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Doctors Rejoice Over Our Obesity

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Use of cholesterol and blood pressure medicines by young adults appears to be rising rapidly -- at a faster pace than among senior citizens, according to an industry report being released Tuesday.

Experts point to higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol problems among young people. Also, doctors are getting more aggressive with preventive treatments.

"This is good news, that more people in this age range are taking these medicines," said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

Still, he said many more people should be on the drugs that lower cholesterol or blood pressure and which have been shown to reduce risks for heart attack and stroke.

I see that our medical professionals are unclear on what the meaning of "preventative". I suppose they mean that by putting people on medication sooner, they are preventing the inevitable heart attack. Silly me, i was thinking preventative in terms of keeping people healthy so that they don't get to the point of actually having symptoms. You know. Lifestyle changes so that they don't have high cholesterol or blood pressure in the first place. Not, "Oh, now that you're starting to get sick, let's give you drugs so that you can maintain your current unhealthy lifestyle longer." I always get it wrong.

Dr. Howard Weintraub, the heart disease prevention expert at the American College of Cardiology, said he's "thrilled" by the dramatic increase, which he says is tied to requests from patients with "a brand new sense of urgency" and referrals from other doctors to his private practice.

"If you wait until a heart attack or stroke, it's a little bit late," Weintraub said.

And that's coming from the "heart disease prevention expert". Fantastic. I wonder how much he gets in "thank yous" from the drug companies for pushing more meds. Seems to me that if you got to the point of needing the drugs, you're already late. Not too late, perhaps, but late all the same.

I am clearly no medical expert. My advice would have been 1) stop eating those deep fried twinkies wrapped in bacon, 2) get on a treadmill, and 3) get acquainted with that other food group - fruits and vegetables. Shows what i know.

By min | October 30, 2007, 8:59 AM | Liberal Outrage


Comments

You're very much right. However, it's very good that these medications exist and I would add their prescription as a #4 to your snarky list of things to do.

The real problem is that to the medical profession, drugs and surgery are the only things they do/are taught. So any method of prevention will take these forms. They are, generally, not taught nutrition, exercise science, or about vitamins as preventative interventions (let alone anything less 'mainstream') or even how to probably 'prescribe' them. Go ahead, ask your GP about any of those three. In my anecdotal experience you'll get everything from a "yeah, exercise, do that" to "you don't need vitamins."

bah, I had more to say, but don't really want to deal with it now.

my GP doesn't have time for me. she's busy with patients who have real problems. people with problems that she can prescribe a preventative drug for.

it's not like a constant low grade headache for the last 15 years of my life is indicative of a problem or anything. i'm not overweight and my blood pressure's registering at the right level. what more do i want from her anyway?

Stop complaining! You always complain! Those headaches are just the voices that you're suppressing.

I stopped eating crap and was fit enough to bike 100 miles on consecutive days, and even taking statins and niaspan daily my cholesterol barely dipped out of the high range. So... I figured fuck it... mcnuggets for everyone!