All Checked Up

06/12/2025

Medical terms ... USA Vs UK. These are some we can think of, can you think of anymore?

04/12/2025

Early‑stage prostate cancer often causes no symptoms. This is because of how the cancer grows.

Early signs typically appear only when the cancer expands toward the urethra—the tube that carries urine—pressing on it and altering urinary flow. As most prostate cancers usually start from the outside of prostate gland and work their way inwards, it rarely contacts the urethra at first, so symptoms are uncommon.

Some prostate cancers grow very slowly so these symptoms may not develop for many years.

When prostate cancer progresses beyond the gland (locally advanced disease) or metastasizes to distant sites (advanced disease), additional symptoms may emerge, such as:

• Pain in the lower back, hips, or pelvic region
• Difficulty achieving or maintaining an er****on
• Blood appearing in the urine or semen
• Unexplained weight loss

Changes to the way you go for a wee usually get more common as you get older but this can be caused by non-cancerous conditions such as an enlarged prostate, or another health problem.

A PSA blood test is good at detecting early stage prostate cancer but it does have its limitations. See our video on PSA test for more information.

It's important to keep an eye on any of the symptoms noted above even and get medical advice even if you have a normal PSA level.

This post is not intended to constitute as any medical advice.

28/11/2025

You may have seen in the news today that Prostate Cancer Screening for the general population in men has not been recommended on the NHS in the draft guidelines given by the UK National Screening Committee.

It was recommended that men with mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes who are between the ages of 45 and 61 should be screened for prostate cancer.

BRCA is not commonly known but can increase the risk of Prostate Cancer in Men. It is also increases the risk of Breast and Ovarian cancer in women.

What are BRCA genes?

Everyone has BRCA1 and BRCA2, they help keep your cells growing normally and stay healthy while stopping the growth of cancerous cells. If there is a mutation (variant) in these genes, it means they don't work as they should.

Think of them as a set of instructions telling your cells what to do. Any change in the gene will cause the wrong set of instructions to be given.

It is estimated that around 1 in 260 men have this faulty gene but very few of actually know they have it, because it is not widely tested for.

Evidence suggests that men with the variant of the BRCA2 have a higher lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer, and those with a BRCA1 variant, have a slight increase in lifetime risk, but this evidence still remains unclear. Having either variant may also increase the risk of having prostate cancer at an earlier age or become a more aggressive form of prostate cancer meaning it is likely to spread faster.

Screening for prostate cancer usually involves a blood test known as a PSA test. Its a relatively inexpensive test and yes it does has its limitations, but it can be praised for helping detect early stage prostate cancer.

07/05/2025

This is why we keep on doing what we do, because this for me is the best part of the job... helping patients in anyway we can.

A really nice testimonial from one of our patients that I wanted to share with you (and with their permission of course). It's also a nice testimony to all the healthcare teams that come together to improve patient care on a daily basis.

31/03/2025

Heard this on the radio this morning. It comes from recent research by Randall Bell, that suggests that making your bed each morning is linked to a 206% higher chance of achieving millionaire status. I think the main point is that making your bed each morning instills practical discipline which is really important trait for success in business and in life in general.

What's your thoughts?

21/03/2025

If you are thinking of taking a PSA test and you are on Finasteride, it's worth consulting with your Doctor first as Finasteride can cause decreased PSA value by about 50% usually within 9 to 12 months after taking it*




*BMJ and GP Notebook

16/03/2025

Orange juice is a good source of:

✅️ Vitamin C
✅️ Iron
✅️ Folate

# #





Orange Juice Benefits

05/03/2025

🩸The CA 125 blood test has been commonly used to screen for potential ovarian cancer, as well as monitor existing ovarian cancer treatment. However, elevated levels of CA 125 don't necessarily mean ovarian cancer is present

CA 125 belongs a family glycoproteins. A glycoprotein is a molecule that is a combination of a carbohydrate (or glycan) linked to protein.

CA125 is found in the blood by both normal and cancerous cells. CA125 can be found on the surface of most ovarian cancer cells. Levels of CA 125 may be raised in other cancers as well as non cancerous conditions such as:

- Menstruation
- Pregnancy
- Pelvic inflammatory disease

❓️ How accurate is a CA125 blood test in detecting Ovarian Cancer?

It is estimated elevated CA125 levels have been found in about 80% of women with ovarian cancer.

A recent study funded by Cancer Research UK and NIHR found that the CA125 blood test detected more than 77% of all ovarian cancers and more than 85% of invasive ovarian cancers which are most likely to be fatal.

Crucially, the study also found more than 38% of ovarian cancers were picked up early (at either stage I or II) when treatment is most likely to be successful.

It also noted that the CA125 blood test was able to pick up other cancers including lung, pancreatic, or even bowel cancer. All in all, 1 in 3 women aged over 50 years old who had a CA125 blood test result above the NICE recommended cut-off value of 35 KIU/L were diagnosed with some form of cancer.

The study was conducted by scientists at the Universities of Cambridge, Manchester, and Exeter and looked at more than 50,000 symptomatic women who had a CA125 blood test at their GP surgery between 2011 and 2014. Symptoms included abdominal pain or bloating, or a change of bowel habits.

Order your CA125 blood direct from

26/02/2025

We get asked this question a lot. Primarily as Total B12 is being tested in primary care, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about the difference between the two.

Vitamin B12 is actually a group of vitamins. These vitamins are coenzymes necessary for our red blood cell production, brain function and making of our DNA. Red blood cell production is important for ultimately helping transport oxygen around the body.

Not all B12 in our body is in "ready to use" form for our body to take up - in fact about 15% of all our B12 is only available to use. This is because Vitamin B12 exists bound to other proteins.

Vitamin B12 exists in 2 bound forms. It can be bound to haptocorrin to form holohaptocorrin; or bound to transcobalamin to form holoTC.

Our body can only take up vitamin B12 in the form of holoTC, this is called Active B12.

As the name suggests, Total B12 is the total amount of B12 in our body, both inactive and active form.

Measuring Active B12 (holoTC) is more reflective of vitamin B12 status than measuring total vitamin B12.

Active B12 is therefore a more reliable marker of vitamin B12 deficiency.

15/02/2025

Isn't it great that we are all living longer. More time to spend doing things, seeing family and friends, and more...

According to the ONS, as of 2022, Men in the South East and Women in the South West can expect to have the highest life expectancy in England whilst 11.9% of boys and 18.5% of girls born this year will live to be at least 100 years thanks to advancement in health care and living healthier lifestyles

04/02/2025