Health Screening in Singapore

Just received an invitation from Health Promotion Board to go for health screening. And the cost of screening at CDMP clinic is only $8 for fasting blood tests for Diabetes and High Cholesterol. To know more about the purposes of the health screening, I have searched the internet and summarised my findings.

Our chance of getting such chronic diseases as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure or High Cholesterol increases when we age, more so when we are over 40 years old. Early detection through health screening and good healthcare management can prevent and delay these diseases.

health screening

Health screening in Singapore - Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a reliable indicator of your weight relative to your height. The score is valid for both men and women.

The risk of having heart disease increases with a waist measurement of over 40 inches in men and over 35 inches in women. People who are overweight or obese have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol or other lipid disorders.

BMI equals a person's weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. (BMI=kg/M2)

BMI score	Classification
<18.5	Underweight
18.5 - 24.9	Normal
25.0 -29.9	Overweight
>30	Obesity

It is recommended that BMI measurement should be carried out once a year. Reducing your weight is the only way to improve your BMI.

Health screening in Singapore - High Blood Pressure

High Blood Pressure increases your risk of getting heart disease/ kidney disease or stoke. Anyone can develop high blood pressure because it has no warning signs or symptoms. You can prevent and control high blood pressure by going for health screening once a year.

Normal Blood Pressure is less than 120 mmHg systolic (as the heart beats) and less than 80 mmHg diastolic (as the heart relaxes between two beats). Below is a table to show the categories of the blood pressure.

Category	Systolic		Diastolic
Normal	<120	and	<80
Prehypertension	120-139	or	80-89
Stage 1 Hypertension	140-159	or	90-99
Stage 2 Hypertension	>159	or	>100

health screening

Health screening in Singapore- High Cholesterol

Type of cholesterol

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (bad cholesterol) - is the mian cause of harmful fatty buildup in arteries. the higher the LDL level in the blodd, the greater the heart disease risk.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) (good cholesterol) helps prevent a cholesterol build up in the blood vessels. a low HDL level will increase heart disease risk.

There is also another type of fat in the blood known as Triglycerides. Excessive amount of Triglycerides increases heart attack risk.

Test	Healthy level
Total cholesterol	under 200 mg/dL
LDL (bad) cholesterol	under 100 mg/dL
HDL(good) cholesterol	over 40 mg/dL
Triglycerides	under 150 mg/dL

Go for a fasting blood test once in a year and live a healthy lifestyle can help bring down your cholesterol level.

Healthy lifestyle includes:

Lose weight
Watch your diet- limit intakes of all types of fats.
Eat more fibre
Take less alcohol
Don't smoke
Exercise

Health screening in Singapore- Diabetes

Diabetes is a long-term illness characterised by a high sugar (glucose) level in the blood. Someone with a diabetes is either producing too little insulin or is unable to respond well to the insulin produced. Not managed well, diabetes can deteriorate steadily to cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, heart disease and limb amputation.

Fasting blood test is the type of health screenig you should do once in every 3 years.

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