The prospect of getting old is becoming more and more real as the health concerns pile up. I worry that I’m having the worst bout of arthritis since eight years ago, I worry about the hint of varicose vein on the back of my leg that someone pointed out to me and now, I have to worry about being at high risk of getting heart diseases and stroke because of high cholesterol. And I worry that my worrying will age me even further before time.
Sometimes I can’t help feeling like I’m trapped in the body of an ailing 80-year old. There are so many things I’ve yet to accomplish, and I just wonder how long this body can keep up.
The results from a recent health screen revealed that my cholesterol levels are atrocious. To give you a rough idea, these were the given ranges to classify your LDL (bad cholesterol) level: optimal, desirable, borderline high, high, very high. And mine, without giving so much as a warning, falls immediately under the very high range.
To be honest, I was half expecting this. Not because I’ve been thrashing my diet and eating with wild abandon, but rather, because of genetics. See, my mother suffered a mild stroke not too long ago because of high LDL levels. A chunk of the cholesterol deposits lining her arteries broke away and traveled to her heart and then to her brain, where, thankfully it dispersed into smaller pieces. Had it not dispersed, that chunk could’ve blocked blood supply to her brain, causing brain damage. Following the stroke, my mother was referred to a dietitian. Not surprisingly (because I know how my mom eats), the dietitian found nothing wrong with her diet, and even commended her for eating healthy. So what was contributing to the high cholesterol? We got to know through tests later that by default, my mom’s liver was producing more bad cholesterol than the average person. The doctors warned that it’s possible for this characteristic to be genetic, and recommended to have us children checked as well.
I’m genuinely wary. The possibility of things going awry is very near and real, not only because my own mother had a brush with stroke, but also because my cholesterol level isn’t far off from my mother’s when she suffered it. And so now for the sake of health, I’m forced to significantly reduce or at best, forgo foods high in saturated fats (or high cholesterol foods as they call it). I don’t mind cutting back on other high cholesterol foods, but it’ll be like giving up the world to give up red meat and cheese. Everything that tastes so good I could die has beef and/or cheese in it. Pizza, pasta, dengdeng, black pepper steak, oreo cheesecake, the list is infinite!
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be overweight to have high cholesterol. It has more to do with what you eat than how much you eat it. But if you eat high amounts of foods high in saturated fats, then needless to say that accounts for it too.
Exercise, unfortunately, cannot lower LDL levels. It can only increase your HDL level (the good cholesterol). So there really is no other way to lower your LDL levels except to take to a stringent diet or take cholesterol lowering medication.
I’ve lost a bit of faith in medicine, though. I used to have high regard for doctor’s medicine, I used to think it would take care of everything. But I’ve come to believe strongly about the side effects that come with medicine. And I’ve experienced this myself in arguably the most painful scenario of my life yet. Back in secondary school when I was diagnosed with arthritis, I saw a specialist and he gave me some medicine. Then, only a few joints were affected, but after taking the medication which were supposed to relieve me, my other joints which weren’t affected started to swell as well. This significantly affected my mobility. Simple everyday tasks became excruciating and difficult. This went on for a number of months and in the end I got so fed up popping so many pills a day that I just stopped. Miraculously after that, I got better on my own and I didn’t pop a single pill to relieve my arthritis for eight years.
I’m not completely taking an anti-medicine stand here — I’m now on steroids to relieve my arthritis that has decided to resurface after eight years. But I alternate it with natural supplements. What I’m saying is I think we shouldn’t be a hundred percent dependent on medicine, especially long-term medication. There are other natural alternatives we can look to, and they don’t come with side effects. The most recent and personal success story I can think of is that of my own mother. Some time ago she decided to stop her cholesterol medication. Not only were they incredibly expensive, they didn’t seem to lower her levels significantly. So she looked to natural alternatives, and began taking a fibre supplement called BioGreen. A few months into it, she had her cholesterol checked, and it went from ‘very high’ to ‘high’. This might not seem like much, but it is in fact great progress because my mother’s cholesterol level has never budged from the very high range, even with medication.
Ignorance is bliss, so I suppose that’s the reason the idea of going for general medical checkups don’t even cross most our minds. You feel jolly and fit as a fiddle, so why go looking for things to worry about? Admittedly it wasn’t until my company held a complimentary basic health screening that I was reminded how important it is to know the status of our own health.
Sure, some things in life are better left to chance. But health definitely isn’t one of them.
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