The benefits of attending regular health checks
A health check (otherwise known as a health screening, health assessment or health MOT) is an in-depth assessment which gives an overall view of your current health. It is comprised of a series of clinical, non-invasive tests which can detect signs of certain health conditions, and often involves a lifestyle examination of factors which can affect health, such as your diet, exercise, sleep, stress, alcohol, smoking, caffeine intake and hydration levels.
It’s often recommended by health professionals to get a health check regularly, even if you do consider yourself fairly healthy. How often you attend a screening and what type you should get depends on various factors (such as age, gender, your family and medical history etc.), but here are some general guidelines on how often we would recommend you have a health check:
Age 18-29: every 2-3 years
Age 30-49: every 2 years
Age 50+: once a year
In today’s blog, we’re going to outline three key reasons on why you should be attending regular health checks.
1) Health checks can detect preventable illnesses before they become serious
The Office for National Statistics in the UK has calculated that about 23% of all deaths are considered avoidable.[i] Even if you think you are healthy, common health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer often strike silently and without notice. If left uncontrolled, these issues can lead to serious complications.
Regular health checks can help to identify diseases or risk factors so you can get them under control quickly, thereby reducing your chances of complications occurring. Here are some chronic conditions that health checks screen for:
Heart Disease & Stroke
According to the British Heart Foundation, heart and circulatory diseases cause around a quarter of all deaths in the UK; that’s equivalent to one death every three minutes. Meanwhile, strokes cause around 34,000 deaths in the UK each year and are the biggest cause of severe disability in this country.[ii]
All our health checks include a risk assessment for heart disease and stroke using a range of tests.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a disorder which disrupts how your body uses sugar. Insulin converts sugar into glycogen, a storage form, however, in people with diabetes, the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body’s cells do not respond to it, therefore causing sugar to build up in the blood. Over time, this can lead to serious problems such as a heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, problems with vision or blindness, and pain/loss of feeling in the hands and feet.
Most of those with diabetes do not show any symptoms, which is why all our health checks include a HbA1c test to screen for this. We also provide you with a risk assessment to calculate your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes over the next 10 years.
Hypertension (High blood pressure)
All our health checks include a blood pressure check. Blood pressure is the force exerted by your blood against the wall of your blood vessels. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, occurs when this pressure is consistently high. Many patients do not experience symptoms of high blood pressure. If left unmanaged, hypertension may lead to issues such as a heart attack, stroke, or kidney disease.
Hyperlipidaemia (High lipid levels in blood)
Hyperlipidemia occurs when your cholesterol level is high. People with hyperlipidaemia have a higher risk of a heart attack, stroke, and other health problems. The higher your cholesterol level, the greater your risk of these problems. Most people with hyperlipidaemia do not display any symptoms, and in fact 50% of the UK population have undiagnosed high cholesterol. All our health checks include your full lipid profile to screen for this.
Fatty liver & Liver disease
Fatty liver is the build-up of abnormal amounts of fat in the liver. It occurs more frequently in overweight individuals, people with diabetes or hyperlipidaemia, or those who drink excessive alcohol regularly. If left untreated, this can lead to scarring of the liver, a condition known as cirrhosis, which significantly increases the risk of liver failure and death.
We offer a liver function test which helps to determine the health of your liver in order to catch any signs of fatty liver or other types of liver disease early on.
2) Health checks can educate and guide you better towards your health goals
While all this talk about illness can make a health check sound like a negative experience, in actual fact it’s quite the opposite. Attending a health screening is an empowering experience which only helps to guide you towards a healthier, happier life.
No matter what your health goals are, whether that be weight loss, cutting down on alcohol or quitting smoking, it’s important to know what your current health status is. A health check can tell you whether your results are within the recommended range for your age, sex, or ethnicity, and if not, your health adviser can advise on changes you can make to your daily life in order to improve this.
Health advisers are trained specialists in preventative healthcare and will already have either an educational or professional background within the health and wellbeing sector. A health check allows you to discuss any specific concerns and debate lifestyle issues with an expert in a caring and professional environment. Not only can health advisers offer advice, but they can also signpost you to other services if necessary.
All our health checks include an in-depth lifestyle assessment with an action plan for meeting your goals. After your assessment, you will receive a personalised health report within 24 hours which includes all of your test results and recommendations from your health adviser.
3) Health checks can help you age better
People across the world are living longer than ever before; it’s estimated that around 1 in 6 children born today can expect to live to 100 years old.[iii] However, despite this global ageing population, there is little evidence to suggest that older people today are experiencing their later years in better health than their parents, with many of them living those additional years in poor health, or with a disabling health condition.[iv] Some say that just comes with old age, but the truth is that these are not inevitable consequences of ageing.
Health is just as diverse in the elderly as it is in younger generations. It’s possible for some 80-year-olds to have a similar physical and mental capacity to that of a 20-year-old. Regular health checks can help to facilitate ‘healthy ageing’ through coaching and detecting specific conditions which can affect you in old age, including:
Vascular Dementia
In addition to preventing health conditions mentioned earlier in this blog, having regular health checks reduces the risk of developing forms of dementia such as vascular dementia, which is more likely to affect people in aged 65 and up. Vascular dementia is a common type of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, thereby causing a decline in thinking skills. It is associated with high blood pressure & cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke which all of our health checks screen for.
Life changing events
One of the key factors leading to health decline in old age that we hear often is simply life itself. Our lives are constantly changing, with events both big and small negatively impacting our health without us noticing. Getting married, having children, moving house, changing jobs or even altering your working hours can affect your health over time, therefore staying on top of this should be a priority regardless of what age you are.
Health checks encourage healthy lifestyle habits which you can sustain in the long-term. Also, if you’ve attended a health check before, you can compare your report with previous results to measure your progression and see whether your action plan from previous years needs altering to suit your current lifestyle.
Summary
Having a regular health screening is beneficial for anyone wanting to live a longer, healthier, and happier life. Our health checks can help identify whether you have or are at risk of developing a certain health condition. Secondly, it gives you a general overview of your current health status, enabling you to see which aspects of your lifestyle are benefitting your health, and which aspects need improving. And lastly, it acts as a reminder throughout life to constantly check in with your health especially when life starts to ‘get in the way’, encouraging you to adopt healthy habits which fit into your current lifestyle, and ones which can be sustained for the long-term for healthy ageing.
Attending a health check is an empowering experience, and not something that to be anxious about. So optimise your health today and book a health check with us at our clinic based in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Sources:
[i]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/avoidablemortalityinenglandandwales/2017
[ii] https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/contact-the-press-office/facts-and-figures
[iii] https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/blogs/why-design-strategic-growth-ingredient-healthy-ageing
[iv] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
