Making sure we get a yearly physical and getting blood work done is important, but experts say there's one more test we should be getting.

In the hustle and bustle of modern healthcare, there's a crucial test some believe is slipping through the diagnostic cracks.

Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, allergies, COPD all are life-threatening conditions and they are all chronic inflammation diseases.

"Thirty-four percent of people, aged 20 and older, actually have, sort of, chronic inflammation," University of Florida Community Health and Family Medicine Dr. Arch Mainous said.

Mainous is studying the impact that chronic inflammation has on the body, but his research focuses specifically on people who live in poverty.

"I wouldn't know if I have it. You probably wouldn't know if you have it," Mainous said.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, Mainous found that people with chronic inflammation who also live in poverty had a 127 percent increased risk of dying from heart disease and a 196 percent increased risk of dying from cancer in the next 15 years compared to those who have only one of the risk factors.

"It should be a bit of a wake-up call," Mainous said.

He hopes this research will be a call to action for new screening guidelines.

"It wouldn't be any more complicated than a screening test for high cholesterol or a screening test for high glucose for diabetes," Mainous said.

A new FDA approved drug called Colchicine now targets inflammation. It specifically reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease caused by inflammation.