Blood Pressure

Just as your dentist secretly drills tiny holes in your teeth, so you will develop more cavities. What, you didn't know? >:D

MRG said:
+1


I'm sure my doc intentionally gave me the wrong medication just to make more money!/jk.[emoji23]
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bmcgonig said:
I'm in Ireland and I tried to buy Naproxen, and found out that it's prescription only too. But..I can buy Nurofen Plus which is Ibuprofen and Codeine without a prescription! It's really good.

Alan, I have AFib as well and now it's pretty well disseminated over in US that aspirin is either useless (no effect on stroke prevention) or harmful (bleeding) for AFib.
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Maybe I should wait until I develop one of the other factors that doctors would then put me on aspirin for, and hopefully get some of the other benefits mentioned above.

https://www.webmd.com/men/features/aspirin-day-not#1

Those patients most in need of daily aspirin therapy are easy to identify. If you have a documented personal or family history of heart disease -- including heart attacks, strokes, or angina; if you have diabetes; or if you have multiple risks for the development of heart disease such as have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or are a smoker, you should most likely take a daily dose of aspirin (but always consult with your physician first). Although the optimal dose of aspirin in prevention of future heart disease is still unclear, doses of 75 milligrams, 100 milligrams, or 325 milligrams have been found to be equally effective.
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The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) declined to endorse the new lower guidelines because the guidelines did not meet that organization's standards for medical evidence. AAFP and Am College of Physicians issued guidelines for patients over 60 last year. "Doctors should prescribe drugs for healthy patients only when systolic levels are 150 or higher."
Above citations from interview with Dr. Gilbert Welch MD Prof Med at Dartmouth. Also referenced is article in NY Times "Don't let New Blood Pressure Guidelines Raise Yours"
IMHO,looks to me the jury is still out on proper thresholds, especially for those at the lower levels.
 
Not a "kickback" but apparently Big Pharma can monitor how/what drs prescribe.

DH recently went on Medicare. One of his RXes is pretty expensive and we noticed that (for instance) the 100 mg tablet costs just as much as the 50 mg tablet which is what the dr prescribed. Both were 90 day supplies.

So why can't the dr just prescribe the 100 mg (break it in half) and it will last twice as long and therefore be half as expensive? He would then only have to order them every six months instead of every three months.

Dr told my husband that Big Pharma somehow monitors this and could "cut him off" if they found out.

I have no idea how accurate this is but it is another way that someone is making $$ on us.
 
ChiliPepr said:
According to the American Heart Association, if your Systolic (upper number) is 140 or higher you have High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Stage 2.
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I gave up listening to the American Heart Association years ago. If you follow the money trail, you will see that they get most of their funding from Big Pharma and the big food companies. So of course they are going to promote more use of prescription meds, and higher consumption of processed food. I try to get my medical advice from unbiased sources (and that is not easy these days). Here is a short article (co-written by an MD) on the AHA and what they are all about:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/health-news_b_4398304.html
 
RAE said:
I gave up listening to the American Heart Association years ago. If you follow the money trail, you will see that they get most of their funding from Big Pharma and the big food companies. So of course they are going to promote more use of prescription meds, and higher consumption of processed food. I try to get my medical advice from unbiased sources (and that is not easy these days). Here is a short article (co-written by an MD) on the AHA and what they are all about:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/health-news_b_4398304.html
Click to expand...

To me it's peculiar that so many "diseases" have developed into mini-industries. They have special interest groups who fund raise for research and/or "awareness". These groups can become quite rich and powerful and often morph into organizations that live forever and have ever more vague goals. Yet, continue to provide well financed and well staffed bureaucracies.

One example is the March of Dimes. It was founded in 1938 to find a cure for Polio. Once the polio vaccine(s) provided a solid way to prevent polio, the organization changed its mission to prevent "birth defects and infant mortality". A nice goal, but one that they will safely never ever go away.
 
OP here, so I sent my last 2 weeks of BP readings to my doctor. There had been a steady decline from 140/80 to around 130/80. Doctor says these later readings are fine, no need for BP medicine. I just need to keep an eye on my BP going forward. Thanks to the folks that made it possible to get my BP readings down. I think it was the meditation, breathing, and beet juice that got it down.
 
harllee said:
OP here, so I sent my last 2 weeks of BP readings to my doctor. There had been a steady decline from 140/80 to around 130/80. Doctor says these later readings are fine, no need for BP medicine. I just need to keep an eye on my BP going forward. Thanks to the folks that made it possible to get my BP readings down. I think it was the meditation, breathing, and beet juice that got it down.
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Nice job, keep up the good work.
 
harley said:
The problem with that study is it makes no differentiation by age, and there have been a number of studies recently that show that as you age beyond 60 higher numbers are accepted as normal. As it's pretty much impossible to tell what's signal in all the noise, I tend to go with if you're otherwise pretty healthy and your BP isn't extreme, don't worry too much. If you start heading into the mid to upper numbers, definitely check with your doctor and probably start BP meds. But it only makes sense that as you age your numbers are going to increase a bit. Everything gets suckier as you get older. And no pill is going to make you younger.
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Actually as I recall the guidelines in the 1960s were a upper number of 100+your age. Which did account for an increase with age, of course back then there were a lot fewer medicines for high blood pressure.
 
Luvdogs said:
Not a "kickback" but apparently Big Pharma can monitor how/what drs prescribe.

DH recently went on Medicare. One of his RXes is pretty expensive and we noticed that (for instance) the 100 mg tablet costs just as much as the 50 mg tablet which is what the dr prescribed. Both were 90 day supplies.

So why can't the dr just prescribe the 100 mg (break it in half) and it will last twice as long and therefore be half as expensive? He would then only have to order them every six months instead of every three months.

Dr told my husband that Big Pharma somehow monitors this and could "cut him off" if they found out.

I have no idea how accurate this is but it is another way that someone is making $$ on us.
Click to expand...

Express scripts my prescription drug plan administrator actually encourages the above.
 
harllee said:
OP here, so I sent my last 2 weeks of BP readings to my doctor. There had been a steady decline from 140/80 to around 130/80. Doctor says these later readings are fine, no need for BP medicine. I just need to keep an eye on my BP going forward. Thanks to the folks that made it possible to get my BP readings down. I think it was the meditation, breathing, and beet juice that got it down.
Click to expand...

Good job, although it would be a tough call for me between the BP meds and the beet juice.
 
OP here, I love beets and i think the beet juice is yummy and no side effects. But I guess if you don't like beets it would be an acquired taste...
 
Yesterday, my husband had a BP of 118/60 (better than mine) at the Dr's office. His BP used to be higher, before he started working out at the gym 3-4 days a week, with plenty of cardio. He also lost 10 pounds, mostly from his waistline, and wore a 45-year-old wool suit to a funeral last week. It was the only dark suit he had, and it fit perfectly.

So there are things, other than meds, that one can attempt.
 
Just_Steve said:
Express scripts my prescription drug plan administrator actually encourages the above.
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In my experience, Express Scripts has always looked for the cheapest solution (e.g. generics) without any consideration for a patients health. If a generic will work for your case, then that's great, but if it doesn't, good luck no matter what you or your doctor says!
 
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