Medford mail tribune., November 29, 1959, Image 43

A DOCTOR'S
CHECKUP CAN
SAVE
YOUR
LDF
by HARRY JOHNSON, M.D.
President, Life Extension Foundation
Periodic health examinations are shunned
by most Americans; yet they're the best
way to stop trouble before it starts
(This is the last of a special series of articles ex
cerpted from the new book, "The Life Extension
Foundation Guide to Better Health," by Dr. Harry
Johnson. Copyright 1959 by Life Extension
Foundation, Inc. Published by PrenticeHall, Inc.,
Englewood Cliffs, N. J.)
It's Sunday morning and the place is the parking
spot in front of Mr. Joe Goodguy's home. Joe is
out there in his polo shirt, slacks, and sneakers,
carefully washing down his car. Then he carefully
dries it Then he rubs on a little wax here and there;
just a few spots.
Good thing I caught those spots early, Joe says to
himself. Might have ended up with some ugly rust.
Oh well, he says, putting the rags and polish and
hose back in the garage, next time I'll be sure not
to leave the car out again in bad weather. I've got a
garage I'll use it. This ol' buggy's got to last
another couple of years.
Feeling satisfied with a job well done, Joe goes
back into the house and tells his wife and kids that
it pays to be on the ball. Good thing I wash the car
regularly, Joe tells the family. I found some bad
spots, but don't worry, it's all fixed up now. Mrs.
Goodguy nods, the children beam, and Joe's proud
of himself.
Without realizing it, Joe Goodguy, of whom there
are millions equally proud and alert, has just prac
ticed preventive medicine on his auto.
But how about himself? His wife? Are they not
precious to each other, to the children? Is not health
a possession worthy of care and pride? Can't you be
just as happy, if not more so, reporting to the family
that the doctor has just given you a clean bill of
health? Wouldn't you feel just as pleased to know,
perhaps, that the doctor spotted a few potential rust
spots and, now that you know about them, you will
be sure to keep the ol' body machine in the medical
"garage," where it belongs, under a doctor's care?
I think a serious mental block with many of us is
the unfortunate reference to the periodic health ex
amination as a physical examination. You may have .
noticed I call it "health examination." My choice of
words is quite deliberate.
Perhaps the greatest single benefit of the health
examination is the face-to-face consultation with
the doctor. This is a counseling period that follows
the physical procedure. It's your greatest oppor
tunity to unburden yourself, to discuss every prob
lem and every fear that may be on your mind. Time
after time, many people, especially those in the so
called "stress" occupations, are. able to function
better because they feel much better after having
had some reassurance from their doctor.
To have your normal sense of well-being restored,
even if nothing organically wrong has been un
covered at your health examination, is no trifling
matter. After all, don't you agree that a sense of
well-being should be the principal objective of
intelligent health maintenance?
Let me tell you about a 45-year-old woman, a
department-store buyer, who consistently evaded
the opportunity of taking cost-free health examina
tions provided annually by her employer. Every
time she was asked why she never took advantage
of them, she stammered and stuttered and made it
obvious that she was hiding something. Her em
ployer decided to do something about it
His interest was more than curiosity. He planned
to promote the buyer into a position of great respon
sibility, and he wanted to be sure his confidence and
money would be invested in a healthy woman.
The employer was brutally frank with the buyer.
He told her that he looked upon her promotion as
an investment for the company and that he wanted
to be sure the investment would pay handsome
dividends for many years. Finally, the woman
showed up for her examination. Physically, she was
in excellent health. But emotionally, she wasn't
She had never taken a health examination because
she had an almost neurotic fear of cancer. A num
ber of immediate relatives had died of cancer within
a fairly short time, and she had developed tremend
ous anxieties over a similar fate for herself.
But after a long talk with the doctor, she left his
office a new woman. The employer called the doctor
a few days later and wanted to know what sort of
"black magic" he had used "to give this woman the .
looks and bounce of a kid just let out of school."
A simple routine in your doctor's office may take
not more than 20 to 30 minutes. It may include an
examination of your eyes, ears, nose, throat, lungs,
heart, abdomen, and reflexes, a hemoglobin test,
and a urinalysis. He may also ask that you take a
chest X ray. In the absence of specific symptoms,
this sort of examination may be adequate for many
persons.
On the other hand, there are those who need to
check into clinics for several days and go through
a great variety of complex tests, for which the total
bill may come to several hundred dollars. Even this
may not be the "complete" or "ideal" physical.
We in the medical profession have to be practical
as well as theoretical. We have to be reasonable.
,We have to set up certain procedures and tech
niques to do the most good for the greatest number
in a manner that gives us some reasonable yard
sticks or indicators of your health.
When it is possible and feasible to take more time
to carry out additional physical tests, we will do it
That is why there is a growing number of medical
clinics and group-practice headquarters set up to
do virtually nothing but periodic health examina
tions that may take several hours or an entire day.
,-Of course, if the examination should disclose
(Continued on page 16)
H
family Weekly. November if. IKS