Preventative Care
By Raine B
What is preventative care?
Preventative care is used to let people know if they have a reproductive disease, and how they could prevent the disease from causing damage to the body.
Mammograms
Mammograms are a test needed for women to determine if they have breast cancer, or other types of breast-related diseases after they have experienced symptoms of a disease or cancer. Young women and older women should get these tests done regularly to ensure their breast are in good health.
Pap smears
once a young woman turns twenty one, she should have pap smears every three years to monitor the health of her cervix. During a pap smear, a doctor collects a sample of mucus from the cervix and checks it to make sure there are no abnormal, or strange cells that could show signs of a disease or a possible cancer.
Testicular Exams
Testicular exams can be done without a doctor, but can lead to needing to visit one. Testicular exams are performed by men every month to make sure that their testicles are in good health or free of testicular cancer,which is most common in men ages fifteen through thirty five. During a self-exam a man checks his testicles for lumps that are around the size of a pea, pains, or discoloration of the testicles. These signs might not lead to cancer, but a doctor visit is strictly recommended.
Prostate exams
Prostate screenings or exams are used to determine wether a man has prostate cancer or, a similar disease, for men mainly between the ages of forty and seventy. During an exam a doctor checks on the prostate glands, making sure they have nothing abnormal going on with them.