Somewhere in your forties, blood results start to tell a story rather than give a snapshot. Cholesterol drifts, blood sugar nudges upwards, kidney numbers change slowly. A yearly health check blood test lets you and your professionals see those trends while there is plenty of room to act on them. This guide explains how three panels in the BPR catalogue compare, and how they fit alongside the NHS Health Check.
Where the NHS Health Check fits
In England, adults aged 40 to 74 without certain existing conditions should be invited to an NHS Health Check every 5 years. The NHS describes it as a check of heart and blood vessel health that usually includes blood pressure, height, weight, waist, a cholesterol test and possibly a blood sugar test, with a risk score for the next 10 years. The NHS also notes that everybody's cardiovascular risk rises with age, so the score can go up even when results stay the same.
A private blood panel does not replace that check. It can add detail between invitations or cover areas the Health Check does not, such as blood count, thyroid or vitamins. If you have been invited, it is worth going.
A realistic view of check-ups
A Cochrane review found that general health checks in unselected adults had little or no effect on overall mortality (Krogsbøll et al., 2019). That does not make blood tests useless; it means the result only helps if something follows. A systematic review of the NHS Health Check found that what people believe about the value of the check, and the practical means to change diet and activity, both shape what happens afterwards (Atkins et al., 2020). In other words, the conversation after the test matters as much as the test.
Three panels for a yearly health check
Premier General Health Profile
The LML lists 34 markers. It covers a full cholesterol profile, HbA1c, liver and kidney function, calcium, iron studies, urate, creatine kinase and a full blood count. It is a broad general panel without hormones or vitamins.
Well Man Premier Plus Profile
With 50 markers in the LML list, this panel takes the general picture and adds:
- thyroid function (TSH and free T4);
- high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of general inflammation;
- testosterone;
- vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D and magnesium;
- ferritin, within a full iron status profile.
Well Woman Premier Plus Profile
The female version has 47 markers in the LML list. It shares the general, thyroid, inflammation and vitamin sections with the Well Man panel and, instead of testosterone, includes oestradiol, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). The LML notes that these hormones can give information about fertility and menopause.
Why hsCRP appears in the wider panels
A review in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology describes hsCRP as an inflammatory marker that adds information on cardiovascular risk comparable to blood pressure or cholesterol (Ridker, 2016). It is not specific: the LML points out that a raised level can reflect many other causes, from infections to autoimmune conditions. That is why it is read in context, including whether you were unwell around the time of the test.
