Fifty is peak screening decade: mammograms every 1-2 years for women 40-74, colorectal screening for everyone 45-75, cervical screening to 65, and the PSA conversation for men 55-69.
Blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose checks continue, more often with risk factors. Lung cancer screening applies to people with a 20 pack-year smoking history who smoke or quit within 15 years. Vaccines add shingles to flu and COVID. Late-decade bone density, hearing, and vision checks set up the sixties list.
What to do
Common questions
What should I get checked at 50?
Fifty is the decade where the screening schedule is fullest, and most of it is genuinely worth doing. The cancer screenings carry the decade: women continue mammograms, since MedlinePlus says they work best at finding breast cancer in women ages 40 to 74, typically every 1 to 2 years depending on risk; colorectal screening runs for everyone from 45 to 75, with colonoscopy and several stool-based test options; cervical screening continues to 65 with a Pap every 3 years or HPV test every 5; and men 55 to 69 discuss the PSA blood test's pros and cons with their provider, since it is a judgment call rather than a default. The silent numbers keep running in the background: blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar on schedule, more often if you have diabetes, kidney problems, excess weight, or family history of high blood pressure. Lung cancer screening enters for people with a 20 pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years, a low-dose CT worth asking about if that is you. Vaccines get new entries in your fifties: shingles is the big one to add to flu and COVID boosters. And the honest gap in the fifties: bone density, hearing, and vision checks start mattering at the end of the decade, setting up the sixties list.