Health checks for men 50–59
The decade where bowel screening and cardiovascular risk assessment carry the clearest weight. Also the time to discuss PSA properly rather than just adding it.
Asked at every age, not just yours
- Blood pressure — the cheapest measurement and the one most often skipped
- Weight and waist, recorded over time rather than measured once
- A complete list of medicines and supplements, including anything bought without a prescription
- Any allergies you have had, to medicines and to anything else
- Family history, with the AGE at which relatives were affected — the age is the detail that shifts a schedule
🫀 Heart and metabolic
- Blood pressure, glucose, lipids as a series
- Overall cardiovascular risk assessment
- Sleep apnoea if there are signs
🎗️ Cancer screening
- Bowel screening — the best-evidenced item for this group
- PSA: weigh benefits and harms before deciding
- Moles, and any sore that does not heal
💉 Infection and vaccination
- Boosters and seasonal vaccination
- Shingles vaccination when you reach the recommended group
- Hepatitis if never tested
🦴 Bones, senses and mobility
- Vision including eye pressure
- Hearing
- Joint pain, and mobility if your work is physical
🧠 Mental health and lifestyle
- Sleep, mood and long-running stress
- Weekly alcohol
- Smoking, and support to stop if you want it
What changes this list for you
- A relative with bowel or prostate cancer
- Many years of smoking
- Known diabetes or hypertension
Any one of these can move a starting point earlier or change how often something is repeated. That is a conversation to have, not something to work out alone.
Questions to take with you
- Which item matters most for me
- If I do PSA, what chain of steps would an abnormal result trigger
- When should this be repeated