I think when it comes to doctor's visits, the best approach is a reasonable balance between blissful ignorance and hypochondria. Something like regular basic physicals (once a year or once in two years), preferably with the same doctor, sounds reasonable to me. The advantage of the same doc is that they keep your records for years, and therefore they can detect bad trends before any of your health markers becomes abnormal. This approach can help to prevent this to happen as it is a lot easier to prevent a bad condition than to reverse it. Blood pressure is one of those key biomarkers that should be monitored, especially for older people, or for those with some risk factors. And if/when the bad trend is detected, it could be reversed without any medications before it is too late.