More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday.
Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed.
People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not have noticeable symptoms at first, so getting regular health checkups is important for early detection and treatment, the HPA said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
The main purpose of the Adult Preventive Health Examination Service is for people without symptoms to learn about preventive healthcare and self-health management through regular checkups, understand the results of their checkups, follow up on abnormalities and improve problem areas, it said.
People should not ignore the “red letters” on health exam reports, which indicate abnormal values, it said, adding that they should see a doctor for a follow-up examination, and follow their doctor’s dietary and lifestyle change suggestions or prescriptions for improving their health.
The free adult preventive health exams are offered once every three years for people aged 40 to 64 and once per year for people aged 65 or older (or indigenous people aged 55 or older, or people with poliomyelitis aged 35 or older), HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said.
Nearly 7,000 contracted healthcare facilities offer the service, and eligible recipients can find them on the HPA’s Web site (https://info.nhi.gov.tw/INAE1000/INAE1000S01), the administration said.
Taipei City Hospital’s Daan Clinic director Song Chi-chun (宋季純) yesterday said that as many people work long hours under relatively high stress, eat many refined and unhealthy foods, sit for long hours and do not exercise regularly, they might not be aware they have one of “three highs” until they undergo a health exam.
People with metabolic syndrome — having three of five conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, impaired fasting glucose and low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol — are six times more likely to develop diabetes and twice as likely to develop heart disease than those without the condition, she said.
The Taipei Daan District Health Center said that among the 44 healthcare facilities in the district offering the Adult Preventive Health Examination Service, 21 are part of the HPA and the National Health Insurance Administration’s metabolic syndrome prevention program, which not only helps detect the condition, but can also assist people in customizing health management plans.
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