Blood pressure

[Bill Gates]

@Bill Gates I wonder if you could explain this please as I'm confused. You're happy to live with a cholesterol reading of 7.2 or higher because the stats show you will live longer. I don't understand this, could you explain?

As regards the blood pressure and high cholesterol observation. I had a heart attack four years ago. My BP was then, and has been for decades, around 125/65, so we are similar. My cholesterol was around 6.0. I don't have narrowed arteries but the high cholesterol was sufficient to block one atery in my heart.

I should add I'm an ex-smoker and this will have been a contributory factor.

I can hear the groans coming from all directions. There is a thread entitled statins work you should read and I have made a number of posts on this (now banned) so as you would imagine I am in a tiny minority on this subject. Data from clinical trials show that those people who are aged 65 or over have a greater mortality rate from all illnesses, diseases, cancer and cardiac events so forth if they are taking statins to lower their cholesterol. Those with higher levels of cholesterol live longer. The contentious issue at stake here is whether or not cholesterol is the demon its made out to be by main stream thinking. E.g. You state that it is the high cholesterol that blocked your artery when in reality it is the inflammation of the artery wall that can be caused by a whole multitude of different things that is the cause of narrowing. The only positive thing that statins do is to stimulate the body's production of nitric oxide that helps the lining of the artery wall to heal. Statistics show that this will result in an extra 3 days of life over 5 years, in the meantime a whole host of nasty side effects can affect your mind and body particularly with a high dosage.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQWZbfkpNhY

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxCO9iiJYDw


good luck

 

[PaulSB]

@Bill Gates thank you for the explanation. There are things in there I was not aware of and I shall do some reading. I am aware there are two very definite schools of thought. I have a friend who has been far more ill than I who refuses to take his prescribed statins - not that he's ever given me reasons as you have.

I should say I am aware of the thread title and have been following the thread. I certainly was not groaning at you but genuinely interested as I was surprised by your statements.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Milzy]

111/75 here, take the reading before eating & drinking. Keep pad level with the heart, both feet flat on the floor. Relax. Try reading on both arms.
Many get false readings by not been calm & following this etiquette.

 

[itboffin]

trip to the docs today for as it turns out is BPPV vertigo but because i'm "that" age she took my blood pressure 153/93 which sounds bad but i'm pretty sure it was the same when I was 17, same for my resting HR with has over the years come down from, wait for it 95 to 68.

Also my max HR on the bike today is 198 down from 204 a few years ago and i'll happily ride for 8 hours at HR +160 bpm.

I'm not overweight unfit or unwell, last time I went to the docs in 2016 for a medical certificate for the Marmotte he took my BP which was also high by standards and refused to sign me off until I took a weeks worth of measurements, obviously this came down due to the white coat effect but still high for someone fit and training for an endurance event, as i was.

Anyway I smashed my previous 2013 attempt by more than 30 mins finishing in sub 8 hours which for my age group is if i say so myself not too shabby. I worried myself when I saw how much higher my numbers are than my peers but really its also very relative, understanding your normal is far more important, and not pretending you're still 17.

All that said i will measure my BP for the next week at home

 

[Drago]

116/66 as of a few weeks ago.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

116/66 as of a few weeks ago.

As long as it's not 11/666 as that'd be the devil in you.

 

[itboffin]

I ended up buying my on bp monitor and have been taking readings at home for the last week, turns out my actual BP avg is about 110/75