When it comes to annual physical checkups there are some you can skip - and those you shouldn't.

Some health visits can be put off, wrote Laurel Graeber in an article in the current issue of Redbook, but delaying others may put your health at risk.Your personal or family history can put you in a high risk category, so it's important to get your health priorities straight.

As far as an annual physical goes, you probably don't really need one, according to guidelines from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, an independent group of health experts commissioned by the government that evaluates prevention recommendations. But it is important to have a primary-care physician you can go to with worries or symptoms.

You shouldn't miss your yearly checkup if you have a specific condition that's being treated or watched. If you have risk factors for health problems (such as being overweight), or if you have a family history of disease.

You can skip a year if your blood pressure reading was normal last year, and you're up to date on other screening tests. But if you've gained more than 10 pounds since your last visit, or if you smoke, see the doctor within six months.

You can put it off for up to 2 years if you're a nonsmoker of normal weight with normal blood pressure and under 40, with no previous history of medical problems. After 40, keep visits to every one to two years.

When it comes to the gynecological exam, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends an annual pelvic exam for all women as soon as they become sexually active or turn 18. But you may need checkups more often if you have certain risk factors.

Don't miss your annual appointment if you've ever had an abnormal Pap, even if subsequent results came back normal. Go right away if you're thinking of becoming pregnant. After the baby is conceived is the wrong time to discover a lump in your breast or to learn of problems that might affect the pregnancy, like chlamydia, fibroid tumors, or genital warts.

You should also be rigorous about on-time examinations if you have changed sexual partners within the past year, if your prescription birth control needs replacing, or if you have risk factors for breast cancer.

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You can postpone up to three months if you are over 40 but have no risk factors. You can postpone for a year if your last three Paps have been normal (the last one being a year ago), you're in good health, have no major risk factors, and you and your mate are monogamous.

A mammogram is almost universally recommended every year for women over 50. For women age 40 to 49, the American Cancer Society now recommends the test annually, while ACOG and the National Cancer Institute recommend it every one or two years.

If there is breast cancer in your family, it's recommended you have an annual screening beginning at 35.

Above all, you should go to the doctor right away if you suddenly have a symptom you've never experienced.

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