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By Enyeribe Ejiogu
The first days of 2026 are already rolling past. Pause for one moment and answer this question: is your body ready for the activities of this year? Is your health status tip top ready, to align with the goals you will begin to pursue as the year gathers speed?
If you cannot answer these questions confidently, it means that you have not been to your doctor for a full medical examination. You should therefore schedule an appointment with your doctor, who will send you to a suitable medical laboratory to conduct a series of tests.
Both men and women need regular health screenings like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and STI checks, but specific tests differ by age and risk, with women needing Pap smears/mammograms and men benefiting from prostate checks (post-50) and potentially testosterone level checks.
Some routine and major tests that people should have include blood work (lipids, glucose, CBC), vision, dental, and mental health assessments, with frequencies increasing for individuals who are 40 years and above, especially people with risk factors.
Common screenings
The most tests are blood pressure to ascertain the readings are within the healthy, normal and acceptable reading, which is 120/80. The next one is a fasting blood sugar test. The result will show whether the person is okay, pre-diabetic or diabetic.
Blood Sugar (Diabetes): Diabetes is a medical condition that results from the malfunction of the part of the endocrine system that produces insulin, a hormone which is vital and central to the ability of the body to metabolise sugar (primarily glucose) in the cells of the body. Essentially, insulin makes it possible for glucose to pass from the blood stream into the cells. In other words, insulin plays a major role in maintaining the blood sugar level at safe levels.
As often happens in life, certain factors can lead to deficiency of insulin or it may even be enough but cannot transport glucose into the cells. This creates a glut of glucose in the blood, leading to diabetes. If uncontrolled, diabetes leads to major complications that adversely affect the heart, kidney, eyes, nerves and muscles and ulcers that do not heal. For these reasons, everybody should regularly check their fasting blood sugar level (which is best done between 5.00 and 7.00 am) with the home-use versions of the blood sugar meters. It is measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or millimoles per liter (mmol/L). Normal fasting blood sugar ranges from 70 – 110 mg/dL (3.9-6.1mmol/L). If the reading is higher than this for a sustained period of five days of consecutive readings, please go to see your doctor without delay.
Blood Pressure:
Blood pressure reading gives an indication of whether a person has hypertension or hypotension. It is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and recorded as systolic pressure (top number) / diastolic pressure (bottom number). Normal blood pressure: around 120/80 mmHg.
Cholesterol (Lipid Panel):
With the wholesale change in dietary pattern of Africans, who are increasingly eating Western and Asian foods, including fatty and junk foods, oily or fatty foods, it has become common for people to talk about cholesterol levels, and want to avoid foods that increase their cholesterol levels. Therefore, the doctor should send you to a laboratory to check your blood cholesterol level. It is called lipid profile test or lipid panel.
STI Screening:
Like Aproko Doctor would advise, any man or woman who is sexually active outside marriage should do regular screening for sexually transmitted infections. A man can transmit to his wife just as the wife can “share” to her husband. That is why a woman or man that is faithful to the spouse should STI test, to be sure of the health state of his or her reproductive systems and take necessary steps if the laboratory test shows an undesirable result.
Vision:
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Various diseases and medical conditions can affect vision, possibly leading to reversible blindness (cataracts) or irreversible blindness (glaucoma). Go to see an optometrist. After checking your eyes, the optometrist may refer you to an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor and specialist in the treatment of diseases or conditions of the eyes.
Dental Exams:
The Medical Director of Divine Dental Home, Dr. Joshua Olukayode Adeyanju, is a dental surgeon who has been practicing for over 30 years both in Nigeria and the United States of America. For the same number of years, he has been advocating through the newspapers and radio programmes for families to maintain good oral healthcare, warning that poor oral healthcare could lead to heart disease and other health complications.
When he talks about oral health, he does so with the same passion with which he preaches the gospel of salvation, given that he is pastor and General Overseer of Grace Assembly Christian Church (GACC), with branches in Lagos, Nigeria.
“Everyone needs to get a good oral examination. The state of the mouth can give early indication of disease conditions in some other parts of the body, such as the heart, throat and lungs. The reason is that harmful bacteria can reach these vital organs through the blood vessels of the mouth.”
Women specific tests
Dear Beautiful woman, when was the last time you did PAP test? This is a test that should be done every three years, starting at age 21.
A woman above 40 should have an annual mammogram. Women that have reached menopause should also do bone density test, called a DEXA Scan, to check for osteoporosis. Similarly, women should do thyroid function test.
Men specific tests
From age 40, every man should do Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). Please visit your doctor and he would send you to a suitable medical laboratory. A man should also do a test to check for testosterone levels, especially if experiencing low libido and fatigue.
Look out for early indications of testicular cancer by conducting monthly self-examinations or have your doctor do it and also teach you how to do it.
Beyond these tests, there are those that are age-based or risk-based. For instance, a man who is a smoker and aged 50 years and above should have a low-dose CT lung cancer screening. The danger of failing to do it cannot be over-emphasised.
Then there is the Hepatitis C test which every one from age 18 to 79 should do. Hepatitis C is a viral disease that is as bad as HIV. Incidentally, every person should rule out HIV infection by doing a HIV test. If you are a man or woman who has been faithful to the spouse, please know that there are other ways to get infected with HIV apart from sexual intercourse. The other means include: transfusion with HIV contaminated blood, tattooing and piercing, occupational exposure where a healthcare worker can get pricked with an infected needle or exposed to infected bodily fluids. Another way is tattooing or piercing, using unsterilized equipment contaminated with infected blood
There are other important, preventive medical tests that need to be done. Please go and see your doctor to get properly guided.
Have a happy, healthy 2026.
