13 surprising signs that you will live long

[Crankin]

Exactly! We have another friend who has the same cardiologist here in Concord. He is at least 50 pounds overweight and last year had a 90% blockage in the main artery leading to the heart (sorry, i have forgotten my anatomy). The doc just keeps telling him to "lose 50 pounds," with no suggestions for how he should do it. Now, I do give the doc credit for really keeping up with the trends in medications, changing things up, and getting my husband's cholesterol ridiculously low. But, like you said, he is telling my husband not to do what they are trying to get most Americans to do. He has softened the message a bit, though.
And it took several calls to the Brigham to find a cardiologist with experience with endurance athletes.

[deeaimond]

I have a grandmother who takes handfuls of pills every morning (Literally) and being rather young (24), it used to be all about excess weight when i was younger, but these days, when I feel my heart pounding during exercise, I'm just thankful its working right.

I guess we all have different reasons for exercising, but I think keeping ourselves healthy is important. My dad got hypertension when he was in his late 20s. I have an obese 16 yr old brother, and I feel despair everytime i look at him...

At the end of the day, its doesn't matter what people around you say or do, we need to do it ourselves. If only to keep our lives meaningful. Nothing meaningful in staying alive on handfuls of pills. Life is boring if all you can do is potter around and watch TV.

[deeaimond]

oh and I think i need to quit my diet coke habit.

[Crankin]

Oakleaf, an update, even though this is off topic a bit. My husband went for a 64 slice CT scan at Mass General; again nothing had really changed. The cardiologist here in Concord said there was a slight narrowing of one artery, but it is the same thing that has shown up every year since he had the stents put in. So, after some pushing, Steve said, well, what can I do? They decided to put him on Indur, a long acting nitro drug. Since the angina is stable and Steve knows exactly when it will occur and he can make it go away, the doctor felt this was the best solution. This way, he can take it slightly later in the morning, if it is a day he is riding to work and back home, since it lasts for 12 hours.
The doctor at Brigham and Woman's was very good. I didn't go with him for the appointment, but Steve felt satisfied that he was talked to like an intelligent adult who is not going to stop exercising! This guy said, sure you could go in for another angio, but there is a risk to that. He felt that since all of his other numbers (cholesterol, bp) are excellent the Indur was a good choice. Steve is taking the absolute lowest dose and he shouldn't get any of the problems people get when it stops working after a while because your body builds up tolerance to the drug. This doctor also said that the angina is a separate issue from the past blockages and plenty of people have angina who do not have other heart issues. So, in the end, he told Steve if he keeps up the active life style, most likely he will die of something else, as long as he keeps being active and stays on top of any changes in his symptoms. And, he explained the reason why the pain goes away after riding for awhile; apparently the body produces natural nitro.
So far, the drug seems to be working, but he still is warming up much longer and not riding so hard for every ride.

[OakLeaf]

That sounds like good news - thanks for the update. I'm glad he has the OK to continue to be active - and hoping that he'll get back to being able to push as hard as he wants.

[tulip]

I actually LIKE cleaning my little house. I do a thorough cleaning every couple of weeks, and it takes me about an hour. I have 11 windows and I clean them in the fall and in the spring. If that'll extend my life a little, great.