Well Men’s Health Checks

A well men’s health check should be an annual event for any man, particularly anyone over the age of 50. Although you may see your GP when you are sick or to get a new script, in a busy modern practice a through check up can often be forgotten. Unfortunately this means that your risk factors for many medical conditions are growing unchecked as well.
In our study on men with pre-diabetes, we found 10% of men who previously considered themselves healthy had either pre-diabetes or diabetes. Pre-diabetes, like many other conditions can be reversed before it turns into something more serious if it is detected early enough. Without early detection you may be looking at a lifetime of medication and serious health consequences.

What we do

• Measure your height and weight: this is important for calculating your BMI. A high BMI is a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease and many other conditions.
• Waist measurement: Another important indicator for diabetes, heart disease and other conditions.
• Check your blood pressure: An unchecked high blood pressure can put you at risk for cardiovascular disease.
• A complete physical: Problems in all parts of your body can show signs that can be picked up by a doctor during a physical.  For example, if you have a problem with your heart a doctor may notice an irregular heartbeat, a pale skin or signs of poor circulation in your arms and legs.
• An ECG: If your doctor thinks that this is necessary we can perform an ECG on site. An ECG measures the activity inside your heart; most heart problems will disrupt this activity so an ECG is a very good measure of the health of your heart.
• A review of your lifestyle: Our doctors will go through with you all aspects of your lifestyle. Although people know that they should not smoke, drink and need to eat healthily and exercises. People are often unclear on the specifics, such as how much exercise they need or if their diet is really healthy. Our doctors can help you with this.
• A prostate check: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Even if not cancerous, an enlarged prostate can cause uncomfortable urinary symptoms for many men.
• A cholesterol check: A raised cholesterol increases your risk for cardiovascular disease.
• A glucose check: Increased glucose can be a sign of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Untreated high blood glucose can cause serious damage to all the organs in your body so the sooner this is treated the better.
• A kidney function check: Kidney disease is often called a silent disease as there are no or few signs until the person is approaching kidney function.
• A liver function check:  A variety of lifestyle choices can cause damage to your liver. Early detection provides you with an opportunity to change these lifestyle choices and allow your liver to recover.
• Hormonal check: Your doctor may recommend this if he feels that you may have a lowered testosterone.

Most important of all though, is that we will provide you with time to talk. Most of us have niggling concerns about our health that we ignore, not wanting to bother the doctor with what feels like a small issue. Sometimes, we have other concerns such as sexual or psychological issues that we don’t want to make an appointment with a doctor just to discuss. A well men’s check is the perfect time to bring up these concerns.