Preventive Healthcare London: Why is Preventive Healthcare So Important?

Posted in by Ms Lucy Holl

It is inevitable that everyone wants to live a long and healthy life with their families, undisturbed by disease or illness. Of course, for the most of us, we do not recognise that something could be wrong until we start experiencing symptoms at which point, it could already be too late. Thanks to highly advanced scanning technology in X-ray, MRI, CT and Ultrasound, Preventive Health Assessments are able to be carried out to detect and discover disease and cancer at the earliest stage, before it has a chance to manifest and worsen.

If we think of a full body Preventive Health Assessment in the same way we think of a vehicle MOT, it becomes very clear how such assessments can be tremendously vital to our health. As soon as your car starts to make a strange noise, you take It to get checked out before the problem worsens. Furthermore, it is a legal requirement to get your routine vehicle MOT, to check for any underlying problems which would make your car unsafe, even if it is showing no signs of damage.

Unlike parts for a car, our health is invaluable, so why would we be more vigilant about our cars than our bodies? Disease is preventable if caught at an early stage; Echelon Health can screen for 92% of diseases which contribute towards premature death.

Why is the early discovery of disease important?

  • Bowel cancer: More than 9 in 10 bowel cancer patients will survive the disease for more than 5 years if diagnosed at the earliest stage.
  • Breast cancer: More than 90% of women diagnosed with breast cancer survive their disease for at least 5 years if caught at the earliest stage compared to around 15% for women diagnosed with the most advanced stage of disease.
  • Ovarian cancer: 90% of women diagnosed with the earliest stage ovarian cancer survive the disease for at least 5 years, compared to around 5% for women diagnosed with the most advanced stage of ovarian cancer.
  • Lung cancer: More than 80% of lung cancer patients will survive for at least a year if diagnosed at the earliest stage, compared to around 15% for people diagnosed with the most advanced stage of disease.

Which parts of the body can an Echelon Health Preventive Health Assessment assess?

Cancers

  • Adrenal Glands
  • Bladder
  • Brain
  • Breast (Women)
  • Colon and Rectum
  • Kidney
  • Liver and bile ducts
  • Lung
  • Melanoma
  • Mesothelioma
  • Nasal Cavity and Middle Ear
  • Ovaries
  • Pancreas
  • Prostate (Men)
  • Renal
  • Sinuses
  • Testes
  • Thyroid
  • Uterus (Women)

Diseases of the Circulatory System

  • Coronary Heart Disease
  • Cerebrovascular Disease (Stroke Risk)
  • Cerebral Haemorrhage
  • Aortic aneurysm and dissection

 Diseases of the Digestive System

  • Liver Disease
  • Gallbladder, Biliary Tract and Pancreatic disease
  • Diverticular disease

 All of our clients also undergo a comprehensive blood test programme covering all organs within the body. These complement all the scanning tests we carry out, measuring over 40 parameters including:

  • [Women] CA 19.9 (Tumour marker for breast cancer)
  • [Women] CA 125 (Tumour marker for ovarian cancer)
  • CEA (a more general tumour marker)
  • Fasting glucose and Glycosylated Haemoglobin tests (to determine diabetes risk)
  • Full blood count (anaemia)
  • Iron Levels, potentially an indicator for bowel cancer
  • Kidney, liver and bone function
  • Leukaemia
  • Lymphoma
  • [Men] PSA to help detect prostate cancer
  • Renal function and balance of salts including sodium and potassium levels
  • Thyroid gland function
  • Total, LDL and HDL Cholesterol
  • Vitamin D (beneficial impacts on muscle strength, cognitive function and combating bone disease and heart disease

 In addition to our other Health Assessments, Echelon Health have created two brand new Health Assessments: Pre Covid-19 and Post Covid-19.

Our Pre Covid-19 Preventive Health Assessment is designed to determine whether there are any underlying health conditions that may affect your risk from catching the virus in the first place or developing the complications from it. It has the significant added benefit that it may also identify other underlying health conditions which although not directly linked to Covid-19, should be addressed.

The Post Covid-19 Health Assessment is for people who have had Covid-19 yet still have symptoms and are keen to know whether these are due to complications of Covid-19 or due to other disease. We can then discuss your post Covid-19 management strategy with you or refer you to an appropriate specialist if necessary.

Preventive Health Assessments are important, even if you are symptom-free. Unfortunately, by the time one starts to experience symptoms, it is likely that the disease or cancer may have already manifested or spread. At Echelon Health, our leading scanning technology can detect ailments as small as 0.3mm for your full peace of mind- our early discovery of cancer or disease in your body could save your life.

Please click here to view our detailed Body Map, which shows which scan is performed to detect which disease and click here for our Health Assessment Packages and Prices.

 

Sources

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-symptoms/why-is-early-diagnosis-important

Echelon Health: What we can detect