I’ve been summoned for an NHS health check, apparently because they don’t see me often enough 
Never had one before, no idea what’s involved - can anyone advise? They’ll flip at my cholesterol I know, as I get my bloods done privately every six months. Ratios are fantastic but by archaic medical standards…
New customers required? Guessing they’ll do some bloods etc…
Take it as a free data collection point and tell them to piss off if they offer meds?
You could try the Feldman drop protocol (eat very low cal/nothing for 3 days, then high fat, high calories for 3 days, then fast 12-14 hours, water only, get test taken). It has a good chance of lowering TC and LDL, but if you start high enough, it doesn’t matter. For instance, if your LDL is 200 and you decrease it even by 40%, you’re only at 120. Depending on what the rules there are, that’ll be too high. Must statinate! 
I haven’t had one of these appointments, because I have regular monitoring for a couple of conditions so they do my HbA1c, thyroid function and cholesterol on a regular basis. Mr S recently had a ‘well man’ check-up (which seemed to just be general stuff like FBC, HbA1c and cholesterol, nothing specifically man-related at all!). 
That was the week after he started keto. His cholesterol came back at 6.7, and they recommended statins. He declined, saying he would ‘take steps to improve his diet*’ and could they let him know as and when they wanted him back for a re-test.
My last cholesterol test was an astonishing 4.5 - down from fives and sixes the last twice! They like diabetics to be sub-4, but I was delighted that mine was now back in the sub-5 recommended level for the general population. Had my latest routine tests on Friday, two weeks after the conclusion of my 10-day period of carnivore. Wonder what’ll turn up?!
I wouldn’t worry too much about your health check - frankly it sounds like a box-ticking exercise with some standard monitoring tests (so they can shove the Eatwell Plate down your throat, no doubt!).
And nice one for not having been to the doctor for five years - that’s so cool! 
*the steps he’s taken have been to KC and KO! 
It says you’re “invited”…are you allowed to decline? Just send them a RSVP card thanking them but declining their invitation.
I’m trying to decide if i want to lose part of my very limited free time to these number crunchers… I’ve already declined the flu jab. I have a feeling it’s one of those “if you don’t do this we will remove you from our patient list” exercises…
I think about it this way. At some point, you might need a doctor. You need someone to go to when you actually do get sick. To me, they are a necessary evil. Also, in the US, you can’t get access to continuous glucose monitors without a doctor’s prescription. So, if you want to test those, you can’t.
I personally don’t get the flu shot, though I know people who swear by it. But we all wash our hands as soon as we enter the house, if anything comes in, we immediately start eldeberry syrup, gargling, ear cleansing, etc. Also, it seems as if I get a lot less sick in general since starting low carb, and when I do, it’s milder. I have a slight “cold” now, and it’s minor.
But at some point, I’ll likely need a doctor.
If your doctor gets stroppy about your numbers, send him or her a few links to presentations by David and Jen Unwin. You can use Dave Feldman’s protocol to manipulate your lipid numbers, but he doesn’t really like it when people use the protocol to lie to their doctors, and I understand his reasoning.
If you don’t manipulate your lipids, your doctor is required by NICE guidelines to prescribe a statin for LDL above a certain level, but you are not required to take the drug, or even to get the prescription filled, as I understand U.K. law. Another link to perhaps go armed with is the video of Aseem Malhotra’s presentation to Parliament, in which he discusses how overprescribed statins are and the side effects they can cause. He also mentioned some of his clinical experiences with improved health from de-prescribing statins.
It is worth noting, by the way, that Professor Sir Rory Collins, the Oxford researcher who controls all the statin study data on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, simultaneously maintains that statins cause no side effectts, while profiting from the royalties yielded by a genetic test that detects whether a patient is likely to suffer from side effects of taking a statin.
P.S.—David Diamond has numerous videos on YouTube of his various presentations on statins and the cholesterol myth. They are entertainingly delivered and solidly backed by scientific data. His exposé of the statistical manipulations used by statin manufacturers to claim benefits for their products is very helpful. He, Malcolm Kendrick, Uffe Ravnskov, Michel de Lorgeril, and other internationally respected researchers have published, jointly and severally, a number of papers discussing these statistical shenanigans and disputing the relevance of cholesterol levels to assessing cardiovascular risk. (Most of these papers can be found on PubMed, by the way.)
Just accept, it’s not just about cholesterol levels and fighting off force-fed statins!
It’s about your relationship with your GP, and it’s up to you.
I’ve recently had a similar appointment and asked for all sorts of obscure bloods - just think wide, ask and justify your request. Hopefully your GP will be as obliging as mine.
I think you should count yourself fortunate that they want to see you given the current NHS situation. However, being able to book an appointment might be another story.
For context to non-UK people, being able to speak to a GP surgery on phone and finding an available appointment these days takes similar effort to landing man on moon (obviously over exaggerated but feels like it).
That’s the main reason I haven’t booked it tbh. My surgery is the biggest and most over-subscribed in the area. The phones are on a stacking system combined with various automated switchboards.
20 mins, if you’re lucky, to get through to the first number which enables you to choose between reception for today’s appts, receptions for future appts, repeat prescriptions, nurses, etc - then back into the queue for at least that long again to get through to the next stage, most often to be told there’s nothing available.
I might actually call in and book it as I’ve got time off work for the holiday now.
