There seems to be a general perception among the medical community that the minute you turn 50, you are at risk for a host of serious diseases and they want to put you on all sorts of pills to prevent you from getting them, even if your risk is low or non-existent. Everyone I know my age or older is taking tons of medications for a host of ills and this strikes me as wrong that we are the most medicated country in the world. Big Pharma is reaping record profits by keeping us sick and doctors, rather than practice wellness care, are practicing sick care. Why not tell patients how to prevent the onset of the Big Four: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and strokes? Of course, they will do this, but only if you take a handful of expensive pills every day in hopes of beating the odds that you will get sick. Some of these medications come with serious side effects that can possibly make you sicker, thus enslaving you to the medical system to have to take still more pills to counteract the side effects of the ones prescribed. It's all so ridiculous and it upsets me that certain dangerous drugs are handed out like candy. In particular, dangerous cholesterol lowering statin drugs are given to nearly everybody now, whether you have high cholesterol or not. The doctors want you to take statins even if your cholesterol is picture perfect, as a preventive against eventually developing high cholesterol, but my take on things is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why take meds you don't need and spend the extra money? Because statins are a gold mine for Big Pharma. They are given to just about every patient over age 50 who walks through a doctor's door whether they need them or not. I refuse to take them even with my slightly elevated cholesterol. There are seven risk factors for heart disease and I have only one of those, meaning that I do not have six of them. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me. A more important measure of a risk for heart attack is your waist to hips ratio, or your BMI, and mine's picture perfect. I'm at exactly the weight I should be for my age and height. So there again, a risk factor has been removed. I do not smoke, I am not obese, I am not diabetic, my BP is perfect (100/68 today!), I am physically active, I am female, yes, I'm over 50, but that doesn't automatically put me at the 1 in 3 risk for a heart attack that doctors are trying to convince me of. Family history is another risk factor. Hm, let's see, my maternal grandparents both lived to be 91, my paternal grandfather lived to be 83 and my paternal grandmother lived to be 86. My mom's nearly 84 and aside from a few age related problems, she's doing pretty well for someone in their mid-80s. Her ticker is strong and healthy and she does water aerobics several times per week. Our family has absolutely NO history of coronary artery disease, and knowing your family medical history is critical. So the family history also puts me at a strong advantage because my relatives tend to be long lived. Needless to say, the doctors efforts to convince me to go on statins is falling on deaf ears. I will not consent to go on these dangerous drugs because in my opinion, I do not need them. Why waste money and risk damaging my health using drugs that could cause permanent and lasting damage to my body? It's not worth the risk if you ask me, and I don't plan on keeling over of a heart attack anytime soon. To use a favorite quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "I'm not dead yet, I'm getting better!"
Friday, July 1, 2011
I'm not dead yet!
There seems to be a general perception among the medical community that the minute you turn 50, you are at risk for a host of serious diseases and they want to put you on all sorts of pills to prevent you from getting them, even if your risk is low or non-existent. Everyone I know my age or older is taking tons of medications for a host of ills and this strikes me as wrong that we are the most medicated country in the world. Big Pharma is reaping record profits by keeping us sick and doctors, rather than practice wellness care, are practicing sick care. Why not tell patients how to prevent the onset of the Big Four: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and strokes? Of course, they will do this, but only if you take a handful of expensive pills every day in hopes of beating the odds that you will get sick. Some of these medications come with serious side effects that can possibly make you sicker, thus enslaving you to the medical system to have to take still more pills to counteract the side effects of the ones prescribed. It's all so ridiculous and it upsets me that certain dangerous drugs are handed out like candy. In particular, dangerous cholesterol lowering statin drugs are given to nearly everybody now, whether you have high cholesterol or not. The doctors want you to take statins even if your cholesterol is picture perfect, as a preventive against eventually developing high cholesterol, but my take on things is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why take meds you don't need and spend the extra money? Because statins are a gold mine for Big Pharma. They are given to just about every patient over age 50 who walks through a doctor's door whether they need them or not. I refuse to take them even with my slightly elevated cholesterol. There are seven risk factors for heart disease and I have only one of those, meaning that I do not have six of them. Those are pretty good odds if you ask me. A more important measure of a risk for heart attack is your waist to hips ratio, or your BMI, and mine's picture perfect. I'm at exactly the weight I should be for my age and height. So there again, a risk factor has been removed. I do not smoke, I am not obese, I am not diabetic, my BP is perfect (100/68 today!), I am physically active, I am female, yes, I'm over 50, but that doesn't automatically put me at the 1 in 3 risk for a heart attack that doctors are trying to convince me of. Family history is another risk factor. Hm, let's see, my maternal grandparents both lived to be 91, my paternal grandfather lived to be 83 and my paternal grandmother lived to be 86. My mom's nearly 84 and aside from a few age related problems, she's doing pretty well for someone in their mid-80s. Her ticker is strong and healthy and she does water aerobics several times per week. Our family has absolutely NO history of coronary artery disease, and knowing your family medical history is critical. So the family history also puts me at a strong advantage because my relatives tend to be long lived. Needless to say, the doctors efforts to convince me to go on statins is falling on deaf ears. I will not consent to go on these dangerous drugs because in my opinion, I do not need them. Why waste money and risk damaging my health using drugs that could cause permanent and lasting damage to my body? It's not worth the risk if you ask me, and I don't plan on keeling over of a heart attack anytime soon. To use a favorite quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "I'm not dead yet, I'm getting better!"
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