NHS Health check AIBU to not bother?

[Covgal83]

I am mid/late 40s. Good BMI. Walk well over 10,000 steps a day and do weights and regularly, comfortably run over 10km (do a couple of half marathons etc). Work and rarely have a day off. Don’t smoke. Drink slightly more than 14units/week. Have a reasonable diet. Stressful job but, generally, manage it well and am happy. Two kids. No signs of PM really.

I have been booked in for an NHS health check six times by my GP. It’s been cancelled every time. They want me to rebook.

Is it going to tell me anything I don’t know? Feels a bit of a farce and - as per first paragraph - I feel like I’m not in bad health. Are any of the tests going to reveal anything I don’t already know?

I haven’t booked mine either
if it checked blood for diseases and cancer I would

Why have you been booked in for a health check?

I got one when I was 50 but I think that’s standard at that age.

I'll be 51 in a few months and never been offered one. I probably would go if i was offered though.

Health checks can pick up things that are symptomless, catching and treating before they become a problem. Stool samples detecting blood, cardiac issues, high cholesterol etc. Even on apparently fit and healthy people. Definitely worth it.

I don't know, I mean I was fit as a fiddle and had a health check when I was 51, which uncovered the fact I had a very underactive thyroid.

You could've knocked me down with a feather as I had absolutely no symptoms. In fact I was convinced they'd mixed me up with someone else!

Ask them specifically what they'll check.

It probably wouldn't hurt for future life insurance checks if your results are going to be good!!

It's 20-30 mins of your time to invest in your long term health. How can that be a waste of your time ?
Book and go

It'll provide a baseline against which any future tests can be compared.

YANBU. I've never been for one. If you feel fine, they're pointless - entirely for the "worried well".

It’s useful so that if things do go wrong later you know what ‘normal’ was for you.

I think it’s worth it for the blood tests alone. As others have said it’s good to have a baseline. Cholesterol can also be surprisingly elevated even in slim, active people.

Probably check BMI, cholesterol, blood sugar. But yes it is useful as a 'baseline', not to be sneezed at!

I got called for one at 70 but I do all my own blood testing via private companies so probably found out a lot more that way!

Total waste of time in my experience, it’s a funding thing for GP surgeries - this time of year they’ll be pushing hard to get NHS health checks done for as many eligible people as possible as points mean prizes - their funding is tied to hitting certain targets by April. You’ll possibly have, as in my case, a bored shitless 22 year old HCA give you a bog standard lecture on exercise and diet delivered in the most disinterested tone possible before they do your BP and send you home.
The ONLY reason I went is they do take a full blood count and kidney/liver function etc, so potentially worth it for that. I’d ask if they take bloods - if they don't, and you know you don’t have high blood pressure, it is a complete waste of time in your case.
ETA: they also do a random lipid profile, which if you haven’t fasted can very likely be high anyway, and isn’t a great indicator therefore of what your actual baseline is. Even a milky coffee without food can elevate your lipids, which then can categorise you as having borderline or high cholesterol. So the random profile is, in my opinion, also a waste of time.
But the full blood count and other profiles may be worthwhile.

I’ll pursue it! There’s a blood test so that’s something I cat know myself (as opposed to BMI/how much water I drink!).

It’s something you’re offered every 5 years after 40, I believe! Mos of my similarly aged, local friends (Warwickshire) have been offered one!

I would go because I’m a massive hypochondriac. But seriously I think it’s worth going to check your cholesterol and blood pressure.

If I remember rightly from my last one years ago, I had a hugely overweight HCA lecturing me about diet and exercise when I was a perfectly healthy BMI and a regular exerciser. She then kept going on about the risks of smoking when I’d never smoked in my life and telling me I should really consider a Mirena coil despite being perfectly happy using the pill.

She did take bloods which showed a few anomalies which the practice totally dismissed so I never bothered again.

Hopefully yours will be better.

I’ve just had mine and this is what they check - https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/nhs-health-check/
I was sent a letter a week later to say that my blood pressure, cholesterol etc were all fine.
The blood test was useful as I wouldn’t have had that otherwise.
Ignore the PP who talks about stool samples, they don’t do this. It’s height, weight, waist measurement, BP and bloods plus some lifestyle questions. It was a junior nurse who did mine and she struggled to work out my alcohol units so I did this for her. I was done in 15 mins and it’s a good baseline for cholesterol in particular. Worth going.
Your GP surgery do get paid for this but as the link says it’s a preventative measure and good to be aware of any result you might not be aware of.

You should attend. I found out from the first appt that I had high cholesterol. Gives me the chance to make lifestyle changes and get monitored in a years time. Lots of my family members have died in middle age so I'm grateful for the opportunity to try and avoid that!

Exactly my thoughts

It's useful if you don't know your cholesterol levels as even slim people can have problems. Also if you haven't been tested for diabetes before. Ours don't check anything else that's not obvious like bmi.

I would say everyone should have preventative checks. But they keep cancelling on you-it's not like you're messing them around! Looking at America, at your age, they do lots more checks that would reveal cancers etc, but we don't have those.

When I was first offered one a few years ago I went out of curiosity. I walked out before bloods got done. I knew I was over weight but when you’ve got a nurse who was at least 20 stones and waddling telling me I need to lose weight I lost all interest. Even now if that hadn’t been the case I wouldn’t go. It’s all money making. The GPs get paid for every appointment booked and is aimed at the worried well.

What are your blood pressure and cholesterol readings.

If you don't know that then you need to go to the appointment.

You should definitely go. My brother, who exercises and is apparently very fit, was diagnosed with high cholesterol through one of these checks.

Absolutely go, my mam has always been slim (BMI of about 20-21) yet she has super high cholesterol and wouldn't have known otherwise. She's now on statins which have potentially saved her life from something like a massive heart attack