Preventive services and immunizations are your best defense against serious illness and preventable disease. The care team at Naval Hospital Jacksonville (our hospital and branch health clinics) stands ready to provide those services.

Each year, potentially preventable chronic diseases - such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - are responsible for millions of premature deaths among Americans.

Men and Women:
* Colorectal cancer: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., among cancers affecting both men and women. If you're age 50 or over, get screened now for colorectal cancer. Screenings can find growths that can be removed before turning into cancer and can also find cancer at an early stage, when treatment often leads to a cure. If you have risk factors, you might need to be tested earlier or more often. Talk to your primary care manager (PCM).

* Diabetes: If you have diabetes, see your health care team every three to six months for an A1C test. This checks your long-term control of blood sugar. Make an appointment with your PCM today to discuss strategies for managing diabetes at home, work, school, and while traveling. Talk with a diabetes nurse at our nutrition clinic, and ask about our Diabetes Wellness Team.

Men:
* Talk to your PCM about testicular and prostate cancer screenings, or other tests you might need.

Women:
* Cervical cancer: Prevent cervical cancer - with the right test at the right time. Get your first Pap test at age 21. If normal, you can wait three years until the next Pap. After 30, you have a choice to get a Pap test every three years or a combined Pap and human papillomavirus (HPV) test. If both are normal, you can wait five years until the next screening. Talk with your PCM about options.

* Chlamydia: Since there's often no symptoms, most people who have chlamydia don't know it. It's the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. Women under age 25 (and older women with risk factors) need chlamydia testing every year. Call or email your PCM to schedule a urine sample in our lab.

* Breast cancer: Mammograms are the best way to find breast cancer early, when it's easier to treat, and before it's big enough to feel. Starting at age 40, talk with your PCM about when to start and how often to get a mammogram. You have the choice to get an annual mammogram at age 40 and up. Call Radiology today, (904-542-7782). It's easy to schedule, with no need to see your PCM.

Children:
* Well-child check-up: Bring your child in for a check-up at one month, and at 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of age; and at ages 2, 2 1/2, 3, 4, and 5 years. Check-ups track growth and development, prevent illness with immunizations, and answer your questions. Talk to your PCM about check-ups during the school-age years.

Your Medical Home Port team (at the hospital or branch health clinic) is here to meet your preventive, routine, and urgent health care needs.

Make an appointment with your PCM by phone (904-542-4677 at our hospital, or 904-546-7094 at Naval Branch Health Clinic (BHC)Jacksonville for active duty), or at TRICARE's Online Patient Portal at http://www.TRICAREonline.com.

For immunizations, stop by or call 904-542-7810 (hospital) or 904-546-7050 (BHC Jacksonville).

To take a free class on tobacco cessation, nutrition, or healthy weight, contact our hospital's Wellness Center at 904-542-5292, or BHC Jacksonville's Health Promotions (904-546-7062, for active duty).

For 24/7 clinical advice, call the Nurse Advice Line at
800-TRICARE (800-874-2273).

For secure email messaging with your care team (for non-urgent issues), sign up for free at https://mil.RelayHealth.com.

To view your care team's PCMs, visit our website at http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax, click on Medical Home Port, and click on each team.

NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population (163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen, and their families), about 85,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities. To find out more or download the command's mobile app, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Hospital Jacksonville, visit http://www.navy.mil/.