By E.Z. Duzzit

The population of the United States and that of Europe are both somewhat over 300 million people. Quick now, which of the two have a longer life expectancy? Europe or America?

If you picked Europe, you’d be right. One of the reasons for that fact is that the European health care systems pay for greater attention to preventative medicine than we do. Without pointing fingers at anyone other than ourselves, the fact is that we Americans tend to pay more attention to the health of our nest eggs than we do to our own health.
My best friend is a 77-year-old macho man who refuses to undergo a colonoscopy. Having undergone a couple myself, I guarantee that it is not a big deal, and if you pass the test you have ten years until you’re due for another because it takes that long for a polyp to develop into a cancer. However, if the examination DOES discover a polyp, it gets treated right there and then avoiding a much more serious procedure later on. A snip in time can prevent horrendous consequences later on.

Enough cannot be said for an annual physical examination at our age. A simple blood test can alert you to a number of things that could be nipped in the bud. As in life, many problems start off as little ones which, if not addressed, grow into gigantic ones. Insist on seeing the test results as they are published by the lab because they also include the parameters in which they fall. Don’t act like you cat or dog acts when you take the pet to the vet and they can’t wait to get out of the place. Make sure that you understand the results and act upon them. The life you save may be your own.