I received the folowing in an email yesterday and think it may be beneficial to other members.

Courteousy of the Daily Mail

The health MOT test you can do in your living room: From bending backwards to eating sweetcorn

By Charlotte Dovey

PUBLISHED: 23:41 GMT, 8 October 2012 | UPDATED: 16:48 GMT, 10 October 2012

Taking some DIY tests at home can help you take responsibility for your health

A visit to the GP for a check-up is, for some, about as pleasant an experience as having a tooth pulled. Just walking through the door of the surgery is enough to bring some out in a sweat.

‘The potential embarrassment, the fact it’s time-consuming — you may need to take a morning off work — even the worry of there being a real problem, all of these factors can lead to people not visiting the doctor when they should,’ says Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard from the Royal College of General Practitioners.

This is particularly relevant to men; one study carried out by the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign suggested that nearly twice as many men as women had not visited their GP in the past year.

But there are a number of health tests that you can do yourself — free — in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

These range from DIY eye checks to checking your lungs, hormones and the efficiency of your gut.

‘While DIY tests should never replace going to the GP, they can help you take responsibility for your own health,’ says Dr Stokes-Lampard. ‘But do remember that there are some things you can’t test for at home — bone conditions such as osteoporosis, for instance.’

Also don’t forget that some conditions are asymptomatic — meaning there really are no symptoms until the condition is established, such as liver disease.

Below, experts explain the home health tests you can do for various parts of the body, and the conditions they may point to.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz28wvNVmIF

marshbags

Just curious: What does MOT stand for in this case?

Just curious: What does MOT stand for in this case?

Hi wpcoe

The general meaning of MOT is " method of testing "

In this case it refers to a method of testing your basic health.

IMHO of course.

If someone has a better description I,d be pleased to learn of it.

marshbags

In the UK an MOT Test is an annual test given to motor vehicles by a government approved inspector, it tests the vehicles general road worthiness. MOT stands for Ministry of Transport. Because MOT has been around for so long the word or acronym is now used in general language meaning an overall test of something. For example "I'm going to see my doctor for my annual MOT", or you might take your computer to someone for an MOT.

A Ministry of Transport health test in my living room? I think my interior architect may object to that one.