Two Tests For Comfortable Aging

It’s no secret to anyone that the United States’ healthcare system is broken: we pay through the nose for insurance which then turns around and denies coverage, we put our trust in doctors who are experts in disease management but know nothing about actual health, and we’re subjected to an overwhelming amount of (often contradictory) information on health/wellness/fitness…it’s no wonder the average life expectancy of Americans is declining ( Why life expectancy in the US is falling - Harvard Health) and so many are giving up.

As is often the case with large projects, the best way to tackle taking back control of your health is to figure out where you are currently. The absolute best way to do that is with tests…good tests. Tests that are comprehensive and will give you a baseline for where you’re currently at and then, from there, you can create a plan that will get you where you want to be.

So what are they?

#1: DEXA Scan

DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) is an imaging system used to take body images and measurements. It can be done fully clothed and takes only about 10 minutes. What’s valuable about it? It gives us a lot of information but the two numbers you should be REALLY interested in are your lean muscle mass and your T-score.

Lean Muscle Mass- This is important because, starting at the age of 30, we start losing our muscle mass at the rate of 5-10% per decade. For those of us with female anatomy and physiology, we are on the higher end of that spectrum. An annual review of how our muscle is doing, will help us get ahead of the ball before it has rolled too far downhill. With proper diet and nutrition, you absolutely can preserve your muscle mass AND STRENGTH! as you age!

T-Score: This is important because, starting at age 30, we start losing bone mineral density at the rate of 10-30% per decade. For those of us with a female anatomy and physiology, we are on the higher end of the spectrum. The T-Score is a bone mineral density score that compares your bone mineral density to that of a healthy person between the ages of 20 and 30. You want a score of 0 or more. If your score is below a 0 you are already losing bone density and it’s time to fight back.

In order to find a DEXA near you, I honestly would just Google it (something like “DEXA near Witchita, KS).

#2 Comprehensive Blood Panel

As a proud staff member of a functional medicine clinic, I have been amazed at how little the traditional medical community does in way of blood testing. Day in and day out, we have people come to us knowing something is wrong with their body but who have been told, repeatedly, by their doctors that nothing is wrong all their tests are “normal”. THEY DON’T RUN COMPREHENSIVE TESTS so how would they even know? If they don’t test for it, how can they say it’s normal?

Example: Thyroid

A traditional doctor will only test for TSH but, first off, that’s not even a thyroid hormone (it’s a brain hormone) and second off, there are at least 8 other Thyroid markers not to mention the other hormones (like estrogen) that can affect how well those thyroid hormones are used by the body.

Comprehensive blood panels have more than 29 different tests and, while there are many “mail in companies” I strongly encourage you to find a functional medicine doctor who knows which tests to order, can interpret them for you, and give you useful actionables for going forward with the information you get. My preferred provider is, of course, the office I work in which you can find at Functional Medicine | Fargo ND | Autoimmune Disease. We are a virtual office and help people from all over the nation.

So one of the big questions I get about all of these tests is, ”Will insurance cover them.?” Usually not. Insurance has nothing to gain from a healthy population. They will only test for things they can prescribe pills or procedures for.

Example: Osteoporosis

We know, without a doubt, that women begin losing their bone mineral density around age 30. An easy way to stay on top of that loss is through an annual DEXA scan. HOWEVER, insurance will not pay for a DEXA until we are 65. They do not even begin looking for the problem until they know it’s already there.

If we know it’s happening we can stop it. Let that sink in. If we could just stay ahead of the ball, we could prevent osteoporosis in women. We would see the declining bone mineral density and then we could PRESCRIBE a nutritious diet and weight training with a personal trainer. Think of the lives we could improve and save just with that one little test alone. It’s crazy, isn’t it?

The point of this article is to give you the power to start protecting your own health. No one is coming to save you. We have given society that chance and they have failed…again……….and again……..and again. You must stop waiting for someone to care more about our health than you do.

If you want to live a long, healthy life full of adventure and color, and love (whatever character that may take on for you), you HAVE to grab the bull by the horns. The time for being passive about your health is over.