is just as deadly in men as it is in women and early detection is essential. Men should do home self-exams every month and tell their doctors if they notice lumps or breast tissue changes.
Life after age 50 can be some of your best years as long as you make preventive healthcare a priority. Lifestyle changes can decrease risk of heart attack and men's health checkups complete with critical screening tests can help detect and manage disease associated with aging adults. The combination of the two will help you enjoy the prime of your life.
