Your Results

Name:

Date:
Introduction

Everyone is at risk of developing diabetes, heart disease,

kidney disease, stroke and dementia, and developing one
of these conditions could increase your risk of developing
another in the future.
Your risk increases with age. There are also certain things that
will put you at even greater risk. These are:
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Being overweight
Lack of physical activity
Smoking
Drinking too much alcohol
The good news is that these conditions can often be prevented.
The tests that you have had as part of your NHS Health Check
will help you and your healthcare professional discuss changes
that you might need to make to reduce your risk of developing
diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and dementia.
Use this booklet to record your results and set goals for
improving your lifestyle if necessary.
Blood pressure test

Your result

There are two measurements used to assess blood pressure:

Systolic pressure is the pressure exerted when your heart

pumps, forcing blood to move through your arteries, and
Diastolic pressure is the pressure exerted when your heart

is at rest, between beats
The result is usually described as, for example, ‘140 over 90’,
meaning a systolic pressure of 140mmHg and a diastolic pressure
of 90mmHg. This would be written: 140/90mmHg.
Ideally, we should all have blood pressure at or below
140 over 90 (140/90).
High blood pressure can be treated or prevented by making
changes to your lifestyle, such as exercising more regularly, eating
a healthier diet and cutting back on your consumption of alcohol.
Medicines are also available that can help lower your blood
pressure. Your healthcare professional will advise you about this.
You will be given advice about making changes to your lifestyle.
And you can visit nhs.uk/nhshealthcheck
Body Mass Index
(BMI) test

Your result

BMI is a measure of whether you are a healthy weight for your

height. However, it is only a guide and, for some people, BMI may
not take into account things like being particularly muscular.
If your BMI is less than 18.4, your result falls within the
underweight BMI range
If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, (18.5 and 22.9 for
Asian people) your result falls into the healthy BMI range
If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, (23 and 27.4 for
Asian people) your result falls into the overweight BMI range
If your BMI is greater than 30, (27.5 or more for Asian people)
you may be invited for another test to check that you do not
have diabetes
If your BMI is high, your healthcare professional can provide
you with advice and support on losing weight and reducing
your BMI. Also, there is lots of advice and support on
nhs.uk/nhshealthcheck
Cholesterol test

Your result

Cholesterol is a fat that is carried around your body in the blood.

It is vital that you have enough of it in your body to work properly.
But too much cholesterol can cause your arteries to become
blocked, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke.
A sample of your blood will be taken by your healthcare
professional to see what your levels of cholesterol are.
If your cholesterol level is too high, or the ratio is not ideal,
your healthcare professional will give you advice about how
to improve it. They may also consider prescribing you
cholesterol-lowering drugs.
If you do not have a high cholesterol level, you may still want to
take action to prevent it increasing by eating a healthy, balanced
diet that is low in saturated fat.
If you are overweight, losing weight should help reduce your
cholesterol level. You will be given advice about this and you
can also visit: nhs.uk/nhshealthcheck
Cardiovascular disease
risk score

Your result

Your healthcare professional will enter all the information

that they have collected about you into a computer programme
to assess your risk of having a cardiovascular event (a heart attack
or a stroke), over the next 10 years.
If your risk is high, you will be given advice about how to lower
your risk. You may be given medicines or offered further support
to help reduce your risk.
Whatever your result, even if your risk is assessed as being low,
you will be given advice about staying healthy.

Additional tests
If your BMI and/or your blood pressure results are high,
you may be advised to have a test to check to see if you
are at risk of developing diabetes.
If your blood pressure is higher than 140/90, you may be
referred to your GP for a further test to check that your
kidneys are working properly.
Alcohol and Smoking

Your result

Alcohol
Alcohol consumption can contribute to a range of health problems.
But these can take many years to develop, allowing people to
believe there are no negative impacts to their alcohol intake.
Regular drinking above the recommended daily limits can seriously
impact your health and be a significant component of weight gain,
even if you don’t get drunk or binge drink.
Risks include liver problems, reduced fertility, and high blood
pressure with the risks increasing the more you drink. Men and
women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units of
alcohol a week (6 pints of beer or glasses of wine). If you do drink
as much as 14 units in a week you should spread this out over three
or more days, but also have drink-free days each week.
Smoking
If you smoke you should be offered support and advice as part of
your NHS Health Check. Smoking increases the risks associated with
high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. The great news is that
you can reduce your risk over a period of time by stopping.
All areas have a free local NHS Stop Smoking Service which can
help you find your best way of stopping, providing the medication
and support you need. You are up to four times more likely to
quit if you use NHS support than if you go it alone.
To find your local service, call the NHS Smoking Helpline on
0300 123 1044, go to nhs.uk/smokefree or ask your
healthcare professional to refer you to your local service.
Healthy eating

A healthy and balanced diet, which includes at least five portions

of fruit and vegetables a day, is important to reach or maintain a
healthy weight and lifestyle.
Cut saturated fat
Choose lean cuts of meat and trim off extra fat before cooking
Bake, steam, poach or grill rather than fry or roast
Check food labels for saturated fat content
Use less meat and instead add bulk to sauces and stews
with vegetables or beans
Choose lower-fat dairy products, such as skimmed milk
and lower-fat yoghurt
Watch your salt intake
Too much salt can cause raised blood pressure. High blood
pressure is called the silent killer as it often has no symptoms,
and if you have high blood pressure you are three times more
likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke. One easy way
to eat less salt is to stop adding extra salt to your food during
cooking and at the dinner table.
Also, read food labels to avoid foods that are high in salt.
High is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium).
For healthy and tasty recipes visit nhs.uk/change4life/recipes
Physical activity

Your result

As part of your NHS Health Check, your physical activity level

will be measured and you will be given a score.
If you are not in the active category and you are interested in
increasing the amount of physical activity levels you do, you will
be offered help and support to gradually increase your activity.
Achieving 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity
on 5 days of the week helps prevent and manage over 20 chronic
diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney
disease, some cancers and depression.
Moderate intensity means how hard your body is working
when you are being physically active. You should still be able
to talk but your breathing will be quicker and deeper, your body
will be warming up and your heart will be beating faster than
normal but not racing.
The good news is that there are lots of different ways to
become active and benefit your health: from walking to
dancing; gardening to swimming; yoga to football, there will
be an activity there for you.
Search for the Change4life website for opportunities to become
more active in your local area.
Your goals

Use these pages to set yourself some goals to work towards.

Start off with one or two changes that you could make to
improve your health. Remember that small changes to your
lifestyle can make a big difference to your health.

What would you like to achieve?

What small thing can you commit to changing?

How can you measure it?

How will you know if you’re successful?

What might get in the way?

How will you stop that happening?

Who can help you?

Additional goals?

I agree to Date
these goals.
Useful
contacts

Name of person who delivered

your NHS Health Check:

Name:

Tel no:
Email:
Date:

For further information and advice call the

NHS Health Check helpline on (tel. number here)
Or visit (yourlocalNHShealthcheckURL here)

May ’14