Health & wellness biometrics are the key and most commonly used measures of health & wellness. We usually include Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, and Blood Sugar here. These are sometimes also known as ‘silent killers’ because they can cause an increased risk of serious (potentially deadly) conditions like heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.

Why SILENT killers?

“Silent” refers to the fact that you will not feel these things. They do not cause obvious symptoms (mostly) and so they can go undetected for years and years, causing damage and health risk all the time.

Is it worth knowing about them?

Yes. Each of these can be managed. Not cured, but managed. This usually involves a combination of lifestyle change and prescribed medication. Good management can bring them under control, which reduces the health risk significantly.

How do I find out?

You can have these checked at pharmacies, clinics, at company wellness days, and by your doctor. Checking them all takes less than 10 minutes and involves a few simple measurements and a little finger-prick blood test. In some cases you’ll be advised to have a more detailed follow-up test done by your doctor (e.g. a full fasting lipogram might be needed if your screening-test cholesterol is high) and it is always a good idea to discuss the results with your doctor.

We all need to know our (wellness) numbers because they can cause serious health risk without us realising it, and because they (and the health risks) can be managed.