How healthy are you?

How healthy are you?

Regular health checks are an important part of leading a healthy life.  Health checks are often an indicator of other health issues.  Consequently if abnormalities are caught early enough life style changes can be implemented to minimise the risk of developing disease.

As part of the Health and Wellbeing agenda at NUH, we organise quarterly health check events for staff including weight, BMI, waist measurement, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose. The next series of health checks are as follows:

January 2012
Tuesday 24 January               11.30-2pm       Ropewalk House
Wednesday 25 January          11.30-2pm       Queens Medical Centre
Thursday 26 January              11.30-2pm       City Hospital

Weight

Weight affects all aspects of life and is an important determinant of health.  It is vital that you maintain a healthy body weight as both being overweight and underweight carries severe health risks.

Having extra fat increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and some forms of cancer.  Furthermore, being overweigh or obese can have an impact on your quality of life, causing a loss in confidence and self esteem and can create difficulty when completing simple, everyday activities.

Conversely, being underweight can result in immune deficiencies, osteoporosis, anaemia and in females can cause periods to cease and infertility.

Two effective ways to determine weight is by calculating BMI and taking waist measurements.  Both methods are described below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/your_weight/

http://www.tree.com/health/obesity-effects.aspx

http://weightgain.lifetips.com/cat/61224/health-risks-of-being-underweight/index.html

www.nhs.uk/tools/Pages/healthyweightcalculator.aspx

BMI

BMI stands for body mass index and is a measure of body fat, based on your height and weight.  When using BMI it allows for variations between differing body types giving the healthy weight range for a particular height.

BMI is used to determine the risk of developing diseases that are associated with high levels of body fat.  Therefore, the higher your BMI is, the greater the possibility of having certain health problems, such as: heart disease, type two diabetes and high blood pressure.

Ideal ranges:
Underweight	<18.5
Normal	18.5 – 24.9
Overweight	25 – 29.9
Obese	>30

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/BodyMassIndex.aspx

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm

www.weightlossresources.co.uk/body_weight/healthy_weight/bmi_calculator.html

Waist measurement

Carrying excessive weight in the abdominal (middle) area is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.  It can also indicate high cholesterol levels in the body.

Most people carry weigh in either the middle area or on their hips and thighs.  It is recognised that weight around the middle puts a patients’ health at a much greater risk than if the weight was situated around the hips and thighs.  Therefore, taking a waist measurement is an important indicator of health.

To measure waist circumference you need to take a tape measure and place it around the narrowest point of your waist, which is below the ribs and above the hip.  When taking this measurement it is important that you are breathing out.

Ideal range:
Men                                         Less than 94cm (37inches)
Women                                   Less than 80cm (32inches)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/your_weight/whatis_bmi.shtml

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/Appleorpear.aspx

BMI is useful when calculating whether an individual is the correct weight; however it does not provide information on where that weight is situated.  Therefore, waist measurement is more accurate when assessing the risk of developing further complications.  BMI may also indicate that an individual is overweight but this could be due to muscle mass rather than fat.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatty substance otherwise known as a lipid.  It is produced by the liver and is found in the foods that we eat.

Cholesterol can not travel around the body by itself because it does not dissolve in the blood; therefore it is transported via molecules known as lipoproteins.  The two main types of lipoproteins are low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL).

Both have differing roles:

• LDL transports cholesterol away from the liver to cells in the body where it can be utilised.  However, excessive levels cause an accumulation of cholesterol in the arteries, whish results in disease.  This means that LDL cholesterol is harmful, hence the term ‘bad’ cholesterol.
• HDL transports cholesterol from cells in the body back to the liver.  In the liver HDL is broken down so that it can be removed from the body.  Therefore, HDL cholesterol has a protective role and is known as ‘good’ cholesterol.

It is important to determine cholesterol levels, particularly LDL levels, as high amounts of ‘bad’ cholesterol in the blood have serious health risks, causing stroke and heart disease.  High levels of cholesterol in the body can also be known as hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia.

Cholesterol levels are determined by a simple blood test.  It is of particular importance to have a cholesterol test if:

• Over 40 years of age
• A family history of cardiovascular disease
• A close family relative has a cholesterol-related decision
• Overweight/obese
• Have high blood pressure
• Have diabetes
• A diagnosis of coronary heart disease or stroke

Ideal range: Cholesterol levels less than 5mmol/L
                      LDL cholesterol levels less than 3mmol/L

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbc/HBC_Causes.html

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cholesterol/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is defined as the pressure of blood in the arteries.  This is highest when the heart pumps blood (in systole) and lowest when the heart is relaxing between beats (in diastole).  Therefore blood pressure comprises of two numbers, which provides a reading of systolic blood pressure over diastolic blood pressure.

High blood pressure is known as hypertension.  Over time, high blood pressure can cause the heart to become enlarged; therefore it begins to pump less efficiently.  It is also a major cause of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Blood pressure can be checked by a GP or health care professional.  It is important that individuals over the age of 40 get their blood pressure checked every five years.  This is achieved using a sphygmomanometer.

Ideal range: 120/80

http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/conditions/high-blood-pressure.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-pressure-(high)/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx

Blood glucose

Blood glucose testing measures the amount of glucose in the blood. It is performed to check whether a patient has diabetes or to monitor blood glucose levels in a diabetic.  Blood glucose levels fluctuate much more widely in diabetes; however it is normal for a peak after meals and it to be low in the morning.

It is important that blood glucose levels are controlled as continually high glucose levels can cause damage to blood vessels.  This can then cause: retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular disease.

There are numerous tests that can be used to check blood glucose, including: random blood glucose level, fasting blood glucose level and an oral glucose tolerance test.  A random blood glucose test can be performed regardless of when you last ate and a reading of 11.1mmol/L or more indicates diabetes.

http://diabetes.webmd.com/blood-glucose

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Blood-Test-Glucose.htm

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/glucose/test.html

 

You can also take the NHS online life check

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/LifeCheck.aspx