My parents lived on a farm, they grew their own veg, ate their own meat. Walked everywhere. When I was a baby, mum gave me Guinness in my dummy and a lump of cooked pig fat to chew on. If you had a cold you had a hot toddy, if you had flu you had a hot toddy and went to bed, well! after you had done all your work for the day. Mum baked bread, made butter and we drank raw milk. Dad smoked Woodbines and drank rough homemade cider. Mum lived till she was 91 years old and died of Hospital C'dif and Dad died of a steroid overdose in hospital.
So! you ask "What has that to do with Cholesterol? " It's got nothing to do with it and yet it has everything to do with living a life.
Why do we all go for endless health checks? Why do we worry and get stressed out with any illness?
Why do we have to know our numbers? What for? Do we go on quizzes and say, "I'm Tim and my numbers are, Bp120/70, P 54, Coles 8, Bm 4.5, Ph 5 Sat 100% when I breath. Does this all really matter?
Will St. Peter at the gates to heaven be asking us this? Will your God really care that you have spent all your life worrying about yourself, thinking that you might die before it's your time?
Does your doctor/health care person really care about your health or are they more interested in where they are going on holiday next year and how much will their bonus be?
Do the pharmaceutical companies really care about you or their £$billions from short tested statins drugs. Do they really worry about the time bomb that's still to happen?
I think that this is why I posted " Do you wish you'd never got your cholesterol tested?"
I was reading somewhere that there is evidence that health checks have not made a tremendous difference to mortality figures, but I would have to find it.
I have just been to a training day about ADHD in young people, another "condition" that can be treated with drugs. Good, bad...I don't know, pushed by the pharmaceutical industry or a useful treatment tool??
I retired last year from my post as head teacher of a school for children with additional support needs. There were also mainstream groups in the school. I have come across many children who genuinely had ADHD and required medication to be able to function and learn. There were many more children whose behavioural symptoms were similar, but caused by their turbulent and chaotic home circumstances. These children's parents often saw their child's problems as a means of gaining additional financial benefits and would pester paediatricians for a diagnosis, preferring to blame the child rather than look at their own lifestyle and parenting skills. So I think the situation with ADHD drugs is very similar to that of Statins, they should be kept for those who really need them and not prescribed without taking account of the long term benefits and possible negative impact on the patient. Doctors need to look holistically at each individual and their circumstances, not just a particular area of their health when prescribing.
I have always thought that the ADHD stigma that is put on children can often be laid at the door of the poor diet that many of these children tend to be on. The parent is advised to put to the child on drugs but not to avoid processed food, additives and colourings in food or having them tested for intolerances. A friend of my grandson's childminder was told her child had ADHD and was told that he need Ritalin - she was appalled and had him privately tested for intolerances - he was severely intolerant to dairy, soya, colourings and orange juice. Within three weeks of him avoiding these foods his personality had completely changed and when he went back to school the teacher asked her if he was on Ritalin and how much it had altered him! When his mother told her that he was NOT on any drugs and that she had changed his diet the teacher was amazed.
Hi Patch. Diet is a major factor in these children's issues. I am appalled that any child was offered Ritalin before dietary measures had been tried. I am glad that this has not been the case for the children I have known. Sadly, diet is often only one of the factors in the package of lifestyle issues that some children experience. Poor sleep, irregular routines, lack of stimulation, inconsistencies in care and poor communication can all play a part and, together with diet, can lead to social, emotional and behavioural problems which are hard for children to overcome.
I have often been amazed at the lack of knowledge and understanding there still is amongst the general population about what constitutes a healthy diet for a child. As mentioned elsewhere in this forum, a national 'real food' movement is long overdue.
How I agree! My two daughters and three grandchildren are what is known by my generation as "good eaters". They eat virtually everything put in front of them, but when my grandchildren have had "hot" dinners at school the remarks they get from the other children such as "you're not going to eat that are you its had dirt on it", or "why do you eat vegetables they've been in the ground" " or "my mum doesn't give me that she says its had insect poo on it". etc., sends them back home questioning their food!! Also, the fundamental answer of course is money. You only have to go to any supermarket or well known freezer chain and see the prices of processed food against the price of fruit and veg. I have seen trollies piled high with crisps, chips, burgers, sweets, cheap bread and sweets and watched as parents have quibbled over spending £1 on a bag of apples!
The only people who unquestionably benefit from general screening programmes are private doctors and health insurance companies.
Found this cheerful site? Makes me want to run down to the doctors and demand he puts me on all the drugs I have refused to take over the years!! NOT
Our medicines are killing us! Adverse drug reactions have reached epidemic proportions, sending a million Britons to hospital and killing more than 10,000 every year.
I read on another site the other day that cancer mortality rates have not changed in 50 years. So much for the benefits of cancer drugs! I`m really starting to believe that the only people who really benefit from drugs are the companies that make them, except for the pill, & antibiotics.
My Mum lived to see her 100th birthday, She also lived through world 2 wars (not to mention the wars that were called "conflicts") and the restricted food supply that went hand in hand with that. There were no places selling the junk that passes for food in fast food outlets. No intensive farming. The air was cleaner and the water drinkable.Folk ate butter and put sugar in their tea.
They went out for walks in the evening instead of lying around being brainwashed by TV and computer games.They listened to the radio, conversed with each other face to face.
I don't know the answers either, perhaps we are all eating too much and not exercising enough. My Mum had to be dragged screaming to the doctor and dentist, she knew lots of home remedies for family illnesses and used them.
I don't much like the way the world is being run by the smoothies in Downing St and the Whitehouse. Drug companies rule the world behind the scenes and we are the guinea pigs.
Some of the contributors to this group are really knowledgeable about their conditions and I have learned more here than umptynumpty visits to my GP. Says it all.
Oh, what a wonderful morning I am having this morning! The sun is shining and I am conversing with sensible people!!!! What a lovely day!
You are all saying what I have been saying to myself and my family for years! There is a place for medication today. Insulin, antibiotics (in moderation!) cancer drugs (which are keeping my two sisters in law alive after breast cancer) and some (repeat some) BPmedication. BUT there are too many drugs chasing too little money and the cheaper the drug the more likely it is to be prescribed. Look at those patients who have had their prescript[ions changed to a cheaper alternative with horrendous side effects and little affect.
There seems to be a modern attitude amongst GPs now that all patients over a certain age should all be on the same medication to hit with a very large hammer the likelihood that they could get ill in old age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This smacks of laziness - it is up to each GP to treat each patient in their care with individual attention - too much to ask?
I agree with some of the content expressed.However it is my opinion that with a food industry that is hell bent on poisoning peoples bodies with toxic food and a pharmaceutical industry that only has an interest in making us into cash cows for it's shareholders,the only way to keep yourselves well is to do your own research.Find good health through good nutrition and an active lifestyle.All the time your spending going to your doctor to be dosed up on drugs is time you could be spending on leading a happy and productive life.
In the uk a lot of people are not willing to invest in there wellbeing,because it is easier to wait for things to be broken before we start to think about taking action.
wow what a read today, I too was on simvastatin 20mg was told by a nurse at my doctors surgery that i would be on them for the rest of my life and if i didnt take them i would definately have a heart attack in the next ten years, What she didnt tell me was that they could cause muscle waste and painin my arm and chest, so i went back to the docs and he changed them to another statin, which can cause migraines but was i told this NO, I dont drink, I dont go out, I eat very little but what i do eat i enjoy toast a little marg chocolate spread and fresh strawberries delicious, my only vice is that i smoke roll ups, My knees play up in bad weather to which my doctor said if you give up smoking i'll fix your knees, now a lot reading this will say so give up smoking not that easy to do many have tried and failed even i tried and succeeded for six months, then i got devorced and he did my head in which started me smoking again sad but true. My grandad was 68 when he passed heart attack, my mum was 61 carsanoma of the stomach and bowels, and last year I lost my lovely sister who had just turned 59 she had a tumor in her lungs, they gave her theropy which reduced the tumor, problem was the radiotheropy she had fried her bowels and an infection set in and she was to weak to fight it, thats what killed her, so I'm 57 this year do i really want to fill myself with all the medication prescribed to me the answer is no I do take omeprasol as i do produce a lot of acid and they do work as and when i need them. well thats me right or wrong its just me. happy reading and I hope you all have a wonderful life, bless you all.
Quote I too was on simvastatin 20mg was told by a nurse at my doctors surgery that i would be on them for the rest of my life and if i didn't take them i would definitely have a heart attack in the next ten years). That statement by the nurse is bordering on blackmail and she should be reported as it's untrue to say the word "Definitely", which is impossible to predict this event.
A friend of my husband died last year of a heart attack. He was fit, never smoked, drank lightly, ate a very healthy diet, ran marathons regularly, never overweight and had retired from work three years ago. He had a very happy marriage, children and grandchildren. He had everything to live for and led the quintissential "healthy" life. Dead at 67!!!!! To tell someone that they would die if they didn't take medication when someone like this can die before his time when he had led the NHS type of lifestyle beggars belief. Everyone is different. There fore everyone needs different advice. You do what you need to do to keep healthy. If you know you are doing something that is bad for you you should try to give it up. We are not idiots. We know what is right and what is wrong for us and it is up to us to get on and do what we can to be as well as we can. We don't need to go to the Drs to do it. all the best of health to you all.
I am sorry to hear about your husbands friend.The problem with a healthy lifestyle is it depends on where your definition of a healthy lifestyle comes from.If you take the nhs guidelines on a healthy diet the main emphasis seems to be on a low fat diet and taking very little consideration to the damage caused by over consumption of carbohydrates.It seems the more you read on this subject the more you become confused.I think it is great now that people are now becoming empowered and question there gp's about what they are being prescribed rather than just blindly following their advice.
I know that he was a near vegetarian, and that he didn't eat red meat. Perhaps he too, ate too much carbohydrate - especially if he was running races - I believe that pasta is the mainstay for long distance runners. Something to ponder on if you are a fitness freak.
I've done long distance walking and found pasta made me sluggish and I got heart burn. So now when getting ready for a long walk I have my usual shredded wheat, full fat milk with strawberries and a banana. I eat lots of red meat and full fat milk and butter all natural food.
Sounds good to me - wish I could join you but with a problem with dairy I have to have the same only with oat milk! and Soya spread on my toast! I have Oatibix or Muesli with lots of fruit and nuts in it (the more expensive one) I have much more energy if I have protein at least twice a day. A good protein lunch and evening meal with vegetables or salads and I feel ready to look after my grandchildren on a daily basis!!
Very interesting read. GPs have a duty, GPs do say if there is any damage some time it is difficult to repair. I do not agree with the blood sugar or cholesterol numbers, these numbers keep coming down with modem way of living and food. I have gone back to eating butter and taking blue top milk and cheese!. Only time will tell. Take a drink on Saturday evening at home. It is time the NHS changed the food plate, the practice nurse and practice diet/food person still refer to the NHS book which is very old!. Take their advice and take medication.
Well it is a big NO for me, I have found out a good food plan, hope soon I can come off statin.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
I too was on simvastatin 20mg was told by a nurse at my doctors surgery that i would be on them for the rest of my life and if i didn't take them i would definitely have a heart attack in the next ten years). That statement by the nurse is bordering on blackmail and she should be reported as it's untrue to say the word "Definitely", which is impossible to predict this event.
Want to Know Your Risk of a Heart Attack? Get this test.
Confused
Be careful of the statin dosage that is prescribed 
