UK Biobank
Today I spent a couple of hours enrolling in the UK Biobank project, a massive longitudinal health study of half a million people between 40 and 69 years old designed to discover factors leading to disease and mortality over the years.
The enrolling process was easy: first there was a long series of questions completed on a computer, lifestyle choices, health, family history etc, then a couple of perception and reaction tests. Next was a quick physical, measuring my blood pressure, weight,, height, fat levels, lung capacity and so on. That was interesting, as I neither knew how much I weighed or how tall I am to within any degree of accuracy. Now I do. I also know that I have high blood pressure, outside the normal range, and that I need to lose some fat. I am an official porker! At least my lung capacity is good, and my waist measurement is fine. As it's the end of winter, it's probable that a load of Winterspeck will fall off me soon, anyway.
The blood sample was a botch- the technician said that my vein collapsed, so that he could onlt fill some of the vials from my right arm and thus had to drill a hole in my left one as well. All done, little pain. And then I had to disappear into the gents to piss into a jar. I think that this is the first time I've ever had to give a urine sample. How can I have avoided it for so long?
The recruiters must have made appointments for all my locality's cohort on the same day. While in the office being tested and probed, I met two near neighbours who are also in the scheme. I guess that in such a middle-class area, the acceptance rate is very high.
I'm pleased that I went in.
I'd not have made another appointment to see my doctor about the putative high blood pressure that she's warned me about a few months back, so this was a confirmation that (I suppose ) I should do something. Mind, Olly my mother has suffered hypertension for about thirty years and is on beta-blockers, so since she has managed to reach 84 years old with most faculties intact, I'm likely to at least do the same.
So, what changes do I have to make?
Less fats, less meat, less food, more exercise, less salt.
Let's see how it goes, kids!
:o)
The enrolling process was easy: first there was a long series of questions completed on a computer, lifestyle choices, health, family history etc, then a couple of perception and reaction tests. Next was a quick physical, measuring my blood pressure, weight,, height, fat levels, lung capacity and so on. That was interesting, as I neither knew how much I weighed or how tall I am to within any degree of accuracy. Now I do. I also know that I have high blood pressure, outside the normal range, and that I need to lose some fat. I am an official porker! At least my lung capacity is good, and my waist measurement is fine. As it's the end of winter, it's probable that a load of Winterspeck will fall off me soon, anyway.
The blood sample was a botch- the technician said that my vein collapsed, so that he could onlt fill some of the vials from my right arm and thus had to drill a hole in my left one as well. All done, little pain. And then I had to disappear into the gents to piss into a jar. I think that this is the first time I've ever had to give a urine sample. How can I have avoided it for so long?
The recruiters must have made appointments for all my locality's cohort on the same day. While in the office being tested and probed, I met two near neighbours who are also in the scheme. I guess that in such a middle-class area, the acceptance rate is very high.
I'm pleased that I went in.
I'd not have made another appointment to see my doctor about the putative high blood pressure that she's warned me about a few months back, so this was a confirmation that (I suppose ) I should do something. Mind, Olly my mother has suffered hypertension for about thirty years and is on beta-blockers, so since she has managed to reach 84 years old with most faculties intact, I'm likely to at least do the same.
So, what changes do I have to make?
Less fats, less meat, less food, more exercise, less salt.
Let's see how it goes, kids!
:o)
posted by Moses at
6:44 pm
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