Health

NEW YORK (CBS News) ― There are numerous potentially life-saving medical tests that women should be getting on a regular basis and, with the new year here, there's no better time than now to start scheduling them.

On "The Early Show" Wednesday, Dr. Rebecca Brightman, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, pointed to the ones no woman should skip. The sooner a screening spots an ailment, the sooner treatment can begin and, generally, the better the odds that the treatment can be effective.

Women, and girls under 20 (and their parents), should be thinking about liquid-based pap smears to screen for cervical cancer from the moment a young woman becomes sexually active. These tests should be annually, unless a physician has a specific reason they should be done less frequently.

The reason for paying attention to getting pap smears is simple: Since they became a standard method of screening, deaths from cervical cancer have plummeted; they really do save lives.

Once a woman or girl is sexually active, she also should be tested for sexually-transmitted diseases.

Once they're sexually active, and through their 20s and beyond, young women should also make sure they receive annual gynecological exams.

They should include a manual examination of the breasts, an evaluation of the thyroid gland, a manual pelvic exam to look for masses, whether cancerous or benign, in the uterus, ovaries, and rectum. If there is an abnormal mass growing in one or more of these locations, the sooner it's dealt with, the better.

When she reaches her 30s, a woman needs to start focusing more than in the past on her breasts and the health of her colon.

Official guidelines from the American Cancer Society tell women to start getting annual mammograms at age 40. But Brightman likes to see a woman get at least one mammogram between the ages of 35 and 40, as a baseline test. She says, if experts are so concerned about mammograms after age 40 that it's felt it's useful to get them every year, thinking about them when a woman is in her 30s makes a lot of sense. Women aren't really biologically different depending on which side of 40 they are.

Having breast cancer risk on your mind definitely makes sense if a woman is at higher than average risk - and a strong determinant of that is family history. Whatever disease runs in the family, its presence is a strong indication that a woman should start her screening schedule earlier in life than someone of average risk.

That not only applies to mammography, but to colon cancer screenings: The American Cancer Society advises people of average risk to begin regular screening at age 50.

Women should also care for their bone health throughout their lives, with exercise and with diets rich in calcium. But the real time to start formal screening for bone fragility is after menopause.

The standard test for bone density is a painless X-ray called a bone densitometry. You have it done at a radiologist's office, and the radiologist checks the state of your bones in locations such as the hips, the spine, and the forearm. As with other forms of screening, certain women judged to be at higher risk, including smokers, might need to begin earlier. But generally, this is a test that should be given once every two years, starting after menopause.

And one more note for women of all ages: Don't forget the standard stuff. Throughout life, you should be keeping track of cholesterol and blood pressure on a regular basis. Many women do that every year.

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