Scott Webb (Host): Health screenings start on the day we're born and continue well into our golden years. And my guest today, Arshia Mohiuddin, is a board-certified nurse practitioner in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, practicing at Franciscan Health, and she's here to tell us all about the important screenings and emphasize that preventing diseases and illnesses is our best plan for a long and healthy life. 

This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. Arshia, it's nice to have you here today. We're going to talk about health screenings and the importance of screenings from childhood all the way through adulthood and that whole process, which ones to get, when to get them, all that good stuff. So, I just want to have you start by explaining the role of health screenings, you know, and how they keep us healthy. What specifically do screenings do for us? How do they gather information on disease prevention and management?

Arshia Mohiuddin: Health screenings play a vital role in the early detection throughout the different stages of life, including children, childhood, adolescent, elderly, throughout the years, especially different screening for men and women.

Host: Yeah. As you say, Arshia, screenings are important for kids, adults, men, women, everybody. Maybe you can go through the top 10 most important screenings. You know, the greatest hits, if you will. When we think about preventative medicine, what are the most important screenings?

Arshia Mohiuddin: The most important screening for a child, for a well child, is making sure the child is okay with developmental milestones, okay? When the baby is born, actually, in the hospital, the first day, the baby gets newborn screening, which includes cystic fibrosis, lead screening, neonatal congenital abnormalities, a lot of chromosomal abnormalities.

So, the screening starts the first day when the baby is born, but as they come to the doctor's office, we screen them throughout the year. Like for example, lead screening, autism screening, screening for anemia, screening for any deficiencies. For the newborn, they also screen for hearing screening. As we get older, at two years, we screen for autism. Then throughout the doctor's appointments, we screen them for their developmental milestones. We give them different kind of immunizations, vaccines to prevent diseases. So, that's for the childhood. And as we get older, during the school year, we do annual school physicals, sports physicals. We make sure they don't have scoliosis. We make sure they don't have any abnormal heartbeats. And once they are in adolescent age, as they grow older, we have to start screening them for health issues, mental health, sexual health. We have to make sure we discuss with them about substance abuse, about their healthy lifestyle choices.

Host: Yeah. As you say, it starts the first day, right? None of us will remember those screenings we had, you know, that early on, but through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, all of that. I want to jump ahead a little bit, you know, to adulthood and talk about the types of screenings that are administered in adulthood and especially over the age of 50. I'm 56. So, you know, I've had my colonoscopy, right? So, what types of screenings are administered in adulthood?

Arshia Mohiuddin: Usually, for a male of your age, Scott, the annual wellness screening, okay, everybody after 40 should have annual wellness screening. Then, just the age decreased to 45. It used to be 50, colon cancer screening now, which is very big for colorectal cancer screening. And after 50, prostate cancer screening for the men. And for the blood work, we usually screen for cholesterol, diabetes, you know, stuff like that within the annual screening.

And with Franciscan, we also have a very good screening bundle. Franciscan promotes this. It's heart, lung, and AAA for aneurysm screening. You don't need to see a physician or a primary care. You can get this done anywhere. We call it lung scan, heart scan, and AAA screening, which is very affordable. You just pay out of pocket or some insurances does pick up. But Franciscan has this opportunity to take advantage of that.

On the other hand, for females, if they are 40 and older, we have to do mammogram screening, cervical cancer screening, Pap smear, along with, again, lung cancer screening, heart, scans, and also colorectal cancer for females.

Host: Sure. Yeah. I love that, that Franciscan Health has the bundling available. I think that all kind of rings true for people in our heads. We kind of know what that means. As you say, no real referrals necessary. It may be out-of-pocket, but it's pretty affordable, all things considered, especially the information you get.

And that's what I wanted to ask you. When you think about the annual screenings or just, you know, screenings in general, it may not mean much to kids, but it would be to their parents, but just generally, what kinds of information can we expect to get from screenings?

Arshia Mohiuddin: Usually, when a female of age 40 and older, if we are ordering a mammogram screening, that is to rule out breast cancer, okay? And every female should have that availability with any provider. It doesn't matter if they have to see their PCP. Anybody can order that, even OB-GYN, even specialists.

So to prevent breast cancer, which is number one in most females, about one woman in eight can get breast cancer. So, this is very helpful to prevent breast cancer. So, that's number one for females. And then also, same thing with colorectal cancer, now after age of 45, you can start doing that. There are multiple ways of doing colorectal cancer screening, like Cologuard, Hemoccult, stool culture, and also traditional colonoscopy.

Host: Yeah, as I said, I've had a colonoscopy and, you know, people used to maybe drag their feet a little bit because of the prep. It was so much to drink and it's gotten a lot easier and better and every good reason to have these regular screenings after the certain ages, as you say. The guidelines have changed a little bit, but now for colonoscopy, it's definitely 45 and older, unless you have a family history, and I want to ask you about the annual checkups. You know, I think that a lot of us only go to the doctor when we're sick, right?

Arshia Mohiuddin: Oh, yeah. Correct, Scott.

Host: Yeah, we only go to the doctor when we have to.

Arshia Mohiuddin: Especially, you know, they try not to go for annual wellness. We have to make sure we call them, remind them, "Hey, you're way overdue for your annual wellness exam." And they have to do that for their health maintenance, yes. And we're here to help as providers, NPs. You know, we're patient advocates.

Host: Absolutely. And, you know, one of the things that my doctor does is she just simply won't renew my prescriptions, so medications that I'm on. She basically says, "I will renew your medications when you come in for your annual visit." So, she doesn't let me forget.

Arshia Mohiuddin: Yes. Most insurance are requiring lately, insurances make sure, you know, they require annual wellness screenings. Because without that, there is no way to predict what's happening for you in next six months. So, it's a better way. It may be rigid, but giving medications, refilling over the phone, not knowing where their blood pressure, you know, how do you know if, you know, you're okay with that medication you're taking without screenings, you know, without coming to doctor's office.

Host: Right. As you say, if you're on blood pressure medicine, it would be good to know what your blood pressure is. And one of the easiest ways to do that, unless people have ability to check it at home is to go to the doctor, right?

Arshia Mohiuddin: Exactly. Yes, you come in, we get you checked, we try to monitor your vitals, you know, your heart rate, your pulse, your weight, BMI. You know, this is the best thing to come, just walk in. And Franciscan has opportunities, same-day appointments. You just come in, walk in, "Hey, I need my blood pressure checked." We can do that for you.

Host: That's great. As you say, you're there to help. You're there to be patient advocates. I just want to give you a chance at the end here. Just, you know, final thoughts, takeaways. When we think about health screenings, annual visits, all this stuff that's so important when we think about or really try, you know, to prevent folks from getting sick, to prevent us from having serious illnesses, why do you think all this stuff is important?

Arshia Mohiuddin: You know, because prevention is better than cure, you probably hear this. So if we have strong family history, it runs in the family. "Oh, my dad has heart attack." And how did that happen? Because of ignoring or not going to doctors, not getting checked. So, it's an easy way. Get your heart scan. You know, get your calcium scores to make sure. It's a prediction. "Oh, in next five years, you're going to have a blockage," "You're not going to have a blockage. You know, your heart is strong. Your arteries are working. You have a good flow." How do you know unless you don't have a heart scan?

Similar, same thing, "Oh, you have not had a pap smear for 10 years." How do you know that your cervical cancer cells are not growing? So, it's the best way, you know, to make that appointment and have their routine Pap smears. For females, it's about, you know, depending on their age. Recommendation is every three years, okay? And after 65, maybe every five years. So, those Pap smears are very important for a female.

Host: Yeah. We were sort of joking a little bit, but a lot of us only go to the doctor when we have to. And if we feel fine, we figure we're fine. But, you know, you get to be a certain age and you hear about the things like I do, because I have the benefit of doing these podcasts for Franciscan Health, you hear about the sort of silent things, you know, the silent killers, if you will. And that's what the doctors and nurses are for, right? Go see them.

Arshia Mohiuddin: Yes. And, you know, it's so accessible. You know, and all you have to say, "Hey, I want my prostate checked." Okay, we can do that for you. We can definitely make sure, "Oh, yeah. Okay, we can order you a PSA level. We can send you to urologist. We can check your prostate, you know, exams." We can do all that for you.

Host: Well, it's great to have your time today. Appreciate your time, your compassion, your expertise. Thank you so much.

Arshia Mohiuddin: Thank you, Scott. All I have to say is just make that appointment with us. We're here to help you. We are here to hear you. We're your patient advocate. And as I said, prevention is better than cure. So, make this opportunity, and it's only a phone call away.

Host: And for more information, visit franciscanhealth.org and search screenings.

And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels, and be sure to check out the full podcast library for additional topics of interest. This is the Franciscan Health Doc Pod. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well, and we'll talk again next time.