Thursday Thirteen #134

THIRTEEN COMMON MEDICAL PROCEDURES

I have spent a lot of time in doctors' offices lately, being picked and poked and prodded. It got me to thinking ... Does this happen often? What kind of tests get run frequently?

Well, here they are: 13 frequently run tests. Shown here in alphabetical order, not in order of popularity. I mean, popularity with doctors and insurance company. I doubt that any are popular with patients!

1) Blood pressure -- for hypertension
2) Bone mineral density test -- for osteoporosis
3) Clinical breast exam -- to screen for breast cancer
4) Cholesterol -- to test for hypercholesterolemia, for high cholesterol
5) Digital rectal exam -- colorectal cancer screening
6) Eye exam -- for glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy
7) Fasting plasma glucose -- for diabetes
8) Fecal occult blood -- colorectal cancer screening
9) FSH -- screens for ovarian failure, which leads to menopause
10) HIV -- for HIV/AIDS
11) Mammogram -- for breast cancer
12) Pap Test -- for cervical cancer
13) Sigmoidoscophy -- colorectal cancer screening

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