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Health by decade / 03 of 04

Health in your 50s

Colorectal screening becomes Grade A at 50, lung cancer screening opens for people with a heavy smoking history, prostate screening becomes a shared decision at 55, and two vaccines join the list: shingles at 50 and, since October 2024, pneumococcal at 50 rather than 65.

Written by the VitalDecades editorial team Reviewed by the editorial review process Updated
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01  /  Screenings

What to get checked in your 50s

Each row names the body that recommends it, the grade it gave, and the date of that recommendation. Recommendations change; the date tells you how current the row is.

Blood pressure

Confirm a high office reading with out-of-office measurement before treatment.

Who All adults 18 and older
How often Every year at 40 and older
Recommendation USPSTF Grade A (2021)

Effective

Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (A1C, fasting glucose or OGTT)

Who Adults 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity
How often About every 3 years if results are normal
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2021)

Effective

Cardiovascular risk assessment and statin decision (lipid panel plus 10-year ASCVD risk)

Grade C at 7.5% to under 10% risk; insufficient evidence at 76 and older.

Who Adults 40 to 75 with at least one risk factor (dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, smoking)
How often At the visit where risk is assessed; statin recommended when 10-year risk is 10% or higher
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2022)

Effective

Colorectal cancer screening

Grade C at 76 to 85: an individual decision.

Who Adults 50 to 75 (selectively offered at 76 to 85)
How often Colonoscopy every 10 years; FIT every year; sDNA-FIT every 1 to 3 years; CT colonography or flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years
Recommendation USPSTF Grade A (2021)

Effective

Breast cancer screening (mammography)

Insufficient evidence at 75 and older.

Who Women 40 to 74 at average risk
How often Every 2 years
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2024)

Effective

Lung cancer screening (low-dose CT)

Who Adults 50 to 80 with a 20 pack-year history who smoke or quit within 15 years
How often Every year; stop after 15 years without smoking or if a health problem limits life expectancy
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2021)

Effective

Cervical cancer screening

A December 2024 draft update proposes HPV primary screening (clinician- or self-collected) every 5 years at 30 to 65; not final as of 2026-08-19.

Who Women 21 to 65
How often Ages 21 to 29: cytology every 3 years. Ages 30 to 65: cytology every 3 years, hrHPV every 5 years, or cotesting every 5 years
Recommendation USPSTF Grade A (2018)

Effective

Prostate cancer screening (PSA)

An update is in progress (research plan posted 2023); the 2018 statement remains current.

Who Men 55 to 69
How often Periodic PSA as an individual decision after discussing benefits and harms; no interval set
Recommendation USPSTF Grade C at 55 to 69; Grade D at 70 and older (2018)

Effective

Osteoporosis screening (bone density, DXA)

Insufficient evidence for screening men.

Who Postmenopausal women under 65 at increased fracture risk by clinical risk assessment
How often No fixed interval
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2025)

Effective

Depression screening

Who All adults, including pregnant and postpartum people and older adults
How often No optimal interval established; screen everyone not previously screened, then by clinical judgment
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2023)

Effective

Anxiety disorder screening

Insufficient evidence at 65 and older.

Who Adults 64 and younger, including pregnant and postpartum people
How often No specific interval
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2023)

Effective

Unhealthy alcohol use screening and brief counseling

Who Adults 18 and older
How often No interval established
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2018)

Effective

Hepatitis C screening

Who Adults 18 to 79
How often One time for most adults; periodically with continued risk
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2020)

Effective

HIV screening

Who Adolescents and adults 15 to 65; older adults at increased risk
How often At least once; repeat for people at increased risk
Recommendation USPSTF Grade A (2019)

Effective

Hepatitis B screening

Who Adults at increased risk (born in high-prevalence regions, HIV, injection drug use, men who have sex with men, household or sexual contacts)
How often Risk-based
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2020)

Effective

Syphilis screening

Who Nonpregnant adults at increased risk
How often Risk-based
Recommendation USPSTF Grade A (2022)

Effective

Weight and BMI, with referral to intensive behavioral programs when BMI is 30 or higher

The topic is being updated; the 2018 statement remains current.

Who Adults with a BMI of 30 or higher
How often Offer or refer at the visit
Recommendation USPSTF Grade B (2018)

Effective

Influenza vaccine

Who All adults 19 and older
How often One dose every year
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule (reviewed 2025-07-02)

Effective

Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap or Td)

Who All adults
How often One Tdap, then a Td or Tdap booster every 10 years
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule (reviewed 2025-07-02)

Effective

Shingles vaccine (recombinant zoster, Shingrix)

Who Adults 50 and older
How often Two doses, 2 to 6 months apart, one time
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule (reviewed 2025-07-02)

Effective

Pneumococcal vaccine (PCV20 or PCV21, or PCV15 then PPSV23)

ACIP lowered the routine age from 65 to 50 in October 2024.

Who Adults 50 and older not previously vaccinated
How often One dose of PCV20 or PCV21; or PCV15 followed by PPSV23 a year later
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule (reviewed 2025-07-02)

Effective

RSV vaccine

Who Adults 50 to 74 at increased risk of severe RSV disease
How often Single dose, one time
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule and June 2025 addendum

Effective

COVID-19 vaccine

CDC's separate COVID vaccine considerations page could not be verified on 2026-08-19; check the current schedule.

Who Adults 19 and older
How often Per the current CDC schedule; the schedule page still expresses this in terms of the 2024 to 2025 vaccine
Recommendation CDC/ACIP adult schedule (reviewed 2025-07-02)

Effective

02  /  Numbers to track

Biomarkers worth knowing this decade

Apolipoprotein B

ApoB

Risk-enhancing factor: 130 or higher mg/dL

HDL cholesterol

HDL-C

Low (a major risk factor): under 40 mg/dL

Hemoglobin A1C

A1C

Normal (below the prediabetes range): under 5.7 %

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein

hs-CRP

Low relative risk: under 1 mg/L

LDL cholesterol

LDL-C

Optimal: under 100 mg/dL

Total testosterone

TT

Harmonized normal range: 264 to 916 ng/dL

Triglycerides

TG

Normal: under 150 mg/dL

What changes in your 50s

Screening intensifies rather than starting fresh. Colorectal screening continues (now Grade A, 50 to 75). Lung cancer screening with a yearly low-dose CT applies from 50 to 80 for anyone with a 20 pack-year history who still smokes or quit within 15 years. For men 55 to 69, PSA-based prostate screening is a Grade C, meaning an individual decision after a conversation about benefits and harms. Mammography and cervical screening continue on the same schedule.

ACIP added two routine vaccines to this decade: the two-dose recombinant shingles vaccine at 50 and older, and pneumococcal vaccination at 50 and older (lowered from 65 in October 2024). RSV vaccination is a single dose for adults 50 to 74 at increased risk of severe disease.

Frequently asked questions

Should men get a PSA test in their 50s? ▼

The USPSTF grades PSA screening C for men 55 to 69: it should be an individual decision made after discussing the potential benefits and harms with a clinician, and men who do not express a preference for screening should not be screened. An update has been in progress since 2023; the 2018 statement remains current.

When do I need the shingles vaccine? ▼

ACIP recommends the two-dose recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix) for adults 50 and older, doses 2 to 6 months apart, regardless of prior shingles or Zostavax.