Published 31 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1334
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1334

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Five yearly checks for over 40s will save 650 lives a year, says government

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Doctors in England will begin offering patients aged from 40 to 74 years a health check every five years from April, to identify and reduce their risk of vascular disease, the government has announced.

The checks will include questions about health, lifestyle, and family medical history, measurement of weight and height, and blood tests for cholesterol and, in some cases, glucose concentrations. These will be followed up with assessments telling patients their risk of vascular disease and what they can do to reduce it.

Modelling work by the Department of Health indicates that the checks will prevent at least 1600 heart attacks and strokes and save an estimated 650 lives each year. The checks will prevent a further 4000 people from developing diabetes, the department says, and 20 000 people will have diabetes and kidney disease detected a year earlier, allowing for better management.

In January the prime minister announced . . . [Full text of this article]

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