As part of the services we provide, all eligible service users will be given the opportunity to have an NHS Health Check, a simple procedure that gives excellent insight into the future health risks of service users in your area.
Who needs an NHS Health Check?
Offered to all Adults in England between the age of 40 and 74, the Health Check measures several different variables, assessing the service user’s chances of developing certain conditions such as dementia, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
Age is one of the biggest reasons behind the risks of service users developing these ailments goes up. As well as advancing years, however, there are several other factors that can increase a service user’s chances of suffering from any or all (developing one significantly increase the risks of getting another) of these maladies.
What does an NHS Health Check achieve?
Potential risk factors include being overweight, eating unhealthily, smoking, pursuing an inactive lifestyle, drinking too much alcohol, as well as having high blood pressure and cholesterol. By having an NHS health check, this means early signs of these conditions are more likely to be caught and the above risk factors can be mitigated and brought to heel earlier, reducing the risks of service users developing some life-threatening conditions in the future.
What does an NHS Health Check involve?
The health check itself is a simple procedure, lasting for between 20 and 30 minutes. It involves the service user answering certain questions, having their cholesterol and blood pressure checked, alongside recording their height, weight, gender and ethnicity.
What happens next?
Service users will be told precisely what their results mean and, if necessary, they will be asked to return at a later date. Service users with slightly raised blood pressure may have to have their kidneys tested via a further blood test, while another blood test may be required to check for type 2 diabetes.
Once all the checks have been carried out, service users may well be prescribed a course of treatment or medication in order to help prevent or reduce the risks of that person suffering from any of these serious conditions in later life.
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