Well man - or not?

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Iggy

Iggy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
1,023
Location
Staffordshire
Dear all,

Being over 40 and falling to bits (statistically) I attended a 'Well Man' checkup last week and after two years living like a monk and eating ½ metric tonne of porridge I'm delighted to announce my cholesterol has plummeted from 6.5 to 6.4.

I have however lost 2kg in the same period - possibly the colonic irrigation effect of the porridge?

Apparently my 'bad fat' has come down and my urine is ok.

I can either stop at Tesco on my way home to get a big lump of cheese, a pound of butter and a box of Statins OR pick up the Gwyneth Paltrow DVD on making a wholesome meal from a pair of old sandals?

The nurse suggests I try a bit harder with my diet and have a retest in 6 months rather than go on Statins, but what do you all think - I haven't got a clue?

I wouldn't mind but I don't have a bad diet....it's not like I can just 'cut out the pies and KFC' so I wouldn't know what to cut out?

Any suggestions before I add depression to the list, or should I just make a will now?

 
I feel your pain mate, i have been progressively falling to bits for 10 yrs. Nothing good to report from a 50 yr old perspective either.

My recommendation is spend as much money as possible do as much as possible go to as many places as possible oh and take the statins

 
Do everything you can do to avoid having to take statins...lots of side affects, different side affects for different people!!!

 
James is right some people do have side effects but they have been widely accepted as beneficial.

 
I disagree about Statins as I had a high reading until my last check up. Before any mention of changing diet and exercise regime the GP wanted me on Statins, and I declined.

More important than cholesterol level is your C Reactive protein which I think relates to the elasticity of your arteries. Eating 6 walnuts a day (if you're not allergic to nuts), plenty of beans/pulses, and vegetables, egg whites/poached eggs only - not fried. I take high allicin yield garlic supplements and Omega3 oils, I cut down on bread, sugar/sweets, leave out sugar in my tea, no cans of fizzy pop, no bacon or sausages any more, and take inflavenoid supplements as well.

Combined with my mountain biking (as I hate running and have had a lifetime of it when in Army) cross training/boxing training, swimming, and landscaping my garden I have shed 2 stone so far this year, and my cholesterol levels have improved, and these last two months my scores have significantly improved as well.

IMHO I think the old cholesterol debate has been a good money spinner for the Statin companies and the Doctors who have interests in peddling them, and there is actually no conclusive proof that cholesterol causes heart attacks - our bodies are not designed to kill us.

My advice though is to pay to see a leading specialist in the field and not a drug pushing GP or Nurse. Even a good nutritionist will help.

 
I am of the opinion that cholesterol is not affected AS MUCH AS PEOPLE WOULD HAVE US THINK by diet and lack of exercise.

I am quite overweight, I don't exercise enough (at all, apart from plodding round shooting grounds!), and my diet is...ummm... not exactly great!  However, my cholesterol level is sat firmly below 3!  My GP's comment on the last result 4 months ago (2.7) was that it's "ridiculously low!"

A doctor told me once that they don't really understand cholesterol, and some professionals think it may be hereditary!  None of my family have high cholesterol.  A healthy lifestyle - eating right, exercise etc - is undeniably the right way forward, but I believe, as has been said above, there's a whole lot of crap being force fed (see what I did there??) to us from most of the medical profession/drug manufacturers.  There are professional athletes who struggle with high cholesterol.

Just my opinion, before a war starts!

 
Agreed Teepee. My Mother in Law is a skinny 8 stone woman but has high cholesterol, is being treated for it and has eaten like a church mouse for years. Not an ounce of fat on her. Hasn't improved her temperament much either. I wonder if they could treat that?

 
I feel at my best around 13.5stone, which according to BMI is about 2 stone overweight. BUT I always have and still do lead an active and sometimes very physically demanding life farming hill livestock and various sports. What the medics don't seem to account for is the fact that muscle and bone weigh heavier than fat. When I was scuba instructing I didn't need any weight in fresh water to help me sink whereas we used to have to weigh wee women down with so much lead they could hardly move to help them sink.

Because I'm taking this shooting lark seriously I'm slowly modifying my diet and gradually stepping up my non-work exercise so that by this time next year things should be coming together nicely. I'm also taking Wellman old git (50+) multivits which have the unexpected bonus of helping me sleep.

 
Statins are generally prescribed for people with a family history of heart disease and or a high probability of getting a heart disease for various reasons.

Personally I could not be bothered with all that exercise or eating / drinking or rather not eating / drinking certain things that I like. And as for cigars when I told my very nice GP the amount of cigars I smoked his reply was "well that's not that bad"

I have had three friends die in there early 40s none smoked and none drank that much (in fact one didn't drink at all) none were overweight and none were that unfit. Make of that what you will but I have always been of the opinion to enjoy life and do everything you want to do as soon as you can, oh and be careful of buses.

 
Bryn12 said:
Because I'm taking this shooting lark seriously I'm slowly modifying my diet and gradually stepping up my non-work exercise so that by this time next year things should be coming together nicely. I'm also taking Wellman old git (50+) multivits which have the unexpected bonus of helping me sleep.
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Don't ever spend a night out with trap shooters then mate, we are not known for health kicks or sobriety (with a few exceptions I expect but I haven't met any)

 
The occasional blow out doesn't do any harm in fact once I recover and swear never to do it again I feel a lot better, probably given my liver and kidneys a good work-out and culled the weaker brain cells :crazy:

 
Bryn12 said:
 once I recover and swear never to do it again
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Listen........you need MORE practice!!!  Ian (ips) and myself offer courses on how to "never need to recover ever again". We can get you onto a course very quickly. Price is according to location and also to the consumption amount.

 
Bryn12 said:
The occasional blow out doesn't do any harm in fact once I recover and swear never to do it again I feel a lot better, probably given my liver and kidneys a good work-out and culled the weaker brain cells :crazy:
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Ah, so that's why I have to think for you? :sarcastic: Non brain cells left.

 
I was prescribed statins just over a year ago as cholesterol was a tad high. 

Gave them up after a week of massive headaches and generally feeling like crap.

Remember. You only get a hangover if you stop drinking  :fie:

 
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