Milestones: Important health benchmarks by age


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SALT LAKE CITY — In life there are many important milestones: getting your driver's license, graduating from college and starting a family, just to name a few. But what about health milestones? There are times in your life when doctors say you should be doing specific things.

We checked-in at a local family practice where the doctors there do just about everything. A normal day can run the gamut from delivering babies, to treating high blood pressure, to providing end-of-life care. So call this a little cheat sheet of what they say you should know to live a fuller and healthier life.

At Wade Family Medicine in Bountiful, Dr. Daniel Chappell is wrapping up a day of seeing patients. We gave the Mayo Clinic grad a little homework to break down the "must knows" in each stage of life.

Newborn-5

"The very first age is newborns to 5 years of age," said Chappell. "The most important thing for them is well-child visits where they have those early developmental screenings and vaccinations."

Chappell says it's in this age group when doctors first pick up on emotional and mental issues.

5-12

This is where vaccinations are mostly complete and the focus shifts.

"It's developmental," Chappell said. "They need to be doing their well-child visits annually."

This is when critical screenings for things like autism and learning and developmental delays take place.

12-18

"Things we need to look closely at is helping prevent them from starting down the path of drugs and alcohol," said Chappell.

Chappell said this is the time to educate.

"I still haven't met anyone that is addicted to drugs, alcohol or nicotine that didn't start when they were a teenager," Chappell said.

He recommends that parents not only educate about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse but also start the conversation about safe sex.

18-30

"The next age group I call the healthy adults," he said.

Chappell says this should be the healthiest time of your life, but what you do now paves the way for how healthy it will remain.

"The most important thing is to build healthy habits with eating and exercising," he said.

30-50

"Things start to break down so to speak and that's when you really need to be proactive about preventative medicine," he said.

He recommends those with a family history of cancer of heart disease begin early screenings. If you're obese or overweight he says this is the time to shed the extra pounds.

50-70

"Our next age group is our 50 to 70-year-olds," Chappell said. "That's the golden years."

He says the time for early screenings is past. The No. 1 cause of death in this age group is heart disease, so annual screenings are a must.

70+

"In my mind the most important thing in that age group is learning to live your life to the fullest during those years," he said.

Chappell says that means stopping some medications to reduce side effects.

"So instead of focusing on quantity of life and having you live more years, we want to improve your quality of life."

Chappell joined Wade Family Medicine on July 8, 2013. He is a Utah native and a recent graduate of the prestigious Mayo Clinic where he completed his residency and board certification in family medicine. He earned his undergraduate degree in microbiology from BYU and completed his doctorate of osteopathic medicine at Touro University Nevada School of Medicine.

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Ashley Kewish

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