In this section
How do Lung Health Checks work?
We do Lung Health Checks in large, mobile health units. They are in convenient locations such as supermarket car parks, so you won’t have to travel to hospital. At the Lung Health Check, specially trained nurses will ask you questions and show you how to do a breathing test.
Why have you been invited?
Lung Health Checks are for people aged 55 to 74 and who smoke or who used to smoke. You can come for a Lung Health Check even if you feel well and if you don’t know if you have any lung problems.
What are the benefits of a Lung Health Check?
- It is FREE
- It is LOCAL and easy to get to – your check will be close to your home
- You can ask questions
- No one will judge you about smoking
- We can give you advice and help to quit smoking
When you come for your Lung Health Check, we will ask you some questions about your lungs and your general health, and we will check your height and weight. Then we will ask you to do a breathing test, which you do by blowing into a tube called a spirometer. We will also check your heart beat (you don’t need to get undressed for this).
We may offer you a type of scan called a CT scan to look at your lungs. This is a very low dose scan. The CT scan will tell us if you have any early signs of lung cancer or any other lung diseases. We will tell you about the benefits and risks of the CT scan to help you make up your mind about whether you would like to have it.
What happens after your Lung Health Check?
After your Lung Health Check, doctors will check your results. We will write to you within 4 weeks to explain your results to you and to give you our recommendations.
Healthy Lungs
Your lungs work hard every minute of your life.
Looking after them to make sure they stay healthy is really important. Here are a few simple steps you can follow to look after your lungs.
Keep active
Do small amounts of regular exercise. Keeping active is great for your lungs.
Eat healthily
Eat a healthy and balanced diet. This will help protect you from infections. As well, being a healthy weight is good for your lungs.
Stop smoking
Smoking can damage your lungs and can cause lung disease. Passive smoking is also harmful. Stopping smoking is the most important thing you can do to protect your lungs. It is never too late to stop smoking. We can help you to stop smoking.
Get coughs checked
If you have a cough that keeps happening, it can be an early warning sign of lung disease. Other things you should look out for are feeling more breathless, wheezing, losing weight, coughing up blood or having chest pain. Don’t ignore these signs: talk to your GP about them.