Health screening can detect several diseases or medical conditions. Some diseases have no symptoms but regular health screening can find those medical conditions and allow timely treatment. You have better chances of avoiding complications due to unwanted delays that can lead to death in extreme cases.
These health screening tests should be accurate without being invasive. They mostly take blood, stool, and urine samples along with ultrasound and x-rays for screening. Our ultimate guide will help you choose packages of health screening in Singapore. Moreover, you may consult your doctor to select a suitable screening package: a basic screening or a comprehensive screening package.
There are several types of diseases, and it isn't easy to decide on a suitable health screening package. Most packages include screening for critical health issues and quickly detectable conditions.
Basic Health Screening Package
A Basic health screening package includes blood, stool, urine tests, and physical measurements like height, weight, BMI, and eyesight.
A blood test can detect sugar, cholesterol, and blood count levels besides checking for the proper functioning of the liver and kidneys. They can quickly indicate anaemia, abnormal clotting, abnormal immune cells, and diabetes.
The urine test can detect sugar, protein, infections, or blood in the urine, indicating diseases like diabetes, kidney failure, tumours, stones, etc. Similarly, X-Rays can detect lung abnormalities, and ECG can provide clues for heart disease.
It takes only half an hour to two hours to complete the necessary tests. People in their twenties without any past medical history or family history of genetic diseases can opt for a Basic Health Screening Package. The frequency of such tests can range from annual to once in three years.
Comprehensive Health Screening Package
More comprehensive health screening packages involve all the necessary tests mentioned above and also cover the screening of a broader range of potential diseases or medical conditions. They may include blood test screening for thyroid levels, cancer markers, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Hepatitis A/B, and AB blood group.
Similarly, stool tests can do additional screening for the presence of microscopic blood, suggesting colon cancer or piles (haemorrhoids). These packages often also include a pap smear test for women in the 25-65 age group to detect cervical cancer, once in three years, unless otherwise suggested.
Doctors recommend a bone mineral density (BMD) test to detect osteoporosis in women above 65 years or people in a high-risk category. This disease involves a condition with weaker bones leading to a high risk of fractures.
More comprehensive packages may also include an ultrasound or mammogram to find the possibility of breast cancer in women above 40 years. For women in the 40-49 years age group, the test requirement is annual, and for women above 50 years, it is once in two years.
Additional radiological tests may involve an ultrasound of the abdomen, pelvis, and thyroid to detect conditions of the liver, gall bladder and kidneys, womb, ovaries, and thyroid gland.
Different health screening centres offer several other tests also. It takes about one hour to a full day for a comprehensive health screening depends on the number of tests.