When faced with challenging moral or ethical situations we are advised to do what is right, even if it is more difficult. “Taking the high road” is often synonymous with living a better life. When it comes to your health, though, taking the high road may lead you on a path to chronic disease, disability, and early death.
The high road I am referring to in this case has nothing to do with ethical decisions. It has to do with test results, specifically measurements your doctor makes of your weight and blood pressure as well as blood tests of cholesterol and glucose. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
These tests are indicators of your current health as well as risks to your health in the future. The results of these measures are used to classify you as having “normal” or “high” blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood cholesterol. For example, a fasting blood glucose between 70–100 mg/dl is normal but you are considered to have diabetes if your result is 126 mg/dl or higher.
Even if your blood glucose is above normal (100–125 mg/dl) but isn’t high enough for you to be classified as diabetic, it may still be too high. This condition is called prediabetes because without intervention most people in this category will eventually develop diabetes.
Considering that diabetes is a leading cause of heart attacks, blindness, and amputations, preventing your blood glucose from increasing should be a high priority.
The same is true for other measurements including blood pressure and body mass index (BMI), the most common assessment of obesity. Even if you aren’t considered obese or don’t have hypertension, the higher your BMI or blood pressure becomes puts you at increased risk of the condition getting worse over time or leading to other more serious health problems.
In fact, even within the normal range, a higher value is associated with increased health risks. Take blood cholesterol for example, where the risk of heart disease increases at total cholesterol levels above 150 mg/dl, well within the “normal” range of less than 200 mg/dl. At even higher levels, total cholesterol is associated with a much greater risk.
Clearly, having a high BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose, or cholesterol is concerning. But it is important not to be fooled into thinking that a value that is technically below the diagnostic criteria for “abnormal” is necessarily “normal.” For many, even slightly elevated levels of these variables now are likely to get worse over time.
The good news is that modest lifestyle changes including weight loss, regular moderate physical activity, and changes to what you eat can prevent conditions like prediabetes and prehypertension from getting worse. This can be achieved through losing as little as 10 pounds, walking or doing other activity for 30 minutes per day, and adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.
To be sure, taking the “high road” with BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, even if your test results are within the normal range, can put you at increased health risk. For these conditions, you are far better off taking the low road and making the necessary lifestyle changes to stay there.
Dr Parr Says... 