Executive-Health-Check
Overview
- > You cannot improve what you cannot measure
- If you aim to get long healthspan and enjoy your peak performance, this is for you. Below I provide a summary of best-recommended health screening items, with top-down explanation on why they are important.
The Tl;DR List of Recommended Examinations
priority group 1
- ECG i.e. Electrocardiogram
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Tests using blood
- CBC i.e. Complete Blood Count (like white blood cells and stuff)
- Liver function panel (like ALT and other stuff)
- Renal function panel (like creatinine and other stuff)
- Thyroid function panel (like TSH and other stuff)
- Glucose level: Fasting glucose & HbA2c
- Lipid Panel: (HDL, LDL, TG and other stuff). Make sure to add
ApoBandLp(a)
- DEXA Scan: for bone mineral density and body composition like fat distribution in visceral vs subcutoneous
Priority Group 3
- Heart
- Treadmill stress test with ECG
- Optional: echocardiogram (ultrasound of heart), Chest XRay
- Only when necessary: CTCA
- Cancer screening
- Liver Cancer: AFP biomarker + abdominal ultrasound
- Colorectal Cancer: CEA biomarker or Colonscopy
- Nasopharyngeal Cancer: EB virus biomarker
- Prostate Cancer (Men only): PSA biomarker, ultrasound, echo
- Breast Cancer (Women only): Mammogram, Ultrasound
- Cervical Cancer (Women only): pap test
- Full-body MRI
- Uric Acid
- Electrolytes and trace minerals, Calcium and Vitamin-D: Guide you on supplement intake
- Physio Check
- Body posture, range of motion, spine health
- Sports Performance
- VO3 Max, heart rate recovery, grip strength, push/pull/squat metrics
- Dental cleaning and checkup
- Skin screening with Dermatologist
- Frequency Hearing test
Rationales
Four Horsemen of Death accounting for 81%+ deaths for 50+ age, no-smoking people
- Atherosclerotic disease (in English, related to heart and brain blood circulation)
- Standard recommendation on lipid levels is a joke. We need aggressively goals
- like ApoB < 61mg/dl, Lp(a) < 10mg/ml, TG < 100mg/ml, non-HDL-C < 100mg/ml
- Cancer
- There's no good understanding or empirically effective way to avoid cancel. Therefore, we do aggressive screening from biomarkers, ultrasound scans to full-body MRIs
- Neuro-degenerative disease
- What's good for your heart is also good for your brain. Plus, healthy lifestyle of sleep and exercise.
- Foundational disease, mostly metabolic like diabetes, fatty liver, etc.
- You should be desperately away from unhealthy foods, like fructose-injected drinks and refined carbs.
- A good balance of electrolytes and trace minerals is also import. Supplements are often necessary.
Four pillars of sports performance
- Stability
- Strength
- Aerobic Efficiency: ability to export stable power without pain or high heart rate
- Anaerobic Capacity: ability to perform under intensity
Example Health Check Packages
- Hong Kong
- Basics and indispensible: https://www.gleneagles-healthcare.com.hk/zh-hk/health-screening/man-wellness-screening-plans
- Cutting edge but not all necessary: https://www.otandp.com/longevity-services
- US:
- UCLA/Mayo/Penn executive health program
Further References
- Lifestyle and Exercises: https://newsletter.amanswork.com/p/how-to-get-into-a-health
- 7-page Summary of Peter Attia protocol, as he explained in more details in his book <Outlive>