From Heart Trouble to Your Risk of Dementia 60 Second DIY Health Tests That can Save Your Life!

No fancy equipment, no cost, no waiting to see the GP – welcome to the quickest and easiest health check-ups yet. These simple tests, which you can do in the comfort of your own home, are surprisingly revealing about the state of your health. Best of all, they each take only a minute or so to do…

WINDOW TEST TO CHECK YOUR SIGHT

Do this:  Look at a door frame or large window frame from across a room, first with your right eye only (put your palm over your left eye for 30 seconds), then your left eye only.

Curing the Incurable: ... Levy, MD JD Thomas E Best Price: $22.60 Buy New $18.89 (as of 08:55 UTC - Details) What it means: You should be able to see the edges of the frame as vertical and horizontal parallel lines. If the door frame edges appear to have any kinks or are distorted in any way, or they bow in or out, this may indicate that you have macular degeneration.

It comes in two forms, wet and dry. With the wet form, which is more aggressive, tiny blood vessels grow under the retina – the light-sensitive patch at the back of the eye. These blood vessels leak, damaging the macula (a tiny spot at the back of the eye that is responsible for central vision).

With the dry form, a build-up of waste products dislodges the macula.

Lypou2013Spheric Vitam... Buy New $84.95 ($1.42 / Count) (as of 09:00 UTC - Details) According to Robin Hamilton, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, one of the first signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is common in the over-50s and can lead to blindness, can be wavy, broken or distorted lines or a blurred or missing area of vision.

However, you might not notice it as you go about your day-to-day activities as the eyes compensate for mistakes in our vision.

‘Windows with lots of small panes of glass are excellent for this test, or you might want to take a look at an Excel spreadsheet – use your reading glasses if you wear them, as these will magnify lines and any distortion,’ says Dr Hamilton.

2014 True Power of Hyd... Mary Wright Best Price: $11.19 Buy New $10.28 (as of 05:50 UTC - Details) ’If you have been told (by your doctor or optician) that you are at risk of AMD, you should let your doctor know within 24 hours of doing this test. Even for the general population, it is important to see an optician very quickly and ask for a review.

‘Early detection of AMD is critical as laser treatment, when indicated for wet AMD, is most successful when performed before too much damage has occurred.’

SPOON AND BAG TEST FOR BAD BREATH

Do this: Scrape the edge of a teaspoon along the top of your tongue as far back as possible, seal the spoon in a plastic bag and sit it under a bright lamp for one minute – then sniff.

Defy Your Doctor and B... Sarah Cain Corriher Best Price: $10.38 Buy New $28.00 (as of 01:05 UTC - Details) What it means: A healthy tongue coating should be clear, but if the coating that comes off on the spoon is thick, coloured or smells unpleasant, it could be an early sign of problems with your respiratory system, your liver, kidneys, hormones or gut.

This test is the closest indicator of how your breath smells to other people. A sample from the back of the tongue is key because a coating of bacteria can build up more easily here (unlike the front of the tongue, which cleans itself as it rubs against the teeth and roof of the mouth). The hot lamp grows the bacteria – and amplifies the odour.

A fruity smell could indicate ketoacidosis (when your body burns fat for energy, which can be a sign of diabetes), an ammonia smell could be kidney problems and other smells can indicate gastric or lung problems. See your GP if you are concerned.

But be reassured, research suggests that 90 per cent of all cases of halitosis (bad breath) have a less sinister oral origin (gum disease, infected tonsils, cracked fillings or tooth decay), so see your dentist.

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