Experts call for mass medication to curb Britain's 'silent killer'

I can�t see this happening, and I assume it would be voluntary. The article does not say which Government agency suggest this should be implemented, and if it is will being overweigh in England will be against the law?
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Experts call for mass medication to curb Britain's 'silent killer'
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor Independent,co,uk
25 August 2004

THE GUIDELINES
* People with at least three blood pressure readings above 140/90 mmHg, taken on separate occasions, should be offered advice on how to reduce it by changing their lifestyle, and assessed for their risk of heart disease.
* This may involve changes to the diet, reducing weight and increasing exercise. Cutting back on alcohol, salt and caffeine and practising relaxation may also help to lower blood pressure. Stopping smoking does not reduce blood pressure but is important to cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
* If lifestyle changes do not work, drug treatment should be offered to those with a significantly increased risk of heart disease, based on blood and urine tests and family history.
* People with persistently high blood pressure of 160/100 mmHg or more should automatically be offered drug treatment.
* Drug treatment should begin with a diuretic, which increases urine production, and further drugs such as beta-blockers, calcium channnel blockers and ACE inhibitors should be added as necessary until the target blood pressure is reached.
* The drugs are off patent, available in cheap, generic form and are safe with few side effects
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[edit on 25-8-2004 by Sauron]

Hi Sauron!

Strangely, having watched the BBC news this morning, I had an appointemnt at my doctors later in the day, as a follow-up to a cholesteral test taken last week. During this, I had a blood pressure test (138/98). *Any* medication offered *will* be gratefully rec'd by yours truly!!

Incidentally, reducing smoking and alcohol consumption are "no go" areas for me - weight is a factor I've already vectored in!!

Cheers!

There is, of course, two sides to every story.

This article makes very interesting reading.
www.second-opinions.co.uk...
Its long, but well worth the read.

It describes the history of government recommendations of a 'good diet' and asks if the evidence is clear. It goes on to say

Because of the propaganda, you can be forgiven for thinking that cholesterol is a harmful alien substance that should be avoided at all costs. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Cholesterol is an essential component in the body. It is found in all the cells of the body, particularly in the brain and nerve cells. Body cells are continually dying and new ones being made. Cholesterol is a major building block from which cell walls are made. Cholesterol is also used to make a number of other important substances: hormones (including the sex hormones), bile acids and, in conjunction with sunlight on the skin, vitamin D 3 . The body uses large quantities of cholesterol every day and the substance is so important that, with the exception of brain cells, every body cell has the ability to make it.

Even more worrying for those keeping an eye on their cholesterol levels, it says

It has also long been known that simple events, such as putting a cuff around the arm prior to taking a blood sample, or fear of the needle, can result in raised cholesterol values.

A so called 'healthy diet' would include a reasonable amount of fibre/bran. This article goes on to say

The idea that fibre could protect against heart attacks was hypothesised by Trowell in 1972, again based on research on rural Africans. The dietary intervention trials mentioned earlier, however, concluded that increasing dietary fibre had no beneficial effect on heart disease.

and then to describe the many adverse effects of a large amount of fibre in the diet

Fibre, by speeding food through the gut faster so that less nutrients are absorbed, inhibits the absorption of iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, energy, proteins, fats and vitamins A, D, E and K. This happens with all types of fibre although with a normal Western-style, nutrient-rich diet, the loss caused by vegetable fibre intake is unimportant. More importantly, phytate found in cereal fibre (bran) also binds with calcium, iron and zinc making them indigestible, which in turn causes malabsorption. One study, for example, showed that subjects absorbed more iron from white bread than from wholemeal bread even though their intakes of iron were fifty percent higher with the wholemeal bread. Bran has also been shown to cause faecal losses of calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, nitrogen, fats, fatty acids and sterols, thus depleting the body of these materials

Please read the full article. The diseases mentioned are truely frightening.

I have written this to show there could be another side to all of this. We should keep things in perspective. None of us will live for ever and we all have to die of something.


Genya, you're borderline hypertensive, so I hope your doctor will be monitoring you. Good luck with your diet.

Originally posted by iwouldificould
...Genya, you're borderline hypertensive, so I hope your doctor will be monitoring you. Good luck with your diet.

Hi iwouldificould!!

Thanx for all the info regarding cholesteral and fibre above - I'll try and have a "proper" read through later!

Thank you for your best wishes: yes, I know I'm in a bit of a risk area (aren't we all, from some affliction or other?) and I'm seeing my doctor next week to discuss management etc. Losing weight (NOT Atkins diet!! ) should certainly help the blood pressure figures and this is progressing quite well - around 5kgs lost in two weeks already - so hopefully there will be some improvement.

Thanx again - much appreciated!

Here are 10 questions we could all be asking ourselves about our lifestyles.

www.bbc.co.uk...

They give a rough guide as to appropriate levels of diet/exercise/alcohol etc and may be useful to some?