Touch your nose  to test your brain

Testing your co-ordination can provide a pointer for conditions such as multiple sclerosis or even stroke.
MS affects nerve cells in the cerebellum — an area of the brain responsible for depth perception, co-ordination and balance.

“If damaged, our ability to control these activities deteriorates,” says Dr. Helen Stokes-Lampard from the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK.

To check your co-ordination, sit in front of a friend and get them to move their finger (always within arm’s reach of yours) a few inches to the left, a few inches to the right and backwards and forwards.

Each time it moves, touch your friend’s finger, then touch your nose. Damage to the cerebellum can lead you to miss your friend’s finger. This can also occur as a result of a stroke.

“The chance of it being a serious neurological condition is unlikely — alcohol, for instance, also temporarily affects this part of the brain — but, nevertheless, you should get things checked out by your GP,” says Dr. Stokes-Lampard.

Lift up your legs to test your arteries

Though most people think of furred-up arteries affecting the heart, the rest of the body can suffer, including the legs (where it’s known as peripheral arterial disease, leading to restricted blood flow).

Untreated, this can cause serious complications such as non-healing leg ulcers — even gangrene.
‘Checking for a poor supply of blood to the legs is relatively straight- forward,’ says Michael Gaunt, a vascular surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge and BMI St Edmunds Hospital, Suffolk.

Known as Buerger’s test, it involves lying down on a bed and elevating both legs to a 45-degree angle before holding them there for two minutes. If one or both feet become very pale, this may indicate poor blood flow due to blocked arteries.

Now move quickly to hanging your legs down over the side of the bed at 90 degrees. In this case gravity should help blood return quickly, but in affected legs the skin will take longer to return to a normal pink colour and will also become bright red.

This is because the feet have been so starved of blood when elevated that extra blood rushes into them. Other signs of arterial disease include not being able to walk as far as you used to, numbness of the feet at night and wounds not healing quickly.

Listen to a watch to test your hearing

“Hearing loss occurs as we get older — however, there are numerous other causes such as infection, damage from loud noises, mumps or measles, even meningitis,’ says George Murty, a consultant ear, nose and throat specialist at University Hospital Leicester.

“A quick way to test your hearing is to grab a wristwatch with a second hand and go into a silent room.
“Put your finger in one ear and hold the watch next to the other before gradually moving it away; you should still be able to hear the ticking from one hand’s length away.

“If you don’t have a suitable wristwatch, ask a friend to whisper loudly — in this case, you should be able to hear them a foot away.”

Any concerns and you should go to the doctor — they can then refer you to a specialist.

Tap your foot to test your heartbeat

An irregular heartbeat — known as atrial fibrillation — means you are five times more likely to have a stroke.

It occurs when abnormal electrical impulses start firing. ‘To check for it, test the rhythm of your heartbeat,’ says Dr. Howard Marshall, consultant cardiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
Hold out one of your hands, with the palm facing upwards, then put the index and middle finger of your other hand on the inside of your wrist, at the base of your thumb.

Press down lightly — then tap out the rhythm of your pulse with your foot for one minute. “If you’re tapping regularly, like a clock ticking, it’s OK. Uneven and you should visit your GP, who may use an ECG (a machine to test the heart’s electrical activity).

“If you do have atrial fibrillation, they may prescribe medication, such as warfarin, to thin the blood,’ says Dr Marshall.

Atrial fibrillation affects around 6 to 7 per cent of people over the age of 75 — so if you’re in that higher-risk group or suffering other symptoms, such as breathlessness or palpitations, do this test every three months.
Photograph moles to test for cancer

“We ALL know to monitor changes in our moles for malignant melanoma, the most serious skin cancer, but remembering how they looked six months ago is impossible,” says Dr. Stokes-Lampard.

“Once your GP has given any moles that concern you the once-over, grab a digital camera and take a photograph of the mole; preferably with a ruler alongside it.

“Download the picture on to your computer, noting the date, and repeat the process six months later.’
By comparing pictures you’ll instantly be able to tell if there’s been a change.

And use a door frame to test your eyes

One of the most common causes of blindness is age-related macular degeneration. The macula (the central light- sensitive part of the retina) is like the film in an old-fashioned camera. It can become wrinkled — though leaking of blood or age-related deterioration — which causes straight lines to appear crooked, kinked or bowed.

To check for it, 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), then your left eye only, says Milind Pande, president of the UK & Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

You can use your regular spectacles to do this. 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 be distorted in any way, or they bow in or out, this may indicate that you have macular degeneration.

Test yourself regularly using the same door frame so you can identify any changes. Book an urgent eye test if you fail.

(Courtesy Daily Mail)

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