PAD Like CVD - Lifestyle Changes Needed

[MichaelJH]

I met someone whilst out and about today I had not seen for a few years. He has PAD (peripheral arterial disease) which causes narrowing of the arteries in the same manner as CVD (cardio vascular disease). It looks as if he could face amputation of the right leg within the next year. Interventional surgery is regarded as too high a risk at the moment as he refuses to make the lifestyle changes required - cutting down on alcohol and stopping smoking. I find it quite sad he will not consider these changes as once a leg has been lost it has gone forever!

[Dovaston]

Jeez that is unbelievable☹️

[MattUK]

A shame .. although I’d not be quick to criticise the guy. I’m sure we’ve all been through stages where we wonder what the point is with everything, every possibility he just can’t handle life without

[Hidden in reply to MattUK]

Just what I thought!

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

To my knowledge he eats fairly healthily. He definitely has a lower BMI than me - bottle end of normal compared to top end. The problem is the cigarettes and alcohol not carbs or fats!

[Hidden in reply to MichaelJH]

Ever heard of "skinny fat"?

Viceral fat (sometimes, this viceral fat sits right next to the heart) is inside the Gut and considered "high-risk".

I was reading an interesting article of late. It says some poorest minority ethnic group across the pond (i.e. USA) does really well (if not perfectly) health-wise. The reasoning behind was that they do not have a decent medical cover so they research themselves and eat well (amongst doing other things known to be "preventative" of major health risk factors (expensive ones being heart-related or cancer). Then it made me wonder about NHS. By using the same logic, people assume NHS is a comfy, free service to fall back on or are we under the illusion of this false security?

Whilst people do hate the dietary threads posted by some regular posters, it's always a matter of making some simple change in life. Cutting down on things. Doing what's been recommended.

People do tend to react badly as generally speaking, "changing" anything makes people feel insecure or even feel patronised. Changing is painful, emotionally or mentally. I know a guy, who lost his limb (and he is a very nice guy, actively serving his community etc).

However. . . he never admits that smoking (heavily over decades and drunk just as heavily) could possibly be the reason why he had his limb amputated and there are so many things wrong with his heart and lungs. ) He argued with his consultants that it was neither his smoking or drinking that might have the remotest association with the poor health. He strongly believes it was consultant's fault that he had to lose his limb and next, he says it's his age. . . Of course, age has a huge factor, but how one treated one's body over the past decades or so would show up in our senior years. He has been struggling to breathe on his own in recent years. Apparently, he decided to quit smoking and drinking completely and he's now watching what he eats. . . Everything he was recommended to do in the past. He did not want the change.

Now it seems that the medical community is updating more as to the alcohol consumption as people who went to medical schools always knew. "Even a small amount is bad for you". The most trivial consequence being "loss of control/judgement" which can lead to injury, for example. However, we could die from something else, of course.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

No! The addictive part of beer, wine and spirits is the alcohol! Obviously for the overweight and obese these are empty calories but their carb/sugar content is quite variable from zero upwards.

[Hidden]

Yes. . .

Alcohol is neuro-toxin as we know.

It won't affect just one organ. Likely several of them all at once, fatty liver, for example.

The thing is "can NHS afford to keep funding for these extremely expensive lifestyle-related illnesses and consequences at the expense of other types of illnesses?"

[Hidden]

There are different types of carbs. Good ones as well as bad.

Someone posted a link over low/nil consumption of complex carb accelerated aging and early death.

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

An article I read said researchers had found that added sugars like sucrose and fructose were the main culprits not complex carbohydrates.

[Hidden in reply to MichaelJH]

I totally agree.

That's one of the simplest aspects in nutrition. Avoid artificial sweeteners/colouring/flavouring and any other additives including preservatives/chemicals. Worryingly, now food/beverage directly kept in a plastic container may be included on this list. . .

Here is the link on "low-carb" diet (as opposed to "well-balanced diet" that someone had posted on another hub. The article is based on the study done in Japan. The article is up-to-date. The study confirms an extreme low carb diet accelerates ageing.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com...