At the United States over the years it has been studied the increase in prevalence of chronic diseases and even though there were improvements and new alternatives related to implementation mass screening tests to prevent these diseases, many people have concern about what they need to know regarding these tests and effectively whether they are strictly necessary to justify the duty to pass through this process of examination.1
Screening tests are clinic and laboratory tests that help to recognize or identify people who have an increased risk to develop a chronic disease or condition before the patient begins to show signs or symptoms, and the more important reason to do these sorts of tests is to prevent whatever condition that can compromise the life of patients or to trigger any disability situation at the end.
These tests are very sensitive and specific for determined diseases and usually are performed on regular or routine basis, and others in a way more elaborated. For instance a cholesterol test or a pap smear could be cataloged as a routine test, but a newborn screening test could be more elaborated and of major complexity itself.
Patients have the concern due to their own familiar disease history and how these antecedents could be affecting them in the future. But the truth is there is a high percentage of success preventing the disease development just by making the right decision of performing a screening test, taking early care measures and monitoring carefully case by case in particular. Screening tests are broadly used to detect those early stages of chronic diseases as cancer of colon, cervix, and breast, where the positive prognostic is high and more therapeutic alternatives could be provided to improve or disappear the condition, at least for a while.2
It is completely understandable that people who have these increased risks to develop so feared diseases feel concerns or even fright about the results, but it is indispensable take control of ourselves and do it, because doing so we are preventing or at least detecting diseases that could end with us, or with some our loved ones.3
Recently results have reported that improvements in the process to the realization of screening tests have reduced terminal cancer cases because the early detection of disease on the patients has allowed a successful chemotherapy and radiotherapy preventing the development and advance of disease eliminating primary tumors with more effectivity.1,2
Many are the cases known as cancer survivors, they are people who one day decided to do these screening tests preventing conditions in the future and ensuring a better life for them and their families.4 The U.S preventive services task force is an organization that compiles much scientific research that has proved be effective on determined health conditions basing their recommendations in the evidence.2 They recommend initiates low-dose aspirin use for those persons who are at risk for cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer and not have a significant risk for bleeding.2
Moreover, they recommend doing a pap smear every three years for every women age 21-65 years with cytology for women aged 30-65 years looking papillomavirus (HPV) every five years.2 To prevent or detect colorectal cancer they recommend doing a screening to patients from 50 until 75 years.2 They recognize the importance to carry out these tests on the population to improve their quality of life and the quality of years life.2
The positive screenings will require other tests to confirm findings obviously in this level are excluded all those who have negative screening tests. Clearly, many cases will need to be included in supportive groups to cope with side effects of cancer treatments and even be included in rehabilitative services to face fear and possible recurrence, but the fact is, many of them will have earned hard battles to be alive and will be willing to cheer others at the same condition.
Some researchers recommend that one strategy to help the patients after positive screening tests is empowerment, once they have acquired a better health condition they can be effective to influence the behavior of others, their perspective of the life is totally different and are aware of taking care about their own health condition which will be impacting in a positive way to others.4
People who have been experienced in high risks as a possibility of developing a chronic disease are available to do whatever they have to do for maintain a good condition and to live a healthy living.4
In short, there are many reasons to carry out screening tests, even if you are not at a risk to develop chronic diseases, or have not any familiar antecedent of disease is indispensable that you do it, because there is so much to gain and very little to lose, one decision could be the difference between a healthy life and a chronic condition even disability or death.
References
1. Healthy People 2020. Cancer. Understanding Cancer. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/cancer. Published 2017. Accessed January 29, 2017.
2. U.S. Preventive Services. Task Force. Colorectal Cancer Screenings. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/colorectal-cancer-screening2?ds=1&s=cancer. Published 2016. Accessed January 29, 2017.
3. Mc Nellis RJ, Ory MG, Lin JS, et al. Standards of Evidence for Behavioral Counseling Recommendations. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2015; 49(3):S150–S157
4. McLeroy KR, Norton BL, Kegler MC, et al. Community-Based Interventions. American Journal of Public Health. 2003; 93(4):529-533. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.93.4.529
