About to hit 40 and certainly not in the best shape of my life (but not terrible). I definitely want to be here for my family for another 40yrs though. No real reason why but developing an irrational fear of leaving my son father less prematurely.

Anyone decided to get a health screening and can they recommend one? No issue going private if worth it. I have not been to a doctor in about 20yrs so no idea what services NHS could provide if no actual health concerns exist.

Would be good if it could cover some kind of fitness or heart screening. Would quite like to train for another marathon (5yrs since I did one) so be good to know if there’s any concerns.

I had one through work’s health insurance plan, it was with Blue Crest: https://www.bluecrestwellness.com

The deal was half price which I think was about £125.

The fitness test was a joke, 2 mins of step ups on a tiny step, I was chatting to the guy all the way through it and by the time he took my pulse at the end it had gone back to resting, from probably resting + 20. It’s mainly aimed at people about to have a cardiac arrest where walking up half a flight of stairs is considered a major effort.

Other than that basic stuff, pulse, blood pressure, BMI and a load of blood tests for all sorts of markers. You get a report but that’s pretty poor eg it doesn’t really explain what half the blood tests mean and gives daft ranges for some things. I went to my GP as something was out of their ‘OK’ range and into the ‘need to do something range’, she just laughed and said she wouldn’t care until it was about 10x higher at which point they might take an interest but only if I had other symptoms…

First of all, I am not a doctor. (I laughed as a wrote that because I am a dr but of entirely a less useful sort).
Footflaps experience describes quite well why a health check isn’t particularly useful. As a broad screening test, the most useful question you can be asked is ‘have you recently experienced a problem with xxx’. If the answer is no, there’s little point in more specific tests. You might pay to have some diagnostic tests carried out on your heart and lungs for example, but unless there’s something chronically wrong the tests we have today will only tell you if you have a problem in need of urgent care, they won’t answer your question of whether you will live to see your children into their 40’s.

The best way to protect your ambition is to follow all the usual advice of live well, eat well, exercise well, and love well. Seems like you’ve got most of it covered.

Why do you need a health questionnaire to tell you you are unhealthy? (You have said that yourself)

Maybe you are motivated by someone telling you the truth?

If you want, pay me £50 and I will tell you you are getting fat, increasing your chances of heart disease, diabetes, serious complications with COVID (or death), never be able to see your willy again.

Cheers all some interesting thoughts so maybe need to think on it more.

As you say – day to day stuff I know where I can improve to reduce risk. I guess I was hoping there was something that might give a better indication of damage already caused.

Just go to A&E, clutching your chest and slurring and tell them you’ve got a severe headache and your left side is all floppy.

I guess I was hoping there was something that might give a better indication of damage already caused.

IIRC they can’t tell how furred up your arteries are without an angiogram, which they only do if they suspect something is bad ie you have symptoms like out of breath when walking etc. As for kidney / liver failure, if its really bad it would probably show up in blood tests, but unlikely you’re that far gone unless you’re an alcoholic / drug user etc.

A basic cholesterol test at your GP / Boots is probably the best VFM option.