We all know that ‘prevention is better than cure’ – that’s why we regularly service our cars and our gas central heating boilers and that’s why we visit our dentist regularly. In order to keep everything running smoothly we regularly check its all OK and, if there is a problem, hopefully we’ll have found out about it early enough to make sure we don’t have a big bill to pay or lots of pain to endure!
Unfortunately that's not how we treat the most important thing in our lives - our own bodies and our own health. The only time we ever seem to go to the doctor is when we are feeling unwell - then it’s already too late to avoid the problem and all we can do is try to cure ourselves of it. Thankfully this can most often be done with the help of prescribed medication but occasionally when more serious illnesses strike, very little can be done in the absence of early detection
Cancer and heart disease together account for the vast majority of premature deaths in the UK and many would have been avoidable with early detection. But there are many other illnesses and conditions which are not necessarily life threatening but are nonetheless very serious and make people's lives very miserable
In the UK 250,000 people have Type 1 diabetes and just over 1.5 million have Type 2 diabetes
But more amazingly, it is estimated that there are up to one million people who have Type 2 diabetes but haven't been diagnosed yet!
Early detection can help to avoid or, at the very least, alleviate long term health complications through proper diagnosis and treatment
All of us who are 30 plus years old need to take a proactive approach to our healthcare needs
These tests should be done routinely as part of our annual health MOT:
Full Haematology Profile (blood test)
Cholesterol Test (cardiac risk factor)
Glucose Test (check for diabetes)
PSA (prostate test for men)
Cervical Smear (women only)
Weight and Body Mass Index assessment
Urine Analysis
ECG (heart)
Lung Function Test
Blood Pressure Check
Lifestyle Questionnaire and General Review