Preventive Screening Resources

For preventive health screening and prevention, these are the authoritative, independent bodies we send readers to. Each one puts out dependable, evidence-grounded guidance, and they are what we consult while researching an article. Wherever they touch on costs or how services are set up, bear in mind that such details shift from one country and health system to the next.

Screening guidelines and evidence

• World Health Organization (WHO), principles of screening and global guidance on prevention and early detection.
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), graded recommendations on which screening tests have evidence of benefit, and for whom.
• Cochrane, systematic reviews that weigh the benefits and harms of screening programmes.

Understanding your results

• National and international laboratory standards bodies, background on reference ranges and how blood-test values are interpreted.
• Peer-reviewed primary literature, the original studies behind screening intervals and detection rates, useful when a recommendation is contested.

Prevention and healthy living

• WHO, noncommunicable diseases, the role of blood pressure, blood sugar, and lifestyle factors in long-term risk.
• Established patient and public-health bodies, plain-language explanations of common screens such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose.

The external links here are for reference alone; the rest is in our Medical Disclaimer.