The long list of screenings we are told to get — for teeth to bones and reproductive organs — can seem a bit much, but they're often lifesaving.

Take screening for cervical cancer. A lot of women would benefit from being more conscientious about being screened in the decade before they turn 65, and by being screened after age 65.

That's the message delivered by a study that looked at the ages of more than 12,000 women in California who were diagnosed with cervical cancer between 2009 and 2018. It found that 17% of women were 65 or older. Of those women, 71% of them had advanced cancer, and many died.

Most cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus, and one in 16 women ages 57 to 85 is infected with high-risk HPV. Despite the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation that cervical cancer screening is unnecessary after 65 if several tests in a row during the past decade didn't find cancer, consider getting a Pap test if you're 65-plus.

If you plan on living younger than your calendar age, keep getting preventive care and Pap/HPV tests. Then if you develop cervical cancer, treatment can be started before chemotherapy is needed.