You’re concerned about high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, cancer risks, being overweight and other health problems.
And you should be. After all, these are many of the main death risk factors. Most of us don’t want to die so we take measures to reduce our risks.
There is, however, sometimes a pretty drastic scare campaign running that I believe is at least partly fueled by the drug companies.
You hear that having high blood pressure can double, even triple your risk of heart attack and stroke. Same goes for high cholesterol. And how many times do we read about new risk factors for cancer.
There is an old saying “Figures lie and liars figure.” And that applies as much for health stats as well as the stock market.
That’s why in today’s feature article I’ll drill into some of those “risk factors” and show you exactly what those numbers mean.
You maybe surprised to find out how likely it actually is that you’ll stay alive 🙂
The best way to start on this subject is to look at the major cause of death in the western world. Cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack count for about 1/3 of all deaths in USA. About 800,000 people die from the major cardiovascular diseases.
And we’ve all learned about the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases:
– High blood pressure
– High cholesterol
– Smoking
– Being overweight
– Lack of physical activity
But in that, we’ve left out the biggest risk factor of them all-the one that overwrites everything else. That is aging.
The fact is that almost half of all deaths by cardiovascular disease happen after the age of 85. Two thirds happen after the age of 75. So we could say you triple your risk of dying of heart attack by making it through the age of 75.
Of course, most of us would want to live forever but I think that we can all agree that making it to the age 85 is a success we can be happy with. We kind of accept death at that age as normal part of life.
Now let’s take a look at the other risk factors.
To make my point clearer, I’m going to take an example of a 55 year old man and his risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. I’ll use a point system developed to determine heart attack risk.
For a healthy 55 year old man who doesn’t smoke with healthy blood pressure below 120/80 and cholesterol level under 160, he still has about 2% risk of having a heart attack in the next ten years. About 1/3 of heart attacks are fatal so that would be about 0.7% risk of dying from heart attack.
Now either raising his systolic blood pressure to 200 or cholesterol level to 240 will DOUBLE his risk of having, and dying from, a heart attack.
Hearing the phrase
- DOUBLE YOUR RISK OF DYING
from something automatically triggers quite an emotional scare response.
But if you look at the numbers more closely, you’ll see that the risk of dying of heart attack for the next 10 years has only gone up 0.7%. And we’re talking about extremely high cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
So the fact is that to save one live every year, 1500 men with extremely high cholesterol or blood pressure levels would have to get their health completely under control.
What you should take from this is that every time you hear the medical system talk about a 30%, 50% or even 100% increase in risk associated by some factor, you need to ask what exactly was the base risk. If 100 people die of something worldwide every year and doing something doubles your risk, well, the risk is still pretty low.
Now don’t take me wrong. I’m a strong believer in getting your blood pressure and cholesterol level under control. I think that’s extremely important for several different reasons I’m going to list in a minute. But not at all costs.
I personally think, for example, that suffering the side effects of strong medications for decades to moderately lower a risk of heart attack is not worth it. Especially when there are other ways to reach the same goal that are more beneficial.
Note: I’m not a doctor or medical person. I’m stating my personal values and opinions based on studies I’ve read. You should never change your medications without consulting your doctor. The withdrawal symptoms can be fatal.
Improving your health should not be based on the fear of dying, especially when the risk is so low. It should be based on the will to improve your life and wellbeing.
For our example, the 55 year old man’s smoking will increase his risk of having a heart attack about 3%. But the benefits of not smoking are endless. The increased endurance and wellbeing associated with stopping smoking are well worth it for most people.
Losing weight will also decrease the risk of several other diseases. But the real kicker is the increased mobility and the improved positive self-image. Losing those extra pounds will make you feel great.
Lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure is not just about drastically decreasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Blocking and hardening of the arteries are causing so many other health problems you may not be aware of.
For men, high cholesterol- and especially high blood pressure- is one of the major causes of erectile dysfunction. Drop the blue pill and get your stamina naturally. You can learn more about our simple erectile dysfunction exercises here…
High blood pressure has been linked to most health problems facing the mid-life population and older. Anything from cancer to Alzheimer’s has been associated with this one factor. That’s why the World Health Organization considers high blood pressure the number 1 cause of death worldwide.
There is, however, very little evidence that lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure using medications does anything to slash the risk of dying of heart attack and stroke or avoiding other health problems.
Using natural methods and choosing healthy lifestyles improves your overall health and wellbeing. It’s not just a quick fix to bandage one thing.
The best methods I know to lower blood pressure naturally are Christian Goodman’s blood pressure exercises. You can learn more about them here…
And to drop your cholesterol without using drugs, check out the method I used not only to bring my cholesterol under control but also to remove the plaque that was almost completely blocking my heart. Learn more about my cholesterol approach here…
More important than lowering your risk of dying from something is to focus on living. Put your priorities in order and live every day as if it were the last. Think about what really matters to you and spend your life wisely on that.
Because when it’s our time to go, there’s very little we can do about it.
But first, please leave your comments below.
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No-one, medic or otherwise, has answered the following to my satisfaction: my blood pressure is the same now (I'm 81) as it was 30 years ago – but is now deemed to be too high. When asked why the parameters had been changed, my doctor evaded with 'New Research'. I then asked him: Who paid for that research? Came there no answer! Your comments please.
Previously, doctors used to accept as normal blood pressure 100 plus your age. While that may be a bit suss I think it’s ridiculous to expect all adults to have a 120 over 80 reading. Bodies do age after all.
CORRECT, I AM FOCUSING ON LIVING I AM JUST ALMOST 69 ENJOYING MY LIFE EVERY DAY AS IT IS MY LAST DAY.
Thanks for this amazing article, I am 41 yeas old been on cocktails of medications for the last 5 years.Hereditary from my father. He died at 75.
I have learnt not to be too worried anymore and just enjoy my life has it comes everyday.I eat more fruits now, but need to be more active.
Williams. London, United Kingdom.
Right on, Scott. Think you can reach the worriers? I was a worrier. I finally HAD to give up the worry habit; and it is a habit. We learn it at a young age, and think we are in control if we worry enough. Maybe we think if we worry, we will think of “just the right thing” to do, about what we worry about. In my case, nothing I did would help what I worried about. Now I am attempting to rid myself of all the bodily ills I got from what worry did to my insides. I am relieved to not be worrying, though. I cannot work; disabled from the chronic abuse to my body that worry caused. I’m not even sure I can get better; but worry is not a lot of the problem now. My age and worry has caught up with me, and all my hours of work and worry, more hours than most people work in a day, have taken a toll on my life. I am doing more for me now, and for others, and there are things I guess I should be worrying about; but it is too precious a time to waste it in worry; which never helped out one little bit, anyway. Keep up the good work, Scott
Keep up the great work. Your words of encourgaement ar e far more effetive, to us, than drugs…Thanks…Bill Runkle.
Great info.
I have a favor to ask: Can you send me a link to something that talks about ‘Living with Cancer’?
My younger daughter has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer with mets to the brain. She is 36 years old. She is now undergoing infusion and will be having her 4th of the 6 cycles recommended on the 16th of July.
We all know from doctors and from the internet that lung cancer at later stage has a poor prognosis. We are now reading the book “Anticancer, A New Way of Life” written by a doctor and patient himself.
The internet is a great help for someone who needs information. Specifically, I need to know how to care for the patient (being a mother) during chemotherapy, preparation of food, etc.
If you have an archive of the info appropriate to my case, can you send me the link?
Thanks, good article.
Focus on living. Put your priorities in order and live every day, think about what really matters to you and spend your life wisely on that, Because when it’s our time to go, there’s very little we can do about I.
Loved the reasoning.
why am I not surprised? x
Funny how common sense articles like this rarely get spoken or written.
Every time you go to the doctor he or she should say this to you.
But I don’t think they understand it themselves.
It’s not news unless it’s bad news seems to be the mantra today.
So distorted! It’s aiming to make us all paranoid, yet we live in times never matched before in history.
This has to be one of the best articles I have ever read on this subject. There is so much fear-mongering among the health industry that sometimes it is hard to really get down to the truth of the matter. I have suspected for awhile that something didn’t “smell” right.
This article is a prescription without medicine.One should remember the risk factors and numbers.
This article is a prescription without medicine.We should remember the risk factors and numbers.
Can any one guarantee that death can be prevented, that we can live for ever and ever?
The scare mongering is only to boost the bottom line of the health (sickness) care industry.
I am guided by the wisdom of my body and mind and I am fine. I am going on 79.
5 years ago when I was 65 I went to the doctor for a check up thought it was time. I rarely used to visit the doctor unless I was realy sick.
He took my blood pressure and it was 152 over 95. This really high I will give you some water tablets to see if it comes down. See me in 2 weeks.
2 weeks later I went back he took my blood pressure again it had dropped to 148 over 85 it is still high he said and prescribed som BP tablets and organised a blood test. Come back in a month.I forgot to mention I never took the water tablets and did not get the BP tablets. Went back in a month my BP was up againg at 152 over 92 will need to change the BP tablets for a stronger dose.I then admitted I had not taken any, he went through the roof asking me why.My replie was you have not told me what is wrong with me other than my blood pressure is high. Why is it high it could be many things we need to control it before you have a stroke or heart attack not good enough I said what are the results of my blood test Bad Cholestral is fine no problem good Cholestral could be improved by eating more fish oil. Are you going to take the BP tabs No then please sing this note saying you will not take them. I did. A few months later I needed a wart remover from my neck so visited another doctor. Again the blood pressure level was mentioned and i agreed to wear a 24 hr monitor when I returned I was told I had White Coat Syndrome. It was around this time I first contacted you.
I take my blood pressure every week and obviously if fluctuates due to what is happening and my age. I am a non smoker, non drinker and take vitamin supplements daily. Am a bit over weight due to my liking of sweet stuff.
I am a true believer that if you are sick the cause should be diagnosed before treatment is administered otherwise the symptoms could be disguised.
Bill Gosnold
This really indicates that no matter how conscious are we on our health NOBODY really knows when our life ends.So better stay with your medication and say a little PRAYER.
How wonderful,someone who finally puts it all in perspective. Thank you
I'm annoyed that the answer to lowering blood pressure with this Blur heron health is to buy Christian Goodmans book! I think I'm going to unsubscribe can't I ever get answer w/o buying them! Just saying
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PLAN A? i think that the ENTERTAINMENT CENTER ie PLAN A would be best if sold to the PRIVATE SECTOR'
THE TAXPAYER IS STUCK WITH A CALGARY FLAMES FARM CLUB. THIS IS CANUCK COUNTRY!
WE COULD USE A MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY FRANCHISE. MORE FUN AND LESS COSTLY.