Check ups

Having a checkup with your local GP is a great way to head off trouble. The reality is as we get older our risks increase from the two big disease groups, cardiovascular disease and cancers. So your doctor is committed to picking up these problems early to reduce or remove those risks. With regard to cardiovascular disease, having a simple blood test to check your cholesterol levels, sugar levels and other parameters is most worthwhile. Your doctor will also check your blood pressure, encourage you to exercise and help you to stop smoking. In the field of cancer prevention there are lots of things that can be checked including skin checkups, mammograms and pap smears for the ladies, bowel cancer checks such as the faecal occult blood test and prostate checks. Meanwhile your GP will recommend lots of other things that you can check such as having your eyes checked for high pressures or what is called glaucoma. All of us are busy and there are always more fun things to do that having a checkup, but maybe around your birthday, using it as a prompt to go for it to your GP and have a general check.

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