In recent years, preventive medicine has evolved; not so much insists on the absolute prevention of infectious diseases as the early diagnosis through periodic check-ups of the diseases that threaten maturity.
A physical examination, combined with the mediation of blood pressure, an x-ray of the chest, an electrocardiogram and an examination of whether the urine shows signs of sugar, will constitute a typical checkup on the most common diseases and ailments of maturity. In more complete examinations the blood is analyzed in case there is excess of fats and cholesterol.
Women have additional risks associated with their reproductive system, and special clinics become more common in developed countries. The functions of such clinics include the early diagnosis of breast and cervical cancer. Careful palpation of each breast allows detection of any cancer-suggesting lump, but sometimes soft x-rays and thermal sensors are used. The examination of the cervix is usually made using cervical smears: cells from the cervix are spread on a glass slide and examined under a microscope for evidence of cancer changes.
