Younger population should do more frequent medical check-ups – medical mission

Guyana Medical Mission, which comprises a team of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals who travel from the USA to Guyana to provide free care to the underserved, on Sunday opened its annual five-day clinic.
The first was held in New Amsterdam and Fyrish Health Centre, both in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). Today the team is expected to be at St Francis Community Developers Hall at Port Mourant and LanLivMan Health Centre, also in Region Six, while on Tuesday the clinic is scheduled for Belladrum Seventh-day Adventist Church and Mahaicony Community Centre in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).
The team will move to Mahaica Health Care Centre on Wednesday and then move to Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) on Thursday where the clinic will be held at Buxton Health Care Centre.
The visit will wrap up on Friday when the mission meets at Sophia Health Care Centre and also La Penitence Health Care Centre.
The team, which is made up of volunteers, focuses on diabetes, hypertension, and eye exams including glaucoma, and conjunctivitis among other ailments.
Dr Omar Bey, who is a lung specialist and also specialises in critical care, with focus on nutrition, from New Jersey, USA, said many young persons do not make visits to the doctor as regularly as they should.
He said that younger persons should try to see a doctor and be evaluated even if they are not experiencing medical issues.

“Each of us will have different problems but you need to start at an early age going to see the doctor to see what’s wrong so that you can catch those problems early…if we can catch them early then a lot of the side effects that come along with most health issues would not occur and if they do, they will be much milder.”
He said as a critical care physician for young patients, he would want to know their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

“If it is an older person and female, I would advise them to have breast examinations and also if they have diabetes that they are staying on their medication and that the medication is appropriate for their diabetes that they have in order to prevent a stroke or heart attack. So, I would want to see them going to the doctor on a regular basis and getting their medication.”
Additionally, he said persons who are on medication need to continue taking them, even if they are not experiencing symptoms because if they come off the medication, the condition is likely to resurface. (G4)