Pocket Guide to Staying Healthy at 50+

Describes ways to stay healthy at 50 years and older, providing information on living habits, screening tests, and immunizations. Developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Introduction—What’s in This Guide . . . . . . . 1

1.Your Doctors and Nurses—What To Ask Them and What To Tell Them 5
Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Follow Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2. Staying Healthy—How To Take Charge of Your Health  9
Choosing a Healthy Lifestyle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

• Reducing Your Risk for Heart Disease . . . 11
• Watching Your Weight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
• Eating Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
• Keeping Active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
• Preventing Skin Cancer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Preventing Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
• Taking Medicines Correctly . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Making Smart Choices About Sexual and Reproductive Health 19

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases . . . . . . . . . . 20
• Planning a Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
• Menopause and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Overcoming Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Getting Help for Smoking and Alcohol or Drug Abuse 27

• Smoking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
• Alcohol or Drug Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3. Checkups,Tests, and Shots—Which Ones You Need and When To Get Them  31
Dental, Hearing, and Vision Care . . . . . . . . . . . 32

• Teeth and Gums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
• Hearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
• Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Tests To Find Diseases or Conditions Early. . . 35

• High Blood Pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
• High Cholesterol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
• Diabetes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
• Osteoporosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
• Tuberculosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Tests and Exams To Find Cancers . . . . . . . . . . 43

• Colorectal Cancer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
• Breast Cancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
• Cervical Cancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
• Prostate Cancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
• Oral Cancer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Shots To Prevent Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

• Tetanus-diphtheria Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
• Flu Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
• Pneumonia Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
• Hepatitis B Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

4. More Resources for Good Health—Where To Get More Information 51

5. Prevention Charts—How To Keep Track of Your Health Care 57
Basic Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Checkups and Tests Record . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Cancer Tests Tracker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Shots Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Medicine Minder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

This is an informative guide for seniors and their caregivers. Physicians may want to keep copies of this in their offices for patient use as well.