To think the NHS Health Check (for over 40s) can be done at home?

How was your muscle mass calculated? Sounds it was quite thorough if they did that!

Both my NHS test last year and this year included Cholesterol, Liver... and so on.
The GP surgery took this test very seriously where I am.

Your experience with NHS checkups totally different with mine. I had 2 NHS checkups last year and this year mine was full body checkup took blood for 7 different tests and both. I had my GP phone appointment to go through with blood tests results. I'm grateful with this test, things show up in my blood I didn't know I have those health issues to keep an eye closely.

Not at my Drs!! only allowed to talk about one thing and they are VERY strict on that!! Posters every where stating so and i have tried last time i went a couple of months ago and tried to talk about something else. its madness haha

Paid for through state health care or private insurance?

I run health checks in pharmacy. We are quite thorough. It takes anywhere from 30 mins - 1hr, depending on the person in front of you. We do BMI, BP, cholesterol test (pin prick test) lifestyle and then go through anything they would like to change at the end and encourage them to do so if they wanted to. We can signpost, but do t have to, and as a health care provider everything is without judgement and often I find people chatting about other worries they have. Which if I can I will point them in the direction they need to get help. I also run the stop smoking clinic so at least it's a familiar face
Not everyone will be eligible. Rule of thumb (but not exact) if you don't visit the doctor that often, don't have regular blood pressure checks, cholesterol etc then you won't be invited. The idea is to screen for CVD before it gets to a point that need higher intervention.

That's one of the reasons for the check-up at 40, catching up with people that don't see the doctor very often.

Yes, these are checks for the worried well if you like. DH and I recently had 55+ checks, neither of us ever goes to the doctors. They picked up high BP for both of us, and turns out I have shit kidney function.

If you never go, because you are never ill, stuff gets missed, so it's worth going.

We also recently had the postal bowel tests, PSA for DH, Mammogram and smear for me. Prevention is key. You can't complain about a health service that tries to keep you healthy.

DH also recently had a CT for his hip, they picked up an incidentsl shadow on his lung. He's currently in a mad turnaround of extra tests, all done in a week from the CT. Can't fault the turnaround.

You never know what's going on inside, if you are generally well.

Annual checks are more normal in other countries, that's why their health services are better, and they can atch things earlier, and survival is better.

Getting any appointment is a good opportunity to discuss other concerns.

Went along - bored nurse ticked boxes did BP - told to arrange blood test - another visit - assume all was ok, no results ever given. Didn't mention fact I am 4 stone overweight, didn't ask about the niggles I have, told cannot discuss my increasingly sore arm , so 2 wasted visits - and I still cannot get an appointment to discuss what I need. We need to stop this time wasting.

I had one at work. They used the body analyser scale things, which I guess are calibrated? And did a cholesterol finger prick blood test.

But on re reading all my data I realised she'd under measured my height by 2 inches so all the calculations will have been wrong.

Gosh l get weighed.. have blood pressure n oxygen test.
Ask about my diet n drinking
All bloods done.
Feet checked and much more.

These checks can find stuff that's asymptomatic. High blood pressure normally has no symptoms but is one of the main causes of heart attacks and strokes.

I am about a stone and half overweight but nothing was said about it😂

I send out 60 invites a month to our patients. About 10% reply. If you get an invite and don't want one, please decline so we don't waste time inviting you again.

I always send to the 40th birthdays but others may not get one at the right time as there are more to invite than spaces available.

You can always ask for one if you don't get an invite.

They are basic checks done by HCAs so they can't give advice on things such as menopause.

Wow, i’ve been trying to get a mirena done for years on and off and there’s never anyone who can fit one here! It’s all so random.

Never had the invite myself either and I'm 47. I have no other reason to visit the Drs for any other problems, so would have no idea if I've any underlying health issues such as high blood pressure or anything worse!

I thought they were meant for people who weren’t otherwise being monitored.

I had a random BP check when I had my last Covid booster and was shocked when it was 175/105, having kept an eye on it over the years I thought it was fine. This led to my discovering I also had hypercholesterolemia and starting two medications.

With lifestyle and diet modifications I hope to reverse any damage and hopefully dump the meds eventually but uncontrolled hypertension wreaks havoc on your body.

Edit: I'm forty-eight years of age, moderately fit at best and overweight.

I had one years ago and it was a total waste of time. Bit of a lecture on the fact I was 7lbs overweight, a real push to get me to agree to a Mirena coil and a blood pressure check. That was it.

Had a call a few months ago to go for another one and the surgery were most miffed I declined to attend but they’ve now moved them to another practice in the partnership which requires a 60 minute round trip to the other side of town. Not worth it in my view.

I'm 66 and just found out I have high blood pressure yesterday. It's largely symptomless, like high cholesterol, so I encourage everyone to get any checks they're offered.

I highly recommend getting your own blood pressure monitor and keeping an eye on it yourself. When I found out I had slightly high blood pressure I started, though obviously the smart move would have been to do that before it developed, so late 30s. Better late than never 😅. But I wish I had really realised the importance and taken it in, I knew but I didn't really realise if that makes sense.

These check - ups are bollocks.
I'm 45 and don't bother.
So far so good.