talkhealth forums

Hi all

I am 43 and was talking to a friend who is 46 recently and we got onto the subject of health. He said he gets his bloods done/checked every year privatetly (he lives in Dubai). He said if there is one thing to spend my money on healthwise over 40 is to get my bloods done yearly as it can catch the signs of many issues early on.

I've looked on the internet and there just seem to be so many different companies offering blood checks such as Numan, York test etc and have varying levels of what is checked (and price reflects this). I have also read up that some of these 'online' companies can not be reliable and really to properly test your bloods you need the NHS to do this via referral from a Doctor, but a GP will only request your bloods to be checked if you have a potential issue.

Any recommendations/thoughts or advice would be appreciated

I have a fair number of blood tests every year. I am under the care of a doctor and have been diagnosed with a few health problems. I can't say exactly but your doctor would need a reason to arrange a blood test. Certainly if you were diagnosed with a long-term illness you'd most likely need at least one blood test on the NHS every year.

I do think your doctor is the first person you must contact. If you're ill or have symptoms of an illness you may well have to attend a blood test on the NHS via your doctor's instructions. I don't think they'd organize yearly blood tests without medical reason, though.