Doctor Xand Van Tulleken, who is a regular on BBC Morning Live, has warned that although “men are significantly more likely than women to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure”, they are less likely to see their GP – and often, these crucial health issues have “no symptoms”, he warns.
The morning show revealed that men are 32% less likely to see a GP than women, with the health expert explaining that MOT-type check-ups are key for men as it could spot something putting you at risk. And of course, the earlier you see this and treat it, the better the outcome.
Warning people “we could all be sitting here” with these health risks unknowingly, he further warned that “if we don’t know our blood pressure, we don’t know our cholesterol, we could be a high risk of problems and those problems will accumulate through the years.”
He stressed that “if you get on top of them early, you can prevent heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, dementia – really really significant things” – and they are treatable in good news, saying that “you don’t have to have them as silent killers”.
The doctor says that the risks are “easy to find and the investigations aren’t difficult”. Blood pressure and cholesterol are the “really big ones” stressing he has “no symptoms”. He warns that “if you’re a guy, start thinking about engaging with your GP”. But what if you don’t think you have these issues? Should you get checked anyway? Dr Xand says that if you are 40 to 75, you get a free check every five years on the NHS
“It’s a “detailed questionnaire about your life and risk so they can dig into things if they need to. That would be blood pressure, cholesterol, screening and checking you out for lots of different risk factors.”
With the news about Sir Chris Hoy and the cyclist urging men to never ignore their health, the doctor warns that “the earlier you get on top of a health problem,” the more treatment options you’ll have. Just recently, the Olympic gold medallist said that his diagnosis, which came in September 2023, was “completely out of the blue,” recalling there were “no symptoms, no warnings, nothing.”
“All I had was a pain in my shoulder and a little bit of pain in my ribs”. Despite two symptoms which he thought nothing of, he simply put it down to aches and pains from working out in the gym. But this ache and pain didn’t go away”, he said. Assuming it was “tendonitis”, the scan showed a tumour and it was “the biggest shock of my life. I remember the feeling of just absolute horror and shock”, he explained.
What are the risk factors for high blood pressure?
According to the NHS, things that increase your chances of having high blood pressure include:
- your age – you’re more likely to get high blood pressure as you get older
- having close relatives with high blood pressure
- your ethnicity – you’re at higher risk if you have a Black African, Black Caribbean or South Asian ethnic background
- having an unhealthy diet – especially a diet that’s high in salt
- being overweight
- smoking
- drinking too much alcohol
- feeling stressed over a long period
You can watch the full BBC Morning Live episode from today (Noveber 5) on BBC iPlayer here.
