Key points to note:
- This health check is fully Medicare funded.
- All patients between 45-49 years of age, with a risk factor for chronic disease such as heart disease. This can include almost anything including family history, previous smoking risk, high blood pressure, raised cholesterol or sugars, being overweight for example.
- We invite you to book an initial consult with your GP to discuss whether you might be eligible (initial out of pocket fees may apply).
- The health check itself is comprehensive and will determine any courses of action that might help reduce your risk into the future. Our GP’s and nurses are well trained in providing tailored health advice to your needs.
One of my favourite mottos is, ‘prevention is better than cure’. We live in an age where we are so busy, on the go and have little time to stop. The truth is that we are ignoring some very basic steps we could be taking to help reduce risk of life-threatening illness.
Without sounding alarmist, it is crucial to be ahead of illnesses that could occur in the later part of our lives. That is why 45-49 is the perfect age to get a full check-over. Our assessments can include a head-to-toe check of where you are at, including aspects such as heart health and an ECG, lung health and lung function testing, mental health, sexual health, nutrition and sleep and skin health, but not just this, we aim to tailor any screening programs that might be required. For example, the cervical screening check, bowel cancer screening, mammograms, bone density and prostate health checks can all be performed at this age if not already started.
It is easy to ignore doing health checks, because, let’s be honest, ‘why fix what isn’t broken’. But in healthcare this couldn’t be further from the truth. We aren’t fixing, we are preventing, we are using our lens into the future to ascertain what could help you to stay healthy and live longer. There is incredible evidence around certain aspects of health that many people aren’t aware of. One of those is blood pressure. Higher readings of blood pressure can more than double the risk of stroke or heart attack. It doesn’t take much to fix this – it could be salt reduction, exercise, weight loss or medication. The tricky part of this is we don’t feel blood pressure, often until it is too late. This is why screening makes sense and seeing your GP at this age is a good time to start.