TempoLife › Features › Health at age N › 48
Health at 48
What is due at 48: Your forties — sleep 7-9 h, protein 0.8 g/kg, plus the screenings and checks of the decade.
Your forties
Cardiovascular risk starts compounding: lipids and blood pressure move, insulin resistance becomes common, and perimenopause begins for most women in the second half of the decade — sleep, mood and weight all shift together.
| Your numbers at 48 | Value |
|---|---|
| Sleep need | 7-9 h |
| Protein target | 0.8 g/kg |
| Estimated max heart rate | 172 bpm (220 − age) |
Screenings due this decade
- Cholesterol — every five years from forty.
- Blood glucose / HbA1c — every three years from forty-five.
- Blood pressure — every year.
- Breast screening (women) — from the age the national programme starts (45-50 in the Baltic and Nordic programmes, every two years).
- Eye examination — every two years; reading distance changes here even with perfect health.
Checks worth doing
- Lipids, glucose, blood pressure — the cardiovascular triad, on schedule.
- Waist circumference — the number that tracks the risk the scale hides.
- Strength training twice a week — the strongest single lever against the muscle loss that accelerates now.
The forties are when the screenings stop being optional and start being arithmetic: the checks are scheduled because the risks are real at these ages, not because anything feels wrong. The decade's win is catching a rising trend early, when it is reversible by lifestyle alone.
Act on it
- Your calorie and protein needs — the calculator turns the grams into food.
- Fitness reference values — the tests behind the checks.
- Blood test reference ranges — what the results mean.
Reference, not medical advice. Follow your national screening programme's invitations and your clinician's schedule — this page summarises the published recommendations, it does not replace them.