Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.
Last week we explored all those health checks you can easily do from the comfort of your own home. However, there are also some other very important tests that need to be done by a Health Professional on a regular basis and I hope that you are up-to-date with these too because they are vitally important to your health and life-span.
Mammogram
Currently, the NHS invite women for breast cancer screening from age 50 up to their 71st birthday. If we are aged 71 or over, the NHS does not automatically invite us for breast screening.
However, we do have the right to free screening every 3 years if we ask. All we need to do is phone or write to our local breast screening unit to make an appointment. Visit www.nhs.uk to look up the contact details of your local unit. But do we remember to do it?
Recently, I was asked to sign a petition requesting the Government extend the cut-off age for automatic invitations for breast screening, I think most of the women I see regularly in my classes and my walking groups signed it as all of us fall outside of the cut-off age and we all have concerns that this is too early. Many of us know of women in our local community who have been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and who had not been invited for a mammogram, due to being outside the age bracket. Sadly, many women are unaware that we can book our own appointments.
As we get older our risk of developing breast cancer increases, with about 1 in 3 occurring in women over 71. So, stopping automatic invitations for screening at that point does not seem to make any sense.
What we hadn’t realised, however, was that about 4,000 women are affected by what is called a false-positive (sometimes called over-diagnosis) and as we get older the risk of over-diagnosis is greater. The reasoning is that women over 71 can end up having treatment they do not need as their cancer would never be life-threatening.
My group of ladies are all very fit for their age and the research shows that if our health is good, and we have a life-expectancy of more than 5 years beyond the age of 71, then it must be a good idea to continue with screening.
My group members are a generation of healthy older women and by far the majority of us definitely expect to live for another 5 years. But what about you? Understandably, this is a bit of a hot topic and not easy to unravel all the issues that need to be considered, but if you have not had a mammogram for more than 3 years, you are over 71, and you feel you meet the criteria above, why not book yourself in directly with your local breast screening unit.
Smear Test
Screening for cervical cancer starts at age 25 up to the age of 64. Invitations are sent every 3 years between the ages of 25 and 49 and then drop to every 5 years between the ages of 50 and 64.
This test is looking for abnormal cells in the cervix (the neck of the womb) and the changes are caused by a very common virus called human papillomavirus (HPV). There are many strains of this virus and some are 'high risk', causing the development of cervical cancer. Screening prevents the cancer from developing because it can find and remove these abnormal cells before they develop into full-blown cancer.
So why does the screening stop at age 64? Well, it's because it is estimated that it takes between 10 and 20 years for the HPV to develop into abnormal cells, and then into cervical cancer. The reasoning is that a woman over the age of 64, who has been regularly screened, is highly unlikely to go on to develop the disease.
If your final three screening tests in the 15 years running up to turning 65 have been normal, then you will not be invited for further screening. If you have had abnormal results then you will still be called until you have three tests showing no abnormal cells.
If you are over 64 and never had cervical screening then you are entitled to be screened. You can contact your local GP practice for an appointment. On one of my screenings, I remember the nurse showing me a whole pile of ‘non-responders’ to being called for screening. It seems there may be quite a lot of women out there who chose not to be screened!
Blood Pressure
These days it may be that you have your own blood pressure monitor at home and you don't need a Health Professional to keep a check. If not, however, I noticed when I walked past my local pharmacy this morning that there was a huge sign on the door encouraging you to have a blood pressure check inside if you are over 40 years old. No appointment is necessary! So, no excuses then. We should all have a pretty good idea what our blood pressure is and whether we fall into the healthy ranges below:
"Normal" Blood Pressure by Age
| Age |
Women |
Men |
| 18 - 39 |
110/68 mm Hg |
119/70 mm Hg |
| 40 - 59 |
122/74 mm Hg |
124/77 mm Hg |
| 60+ |
139/68 mm Hg |
133/69 mm Hg |
Blood pressure is recorded with 2 numbers. The systolic pressure (higher number) is the force at which our heart pumps blood around our body when our heart beats. The diastolic pressure (lower number) measures the pressure between the beats when our heart is at rest. They're both measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).
The big problem when our blood pressure is too high is that we don't even know – it is often called the silent killer. Plenty of reasons to get tested then!
So, as you see from the chart there is an expectation that blood pressure rises as we age. This is due to the blood vessels becoming more stiff and plaque building up in them. However, we can keep those blood vessels pliable by doing plenty of aerobic exercise (that’s anything that makes you puff a bit), which pumps more blood through those vessels, keeping them pliable for longer!
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in our blood and will only be discovered through a blood test. It may be that you have familial hypercholesterolaemia which runs in families. In this case it is even more important to keep your cholesterol intake low through your diet and to do plenty of exercise.
Understanding cholesterol readings is too complicated to include here but if you want to have a good understanding I recommend the website Heart UK: The Cholesterol Charity.
Eye and Hearing Tests
Both of these are readily available and are often free at either the larger pharmacies or the opticians. So much can be diagnosed through having both these done, probably on an annual basis.
By looking for changes in the optic nerve an optician can tell if glaucoma is present and by looking at the retina, signs of macular degeneration can be detected. Early detection of cataracts can be seen by looking at the lens, and finally, the eyes’ arteries and veins can show signs of diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol damage. As you will realise, our eyes tell us much more than just how much we can see!
Hearing loss is detected by the tiny hair cells in the inner ears showing signs of wear and tear. If we need the TV very loud and we struggle to hear in a crowded room, then it may be that we need our hearing tested.
As you can see, it just makes sense to keep up to date with our various health checks. We are so lucky to live in a country where all these tests are available to us and without hurting our purse strings!
