Ten Tests That Everyone Needs to Assure Themselves They are in Good Health

How healthy are You? One of the best ways to tell is to test yourself and there are several tests you can do. Ten of the best are described below. I'll talk about some of them in more detail in later articles

1. Pulse Rate: Your pulse rate tells you a lot about the health of your heart. Not only should you test your "resting" pulse rate, but you should also test yourself  during and after exercise. And one of the best tests is your "recovery rate." For this you walk on a treadmill for 10 to 12 minutes, or until you are about 80% of your maximum heart rate. Wait for one minute after you stop and take your heart rate. If it has decreased by about 20 beats per minute you are likely in good shape. The greater the decrease, in fact, the stronger your heart is. I'll have more to say about this later.
2. Blood Pressure:  I've already talked about blood pressure in some detail, so I won't say anything more about it here, except to emphasize its importance again. You should have readings in the range: Systolic: 100 -120 and diastolic in the range 70 -80. If they are higher make sure you do something about it,
3. Cholesterol and Triglycerides: Cholesterol has got a lot of attention over the last few years, but it's surprising  how many people are still confused about it. The two forms of cholesterol are HDL and LDL. You've likely heard that HDL is referred to as "good cholesterol" and LDL as "bad cholesterol." This is true, but it's important to remember that both forms play an important role in your body. Overall you want: Your total cholesterol to be less than 200, your LDL to be less than 100 and your HDL to be as high as possible, but preferably higher than 40. Triglycerides should be less than 150.
4. Body Fat: This is rather difficult to measure by yourself. Furthermore, the acceptable range depends on your age and it differs for men and women . For young men it should be in the range 8 - 20 and for older men it should be 12 - 25. For young women it should be 21 - 34, and for older women 24 - 35.
5. BMI: This is closely associated with body fat, and it is an abbreviation for Body Mass Index. It gives you a good indication of how much body fat you have, and it's helpful in assessing your risk for heart disease. Again age (but it's not as critical here as above) and gender are important. The guidelines are: for men a BMI of 20 - 25 is acceptable; if you have anything over this you are overweight or obese. For women 19 - 24 is acceptable and anything over is too high.
6. Waist to Hip Measurement: This one is closely associated with BMI and it's much easier to check. You can, in fact, easily do it yourself. Merely measure your waist at its narrowest point, then measure the widest part around your hips. Women should have a waist to hip ratio of less than .8. Men should have a number less than .95. Some people say this measurement is just as critical as cholesterol so it's a good thing to check.
7. Aerobic Capacity (VO2 max): This is a good measure of how you process your oxygen, and whether you use it efficiently. It's not too complicated to take: you merely have to walk a mile and note your heart rate at the end of the time. The formula is a little complicated so I won't give it here (I'll talk about it later).
8. Blood Sugar: This is a check to see whether you have diabetes. If you have it and know it, you're already checking your blood sugar several times a day. But surprisingly, many people with diabetes and pre-diabetes don't know they have it. And this is why you should get it checked periodically
9. Bone Density: The bone density test is critical for older women, and the reason is that they are prone to osteoporosis. That's not to say that men don't get it; some of them do. This test measures the amount of calcium and other minerals in your bones, and it's a test that has to be taken by a doctor. If your bone density is low, you should increase the amount of calcium you are taking.
10. CRP: This is the C-reactive protein test, and it is used to check for the presence of inflammation. We talked about inflammation in considerably detail earlier, and I pointed out that it is associated with many serious diseases, so it's something you should watch for.

      Barry Parker, Ph. D., author of " Feel Great, Feel Alive," and "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow." His webpage is Barryparkerbooks.com