Health check/kick up the arse

[Harry Bosch]

I had a phone call from a friend in Phuket this morning, he told me that a friend of ours passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning from a massive heart attack.

D M was only 44 years old, a real lovely man, a big happy jovial fellow maybe a little over weight he drank quite a lot but not drunk but every night, he also smoked.

It’s worth getting a health check every year for around 7-8 thousand Baht. It could be the kick up the arse to save a life, don’t you think?

[pdm3547]

My last health check in the UK consisted of BP, cholesterol, weight check.

Entered into a NHS website with some other details, it gave you the 10year risk of heart disease. Mine came out at less than 3%, although I'm a bit podgy and drink a bit too much.

I'll try and find the website and maybe you can get the measurements yourself.

[pdm3547]

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/cardiov ... calculator

I see that you need HDL and LDL cholesterol levels as well. I expect any HH hospital will arrange this for you.

[hhfarang]

You can get a complete blood test including all the normal cell counts plus cholesterol numbers, liver tests, as well as a complete urinalysis at the Hua Hin lab center on the Palau Road for 800 baht. The results come 2 days later with anything out of normal range marked in red. The tech explains the numbers to you plus there is an explanation and recommendations on the last page.

All this for 800 baht... I do it every six months, so that I can track any dramatic changes even within normal range. If it shows anything serious, then you can make an appointment with a doctor elswhere.

The only other thing that most people need is a chest x-ray and maybe an abdominal ultrasound, which I get once a year at either a Bangkok hospital or Petcharat in Petchaburi. Women of course may need or want an annual pap smear and breast exam from a hospital as well.

[richard]

You can get a complete blood test including all the normal cell counts plus cholesterol numbers, liver tests, as well as a complete urinalysis at the Hua Hin lab center on the Palau Road for 800 baht. The results come 2 days later with anything out of normal range marked in red. The tech explains the numbers to you plus there is an explanation and recommendations on the last page.

All this for 800 baht... I do it every six months, so that I can track any dramatic changes even within normal range. If it shows anything serious, then you can make an appointment with a doctor elswhere.

The only other thing that most people need is a chest x-ray and maybe an abdominal ultrasound, which I get once a year at either a Bangkok hospital or Petcharat in Petchaburi. Women of course may need or want an annual pap smear and breast exam from a hospital as well.

I use the same place once a month for my INR checks and occasionally my doctor recommends the full monty. So simple and so reassuring. The results can be sent direct to your doctor or can be collected or even emailed

[Harry Bosch]

The only other thing that most people need is a chest x-ray and maybe an abdominal ultrasound, which I get once a year at either a Bangkok hospital or Petcharat in Petchaburi.

Thanks hhfarang for the tip I shall try them next time. I've been to both BKHH hospital and Petcharat but never for the X rays or ultrasound, do you have any idea of the price for X ray and Ultrasound at either.

Thanks.

[oakdale160]

Before you go for any tests, ask yourself a question.
IF the tests are unfavorable, my weight is too much, my cardiogram borderlineand my BP too high, am I prepared to take the steps to reverse this. I am I prepared, for instance, to change my diet, give up smoking and take daily exercise.
If the answer is NO, then save your money, having a test changes nothing.
Its the old quality v quantity question, do you prefer to live like you do for a short time or change your life and live a long time.

[theprice01]

^ very true post from Oakdale..whats the point of living if your not enjoying yourself!
My grandad was told by his doc to give up smoking at age 88... he had to hold back a laugh.

[Harry Bosch]

do you prefer to live like you do for a short time or change your life and live a long time.

A bit of a stupid question as my friend was 44 years old not 88.

[hhfarang]

My grandad was told by his doc to give up smoking at age 88... he had to hold back a laugh.

Probably because he was coughing too hard to laugh...

[theprice01]

lol yep ...in his own words 'Every dog has its day'

[J.J.B.]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss and agree that 44 is way too soon for people to be losing close friends.

There are so many factors affecting your health that it's almost impossible to find a set of measures or tests that can predict, with any level of accuracy, how your body will react in a particular situation. Blood tests, ECGs, urine analysis, echo-cardiograms, ultrasounds etc. will only give you a set of data based on the here and now but will not tell you how you will perform following specific activity such as physical exertion or fighting off an infection. Sadly, your friend may have had an underlying condition - such as a weakened arterial wall or undiagnosed heart murmur, that went undetected simply because nobody was looking for it.

We don't come with guarantees and unfortunately there are many small defects that develop in the womb and are not a problem until we start to get older and it takes longer for us to recover from our various ailments. Healthcare professionals try to predict future health status by looking for patterns, be they in familial history of disease, or a series of tests that are repeated over and over again. That said, some conditions are unpredictable and are only discovered post mortem. There are risk factors for disease that compound underlying ill health, such as smoking, excessive or binge drinking, eating a poor diet and not taking sufficient exercise, but none of this can give you much in the way of a definitive answer on when your number might be up.

If there is a strong familial history of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and the like, or you can identify patterns in what has struck down your close relatives then start by having these things checked out. Other than that, it's a bit if a lottery and if something doesn't feel right or you notice changes from the norm, seek professional help and not necessarily the cheapest thing to hand.

[bsdk1960]

For many years I have problems with my heart that started in my 30's and got more and more frequent the older I got.
It's called Wolf Parkinson White Syndrom (WPWS) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency ... 000151.htm
and for me I have doubles set wire so the heart some times beat twices as fast as it should up to 2 hours even if try to relax.
After many years and attacts and egk results were no one could help me, I ended qua my travelling job in a small hospital, and luckely a old senior doctor looked at my egk and say "You have WPWS",what a relief after so many years to find out what it was.
It was not life threadent,but who can manage a job if you have to call the boss maybe every week and say sorry I'm sick today,because it cdid comes as it pleased and after a 2 hours attack your body was just finish after double speed.
Well my fake wire was so close to the real one they told me,if they burn the false one maybe the real one would burn over to,
and it would end up with a pacemaker.I didn't hesitate because I was only 40 and wouldn't risk my job,or maybe have to go on welfare for the rest of my life.
They did burn the real one and today I got a pacemaker and go to check every year,but I have never feel better and can take care my job and don't have to worry about it anymore,so very happy.

I'm don't think I could pay for the all the times I have been in hospitals and doctors if I have to pay myself,maybe thats why we in Denmark have the highest tax in the world,I think

Take care, and don't ignore changes in your body if you feel something is wrong.

[Harry Bosch]

Very sad but a bit late for Dave, God love him!

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/well-known ... ged-20867/

[kelly98]

Sorry for sudden death of your friend due to heart attack. May he rest in peace.