The NHS Health Check will assess your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. Once you have a clearer picture of your risk, you’ll be given advice and assistance to help you reduce it.
Together, these four conditions are the largest cause of death in the UK. These diseases each affect the body in different ways. But all four diseases are linked by a common set of risk factors. Having one of these diseases can increase your risk of developing another.
Some of the risk factors are things that we can’t change:
But most of the risk factors are things we can change:
- obesity
- amount of physical activity
- diet
- smoking
- blood pressure
- cholesterol
To understand the impact that these four diseases have on the body, we need to look at the vascular system.
The vascular system
When your heart beats, it moves blood around your body through a series of elastic tubes called arteries and veins. This network of tubes is called the vascular system.
- Arteries carry blood away from the heart.
- Veins carry blood back to the heart.
This continual movement of blood around your body is called circulation. The vascular system is sometimes called the circulatory system.
Healthy circulation is essential for your body to work properly. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all the tissues and organs in your body, including your heart, muscles and brain.
Why do arteries stop working?
The arteries that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body can become blocked. This is the most common kind of circulatory disease.
A build-up of fatty substances, which stick to the inner walls of the arteries, makes them partially blocked (or 'furred up') and blood can't pass through them properly. Over time, the arteries can also become less flexible. The 'furred up' areas can develop blood clots that completely block the arteries, preventing blood from passing through them.
This narrowing and hardening of the arteries is called atherosclerosis. It can happen over a period of years or decades without causing any noticeable symptoms. But if some arteries get so blocked that they no longer allow enough blood to pass through them, it can cause serious health problems.
How do blocked arteries relate to the vascular diseases?
When a part of the body is not supplied with enough blood, it suffers from a lack of nutrients and oxygen. This can damage tissues in that part of the body or, in some cases, kill the tissues.
- Heart attack most commonly occurs when a coronary artery (supplying blood to the heart) becomes blocked by fatty deposits, or a blood clot caused by those deposits. This causes a sudden decrease in blood supply to the heart.
- Stroke most commonly occurs when an artery that supplies blood to the brain becomes blocked by fatty deposits or a blood clot caused by those deposits, causing a sudden decrease in blood supply to the brain.
- Kidney disease in its most common form is caused by changes in the arteries of the kidneys. These changes are usually caused by the side effects of high blood pressure. This can make the kidneys stop working properly.
- Type 2 diabetes is linked to a range of vascular diseases. It results in a raised level of glucose, a type of sugar, in the blood. If the blood glucose level is not kept under control, diabetes damages the blood vessels and increases the risk of stroke, heart disease and kidney disease, and other health conditions including eye problems. Proper management of diabetes reduces these risks.
Who gets vascular diseases?
We are all at risk of the vascular diseases. That risk increases with age.
But the good news is that all of these conditions can be prevented, even if there's a history of them in your family.
There's plenty of evidence to show that people who are physically active, eat a healthy and balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight and don’t smoke are much less likely to develop the main vascular diseases.
Your NHS Health Check will tell you and your GP what your risk is of developing these diseases. That means you can take action early, and greatly improve your chance of a healthier, longer life. Small, long-lasting changes to your lifestyle can make a huge difference. Learn more in What is NHS Health Check?
