Strenuous exercise. Alcohol. High-dose Niacin. All of these things make you go pink. All of these things are also good for your heart & circulation. As I mentioned in Red, red wine and very sharp pointy things, one glass of red wine significantly lowered my blood pressure in less than 10 minutes, probably by making my arteries dilate (which made me go pink) and by reducing my mental stress which lowered my stress hormone levels.
According to JBS2 guidelines (which I don't fully agree with), CVD risk factor increases with increasing blood pressure. It also increases with increasing TC:HDL ratio. What increases HDL? Things that make you go pink. What we now need is a study showing the effects of blushing on the risk factors for CVD!
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Blood pressure. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Blood pressure. Tampilkan semua postingan
Selasa, 23 Februari 2010
Rabu, 17 Februari 2010
Red, red wine and very sharp pointy things.
Suffice it to say that I've been feeling a bit stressed recently, what with all the hoo-ha over my mum's nursing home etc. Today, I'm going to be prodded & cut open with very sharp pointy things as I'm having a right inguinal hernia repaired with polypropylene mesh.
Last Wednesday, I attended the pre-op' assessment and failed with a BP of 154/100. I explained that I had a very important meeting with Social Services on my mind and it was causing me much stress so I was told to get a re-test at my local surgery on Friday. As the meeting on Thursday didn't go quite as I'd hoped (case closed), my BP on Friday was 160/100. My GP upped my Amias dose from 8mg/day to 12mg/day and told me to get a re-test on Monday. I had to get my diastolic reading (the lower of the two numbers) below 90 or my op' would not take place today.
On Monday morning I tested my BP at home using my £9.99 Lloyds Pharmacy automatic BP meter (which usually gives the same reading as my GP's sphygmomanometer) and the lowest reading I could get was 135/99. Uh-oh! Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I hardly ever drink alcohol, but I had a bottle of Blossom Hill Californian Red in the cupboard for *ahem* special occasions, so I had a 250mL glass of it on an empty stomach. Woo-hoo! It went straight to my head and I felt slightly flushed. Ten minutes later, I was in the doctor's surgery having my BP tested. It was 140/86. Result! I told my GP what I'd done and he was O.K. with it. So, red wine for the win!
Before you all rush off and get hammered, here's an article from the Harvard School of Public Health about Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits. The article used to contain a graph but it's been edited-out in the latest version. Luckily, I had a copy of it on my hard disk which I shall upload here.
As women have smaller livers than men, the cirrhosis graph shoots up faster for women as alcohol consumption increases beyond 1 drink per day.
Last Wednesday, I attended the pre-op' assessment and failed with a BP of 154/100. I explained that I had a very important meeting with Social Services on my mind and it was causing me much stress so I was told to get a re-test at my local surgery on Friday. As the meeting on Thursday didn't go quite as I'd hoped (case closed), my BP on Friday was 160/100. My GP upped my Amias dose from 8mg/day to 12mg/day and told me to get a re-test on Monday. I had to get my diastolic reading (the lower of the two numbers) below 90 or my op' would not take place today.
On Monday morning I tested my BP at home using my £9.99 Lloyds Pharmacy automatic BP meter (which usually gives the same reading as my GP's sphygmomanometer) and the lowest reading I could get was 135/99. Uh-oh! Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I hardly ever drink alcohol, but I had a bottle of Blossom Hill Californian Red in the cupboard for *ahem* special occasions, so I had a 250mL glass of it on an empty stomach. Woo-hoo! It went straight to my head and I felt slightly flushed. Ten minutes later, I was in the doctor's surgery having my BP tested. It was 140/86. Result! I told my GP what I'd done and he was O.K. with it. So, red wine for the win!
Before you all rush off and get hammered, here's an article from the Harvard School of Public Health about Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits. The article used to contain a graph but it's been edited-out in the latest version. Luckily, I had a copy of it on my hard disk which I shall upload here.
As women have smaller livers than men, the cirrhosis graph shoots up faster for women as alcohol consumption increases beyond 1 drink per day.
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