I have heard on the radio news and looked it up on Google. They have lowered the guidelines for hypertension. They have in the past also lowered the range for cholesterol. Thoughts? Just trying to sell more medications pharmaceutical companies? Got to wonder. One article. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Condi...-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp#.WvM88ExFzIU
I just mentioned this in the Pit and Peak thread. I was at the drs on my Monday and mine was 117/68, I thought that was low but the dr said they are lowering the guidelines and it's fine. I don't take meds for BP but I'm very anal about my sodium intake....always less than 1,500 a day.
The cholesterol reference range was definitely changed to sell statins, but I know nothing about the BP ranges and whether they also are linked to selling meds. I would look at whether the range changes are linked in any way to the release of new, expensive BP meds. I am out of the system now and no longer keep up like I used to do.
I missed your post @Chrissy Cross That's a good BP but with the lowering guidelines make me very suspicious since hypertension has been defined as over 140/90 since I can remember. Got to wonder what is going on here. @Don Alaska I certainly believe the lower cholesterol guidelines were put in place to sell statins and I have heard some people just don't feel well when on them.
Cholesterol and blood pressure drugs seem to be the ones they're pushing the hardest. I check my blood pressure at home and it goes up and down a lot throughout the day, yet my last doctor would want to put me on blood pressure drug because it was high one day in his office, just as he wanted me on a statin drug when my cholesterol within the high range of normal. They do have me on Crestor now, but I forget to take it about a third of the time. I always remember to take Levothyroxine because I know that I need that one, given that I no longer have a thyroid, but I don't know if I should be taking this statin drug or not. Unlike Lipitor, Crestor doesn't cause any noticeable side effects, but I'm still not sure if it's a good idea.
At the bottom of the page....... Our Sponsor "Bayer Consumer Health, maker of Coricidin® HBP, is a proud sponsor of the AHA High Blood Pressure Web content area." Learn more about Bayer Consumer Health. The sponsor........ Hmmmmmmm?
The worst side effects of statins that I have seen are dementia and rhabdomyolysis. Your brain contains a good proportion of the cholesterol in your body, so when you reduce it, you naturally reduce brain function. Rhabdomyolysis is baisically when your skeletal muscles start to dissolve. That is the "rare but serious side effect" that is first displayed as muscle pain that the commercials mention. While rhabdo existed prior to statins, I had never seen a case prior to the introduction of statins. Before I retired, we had about one case a month come through that required hospitalization. It is rare considering how many people are on statins, it is not as rare as it once was. Another thing to consider is that all the statin drugs reduce cholesterol by the same pathway that your liver uses to produce Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Anyway, anyone on statins should be taking a CoQ10 supplement. CoQ10 is one of the chemicals that your body uses to repair tissue damage, prevent tissue damage and regulate metabolism. It is considered an antioxidant, but it is much more than that. Total cholesterol is not really important, but what you really want to avoid is small molecule LDL.
@Chrissy Cross First I've ever heard of this route of sodium intake.......doesn't it burn a bit, or cause discomfort? As for me, I have an unusually tender area there........ Frank
I take a cholesterol med once a week on Monday AM and take a daily BP med in the AM. My VA doctor likes me to keep my BP under 140/90. Most of the time I do that, but when I see her, and begin talking (like I like to do), my BP is generally a little higher.
I was doing one of those phone studies the other day, and they were telling me about a new monitoring device that is under development. It is one of the body analysis bathroom scales, one of the little finger oxy-sensor, and a cuff for checking blood pressure. There is also a sending unit with it that will automatically send this info to your doctor, or even your family if they are interested in your health. I think that this might be a good idea, because BP is almost always high when taken at the doctor’s office, plus, it can vary, and this way the doctor would have a truer readout of what the BP is doing on a regular basis. It would be similar to how my little heart implant works (sending heartrate and A-fib info to my doctor), except this is a non-invasive way of doing it. We just got one of those body analysis bathroom scales from Amazon, and it is pretty amazing what all it can measure. It sends the information to the app for the scale, and that is connected to my health app; so it adds to the info that comes into that database. None of that is sent to my doctor though, so I would have to print out the charts and take them in myself to show him.
What I have noticed at my doctor's office is that the first blood pressure they take is high. Then if they wait a few minutes and take it again, it's more in line with what I see when I check my BP at home. I have gotten the nurse to record the second blood pressure so the doctor doesn't have to waste time trying to get me to take BP medicine.
My dr does the same...I had a high reading once and my dr said he'll take it at the end of the appt and it was normal.
I don't think I'll ever have high blood pressure but if I do, I'll take the med the dr prescribes. Ive had a few relatives on them and none died young or from heart disease.
The process by which BP readings are elevated when visiting the Dr. is called "White Coat Syndrome". I've always had it. Frank