So sick was the Indian government of the procrastinating Indian citizen who refused to opt for preventive health care, that it bribed them to see a doctor. In 2012, the then finance minister offered a plan to save up to Rs 5,000 on tax by opting for an annual preventive check-up.

While Indians refuse to visit a hospital unless they need to be brought in on a stretcher, Americans, they say, can`t get enough. In the US, annual check-ups account for more than 8 per cent of doctor visits, and cost the health care system $8 billion a year. Each visit takes around 23 minutes, adding up to a total of 17 million hours each year spent checking 45 million healthy people.In Europe, a study revealed that many routine checkups led to over-diagnosis and over-treatment of relatively mild health problems, leading some patients to take medication for years with no apparent benefit.

But with the average age of patients diagnosed with cardiac problems dipping, and lifestyle-related disorders on the rise, doctors here are keen to catch the bug early. Thus, avoiding a case of `surprise` heart attack, like actor Farooq Sheikh`s.

Don`t wait for a heart attack, says Dr Lekha Pathak, cardiologist. One in 10 Indians suffer from hypertension. And most aren`t aware of it. For people above 40, I suggest a twice-a-year check up. This should include Electrocardiography (ECG), cardiac stress test, 2D echo and blood biochemistry to check blood sugar, kidney and lipid profile.

Smokers and those who have a family history of cardiac illness, diabetes and hypertension are part of a high risk group. They must start with these tests at 30.

Often, those suffering a `surprise` heart attack are those who have lived with symptoms of high cholesterol and hypertension, without knowing it. This is not specific to an age group or sex. But 40 per cent of patients suffering from cardiac issues tend to be below 40.

Start gynaec visits in mid-20s, says Dr Rajeev Chhabra, gynaecologist
Indian women are just not in the habit of visiting a gynaecologist regularly. In fact, most women don`t go to a doctor even when suffering from the symptom of a illness. It`s always a last minute visit when the pain gets unbearable.

For women above 45, they need to start caring for their bones, since menopause will soon strike. Start with the following tests: CBC, Creatinine levels, SGPT and SGOT levels, calcium and phosphorus, USG (ultrasonography), PAP smear and mammogram.

Women between 23 and 30 need to take annual thyroid tests, prolactin, DHEA-sulfate test and ultrason ography. These are purely preventive tests ensure that when they do decide to conceive, they encounter no complications. Lifestyle disorders like Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOD) are detected at such times.

In case you are sexually active with multiple partners and don`t insist on the use of condoms, take the PAP smear test every year.

For every known diabetic, there`s one undiagnosed, says Dr Rajiv Kovil, diabetologist
In 2012, 11.8 million patients were diagnosed with diabetes, adding to the 65 million who live with the metabolic disorder. Sixty per cent of them were diagnosed during a routine health check up, having lived with silent symptoms.

It`s a cultural problem. Indians feel they are wasting money on tests if they aren`t sick.

There is no age bar to check blood sugar levels. It`s meant for every adult. For whose who aren`t diabetic, a yearly check-up should include fasting and post meal blood sugar tests. Add the hpa1c test, that`s usually missing from the basic package. It`s to check the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time.

For patients who are diagnosed with diabetes, the tests need to be specific; like those that test the effect of the illness on the liver, kidneys and retina.

BDST: 1555 HRS, JAN-08, 2014
Edited by: Sharmina Islam, Lifestyle Editor