Avoiding Heart Disease
blog.harjtaggar.com
Avoiding Heart Disease
1–10 of 142 posts
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#2That's a fascinating story. My company makes biosensors for people to track blood sugar, and our tech has applications to cardiac markers. We've always wanted to sell a kit for home testing, but the market size of willing testers doesn't justify the investment. If a story like yours led some researcher to conduct a study it could lead to a cascade that ultimately puts tools into your hands. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#3> [3] I looked into how I'd get these tests ordered myself and found these options: [...] Directlabs: A dated looking website but offering the option of a la carte tests. Total cost for these three tests: $205
I'll vouch for directlabs. I was very happy with their "Comprehensive Wellness Profile". Their website looks slightly sketchy, but their service is fast and cheap.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#4> Am I missing other major downsides to taking a more proactive approach to managing my own health? Are there other things I should consider looking at to get a complete picture of my health?
A potential downside is the tendency is to shift from being proactive about your health to diagnosing (or worse -- treating) yourself based on independent research. I get that it's tempting to fire up google scholar, pubmed, uptodate etc to get a better understanding of what's going on -- just don't go the next step and start diagnosing and treating yourself.
See a specialist. See a domain specialist if you can. Get another opinion. Ask questions and air your concerns. If your doctor doesn't adequately answer your questions and concerns, see another doctor. Your greatest asset -- and the one you should be focused on-- is the ability to get multiple opinions from people who have trained for decades on a topic.
It seems like you need to see a new doctor -- not order your own tests.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#5Tim Ferris has an excellent write up on 4 hour body. Part of it is to do extensive bloodwork & other tests that go far beyond what most doctors do - with them you can get a clearer picture. Talking to doctor with those in hand might give a clearer picture to you and your doctor.
Not sure if those are available in India, but my cousin did follow through those tests(in estonia) and has lost 50lbs - now healthier than ever. Has something to do with kinds of blood indicated what kind of diet you suppose to be on, vegeterian, paleo or whatever. my 2c.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#6> Am I missing other major downsides to taking a more proactive approach to managing my own health? Are there other things I should consider looking at to get a complete picture of my health? A potential downside is the tendency is to shift from being proactive about your health to diagnosing (or worse -- treating) yourself based on independent research. I get that it's tempting to fire up google scholar, pubmed, upt…
The issue is that doctors give you muddled advice too. I had my blood test done last year and I was told that I should cut down on eating any meat and switch to a plant based diet. He also vaguely told me to do more exercise. Yet, I eat incredibly lean food, albeit high protein mainly because I weight lift. I also run 4.5 miles every other day. He couldn't go into more detail apart from this general warning. I could switch to a more plant, low fat diet. However, would that mean that I would be overall healthy considering that any resistance training would essentially be diminished because I am not getting enough protein in my diet? Should I run more than 15 miles a week and potentially screw my knees. He wasn't sure.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#7> Generic advice to eat well and exercise is not as effective as having a specific number you're trying to improve on e.g. lowering your ApoB count.
What. No. If you need to work on a number, why don't you try improving the number of minutes you spend doing cardiovascular exercise per week?
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#8I had an elevated Lp(a) level and was able to reduce it dramatically by taking niacin, under the supervision of my cardiologist. YMMV?
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#9> Am I missing other major downsides to taking a more proactive approach to managing my own health? Are there other things I should consider looking at to get a complete picture of my health? A potential downside is the tendency is to shift from being proactive about your health to diagnosing (or worse -- treating) yourself based on independent research. I get that it's tempting to fire up google scholar, pubmed, upt…
The issue is that doctors give you muddled advice too. I had my blood test done last year and I was told that I should cut down on eating any meat and switch to a plant based diet. He also vaguely told me to do more exercise. Yet, I eat incredibly lean food, albeit high protein mainly because I weight lift. I also run 4.5 miles every other day. He couldn't go into more detail apart from this general warning. I could…
The claim that you can't get sufficient protein for pretty much any level of exercise from a plant-based diet is utterly specious. For example, quinoa is 14% complete protein, and chia is almost 17% — also complete protein — with an Ω3-to-Ω6 ratio of around 3:1, almost exactly the inverse of beef.
Source: I'm a vegetarian, and I pay scrupulous attention to this stuff.
Re: Avoiding Heart Disease
#10"Numbers are constantly fluctuating, monitor them too frequently and you'll get stressed. This is actually a direct quote from my doctor. In my opinion it's still not a reason to ignore the numbers."
I'm firmly on the camp that one should measure more - not less - if numbers are fluctuating to reduce worry and stress. Frequent samples, but examining weekly/monthly aggregate trends is the way to go. We just need great tools for visualization.