Screening · Prevention · Practice

A Checkup Without Wasted Money: 6 Tests You Actually Need

CEBM 5 · practice ★★★☆☆ 3 / 5 A practical recommendation based on the principles of evidence-based prevention rather than a single study.

The checkup industry loves to sell a "40-marker panel." In reality, the basic risks in a healthy adult are covered by six tests for roughly 56 BYN.

What to test

Complete blood count with differential, fasting glucose, a lipid profile, liver enzymes (ALT/AST), creatinine and TSH. That is enough to catch the main hidden risks.

~56 BYN

the cost of all six tests. Beyond that, the price of a panel rises faster than its real benefit.

What you do not need without a reason

Vitamins, hormones ordered "just in case," an immunogram and tumor markers in a person with no symptoms more often produce false alarms and wasted money than any benefit.

Why it matters

More tests does not mean better. Extra markers generate random deviations, a cascade of follow-up workups and anxiety with no clinical meaning.

The bottom line

Smart screening is not the maximum number of test tubes, it is the minimum you actually need. Six tests once a year cover the essentials.

Review: practical recommendations, "Double Blind"

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