Taking something as “harmless” as…
Motrin (ibuprofen) Aleve (naproxen) Celebrex (celecoxib) or Voltaren (diclofenac) could actually be HARMFUL to you…These all are powerful medications known as “NSAIDs”.
These medications are some of the most commonly used medicines in adults and have been used for a long time, over half a century, and are used for many reasons. They help reduce swelling and inflammation caused by injury or arthritis and relieve fever. For women they help ease cramping, and control heavy menstrual bleeding. They are easy to obtain since you can buy them without a doctor’s prescription. However, these very effective medications can also cause serious, even life threatening, side effects.
Beyond simple skin rashes or mild stomach aches, all NSAIDs have been known to cause heart attacks, stroke, heart or kidney failure, high blood pressure, elevated potassium, stomach ulcers and stomach or intestinal bleeding. This is even more of a risk if they are taken at high doses and on a daily basis for prolonged periods of time.
If you suffer from diabetes, kidney or liver disease, high blood pressure, or have a history of heart attacks, stroke or heart failure you are most at risk of these side effects. Those taking diuretics, certain blood pressure medications (“ACE-inhibitors” or “ARBs”), smokers over the age of 45, and anyone over the age of 65 are especially vulnerable. Also in a higher risk category are pregnant women, those with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, stomach ulcer or history of intestinal bleeding, those who easily bruise, and those taking aspirin or other blood thinners.
Ask your doctor whether NSAIDs are right for you. If your doctor approves of the use of NSAIDs, ask how long you should take them and at what doses should they be taken. You may want to consider alternatives, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or other pain medicines.
Although aspirin is technically a NSAID, in low doses it helps prevent heart attacks and stroke and it is an unlikely cause of kidney or heart failure. It can, however, cause stomach problems such as ulcers or (intestinal) bleeding. Aspirin could also cause allergies and even asthma in susceptible individuals. As with all medication, best to check with your doctor first.
New Year’s Health ‘Re-Solutions’
The first quarter of 2016 is almost over, and chances are you did not stick to your New Year’s resolutions. Don’t fret, use this as a time to make your resolutions into “RE-solutions”.
A healthy lifestyle is most important - this means living healthy, eating healthy, exercising and making good choices in your life. Don’t get hung up on the numbers on the scale. Fitting into that dress from 2 years ago, or those pants you wore last year is not necessarily as important as living your life in a healthful way.
A healthy lifestyle means a healthy diet. This means six or more portions of fresh fruits and vegetables, and taking in good fats and lean protein. Try to limit the intake of salt and sugar in at least 90% of your meals (this will help to lose weight too), and stay away from bad fats.
Drinking only moderate amounts of alcohol is acceptable, which means no more than one alcoholic beverage daily for women or two for men.
Near daily exercise is important in a healthy lifestyle. This includes a combination of aerobic exercise, - light or moderate weight resistant, and stretching.
Avoid prolonged or unnecessary use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (‘NSAIDs’).
If you smoke - stop immediately. The effects of smoking are dangerous and do not lend to a healthy lifestyle.
The practice of a healthy lifestyle should be coupled with monitoring blood pressure and LDL cholesterol (with the help of your doctor) and with keeping your wellness visit appointments.
Losing weight as a new year’s resolution is a cliché. Losing that extra 5, 10, or 15 pounds is not as important as the consistent practice of a healthy lifestyle (and keeping your blood pressure and LDL cholesterol low). Weight loss can be difficult-if not impossible- to achieve and the struggle to lose weight may be a frustrating uphill battle. If it turns into a daily nightmare it can make you feel worthless and give up on your health altogether. The best part is if you institute and follow a near-daily practice of a healthy lifestyle... very often over time, you will find you lose that extra weight.
Here is a list of “RE-Solutions”:
If you smoke, quit. Daily exercise and a perfect diet won’t come even close to offering you the health benefits of quitting smoking. Smoking can destroy your arteries (giving you heart attacks and strokes) and your lungs (causing emphysema) and contribute to an assortment of cancers. Smoking is essentially negating all the other healthy choices you are making.
If you have high blood pressure, eliminate salt from your diet. Take your medications, and monitor your blood pressure at home, aiming at the blood pressure goals that your physician recommends for you (less than 140/90 mm Hg, or even lower, depending on your medical history).
If you are diabetic, do whatever it takes to keep your A1c at the level your physician recommends (around 7% or even lower, again depending on your unique health circumstances). Monitor your blood sugar and blood pressure at home and discuss with your doctor whether a statin is appropriate for you.
If you have high cholesterol, eat at least six portions of fresh fruits and vegetables a day. Take in the good fats, that can be found in the forms of fish, olive oil, unsalted nuts, or dark chocolate. Discuss with your doctor whether medications are necessary.
If you are overweight or obese, eat a healthy diet and exercise at least five times a week. Exercise should including not only aerobic but also resistance and stretching exercises. Do not smoke, do not drink more than moderate amounts of alcohol, make your home as sugar-free as possible, and keep your blood pressure and LDL cholesterol low (with the help of your physician). If your obesity has already caused significant health problems, discuss with your doctor about bariatric surgery and obesity-treating medications.
Remember: it is what we do on most of our days that counts. Good health is built or destroyed, one day at a time.
Don’t get hung up on that scale, and remember each journey starts with one step. So make that first step today and start toward a healthy lifestyle. So what if it’s not January? So you broke your resolution? This is your “do-over” , your mulligan, your chance to start again! Make the decision today to hit the reset button and start that healthy lifestyle. Have a most healthy (rest of ) 2016!
YOU CAN EAT A Healthy Diet ... with just a few easy steps
You want to eat a healthy diet, but you don’t know where to start. Don’t be discouraged, it’s not that hard!
Cooking your own meals in your own kitchen is the best way to know you are getting a healthy and balanced diet. Start now by following these simple rules and you will begin your journey to a Healthy Lifestyle.
Healthy Food- 4 Simple Steps to remember:
Fruits and vegetables -either fresh or frozen- are important. Whole grains, which are the “good” carbs, are needed in a meal. Fats are necessary, but go for the good fats which include fish, unsalted nuts, olive oil, canola oil, avocado, and dark chocolate (who said eating healthy couldn’t be fun!). And you will need a lean protein to round it out. There are two ways to add a lean protein: non-animal protein like beans, peas, soy, tofu and certain seeds or lean animal protein found in skinless poultry and low-fat dairy.
Healthy Drinks:
Water or Club soda are the best options. Try to avoid soft drinks (regular or diet).
If you drink alcohol - remember to do so in moderation. This means one drink per day for a woman, two for a man (one alcoholic drink equals 15 grams of pure alcohol). Coffee and tea are fine choices also, just keep the coffee to no more than 5 cups a day. Green tea is rich in antioxidants and can be served hot or cold.
In your journey to eat healthy, there are also a few things to be aware of or to avoid when you choose your food.
Eggs are fine - up to 5 a week is generally accepted. Some experts say we can eat 2-3 a day (including the yolk). However, this is somewhat controversial.
Beef or red meat should be limited to once a week. Red meat contributes to colon cancer as well as artery and heart disease.
Fast food and deep fried food should be AVOIDED. They are high in calories, have a high salt content, and a high amount of unhealthy (saturated and trans-) fats.
Eating out is also acceptable, but don’t make a habit of it. You should not go out to eat more than once a week and be aware of what you order. Even a salad at a restaurant could be loaded with salt and bad (saturated) fat in the dressing. Also, the salad is usually accompanied with bread sticks which contain too much salt and bad carbs. Plus, you’ll be more tempted to order that high-fat dessert in a restaurant!
Energy drinks and sugary beverages may be unhealthy and should be used in moderation, if at all. The science behind diet drinks is unclear and their long term effects may be harmful. Even though they have zero or near zero calories, they cannot be recommended as a healthy choice.
If you couple your healthy diet with near-daily exercise you are on your way to a healthy lifestyle. When you practice both, you feel proud about your achievements. That gives you the necessary strength to resist temptations when eating (which lead to long-term health problems, not to mention an unflattering figure).
“Enjoy a wonderful healthy meal surrounded by people you love!” - Dr. Anthony Pothoulakis
Your healthy meals should be your own free choices and should not be imposed on you. They must give you pleasure and make you happy, not miserable. Once you learn to enjoy them, you will be living a healthy lifestyle (healthy diet and exercise) and not even think twice about it!
My Doctor Says I Have High Blood Pressure. What Does This Mean?
So you just got home from your doctor’s appointment and he or she told you that you have high blood pressure. What does that mean exactly? Here are some of the implications:
You and your doctor need to answer the question: over a period of the next few weeks is my blood pressure, as checked at my own home environment, frequently above 140/90 mm Hg?
Why is a high blood pressure important?
If it is really high, what do I need to do about it?
For the young and the middle-aged (less than 60 years old) the best top number (systolic) is no higher than 115-120 and the bottom no higher than 75-80. However, the medically accepted thresholds for diagnosing high blood pressure (“hypertension”) are set at 140 for the top and 90 for the bottom. The reason is that a blood pressure higher than 140/90 (“140 over 90”) has been consistently linked to severe and, frequently irreversible, health problems like:
Stroke
Heart attacks
Thick and stiff heart muscle (“hypertrophy” and “diastolic dysfunction”) and a large left atrium (one of the four heart chambers) that can, over time, lead to heart failure and atrial fibrillation
Kidney failure
Enlarged aorta and aortic aneurysm (the main highway that distributes blood from the heart to the rest of your body becomes dangerously enlarged)
A single measurement over 140/90 does not establish the diagnosis of hypertension, nor does it mean you are going to suffer from the complications we just mentioned. However, it is a warning and a strong indication that you yourself start monitor your blood pressure at home, under conditions of rest (always while seated for 3-5 minutes), for at least 10-15 times over the next couple of weeks. The best times of the day to monitor blood pressure are, for those who sleep at night and work during the daytime:
early in the morning, as soon as you wake up (after you empty your bladder)
between 6-9 in the evening
If your blood pressure readings have been consistently higher than 140 over 90 over a number of weeks or months, then you need to:
be started on medications and
follow closely those healthy lifestyle elements that help reduce blood pressure (reduce your sodium intake by at least 50%, eat every day 5-9 portions of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, do not drink more than moderate amounts of alcohol, exercise at least 5 times a week for 40 minutes at a time, and, if overweight or obese, aim at losing 5% of your body weight)
Also, you may have high blood pressure if only one of the numbers (either the top or the bottom) is consistently higher than what it should be over a period of time, such as weeks or months. So what are the ranges of blood pressure that your doctor uses to measure you?
A blood pressure reading has a top number (systolic) and a bottom number (diastolic). The ranges are:
Normal: Less than 120 over 80 (120/80)
Prehypertension: 120-139 over 80-89
Stage 1 high blood pressure: 140-159 over 90-99
Stage 2 high blood pressure: 160 and above over 100 and above
High blood pressure in people over age 60: 150 and above over 90 and above
There is newer scientific evidence, however, that, individuals younger than 60 years, should aim at a blood pressure of less than 120/80 instead of the traditionally accepted 140/90.
When your blood pressure is high, it puts an extra strain on your already hard-at work arteries and heart. This is translated into extra strain on your body's major organs - your heart, your brain and your kidneys. This extra strain may increase your risk of developing additional health problems in the near or distant future - for example heart attacks, strokes, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, aortic aneurysms, dementia, and kidney disease. This end-organ damage is frequently irreversible and may necessitate invasive and risky procedures with less than guaranteed success.
The best opportunity to avoid the long-term serious and irreversible complications of high blood pressure is to implement healthy lifestyle changes and accept taking medications as soon as hypertension is diagnosed. Unfortunately, many younger individuals with high blood pressure refuse taking medications, usually for the rest of their life, while allowing this slow and indolent killer to damage their arteries and key organs beyond repair. If they could only see the constant torture their arteries go through when their blood pressure is high, they would surely change their mind!
As it stands now, the exact cause of high blood pressure is not known, but there are several factors and conditions that may play a role in its development such as:
Smoking
Being overweight or obese
Lack of physical activity
Too much salt in the diet
Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
Stress
Older age
Genetics
Family history of high blood pressure
Chronic kidney disease
Adrenal and thyroid disorders
Sleep apnea
As you can see, the good news is that these problems do not develop overnight. Instead, these issues are the result of damage that has been occurring over a long period of time. That is usually due to the high blood pressure being left untreated over a very long period of time. Therefore, the sooner you can lower your blood pressure and the longer you can keep it under control, the better. The obvious benefit is that you will be putting less strain on your arteries and major organs as well as lowering your risk of developing any of the health problems that we described above.
New Year’s Health ‘Re-Solutions’
Aiming at an almost daily practice of a healthy lifestyle is my suggestion for 2016 health resolution.
Here I need to explain two things: first, what healthy lifestyle really means in practical terms and, second, why I believe that embracing and practicing a daily healthy lifestyle makes a better new year’s resolution than losing weight.
A healthy lifestyle means not smoking, following a healthy diet (six or more portions of fresh fruits and vegetables, taking in the good fats and lean protein, avoiding the bad fats, significantly limiting the intake of salt and sugar and controlling our calories) in at least 90% of our meals, near-daily exercise (combination of aerobic, low-weight resistance, and stretching), not drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol (no more than one alcoholic beverage daily for women or two for men) and avoiding prolonged or unnecessary use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (‘NSAIDs’). The practice of a healthy lifestyle should be coupled with monitoring, with the help of our doctor, our blood pressure and LDL cholesterol and with keeping our wellness visit appointments.
Losing weight as a new year’s resolution is a cliché. A goal of weight loss at any cost or by any means does not improve our health or prolongs our longevity as much as the consistent practice of a healthy lifestyle (and keeping our blood pressure and LDL cholesterol low). Additionally, for so many people, weight loss can be difficult-if not impossible- to achieve and the struggle to lose weight may deteriorate into a frustrating uphill battle, a daily nightmare that can make people feel worthless and give up on their health altogether. Finally, a near-daily practice of a healthy lifestyle very often results, over time, in a healthy and sustainable weight loss.
Here is a personalized list of healthy daily practices, with emphasis on individual health profiles:
If you smoke, quit. Daily exercise and a perfect diet won’t come even close to offering you the health benefits of quitting smoking. Smoking, even as your only vice, is plenty capable of destroying your arteries (giving you heart attacks and strokes) and your lungs (causing emphysema) and contributing to an assortment of cancers, provided you continue to smoke long enough (it may take a couple of decades for smoking to destroy a young human body, considerably less for a middle-aged one)
If you have high blood pressure, eliminate salt from your diet, take your medications, and monitor your blood pressure at home, aiming at the blood pressure goals that your physician recommends for you (less than 140/90 mm Hg, or even lower, depending on your medical history)
If you are diabetic, do whatever it takes to keep your A1c at the level your physician recommends (around 7% or even lower, again depending on your unique health circumstances), monitor your blood sugar and blood pressure at home and discuss with your doctor whether a statin is appropriate for you.
If you have high cholesterol, eat at least six portions of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, take in the good fats (in the forms of fish, olive oil, unsalted nuts, or dark chocolate) and discuss with your doctor whether medications are necessary
If you are overweight or obese, eat a healthy diet, exercise at least five times a week (including not only aerobic but also resistance and stretching exercises), don’t smoke, do not drink more than moderate amounts of alcohol, make your home as sugar-free as possible, and keep your blood pressure and LDL cholesterol low, with the help of your physician. If your obesity has already caused significant health problems, discuss with your doctor about bariatric surgery and obesity-treating medications.
Remember: it is what we do on most of our days that counts. Good health is built or destroyed, one day at a time.
Have a most healthy 2016!