Ten essential checks to beat the silent killers
F YOU ARE not feeling well you should go to the doctor; if you are feeling well there is probably nothing wrong with you. These are common misconceptions. It might indeed be the case that if you feel well you are well — but there are illnesses which could cost you your life but which may have no symptoms until it is too late.
Dr Harjeev Rai, a GP whose company Cadogan Health conducts screenings at the Spire Bushey Hospital, recalls an instance: “I saw a patient about two months ago. He felt fine and he was working full-time. We did a prostate test on him as part of a medical and we realised that he was in the advanced stages of prostate cancer. There are people like him who have no symptoms but who have a problem. He has gone for radical surgery and chemotherapy but, had it not been for this, he would have had a terminal diagnosis.”
This is an extreme example but there are plenty of people who go for tests only to realise that they have very high cholesterol or blood pressure which is a significant signpost of future illness if not addressed. Dr Rai says: “We see a handful of people periodically who have no idea that their blood pressure is two or three times what it should be. They call it the silent killer, because often the first time we hear about it is when the patient has had a huge coronary or a massive stroke.”
His advice is that you should be checked from age 40 for problems such as prostate cancer for men; cervical and breast cancer for women, plus bowel, heart, kidney, liver, cholesterol, blood pressure and thyroid testing. “We exclude the expensive, exotic tests and concentrate on the common things, because these are the things which are most likely to get you. If we pick up something unusual in a medical we will say go to a GP and get this checked out.”
Above all, Dr Rai suggests that we are honest with ourselves about what might be a problem. “Be self-aware. If you are overweight and smoke, drink alcohol and have a stressful job, then by age 45 the alarm bells should already be ringing. Do you have waterworks issues? Getting up regularly at night perhaps? Is there erectile dysfunction? These could be signs of prostate problems. Think of the other things you might be observing. Are there wild fluctuations in your weight? Is there blood in you bowel movements? Are you feeling tired at all times? Do you have regular headaches?”
While he says that a screening is always a good idea, he adds that if you have any of the above problems you should go to the GP at once. “A GP has a 10-minute window. So there is no point saving up all your complaints and going to the doctor with a long shopping list. The most important thing might be missed. Getting a problem seen to early is absolutely the key.”