Health checks for women 50–59
The decade with the most screening programmes. It is also easy to overdo — choosing by your own risk beats choosing the thickest package.
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 and what to do about it
- Kidney function, particularly on long-term medication
🎗️ Cancer screening
- Breast screening under the programme that applies to you
- Bowel screening
- Cervical screening — ask when it stops, because it does have an end point
💉 Infection and vaccination
- Boosters and seasonal vaccination
- Shingles vaccination — ask whether you are in the recommended group yet
- Hepatitis if never tested
🦴 Bones, senses and mobility
- Bone health after menopause — ask whether you have factors warranting assessment
- Vision, including eye pressure
- Hearing
🧠 Mental health and lifestyle
- Sleep and mood around menopause
- Alcohol and tobacco
- Caring for older relatives — that load affects your own health
What changes this list for you
- Family history of cancer or heart disease
- Previous cancer treatment
- Osteoporosis in the family, or a fracture after a minor fall
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 of these is genuinely worth doing for me
- Which could do more harm than good in my case
- If a result is abnormal, what chain of steps follows