#blood-tests

Cortisol gets blamed for belly fat, bad sleep and burnout, but you need it to function. Here’s what it actually does, when testing makes sense and what helps.

Lipoprotein(a) is an inherited blood fat that can raise your risk of heart attack and stroke, and a standard cholesterol test misses it. Here is who should get checked.

Cholesterol, blood sugar, testosterone, PSA and inflammation: what a routine blood test can tell a man in midlife, what it can’t, and how to get one in the UK.

Raised blood sugar usually causes no symptoms for years. Here’s how a man in his 40s, 50s or 60s can find out where he stands, and what to do about it.

Always tired, always cold, putting on weight and blaming your age? A small gland in your neck might be the culprit. Here’s what to look for and how to get tested.

Tired, flat and off sex? Low testosterone is possible, but it’s rarer than the adverts suggest. Here’s how to get tested properly and what actually helps.

Low vitamin D is common in UK winters and is often blamed for tiredness in midlife. Here’s what the NHS recommends, what the evidence says and when to see your GP.

Feeling flat, tired and short-tempered in your fifties? Low testosterone is one possible cause, but often not the main one. Here’s how to tell, and how to get tested on the NHS.

Feeling tired, short-tempered and low on energy is easy to put down to age. Sometimes there’s a fixable cause, and a GP blood test will tell you more than a shelf of supplements.