Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

As one gets older, there are a bunch of preventive / screening type health tests recommended:

colonoscopy
prostate exam (men)
bone density test (women)
cholesterol
mammogram (women)
fasting blood sugar test (checks for diabetes)
PSA screening (for prostate cancer)
etc

One could argue that these types of tests could prolong ones life. One could also argue that even a "prolonged" life is brief and that it is better to put effort toward advancing down the path then to attempt to hold your "worn out cart" of a body together for a few more years. Or one could pursue both.

What are your opinions on this type of testing vs just letting nature take its course?

Providing it does not preclude or overtake the practice, I think it is worth while trying to stay healthy. The reason is as follows. For most of us, practice is easier if we are not in pain, depressed, or preoccupied with our imminent demise. I believe it is possible to practice right through pain and sickness, and the Buddha often urged his disciples to do precisely that. But for most of us, it is easier to maintain a practice if we are feeling good.

I agree with Sam Vega above. Also, it is good to live a long life so that one can progress further in the Dhamma, accumulate more merit helping others, etc.

I am no Bahiya, so I might need some extra-time.

(Bahiya attained enlightenment after listening to one simple instruction of the Buddha.)

The preventative tests can provide a wake-up call for those who might be eating non-nutritious foods, are too sedentary, etc. and then one can change their diet and/or lifestyle to something healthier.

wouldnt it be better to use preventative healthcare to prolong the body a few more years? a few extra years in dhamma practice time is a while, why not live as long as possible so there is a better chance of becoming streamwinner. its that many more years of accumulation of wisdom and compassion which will help in future lives as well as this present life.

preventive healthcare should begin at birth, not in middle age. No one should wait to see the dentist until they've got gingivitis or their teeth are falling out, we obviously recognize that. When people say their backs just went out, it is because their back was degenerating for a long time before that. If a 40 year old throws out their back one day and from then on experiences a level of weakness/pain that they didn't ever have before it doesn't mean that that is the moment their back went bad, that was the result of neglecting the back for 40 years. People should also see the chiropractor just like the dentist, people should exercise and diet before they get fat, they shouldn't wait to get fat before they decide to be healthy. I think everybody should take yoga to keep the body limber and well lubricated so to speak as well as take up sports and exercise, this is the path to being an 80 year old who can still run, or at the very least stand straight and walk without needing any help. And yes , people should have those tests done that you've listed as well, although I'm not sure at what age those sorts of things should be administered. The bottom line is that your lifestyle should focus on staying as healthy as possible mentally and physically until death.

Sutta about importance of good health
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