Father's Day 2021: Important Health Checks Fathers Should Do

Father's day is here! It brings up an opportunity to express love and gratitude towards the person who left no stones unturned in giving a quality life to his children. Fathers are the foundation of a strong family, and they must maintain their health. They should be aware of their health condition and should take necessary steps to ensure their well-being. While providing for the growth and development of their children, fathers often stretch beyond their capacity. They keep their children's priorities at the top while selflessly relegating personal necessities like health. However, they need a course correction to lead a healthy life. Here are some of these.

Father's Day 2021: Important health check-ups for fathers

1. Diet, exercise and other health regimens:

With the ripening of age it becomes pertinent for one to follow a strict diet, exercise and other health regimens. As one grows old, the digestive abilities reduce, making it difficult for the person to indulge in binge eating habits or over-eating. Healthy eating habits along with other practices like proper rest/sleep can help in proper digestion. Further, the person should undertake mild physical activities like walking and yoga.

Also read: Father's Day 2021: 5 Tips That Can Help Your Dad Stay Fit

2. Preventive diagnostic check-ups:

With ageing one becomes prone to lifestyle diseases, and hence they should go for regular diagnostic check-ups to ascertain their general health condition. Preliminary examinations can indicate the general health mark-ups of an individual. It is advisable to repeat these tests at regular intervals to rule out the chances of lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart and respiration related problems. These health packages consist of distinct sets of test for people of different age-group. The tests included in the sexagenarian category (60+ category) may not be there in the package for people in the age bracket of 50+. CBC, Urinalysis, TSH, Triglycerides, Cholesterol Total, HDL, LDL, VLDL, LDL/HDL Ratio, Cholesterol Total / HDL Ratio, Uric Acid, BUN, Creatinine, BUN/Creatinine Ratio, Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin, Calcium, Phosphorous, SGOT and SGPT are some of the tests that sexagenarians must undergo to avoid health complications.

Father's Day 2021: Give a promise of good health to your father this day
Photo Credit: iStock

3. Protection against prostate cancer:

There has been a rapid increase in prostate cancer cases in India. At 9-10 cases in every 10,000 people, it is lesser than the number of patients in the United States; however, it is much higher than the corresponding numbers in the other Asian and European countries. Elderlies/older males are susceptible to prostate cancer, and hence, they must undergo screening tests at regular intervals. While these screening tests are not conclusive enough to be called a diagnosis, they provide an insight into the health of the prostate gland. Some prostate screening tests are-

Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test: Both cancerous and healthy prostate glands produce PSA. However, a high level of PSA in the bloodstream is indicative of abnormality. Doctors opt for a biopsy to ascertain the cancerous nature of the cells. In some cases, an increase in PSA happens due to physiological conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia. PSA test is considered the best prostate cancer screening test.

Prostate Health Index: The prostate health Index test is a mathematical screening tool that considers all the forms of PSA- total, free and p2PSA. The test ascertains the probability of prostate cancer in a person.

Also read: Father's Day 2021: A Gift Guide For The Dad Who Is A Fitness Enthusiast

Ignoring health issues as a minor aberration is erroneous. Everyone must try to eat a nutrient-rich diet to stay healthy, and they must take the help of diagnostics tests to be informed about their health indices.

(Dr. Avinash Phadke, President - Technical & Mentor, SRL Diagnostics)

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