Unique bus initiative encouraging Birmingham and Solihull people to get tested for cancer<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\nIn some parts of Birmingham and Solihull, cancer screening rates are lower than the national average and the NHS wants to raise awareness in an effort to catch any issues people may have as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Nine months ago, I did something similar when the bus rocked up in Aston and was told my blood pressure was too high.<\/p>\n
But after monitoring this for a week after that bombshell, I found my rate back to more acceptable levels and concluded I may have been suffering from \u2018white coat syndrome\u2019 which caused my blood pressure to rise.<\/p>\n
This time, knowing what to expect and feeling relaxed, I chatted away with staff as the kind nurse Nasreen set up the monitor and started the test.<\/p>\n
The result came in at 131\/91 \u2013 the 90 being a little high. Nasreen said she would do two more tests to check and also advised blood pressure can rise when people are talking.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Local Democracy Reporter Gurdip Thandi undergoing an NHS health check.<\/p>\n
This was polite and professional Nasreen politely telling me to quit my jibber jabber and do the other tests in silence \u2013 which I did.<\/p>\n
The results of those were similar to the first so I was advised to go away and monitor my blood pressure for a week or so and to visit my GP if it persists.<\/p>\n
As for the causes, I told them I\u2019d cut down on salt and sugar and started walking again. But clearly I need to do more.<\/p>\n
I was then offered the heart health check which would test my cholesterol levels and tell me how much at risk I was of a heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n
It involved them taking a small sample of my blood and doing an on-the-spot check which would deliver the result just minutes later.<\/p>\n
As I\u2019m not the most confident when it comes to needles, I asked if it would be painful.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Local Democracy Reporter Gurdip Thandi undergoing an NHS health check.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle prick.\u201d Pardon? What happened to the kind and polite Nasreen from earlier?! \u201cIt\u2019s just a little prick.\u201d Oh, I see you what you mean\u2026<\/p>\n
She got to work and we waited with baited breath \u2013 only for the test to malfunction! So, we tried it again and this time it went according to plan.<\/p>\n
Not only did I discover I have a heart age the same as my actual age, the results showed I have a four per cent risk of an attack or stroke.<\/p>\n
My overall cholesterol level came in healthy too as did my BMI despite the fact the person who measured my height wrote it down as \u2018131cm\u2019 \u2013 which would have meant I was 4ft2 instead of the 5ft10 I actually am!<\/p>\n
The whole test process took around 15 minutes and highlighted the importance of getting checked out sooner rather than later in order to address any issues hat may arise.<\/p>\n
Plenty of others doing the tests seemed reassured by the advice given and glad they\u2019d taken up the offer while out shopping.<\/p>\n
I was certainly relieved, even if it means I need to make more changes to my lifestyle to bring that blood pressure down.<\/p>\n
The cancer bus will return to Birmingham in September with more information available here: https:\/\/www.birminghamsolihull.icb.nhs.uk\/health-information\/cancer-diagnostics\/cancer-screening<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s official \u2013 I have a \u2018good heart\u2019. Not because of any charitable or community spirited work I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,87119,1629,748,87117,393,4884,105,87118,87115,87116,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-220591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-and-solihull","10":"tag-blood-pressure","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-cancer-screening-rates","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-health-check","17":"tag-nasreen","18":"tag-solihull-integrated-care-board","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114759500051567085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}