Your elderly loved one may not enjoy being poked and prodded at her doctor’s office, but these health screenings are important to make sure that there aren’t any significant issues.
Vision and Hearing Testing
It’s important to have your loved one’s hearing and vision tested regularly. Not only does this type of screening make sure that your loved one is able to see and hear properly, it can also help to spot potential illnesses, such as glaucoma. Depending on your loved one’s eye and ear health, she may need more frequent testing than the average person does. Remember that if your loved one’s eyes need to be dilated, she’ll need someone else, such as yourself or a senior care provider, to help her get there and back.
Blood Sugar Tests
Your loved one may be at risk for diabetes, depending on what other health conditions she’s managing. One of the best ways to see where your loved one is on that score is through blood sugar testing. This involves a fasting glucose test done in her doctor’s office. Your loved one may experience slightly higher blood sugar levels than she has in the past and the fasting glucose test can determine if it’s at dangerous levels or not.
Blood Pressure Tests
Keeping an eye on your loved one’s blood pressure can help you to spot other problems, such as heart disease. Your loved one’s doctor may want to do blood pressure testing more often than he does other types of tests, especially if your loved one has had slightly higher blood pressure readings in the past.
Bone Density Testing
Testing bone density helps your loved one’s doctor to spot osteoporosis in your loved one. It can also help to determine if your loved one’s bones are weaker than they should be. These conditions are treatable, but it’s important to know about them sooner rather than later for the best treatment results possible.
Colon Cancer Screenings
Colon cancer screenings are typically something that your loved one does from home. They usually involve placing a stool sample on a card that gets mailed to a laboratory. More involved colon testing, such as a colonoscopy, involves your loved one’s doctor using a camera to see inside her colon.
It’s not unusual for your loved one to be nervous about some of these types of tests, so it’s normal if she doesn’t want to go. Remind her about the benefits of knowing what’s going on with her health so that you can face situations head on.
For more information about how the caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in Pacific Beach, CA, and the surrounding communities.
Today we are the oldest and most experienced private duty agency in San Diego County.She saw a need for quality private duty home health care and she worked diligently to build an agency that filled that need.I am proud to say, her vision is carried on today with our dedicated staff.
I believe our tenure in the community speaks well for us.We have had the opportunity to be of service to countless interesting individuals, including local and worldwide celebrities.It is the people we care for that makes this a fascinating industry.Whether high profile or a more ordinary citizen, we are proud that thousands have entrusted us with their care or the care of their loved ones.Our Mission is to provide high quality, very secure and the most compassionate home health care.We believe that patients heal faster and are happiest when they can stay in their homes.”
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