Heart Check -

[KannikaP]

58 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

You still taking all your meds, or added more? Last confession included these:

 

Bestatin – needed to reduce worry over high cholesterol.
Baby aspirin – previous stroke or heart attack?
Micardis, Doxadozin – also antihypertensive drugs that may affect BP

Stopped Bestatin as my cholesterol has been lowered by diet.

Stopped Baby Aspirin. I have NEVER had a stroke or Heart attack

Stopped Micardis. BP is now normal

Doxadozin is for BHP, prostate problem.

When did I last 'confess' to taking all these meds please?

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Have you got low triglycerides? i don't go out of my way to eat Omega 3 and i have low triglycerides 

My blood test range says between 10 and 150 for TGs. Mine was 81 last month. Is that acceptable?

[BigStar]

10 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Stopped Bestatin as my cholesterol has been lowered by diet.

Stopped Baby Aspirin. I have NEVER had a storke or Heart attack

Stopped Micardis. BP is now normal

Doxadozin is for BHP, prostate problem.

When did I last 'confess' to taking all these meds please?

 

You're always forgetting what you posted and when, but obviously you did. Go find your own post. My memory's still pretty good.

 

Quote

I take my BP every morning & night. Average 125/80 . RHR is average 52, FBS = 102, Triglyceride = 122, HDL = 37, LDL = 83, At my waist of 95 I should be 190 tall but I am only 177! 
Amlodepine 10mg/day, Bestatin, Baby aspirin, Micardis = 20mg. & Doxadozin for BHP. PSA = 5.4.

 

[KannikaP]

23 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

You're always forgetting what you posted and when, but obviously you did. Go find your own post.

 

 

Things change in medicine requirements, as I said a couple of posts ago. Where did I mention being ''worried'' about cholesterol. Aspirin for previous stroke? Or antihypertensive drugs.....oh yes, Amlodepine. Still on 5mg of that.

I can't be bothered finding an old post of my own, or anyone elses. Or reading your criticism of me.

 

I did go back to find the post 2.5 years ago, where you allege I said I was worried about my Cholesterol.  YOU said.......No wonder your BP’s only slightly elevated and check it morning and night. Sorry, but that indicates worry.

I am not worried about my BP by taking it every morning. A lot can happen to one's health in 2.5 years, as it can between your two monthly BP checks.

[scubascuba3]

27 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

My blood test range says between 10 and 150 for TGs. Mine was 81 last month. Is that acceptable?

Yes less than 150 is optimal, my last test was 70

[KhunLA]

48 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

My blood test range says between 10 and 150 for TGs. Mine was 81 last month. Is that acceptable?

Assuming your HDL is around 50-60, then that's  good ratio TG/ HDL, as < 2 is good.  Puts you around 1.5 ratio (81 ÷ 55 = 1.47).  

 

Mine now is about 1:1 (69 / 68), been a ratio as high as 3+ in the past, and got it down to 2.5, then 2, now 1, the past 4 years.  Since going a Keto-ish diet.

 

Same with BP, of 140+ down to consistent < 120 now, usually 110-115 at rest.

[KannikaP]

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Assuming your HDL is around 50-60, then that's  good ratio TG/ HDL, as < 2 is good.  Puts you around 1.5 ratio (81 ÷ 55 = 1.47).  

 

Mine now is about 1:1 (69 / 68), been a ratio as high as 3+ in the past, and got it down to 2.5, then 2, now 1, the past 4 years.  Since going a Keto-ish diet.

 

Same with BP, of 140+ down to consistent < 120 now, usually 110-115 at rest.

My HDL is only 44, with a FULL/HDL ratio of 4.27, but the Hospital chart says that less than 5 is OK.

My chart shows FULL/HDL, which = 4.27 in my case.

Is it TGs/HDL or FULL CHOL/HDL, as my TG/HDL is 81/44 < 2.

 

 

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

I am not worried about my BP by taking it every morning.

 

No, you were disingenuously ignoring the rest of my post. No one takes BP meds (Amlodepine, still) for preventing high BP AND checks every morning unless they're worried about BP. You can be in denial all you wish.🙂 

 

Meds (including your previous meds) often don't cure disease (notably the usual chronic diseases of metabolic syndrome), but prevent symptoms, so it's also not clear (from your posts) what damage has already been done your "chest." Hence the assertion

 

21 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I personally do very little exercise, and have no chest problems!   555

 

Isn't convincing. Previously, you had been congratulating yourself on your "normal" BP while neglecting to mention you were taking BP meds.🙂 I hope you've also had your own

 

1. Coronary Calcium CT

 

2. Exercise Stress Test

 

Echocardiogram? Results?

 

Nobody's attacking you, but merely inquiring about the true state of your health and offering benevolent observations, since YOU brought it up. Of course, people do wish to think everything's fine. 

 

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

My HDL is only 44, with a FULL/HDL ratio of 4.27, but the Hospital chart says that less than 5 is OK.

My chart shows FULL/HDL, which = 4.27 in my case.

Is it TGs/HDL or FULL CHOL/HDL, as my TG/HDL is 81/44 < 2.

< 2 is good, lower better.  Be nice to get the HDL 50+

[KannikaP]

6 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

No, you were disingenuously ignoring the rest of my post. No one takes BP meds (Amlodepine, still) for preventing high BP AND checks every morning unless they're worried about BP. You can be in denial all you wish.🙂 

 

Meds (including your previous meds) often don't cure disease (notably the usual chronic diseases of metabolic syndrome), but prevent symptoms, so it's also not clear (from your posts) what damage has already been done your "chest." Hence the assertion

 

 

Isn't convincing. Previously, you had been congratulating yourself on your "normal" BP while neglecting to mention you were taking BP meds.🙂 I hope you've also had your own

 

1. Coronary Calcium CT

 

2. Exercise Stress Test

 

Echocardiogram? Results?

 

Nobody's attacking you, but merely inquiring about the true state of your health and offering benevolent, since YOU brought it up. Of course, people do wish to think everything's fine. 

 

OK, you worry about your health and I shall worry about mine, keep taking my meds AND BP every morning. Thanks for the concern. I do think that YOU have no idea of your cardiac state if only check your BP every two months or so, if you remember. 

I am fine, and when you see no more posts from me here on AN, you'll know that I was wrong. 555

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, BigStar said:

My memory's still pretty good.

what do you take for that?

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

what do you take for that?

 

LOL. What I have left is priceless at this point. My effort continues to try to slow the kind of cognitive decline I've seen affect old friends and classmates. (Or posters here😁.) It's scary.

 

[advancebooking]

32 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

LOL. What I have left is priceless at this point. My effort continues to try to slow the kind of cognitive decline I've seen affect old friends and classmates. (Or posters here😁.) It's scary.

 

try to study thai. get 3 lessons a week. Learn new words everyday. Test yourself. exercise your brain using the language. Best way to stop cognative decline. 

[Tiger1980]

On 12/12/2024 at 10:22 AM, Sheryl said:

I would suggest:

 

1. Coronary Calcium CT

 

2. Exercise Stress Test

 

The first is the best way to check for calcium deposits in the coronary arteries.

 

The second will test your overall cardiac fitness and how well the heart performs under stress.

 

I am assuming you have already had blood tests for risk factors (lipid panel, HB1Ac) and also that you are asymptomatic.

I read some time back at Mayo Clinic USA that a calcium score of +400 should be of concern, this was also stated to me at the hospital in Thailand when my CT score showed +2000, they  suggested that I should have further test possible leading to a stent. This I declined instead seeking a 2nd and a 3rd opinion by heart consultants in the UK. Who informed me not to worry and just live my life as usual.

I would add that I have also had the exercise stress test with no problems.

 

[Sheryl]

4 hours ago, Tiger1980 said:

I read some time back at Mayo Clinic USA that a calcium score of +400 should be of concern, this was also stated to me at the hospital in Thailand when my CT score showed +2000, they  suggested that I should have further test possible leading to a stent. This I declined instead seeking a 2nd and a 3rd opinion by heart consultants in the UK. Who informed me not to worry and just live my life as usual.

I would add that I have also had the exercise stress test with no problems.

 

That is a very high score and puts you at high risk of a cardiac event. I would hope that risk factors (LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose and weight) are being aggressively controlled.

[FolkGuitar]

It's not as if we haven't discussed this before...

If you want to fix your heart, fix your body. No meds needed.
Stop eating foods that are bad for your heart.

No... it's not easy. It requires self-discipline.

But the difference might just save your life.

[Sheryl]

@Tiger1980

See https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5689148/

 

Good overview

 

You should aggressively control LDL  and (if applicable) blood glucose.  If able to do this score should improve. 

[steve187]

On 12/13/2024 at 8:01 AM, steve187 said:

personal experiences are always a source of good information

should have read as ' personal experiences are always a good source of  information'

[KhunLA]

18 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

what do you take for that?

3 - 5g of Creatine a day in my kefir/blueberry smoothie, last test results.   Safe amount exiting, so assuming I'm not OD'ing be taking that amount of supplement.  Don't take any supplements on weekends (2 days) let body use or flush any excesses, if any.

 

I only take a multi (1/2), Magnesium, Creatine.

 

 

 

[Ebumbu]

On 12/13/2024 at 12:07 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Have you got low triglycerides? i don't go out of my way to eat Omega 3 and i have low triglycerides 

 

If you scuba a lot, physical activity is helping keep them in check. Due to various reasons, I am too sendentary. 

[Sheryl]

There is often a strong genetic component to elevated triglycerides. 

[BigStar]

22 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I do think that YOU have no idea of your cardiac state if only check your BP every two months or so, if you remember. 

 

But you didn't give the results of your CT scan, stress test, or echocardiogram. My BP's always optimal, so I'm rather bored w/ checking it, and my resting HR stays around 53. Been that way forever. I do have a fingertip oxygen pulse meter sitting on my desk I may use once a week, just to see some good numbers.

 

I don't need a stress test as I do intense intervals 3 times a week at the gym besides resistance training. VO2 max (calculated) scores in the athletic range for my age. I also had a CT scan and scored 100, all the blood work's good, so I won't fall into the Jim Fixx category.

 

I'm not an athlete, BTW, and have never really liked exercise. I started getting fit as 28-year-old wimp needing to keep up with a girlfriend training to run in a locally famous foot race. You guys all remember when as kids you could always outrun the girls. Whoops, they grew up.

 

Though you definitely absolutely have no "chest" problem even with no exercise, and are only taking BP meds because they taste good (strawberry?), I might note the major benefits of exercise for getting BP into a normal range w/o meds.

2. Exercise regularly

Regular aerobic exercise can lower high blood pressure by about 5 to 8 mm Hg. It's important to keep exercising to keep blood pressure from rising again. . . .

 

Exercise also can help keep elevated blood pressure that's slightly higher than ideal from turning into high blood pressure, also called hypertension. . . .

 

Some examples of aerobic exercise that can help lower blood pressure include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming and dancing. Another helpful type of exercise is high-intensity interval training. . . .

Strength training also can help lower blood pressure.

     --10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication

 

I think it's well, in a public forum w/ members seeking health advice, to give complete information w/ full disclosure.

[BigStar]

20 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

what do you take for that?

 

I should answer more definitively. Creatine, ginko, ginseng, CoQ10, fish oil, magnesium, zinc, multi-vitamin. Eggs. Coffee, tea, berries, dark chocolate, tomatoes, olive oil, half a class of red wine daily--anything w/ polyphenols.

 

Staying fit. Playing an hour of challenging video games daily. Lot of reading on the 'net, mainly, e-books sometimes. Computer work of various sorts.

 

https://www.webmd.com/brain/ss/slideshow-brain-supplements

 

https://reddit.com/r/Supplements/comments/1bi8xjl/what_is_the_best_supplement_to_boost_cognitive/

 

I await an invocation of the canonical No Ironcald Guarantee principle of ANF Longevity Science.

 

6.  No Ironclad Guarantee

Our members are known for their extraordinary hard-nosed shrewdness, e. g., investing in only a suitcase, paying visa agents, uncovering satang change scams, and notably keeping Thai women under tight control. They deal only in absolute certainties guaranteed in writing.

 

Before one suffers the trauma of denying oneself a pastry or of walking briskly around the block, one must first see the guarantee of precisely how much said sacrifice will reduce his dependence on his statins, ACE inhibitors, diabetes meds, blood thinners, and fake Viagra. His waistline will shrink by exactly how many centimeters? His obvious cognitive decline will reverse by exactly what percent? He may expect to live exactly how many years longer? WOT? Thought so. “Honey? Seen me pills?”

 

True, could be just flushing money down the toilet, but I can afford it I guess. Not paying for docs and meds yet, anyway.

 

I just go by what little evidence there seems to be and try to play the probabilities. I know I can't rely on Genetics Voodoo ("me relative lived to 95 solving Rubik's Cubes, did nothing"). 

 

 

 

[guru]

On 12/12/2024 at 4:42 PM, UWEB said:

Heart CT Scan, recently have done one after a problem showed up during an Exercise Stress Test.

Yeah I also had an exercise stress test as part of a routine annual medical. Showed something abnormal so doc said I must get the CT scan and to cease all exercise till then.

The result of the exercise stress test did cause me a lot of stress whilst waiting for the CT scanner. In fact I was given beta blockers as my heart rate was too high to get scanned. A heart rate that had previously been normal earlier in the day before the stress of the exercise stress test. 

CT scan showed zero calcium and heart was healthy and the abnormal stress test was put down to a false positive. Exactly the same scenario and result for a friend of mine around the same time. 

Obviously it’s good to know the CT scan result but - readers - don’t stress yourselves out to the max, like I did, if the doc is concerned about the exercise stress test result because it could possibly be a false positive. 

[ElwoodP]

Unhelpful post removed.