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?

Do you have blood tests for pre-diabetes and cholesterol? Those are useful because you can catch them before they do some real damage.

How presumptive of you to assume I had a poor diet! Genetics and age do play a part. In my case I had a hysterectomy for borderline ovarian cancer which contributed to my weight gain. As for walking out I certainly didn’t need lectured too especially when she like you assumed it was dietary and hadn’t bothered to read my notes!

Quite. I really don’t understand the casual attitude of some people towards their health. Everyone should have periodic health checks, including blood tests, and with increasing frequency as they age.

I am slim, fit, sporty and eat a healthy diet (no meat). I was really pissed off to find out (thanks to the blood test) that I have high cholesterol (high LDL) when DH who eats ALL the cakes (and bacon) has a v healthy cholesterol level. Apparently it can be hereditary.

The fact that your GP has cancelled your appointment 6 times has to be very frustrating. But, nevertheless, it will definitely tell you things you can't know. Hopefully it will tell you that all your numbers are within range and to keep doing what you're doing. But it might not, and isn't it better to know than not know? As others have said, you can be leading a healthy lifestyle but still have high cholesterol or other symptomless issues. In my case, a blood test showed that I am prediabetic. Although I ate fairly healthily before, I have made changes to my diet, and along with medication I am keeping my blood sugar numbers in check.

In my case, a blood test showed that I am prediabetic. Although I ate fairly healthily before, I have made changes to my diet, and along with medication I am keeping my blood sugar numbers in check.

This is exactly what happened to me (despite being a self-confessed health nut), and to several people I know. Prediabetes and lipid/metabolic abnormalities are very common and can have serious effects on health, without being noticed.

Routine screenings for various cancers and other serious conditions are also vital - breast, cervical, bowel, bones. A routine dexa scan revealed I had osteopenia and a colonoscopy found precancerous polyps. Both reversible at the time they were discovered but potentially lethal.

I think it's worth it. You get baseline information about all the things that could start to go wrong as you age and you can check your numbers as you age to make sure nothing is emerging like rising blood sugar, cholesterol or rising blood pressure. Menopause is a time of huge changes so it will be good to pick up anything early. It will also show you how efficient your kidneys are and whether your liver is in good shape. All those things start to decline as we age.

I've just been invited for one. I'm 53. I also have stage 4 cancer, have bloods taken, weighed and BP checked every 4 weeks as part of my treatment. Tone deaf on the part of my surgery.

The health checks are for people aged 40-72 who don't have any known health conditions. The idea is that people who appear fit and well might be hiding ill health and this can catch it. My mother was incredibly fit (size 8, worked out multiple times a week, physical job, walked everywhere, never smoked, hardly drank..) she died of undiagnosed heart disease in her early 60s. I wish she had gone for hers as I miss her every day.

To be fair, if you'd put that information in your original response, I probably wouldn't have responded.

Instead, you had a dig at a health professional for daring to think she might know what she was talking about despite being overweight, described her as "waddling", apparently flounced off mid test and told us all they are just a money making exercise.

It's just not true. There are incentives for GPs to carry out these tests because in the long term, the NHS thinks it will save money by reducing heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

If you are already getting tests done through work, working with a personal trainer and taking steps to reach a healthy weight, well done you. You are already doing the things these tests are designed to encourage. But why on earth would you discourage the OP from accessing the same motivational information that you already have access to?

I still stand my opinion that generally they are money making for GPs. I’ve never disputed that the nurse didn’t know what she was talking about, it was more and I know I shouldn’t judge, but the perception she gave was she didn’t practice what she preached. I get she was only doing her job though.

I genuinely had no idea so many people thought they being a healthy weight and physically fit meant there’s nothing wrong with their health. The whole point of health checks is to show early signs of health concerns, before symptoms appear.

its not like being overweight or unfit is the only thing that can be wrong with you? So much, particularly cholesterol, heart health etc can be genetic anyway.

Last year mine showed very slight raised cholesterol. I focused on a few thing that reduce cholesterol and we’ll see when I next go whether they helped or it’s getting worse.

that’s a private MOt btw, I’ve never been invited to an nhs one

Sad to see so much cynicism... Heart attacks and strokes are 30years in the making. Lifestyle and behaviour change are really important but they can't do everything. When an individual has a fatal heart attack at 52 or disabling stroke at 56 it will be too late to say the NHS let them down.

My other half runs these clinics and they're definitely worth while going to. They're all about prevention and picking up risk factors and signs before they develop into something not so easily dealt with.

They're not all offered by GP's some are by the health authority.

If you're happy to have a heart attack or stroke just because you're misinformed about them making a pound or two from your assessment, then good luck.

I’ve never been offered this and I’m late 40s 🤔

that’s a private MOt btw, I’ve never been invited to an nhs one

It seems that there is quite a bit of variation in how these routine health checks are handled. However, there is nothing to stop us making an appointment with a nurse practitioner and requesting them. Last year I asked for a full blood panel and a FIT test and the nurse I saw ordered them for me.

I'm in the US, so a very different health care system. Here our insurance companies pay for their customers of all ages to get an annual physical with blood tests etc. They also pay in full for routine preventative care like mammograms, colonoscopies and immunizations. They for sure aren't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. It's because in the long run it saves them money.

I agree, @FrostyPalms .

One of the polyps found and removed when I had a colonoscopy was 14mm. 20mm or bigger is likely to be cancerous. If it hadn’t been removed it would have continued to grow. I had no symptoms whatsoever. Moreover, I’d had two FIT tests in the previous 4-5 years which didn’t suggest any abnormality.

It's just an MOT. If something crops up in the future then they'll have something to compare it to.

Just get it out of the way. I had blood tests alongside it.

Yep. I also had polyps removed during a colonoscopy. Without it I would have had no idea that they were there and they could have eventually become cancerous. Because of this I now have to have colonoscopies every 5 years instead of every 10. Not pleasant, but better than the alternative.

I had mine last year at 45, BMi normal, fit, healthy diet. My cholesterol and triglycerides came back through the roof. I've just had a diagnosis of genetic dyslipidemia from the consultant and am awaiting further genetic testing for familial hypercholestremia as it has uncovered a huge family history of heart attacks and heart issues (estranged from extended family so it wasnt openly talked about). It's been a shock and i'm glad I know i'm at higher risk of heart attack as I can do something about it. I would have never have known otherwise.