Three Essential Health Tests

Oral Glucose-Tolerance Test
With this test, you'll find out if you're one of the too many men out there with undiagnosed diabetes. Unlike a standard fasting blood-sugar check, the tolerance test stresses your metabolism to see how your body handles a glucose load.

How it's done

After a night of fasting and a morning glucose drink, your blood is drawn several times over three hours. A result higher than 11 mmol/l at the two-hour mark is trouble. Before you turn to drugs, talk to your doctor about overhauling your eating and exercise habits.

C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Test

A high CRP level is a sign of arterial inflammation, your body's ‘Heart Attack Ahead’ billboard. Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that men with the highest CRP numbers have three times greater odds of infarction than those with low levels.

How it's done

Just offer up your arm. If the result is higher than five milligrams per liter, dish up the fiber: a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine states that consuming 30g of fiber daily can slash your CRP by 40 percent.

Mole Mapping

Australia has the highest skin-cancer rate in the world, so it's a good idea to go for a mole check once a year to catch any developing melanomas (dangerous skin tumors) early. Mole mapping involves taking a digital photo of your skin - while at the same time taking a closer look at any moles that look suspicious - and plotting the location of any moles on a computer. Then, when you return a year later, a second mole map will reveal any new growths - which are the ones to really worry about. If you have 50 moles on your back there's no way you're going to know if you suddenly have 51. Current technology allows us to assess the state of the skin without having to do unnecessary biopsies.

How it's done.

Most general practitioners don't have the equipment, so you'll need a dermatologist. As for the actual photo shoot, all you have to do is strip.

Sandra Prior runs her own bodybuilding website at http://bodybuild.rr.nu.

Thank natural to make herbals for good life!