From following you guys for a while, I understand that two important things you recommend everyone to regularly monitor are blood lipids and blood pressure… are there any other ones you guys recommend to keep track of?
I’m a healthy 26M with a good diet and meet the physical exercise recommendations but have never got blood work done before, but I check my blood pressure at the free machines at the pharmacy section at my local grocery store maybe once a year (are these things accurate by the way?). How often would you recommend to test blood pressure and blood lipids if you don’t know if your family has any prior history of cardiovascular problems? And is there an easier way to get these tests done without a doctor’s referral?
In general, the blood pressure monitors in drug stores and similar are fairly close to those obtained in the clinic. This is not universal of course, as people requiring different-sized cuffs, postural errors, and more can be sources of significant error.
We would NOT recommend getting lab work done without seeing a medical professional. A thorough history and physical exam will provide the clinician with information pertinent to ordering tests, e.g. which ones and why. It will also help them interpret the results appropriately, which you cannot do yourself.
I know you guys don’t recommend screening if I don’t have any symptoms, but you do recommend seeing a professional for blood pressure, lipids, and depression? How would you go about doing this, just booking an appointment with my family doctor and asking for a history and physical exam?
Yep. I think it’s a good idea to establish a relationship a health care professional with whom you have good rapport. Seems like now is a good time to do that for you!
Just to be clear here: our position is not that we “don’t recommend screening if you don’t have any symptoms”.
Screening, by definition, involves evaluating people who have no symptoms. If someone presents with symptoms and we evaluate these symptoms, that testing is diagnostic. We discuss this further here.
We recommend screening for conditions where there is evidence that early diagnosis – even in people who have no signs or symptoms – can lead to interventions that improve outcomes. This is definitively applicable when it comes to blood pressure and lipids, which is why those are listed in the 7 health priorities article, as well as in their respective articles ( here and here )