Importance of the health check: Interview with Dr Alassane A. Gafarou, occupational physician

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Extract from the article: Health professionals often recommend health checks to the general public. What are the benefits? What medical tests are indicated? How often should they be carried out? Dr Alassane A. Gafarou, Occupational Physician, sheds light on the importance of

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Importance of the health check: Interview with Dr Alassane A. Gafarou, occupational physician

 

« In the same way that we send our vehicles for MOTs or servicing, our bodies also deserve a check-up »

Health professionals often recommend health checks to the general public. What are the benefits? What medical tests are indicated? How often should they be carried out?  Dr Alassane A. Gafarou, Occupational Physician, sheds light on the importance of a health check-up in prevention, early treatment and the fight against complications of certain diseases.

Santé-Education: What is a health check?

Dr Gafar Alassane: A health check is a series of medical examinations carried out on an individual to analyse all aspects of his or her state of health. Occupational medical services can offer health check-ups to employees in companies. Outside the workplace, anyone can have a medical check-up. The aim is to check your current state of health in relation to your family and personal history, your age, your gender, your living environment, etc. Any doctor can prescribe a health check and have it carried out by accredited organisations.

Why is a health check important?

In the same way that we send our vehicles for MOTs or overhauls, our bodies also deserve a check-up. By analogy, the body can be seen as a vehicle that runs every day and needs to be stopped at some point to check that all is well internally. In fact, there are pathologies that evolve silently and that can, at worst, be suddenly fatal or, at best, lead to disabling complications.Take high blood pressure, for example, which has been dubbed the "silent killer".As long as you don't go before a health worker to have your blood pressure checked, you won't know that you have high blood pressure because, very often, it has no discernible signs.Other illnesses such as diabetes and certain cancers can also be screened.

Statutory medical check-ups, health assessments, etc. Doesn't all this seem like a luxury to people facing existential questions?

 It's not a luxury at all, but a necessity in the same way as food, clothing, etc. In fact, we need to make a clear distinction between the two terms.Statutory medical check-ups are governed by the French Labour Code and are compulsory for all workers.They are the responsibility of the occupational physician, who, in addition to looking at individual risks, also investigates the health consequences of occupational hazards.Employers are responsible for their own costs.

As for the health check-up, it is available to anyone and can be carried out according to your budget. As a general rule, a number of para-clinical examinations are prescribed after a thorough clinical examination.When your financial resources are relatively limited, and with the support of the health officer, a minimum efficient check-up can be carried out on your behalf. It's better to do something than nothing at all.For example, it doesn't cost much to have your blood pressure checked.A capillary blood sugar test doesn't cost much either. But if you're already facing complications from high blood pressure or diabetes, it will be very expensive to manage.

Some people think it's better not to know about the illnesses you suffer from, because knowing about them would spoil your zest for life. How do you respond?

You shouldn't bury your head in the sand.It's like hiding an ember in a straw bale.In the end, it will ignite outrageously.We live in a world today where the human body is exposed to a number of risk factors, particularly environmental factors, which are likely to affect health.  With our current lifestyles, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, stress in our professional and social lives, lack of sleep, poor diet, air pollution, etc., the body is constantly under attack.If you are aware of all these factors that can affect your health, you should have a check-up at least once a year to detect any biological disorders (pre-clinical phase) induced by all these risk factors.Based on the results of this check-up, the doctor will advise you and prescribe medication if necessary.It is better to have a medical check-up than not to have one at all.In this way, we increase our chances of living longer and with better quality of life.

Interview by Abel OZIH