The Knowing Your Numbers Checklist: What to Do and What to Skip
Knowing Your Numbers: what is worth doing, what is worth avoiding, and when to stop and see a doctor.
The small set of measurements that describe most modifiable health risk. Each one is silent, each is measurable in minutes, and knowing them is what turns risk into something you can act on.
Key takeaways
- Blood pressure: ideal below 120/80mmHg
- Non-HDL cholesterol: commonly quoted target below 4mmol/L
- Most useful single change: Write your numbers down and keep them somewhere you will find them.
- Commonest mistake: Focusing on one number in isolation.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.
Do
- Write your numbers down and keep them somewhere you will find them
- Ask for your QRISK score, not only individual results
- Recheck at the interval you are advised
- Ask what would change each number
Do not
- Focusing on one number in isolation
- Assuming normal weight means low risk
- Waiting for symptoms
The numbers behind the list
Here are the figures the checklist is drawn from.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Blood pressure | ideal below 120/80mmHg |
| Non-HDL cholesterol | commonly quoted target below 4mmol/L |
| HbA1c | diabetes at 48 mmol/mol or above |
| Waist | keep under half your height |
| Ten-year cardiovascular risk | QRISK score |
If you change one thing
Write your numbers down and keep them somewhere you will find them. It is first on the list above. If the rest feels like too much at once, start there and leave the others.
Where to go next
- Why Knowing Your Numbers Matters, Explained Simply
- What People Get Wrong About Knowing Your Numbers
- Knowing Your Numbers — the reference entry
- The Evidence on Stopping Smoking, Without the Hype
- Alcohol Reduction: What the Evidence Actually Says
When to speak to a doctor
Seek same-day advice for a blood pressure reading of 180/120 or higher. Call 999 for chest pain lasting more than a few minutes, sudden weakness on one side, or difficulty speaking. See a GP for excessive thirst, frequent urination or unexplained weight loss.
Where this comes from
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.
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