For maintaining good health and preventing long term conditions
Information
What is the NHS Health Check?
As we get older we have a higher risk of developing symptoms and conditions which may cause illness, pain, disability, and risk of premature death. These conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc, are called “long-term conditions” (LTCs).
The good news is that most of these conditions can be prevented (or at least postponed by many years) and managed. Sometimes they can even be reversed.
The most effective way to prevent these conditions is through early detection and lifestyle improvement.
The NHS cares about the health of all UK residents, and offers a free health check to everyone between the ages of 40 and 74. This helps to reduce their risk of developing long term conditions (LTCs).
The NHS health check includes taking several measurements, such as height, weight, blood pressure, a sample of blood (which can be just a tiny droplet of blood from the finger) to test cholesterol level and glucose level, and interviews the user/patient about their lifestyle. Based on this information (and prior analysis of the results of many thousands of patients) the health check can calculate the probability of them developing cardiovascular disease or other conditions such as diabetes of hypertension.
The important part of the healthcheck is the intervention and how to prevent it.
In most of the cases improving the main aspects of lifestyle – increase physical activity, improve their diet and reduce weight, reduce stress and improve sleep – can reduce the risk of most long-term conditions.
In some cases their GPs will also prescribe medication.
For more information please see the relevant section of the website.