Just a few years ago the gold standard for an annual checkup was an exhaustive battery of high-tech probing.
Now the pendulum has swung back toward a simpler approach, partly because physicians have found that excessive testing sometimes sets off false alarms, leading to expensive and risky follow-ups.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of medical experts that evaluates the costs, risks and benefits of various tests, has rejected many once common exams as unnecessary every year for healthy adults.
Nevertheless, get a checkup once a year or so.
Regular doctor visits
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