Ring in a Healthier 2025 with Essential Health Screenings and Immunizations

Washington Township Medical Foundation (WTMF) internal medicine physician, Hanisha Geedipally, MD, is bringing her passion for patient education to a Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS) Health & Wellness Seminar on Jan. 8, 2025. The 5 p.m. program, titled “New Year, New You: Essential Health Screenings for Every Age,” will feature Dr. Geedipally sharing information about key health screenings and immunizations recommended for adults at every stage of life, from young adulthood through the senior years.

“Every person needs to be screened for different things at different ages,” Dr. Geedipally explained. “Immunizations need to be repeated at different ages as well. The best way to begin the year on a healthy footing is to see your primary care provider and review all your health information, including which screenings and immunizations are current and which need to be updated.”

Dr. Geedipally believes preventive care is invaluable. “It’s much better to be proactive in taking care of your health than to deal with preventable illnesses,” she said. “And for diseases such as cancer and diabetes, the earlier these are diagnosed, the better the prognosis will be.”

Many people assume once screening for certain diseases begins, it continues indefinitely. That’s not the case. “Just as screenings for some diseases begin at a certain age, patients will ‘age out’ of some screenings,” Dr. Geedipally noted. “It doesn’t mean you can’t be screened if your health condition calls for a test, but some screenings carry risks, and we weigh the increased risk to health over the benefit. If the risk is greater than the benefit, we wouldn’t test. We also take family history and risk factors into consideration.”

The same logic applies to immunizations. Many vaccines given in childhood are not continued into adulthood at the same frequency. “They may stop during middle adulthood, then resume for senior citizens. Timing is key,” Dr. Geedipally stressed. “It’s important to have these conversations with your primary care provider. A pediatrician will have a schedule for children from birth to age 18. From 18 through the end of life, an internal medicine or family practice physician will take over that role with an entirely fresh schedule. Staying on top of when these screenings and immunizations are due is part of the partnership we have with our patients and leads to the best health care outcomes.”

The combination of age, family history, and risk factors determines how health screenings are scheduled. “Screenings for children generally focus on growth, development, vision, hearing, and immunizations,” she explained. For adults, she begins with a conversation to educate them about how their risk factors and lifestyle influence her recommendations. Screenings are then scheduled, results discussed, and patients guided toward a healthier future.

For young to middle-aged adults, Dr. Geedipally focuses on risk factors for chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, specific cancers, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. For older adults, she adds screenings for age-related conditions such as osteoporosis (every two years) and cognitive decline (annually). She also recommends a yearly skin exam for signs of skin cancer and comprehensive eye exams every one to two years, depending on circumstances. For example, diabetic patients should have annual eye exams, while others may go two years between exams.

“Beginning in their early 20s, every man and woman should have a comprehensive physical exam where we check blood pressure and body mass index, do a cardiovascular evaluation, and screen for depression or other mental health issues,” Dr. Geedipally explained. “Then, every two to five years, they should have a blood sugar test and a cholesterol check. Beginning at age 45, men and women should be screened for colon cancer. Around age 50, we add a bone density test and, if their risk factors warrant, a low-dose lung CT scan to check for lung cancer. We screen our older patients for dementia and Alzheimer’s during their annual physical beginning around age 60.”

Men and women also require specific screenings for certain cancers. Women should have their first Pap test in their early 20s, continuing every three to five years thereafter, even post-menopause. Monthly breast self-exams and annual mammograms should begin at age 40. Men should perform monthly testicular self-exams, with a testicular screening exam included in their annual physical. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening typically begins at age 50 unless family history or risk factors indicate otherwise.

Dr. Geedipally also emphasizes annual vaccines. “Everyone over age 18 should annually receive the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine,” she said. “Starting at age 50, we add the shingles vaccine, given in two shots six months apart, which remains potent throughout life. At age 65, we recommend a pneumonia vaccine and the single-dose respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.”

To learn more about Dr. Geedipally, visit https://www.mywtmf.com/find-a-doctor/hanisha-geedipally-md/.