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46% of Americans Now Have High Blood Pressure (nbcnews.com)

"Millions more Americans will now be diagnosed with high blood pressure," reports NBC News, which describes the condition as "one of the leading killers around the world." Anyone with blood pressure higher than 130/80 will be considered to have hypertension, or high blood pressure, the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology said in releasing their new joint guidelines. "It's very clear that lower is better," said Dr. Paul Whelton of Tulane University, who chaired the committee that wrote the guidelines... 130/80 to 139/89 is now considered Stage 1 hypertension and anything 140/90 or above will be considered stage 2 hypertension...

"Rather than one in three U.S. adults having high blood pressure (32 percent) with the previous definition, the new guidelines will result in nearly half of the U.S. adult population (46 percent) having high blood pressure, or hypertension," the groups said in a joint statement... While people may be confused by the change, the heart experts said three years of reviewing the research showed that many fewer people die if high blood pressure is treated earlier. "We are comfortable with the recommendations. They are based on strong evidence," Whelton said.

Slashdot reader 140Mandak262Jamuna blames the pharmaceutical lobby, arguing that "a few years down the line, we all will be taking blood pressure medications," though Dr. Robert Carey of the University of Virginia, who helped write the guidelines, claims there will only be a 1.9% increase.

The new guidelines recommend that everyone watch their diet and exercise, and that people with stage 1 hypertension should also first try eating less salt, more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains before taking blood pressure medications.

295 comments

  1. Well... by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Millions more will be diagnosed now that the numbers have been adjusted to sell more prescriptions.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    1. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      We like our workforce to feel a bit desperate. Making them scramble and compete against each other, without ever achieving any kind of real financial security, ensures that the best talent remains available to us, loyal to us, and gives above-and-beyond to us on a regular basis.

      The fact that this stresses them all out, shortening their lives and also causing a lot of suffering, is not our concern.

    2. Re:Well... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      This -- healthy working hours, vacation time, enough time off to cook healthy food and spend time with family = less stress. But hey, we take pride in our chains.

    3. Re:Well... by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up. The U.S. health care industry is extremely badly managed.

      One of the many books and stories: Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness.

    4. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Controlling mild hypertension with prescriptions is a choice. You *can* do it with lifestyle changes.

      I did it; I dropped my blood pressure from 128/86 to 105/60, without medication, through diet and exercise. It's not that hard, but the reason I succeeded where many like me fail is that as a geek measuring, tracking and evaluating data comes naturally to me. Measure everything; weigh your food, log it, analyze the results. If you try to obtain 100% of all your required nutrients without supplementation and within a wight maintenance level of calorie intake you're automatically forced to eat healthy.

      Eating healthy and exercise in moderation will turn most borderline cases of hypertension around, but it takes some discipline.

      Why did I bother? Becuase the consequences of hypertension really really suck. It's a disease with no symptoms but horrible complications. Think of all the things you consider as part of "aging" -- physical frailty, loss of memory and in some cases thinking ability. A lot of this isn't a result of the unavoidable genetics of aging; they're the result of things like heart attacks, strokes, and vascular dementia all of which are consequences of high blood pressure.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    5. Re:Well... by solitas · · Score: 1

      We were told, back then, to believe what numbers they said. Now we're told to believe these new numbers because they "know better" in these enlightened times.

      WHY didn't they know better back then to see that x-weight + x-diet + x-lifestyle killed x-people with >130/80 BP?

      It's all statistics, and simply counting heads never changes.

      --
      "It's time to take life by the cans." ~ Bender ("Bendin' in the Wind", ep. 3-13)
    6. Re:Well... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      healthy working hours, vacation time, enough time off to cook healthy food and spend time with family = less stress.

      In the short term, stressful situations can cause your blood pressure to rise. But over the long run, there is no causal link established between stress and permanently high blood pressure.

      Now get back to work.

    7. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, not a big pharma conspiracy. Americans are doing this to themselves. You gotta own it and do something about it. Food companies bear a lot of the responsibility. How about campaigning for affordable healthy food?

    8. Re:Well... by yithar7153 · · Score: 1

      I came here to say this. People are working their asses off just trying to live, with no financial security. It's not a real surprise that we have a high blood pressure problem. Stress contributes a lot to high blood pressure. And the fact is, corporations don't care. Not to mention how high healthcare costs are in this country.

    9. Re:Well... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      If the science is correct, hiypertension damages blood vessel walls, leading to more plaque (scarring) formation, further narrowing them, leading to ... more hypertension.

    10. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Modern medicine isn't just going to keep you alive for another year; it's going to keep you alive for decades in bad health.

      By the way I don't deny myself anything. I do everything in moderation -- even moderation. Yesterday I went out to a fried clam shack and ate 4000 calories worth of fried clams in one sitting. But my average calorie intake for the week is still under 2000, because I planned for my fried seafood bender accordingly.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    11. Re:Well... by MrLogic17 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Correction: mild hypertension can *sometimes* be controlled by choice. You make is sound like taking medication is for the dumb and lazy.

      Look at the studies for the affects of salt on blood pressure. Some people can drop their pressure 3 points with reduced salt - for others, it doesn't change anything. The latest studies actually say that there is *no* benefit to severe salt restriction!

      If you're fat, losing weight is always a good idea. I'm not. I'm actually borderline clinically under-weight. Losing weight would probably kill me. Nothing to be done there.

      Limiting caffeine intake is another oft recommended item. I don't drink pop, and have 1 cup of coffee a day. I'm not at risk there either.

      And adding exercise - if you're not overweight, the measurable impact of blood pressure is again minimal.

      I'm glad you could use lifestyle changes, but don't say that this works for everyone.

    12. Re: Well... by ishmaelflood · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "How about campaigning for affordable healthy food?"

      How about just buying affordable healthy food? Buy a chicken, roast it. Buy some frozen peas. Buy a cabbage. Boil them. Buy sweet potato and pumpkin. roast them(no fat).

      Which part of that is beyond the culinary abilities of a 10 year old? Which part is expensive?

    13. Re:Well... by satsuke · · Score: 1

      The recommendations probably had a measure of "what's achievable" vs "what's statistically the best" for the cost.

      e.g. People give up when given targets that are to high, so if a target of 140/90 reduces mortality and complications of HBP by 70%, but a target of 129/80 reduces by 60% due to less participation, the less aggressive target is qualitatively better for overall health. (numbers drawn out of the air).

      What's changed is HBP is not an old man's disease anymore, it's recognized as an issue needing to be addressed across age/gender/race/income.

    14. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is what's depressing about so many fat people. They can't even imagine how much better quality of life would be if they weren't eating themselves into all those terrible health problems that you think are "worth it". Have fun with your ruined life and your years of misery before your early death, but stop trying to convince others to ruin theirs.

    15. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You shouldn't ever eat clams (snot!) or any other bottom feeders. These concentrate the toxins in the environment and are horribly bad for you. Frying them doesn't help matters but the fact remains of heavy metals and human made pesticides and insecticides and mercury. I only eat non-GMO grains and free range meat. It has made me so healthy and I can't recommend it enough. It's way better than your feast and famine technique. Let me know if you're interested; I can send you to multiple websites and well connected personalities that have reaped huge benefits.

    16. Re:Well... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      If the science is correct, hiypertension damages blood vessel walls, leading to more plaque (scarring) formation, further narrowing them, leading to ... more hypertension.

      If this was true, there would be plenty of supporting evidence. There isn't.

    17. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 2

      I agree with most of what you're saying here. Notice also I qualified "hypertension": mild hypertension. And of course everyone's different. But a lot of the time people are less different than they think; they're just rationalizing their habits. People would rather think of themselves as special than as unsuccessful.

      The power of lifestyle change is greatly underestimated, because so many people find it difficult. Certainly if you can't control your borderline hypertension with lifestyle change you *should* use medications, particularly if you have other complications like diabetes. But healtheir something everyone with this kind of problem should attempt, with or without medication.

      The trouble for many people is that the impetus for change comes from dissatisfaction with themselves, and that dissatisfaction undermines their efforts. They are afraid to weigh themselves because they see weight gain (which happens even in the course of dramatic weight loss) as failure, and a sign that they're weak, bad people. I actually think you set yourself up better for success if you can accept yourself as you are now, and focus on the things you will gain.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    18. Re:Well... by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is that too many American's let their health go to shit and then demand some kind of pill to fix the problem. High blood pressure is something that can be treated with changes to diet and exercise for the vast majority of people. Using medication should only be reserved for a very limited number of cases or for people who have particular medical conditions that make other approaches impossible.

      People like to complain about how awful the American health care system is, but I'd argue that it's easily one of the best in the world. I can't imagine many other systems that could manage to keep alive a group of people as chronically unhealthy as the Americans. That the first thought is that this is being done so that there can be more prescriptions handed out for medication shows just how unhealthy the thinking about health care in America has become. The summary even ends by stating that medication isn't recommended for people who now fall into this new category of high blood pressure, but the first thought is to reach for a pill to fix things.

    19. Re:Well... by mnemotronic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This -- healthy working hours, vacation time, enough time off to cook healthy food and spend time with family = less stress....

      I think some Europeans figured that out a long time ago. They also take flak from Americans for being lazy & unproductive.

      We like our workforce to feel a bit desperate.

      So I guess what we need is a health care system that ensures that anyone needing to pay for medical attention needs to have a full-time job with a health plan. They also need to suspect they'll be RIFFed if they're not putting in 60+ hrs/wk. Not saying that's how it is .... it's just a plan.

      --
      The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
    20. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 3, Informative

      Depends on where the clams were harvested. In the US states regulate shellfishing; in my state (where the clams were harvested), shellfish beds are mapped and classified; some are entirely prohibited, others are entirely permitted, and some (where fecal-oral route pathogens in the water are a concern) require treatment in a depuration plant.

      Small amounts of bioaccumulating toxins like metals aren't any reason to avoid an occasional shellfish feast here, although you might not want to eat them every day. I might avoid shellfish altogether when visiting China with its poor environmental practices and lax health regulation enforcement.

      The biggest concern with occasional fried clam is exposure to rancid fat -- because that's something you can be continually exposed to in many places if you habitually eat fried food from not-very-good restaurants.

      I have no problem with GMO grains, but I consume grains overall in moderation because they pack a large calorie wallop for their limited nutrient payload. That makes it hard to incorporate large amount of grain (GMO or not) into a calorie limited nutrient complete diet. As for health advice, I stick to information in peer-reviewed literature review papers in high impact factor journals, plus common sense.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    21. Re:Well... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      There is plenty of evidence that long-term stress increases cortisol, leading to obesity, encourages over-drinking and over-eating, leading to obesity. Obesity --> hypertension.

      There may not be a literal direct route, but long-term stress is bad. Plenty of studies have shown that long-term stress shortens life.

    22. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel for all of those healthy people popping Motrin all the time to recover from their efforts to get an endorphin rush, and the frustration of years of boycotting flavor.

      Seriously, though, I'm a lot happier since I gave up running and replaced salads with beer and pizza. I've put on 20 pounds, but I don't get angry hungries routinely, I don't have blood sugar swings, and I don't have any additional joint damage. I don't pop motoring every day and no longer know the local physics on a first name basis.

      Turns out I am indeed built to be an ambush predator, not a marathoner.

    23. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Add jalapenos instead of salt...

    24. Re:Well... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most Americans are jealous of those who work a 40-hour week and take time off every year.

      BTW, productivity isn't that different in Europe -- Europeans tend to actually work 7-8 hours (not play on their phones), then go home and live life. A lot of time spent by Americans at "work" is spend slacking off -- but anyone who works hard, then leaves after 7 hours would be seen as not pulling the wagon enough.

    25. Re:Well... by Kohath · · Score: 1

      Millions more will be diagnosed now that the numbers have been adjusted to sell more prescriptions.

      It's a good time of year to troll Americans about their food.

    26. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 1

      As I say elsewhere, the *best* place to start if you want to change your lifestyle is accepting what you are like now. If you feel bad about how much you weigh, you'll avoid weighing yourself.

      In order to gain control over anything you have to measure it. If you have strong emotional reactions to the results of a measurement, that will skew your measurements or make you avoid measuring at all.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    27. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Just because stress has been demonstrated to be harmful does not imply that your claims above were also true. Why argue with somebody pointing out that you made technical claims that are outside of what is actually known to be true? You claimed it was "the science," but it wasn't.

    28. Re: Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Informative

      Only a small percent of the people with high blood pressure actually benefit from salt reduction. In the median patient, reducing dietary salt intake does not improve health outcomes .

      This is well known, though cue 5 people claiming to be RNs to respond claiming I'm murdering people by encouraging you to look up the actual risks of salt and high blood pressure and to ask the question, "Does it say salt is bad for everybody, or only for a minority of patients?"

    29. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Weighing food is the big thing in what you said; most people would never be willing to do that, even if you convinced them it is life-or-death. People have a deeply held belief that they can measure portions with their eyeballs, and that they know what a good, morally upstanding portion size looks like!

    30. Re: Well... by boudie2 · · Score: 1

      Pizza is truly one of life's great pleasures.

    31. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 0

      Think of all a people having fun... picture in your brain cruises, vacations, and large family gatherings. Imagine giving all of them up, and then picture your lifestyle without them. Contemplate that you may live an extra year or two, and then ask yourself if it is worth it.

      Hint: It's not.

      Think of all the people being using their brains... picture in your mind's eye insightful comments, inventions, conventions. Imagine giving all that up, imagine living without using your brain. Contemplate that you may get a very slight feeling of ignorant virtue, and then ask yourself if it is worth it.

      Hint: The whole setup is just a false equivalence.

    32. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yor any other bottom feeders. These concentrate the toxins in the environment and are horribly bad for you.

      This is the same moronic bullshit that uneducated fisherman think up. What part of the food chain concentrates toxins? Is it "bottom-feeders?" Is it known to science?! Is it a mystery where we can just make up any random answer and it might be true? No. No, no, no, no, and no.

      Predators are the animals that concentrate toxins. Bottom feeders only concentrate toxins in very narrow conditions, for example in a bay with large amounts of water pollution. Predators concentrate all of the environmental toxins, including ones from bottom feeders!

      So you have some idiot fisherman accusing carp of concentrating toxins, but carp eat mostly plants and insects and are very low on the food chain; they only concentrate a little bit of toxins, mostly because of their long lifespan. A trout, that eats mostly meat, is concentrating way more toxins than a carp!

      This is why fish like Red Snapper, which are bottom feeders, have less toxins than Tuna; they're both carnivores, but tuna are higher on the food chain; more of their prey are also themselves predators, whereas most of the prey of a Snapper are small herbivores.

      Most bottom feeders are omnivores, they are not very high on the food chain.

    33. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you serious?

      Diet and exercise doesnâ(TM)t just help you live a year or two longer. It means being mobile for longer, being able to enjoy your life without pain, and being able to live without medical intervention. Itâ(TM)s not about whether you die at 73 or die at 75; itâ(TM)s about whether youâ(TM)re hurting by the time youâ(TM)re 60.

      If you donâ(TM)t understand that, I hope that you do soon.

    34. Re: Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 0

      If you can't find healthy flavor, you just suck at eating.

      Sucking at cooking is lame enough, it is such a simple and easy skill. The results are even subjective, so it should be even easier!

      But sucking at eating, wow. That's some really hash idiocy there.

    35. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Look at the studies for the affects of salt on blood pressure. Some people can drop their pressure 3 points with reduced salt - for others, it doesn't change anything.

      The funny part is, the studies show that there is a minority of patients where removing dietary salt has a 10+ point difference, and those are the only patients who improve outcomes by reducing salt.

      Reducing blood pressure by 3 points doesn't improve outcomes in the vast majority of patients; only patients who also have serious heart disease will have an improved outcome. If you have high blood pressure but don't have heart disease, your risk of death did not improve by lowering blood pressure 3 points; regardless of the reason it went down.

      In many people exercise will not lower their blood pressure. And yet, regular moderate exercise will lower their chance of death! We just don't understand or have measurements for all the benefits. Increasing intake of fresh vegetables will also lower the chance of death; and eating vitamin pills will increase it!

    36. Re:Well... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
      True life style choices can have great impact. It need not be due geek level measurement.

      Just give salt once in fifteen days. Drop one meal once in a few days. Stop snacking and munching junk food between meals. Food control is possible. Most of my aunts and uncles do this salt free diet, but the reason they give is strange, "Going salt free on shravanam days of the month will please Lord Shiva or Giving up the evening meal on Thursdays will get you brownie points for Shri Satya Sai Baba. The reasoning looks very unscientific. But at the end of the day, they have lower blood pressure and cholesterol and lower body fat.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    37. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      No, you were told by the researchers to ignore the media and talk to your doctor, and wait for the numbers to make it to your doctor.

      The media told you to believe the numbers they were making up, because golly, those researchers know better and you should listen to the media to know what the researchers said, because gosh all that science is hard to understand!

      For example, they said that preliminary research showed that some forms of fat were really harmful, but they didn't know which kinds yet. And that it appeared it was going to turn out to be one of the types of saturated fat. And they made it clear that they didn't know yet. And they also gave people advice, "This doesn't change any dietary recommendations; eat the same low fat diet with an emphasis on traditional, whole ingredients. Do not change your diet because of this research; as far as we know, the healthiest diet is a traditional healthy diet." And what did the media convince most people concerned about health to do? Switch to margarine! And it turns out, most of that 80s/90s margarine was full of transfat; replacing healthy butterfat with the exact worst fat from the research!

      Stop listening to the news and thinking you learned about research, and you'll have increased your knowledge level by orders of magnitude.

    38. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder if the food industry gets a payout from the pharmaceutical industry.

      A little more Salt, a little more Sugar, some high fructose corn syrup....

    39. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      This is what American food looks like: https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-m...

      Here is another example: https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

      Another: https://static1.squarespace.co...

      Here is what American Food looks like in a big city: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/...

      Here is what the regional cuisine looks like in the part of America that I live in: (this is the most popular restaurant in my neighborhood, though not the most expensive) https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.c...

      Here is what American food looks like in a "red state": https://ncstatecommuters.files...

    40. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Millions are on pills because they're irresponsible assholes who think that health should just work regardless of what shit they shovel in their cakeholes or how much they sit on their fat asses. We're fatter, lazier and as malnourished as we've ever been and we still have pathetic fucks like you running around screaming about "teh big pharma!!11!!!!!oneone!!!"

      Pull your head out of your asshole and realize that you're the product of millions of years of evolution that has been thrown on it's ear in the past couple hundred years by the mechanism of industry. You don't just get to do whatever you want and get away with it. There is still a human nature that is undeniable by any amount of political dick wagging and wishful thinking. Either you learn to accept it, live by it's rules and law or you can cry like a bitch and claim that everyone is against you because you choose to ignore the science.

      What fucks like you are doing is no different than what the climate deniers do. You reject science for your own selfish bullshit and act like cunts when it's time to pay for your willful ignorance.

    41. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you enjoy lying to yourself?
      Because the truth is obvious to the rest of us.
      Just wondering..

    42. Re:Well... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      To be clear no one has ever questioned the American healthcare's efficacy at keeping people physically healthy.

      The only black mark against it is it not only fails to keep them financially healthy but it is outright financially crippling.

      Like everything in America, fantastic if you have the privilege. Now give me another prescription, I have insurance baby!

    43. Re: Well... by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Add to that, my doctor told me I'm actually sodium deficient, and I need to eat MORE salty snacks. Despite my hypertension.

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    44. Re: Well... by hey! · · Score: 1

      and being able to live without medical intervention

      And your point would differ from ine how?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    45. Re:Well... by hey! · · Score: 2

      People have a deeply held belief that they can measure portions with their eyeballs

      That's one of actually two important misconceptions. The other is that stomach fullness is reliable measure of how much you've eaten. Your belly only has three feedback settings: feed me now, you could eat a bit more, and if you eat more you're going to get sick.

      Recent research suggests that it's the amount of time you spend eating, and the amount of chewing you do that affects perceptions of how much you've eaten. I've confirmed this myself. Eating slower and chewing more definitely creates the subjective impression of having eaten more for any given size portion. The flip side of this is that so many processed foods which are easy to eat quickly bypass your primary satiety mechanisms.

      On the eyeballing portion size, there's a lab at Cornell that does consumer behavior research that has studied this, and they've come up with a number of interesting results about how people estimate portion size. One is that the size of the plate has a big impact on how much you think you're eating; the same serving on a small plate gives the impression that you've eaten more. If they pour a serving from a large cereal box, it'll be larger than a serving they pour from a small one. If you give them a small box of stale popcorn, they'll eat a little of it then complain. If you give them a large box of stale pop corn, they'll eat a lot then complain.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    46. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very much this. At the start of this year I was at 96kg and my blood pressure 140/85 (which, being a regular doctor dodger, I only found out when donating blood). So this year I've concentrated on regular exercise and a healthy diet. Nothing magical, just smaller serves, more from the veges/salads/fruit group, less (a lot less) from the cake/deep-fried/pizza group, and zero fizzy drinks; combined with (gradually increasing levels of) daily HIT training on the stationary bike, pushups, situps and riding to work.

      Net result: currently I weigh 78kg, my blood pressure 119/75, and I feel a lot better. Not that I was conscious of feeling bad at the start of the year, but I've come to realise that my gradual slide into poor physical condition had made me accustomed to things like feeling tired after climbing stairs that simply don't need to be a thing.

    47. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yeah, and the geek measurement obsession really helps a lot. It's easy to lie to yourself in the absense of hard data, but if it's there in the spreadsheet in black and white then the truth about your progress (or lack thereof) is much harder to avoid. Plus I now have pretty graphs and correlation analysis to play with :)

    48. Re:Well... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      One of the reasons other countries have better general levels of fitness is because they spend more money on prevention, ranging from fitness classes to assistance to stop smoking to higher standards and better labelling for food.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    49. Re:Well... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      People in Europe slack off a lot too. I keep a Slashdot window open at work, no one cares because I get my work done and the results are good.

      Good bosses don't treat people like kids.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    50. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you do all of those things every single day? No, of course you don't. Most days - like 300+ days a year - you get up, go to work, come home maybe watch tv/talk/hang out, then go to sleep. Now picture yourself eating healthy food on those days and mixing in a little exercise. Sensible sized plates not overloaded with pizza and chips. Water (or milk) rather than beer or coke. Maybe choosing the cereal that isn't laced with enough sugar to send a class of primary-school kids into orbit. Maybe eating a sandwich and fruit for lunch.

      Now picture those fun things. You're there, looking (gasp) fit and healthy. Eating whatever you want in whatever quantities you feel like, happy and guilt free in the knowledge that it's ok because you *don't* do this most of the time. Contemplate that you may live a longer and happier life doing these things with reduced risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart problems etc, and then ask yourself if it is worth it. Hint: it is.

    51. Re: Well... by hey! · · Score: 2

      It is. So you fit it into your calorie budget.

      First, I don't bother with bad, or even mediocre pizza. At 272 calories/slice for plain jane cheese it'd damn well better be awesome pizza. Second, I plan ahead by reducing my calorie intake in the run up to my splurge. Here's a secret from the ancient Greek philosphers known as the stoics: a little self-denial makes things taste better. If you've been fasting, plain bread is delicious. Pizza eaten after a fast is indescribable.

      Call this sensory hacking if you will. Get a small, very good pizza, and eat it slowly and mindfully in a semi-fasted state, along with a nutrient dense side dish like a salad (no dressing -- you don't want flavor clash here you just want to space the pizza out with something less intense and it may as well be good for you). I guarantee you'll get more enjoyment that you would mindlessly scarfing down an extra large from a pizza chain.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    52. Re:Well... by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      My brother has been seriously overweight for years. My weight's in the low-to-normal range. He's 4 years younger than I, is a vegetarian, and doesn't smoke. I smoke and am omnivorous. Yet he's the one who's already been on medication for high BP and acid reflux for the last 5-6 years. I think the difference is compounded by the facts that (a) I live in Europe and get 30 days off per year, while he gets no paid time off, and (b) the difference in the quality of the food. Every time I visit the US, I am always taken aback at how sweet and/or greasy a lot of things seem to be; even "all-natural" whole-grain bread tastes a bit sweet compared to what I'm used to in Europe.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    53. Re:Well... by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      Imagine the flip-side. You give up drinking like a fish and try to eat a bit healthier and you get some exercise every once in a while and you STILL can go on that cruise or that vacation and you can even pig out occasionally at family BBQs.

      i've known people who have died at far too young of an age and if they were still around they would still be able to enjoy those things.

      Some died unexpectedly. Others died after long illnesses which weren't exactly pleasant. If we could ask them, would they say it was worth it? Well, we can't ask them, can we?

      They're dead and gone.

    54. Re:Well... by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      Clams are delicious and they're not going to kill you in small doses.

    55. Re: Well... by boudie2 · · Score: 1

      I'd like to travel around North America sampling all the pizza and write a compendium of my findings. Do you think an idea like that would fly on Kickstarter?

    56. Re: Well... by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You have to add a LOT of salt to a real recipe to get it to resemble anything pre-packaged or bought at a restaurant. If you cook for yourself, "normal" people tend to think you're on some sort of radical low salt diet.

      Sometimes I need to consume extra electrolytes if I drink too much water to flush down my daily pharmacy with.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    57. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We like our workforce to feel a bit desperate. Making them scramble and compete against each other, without ever achieving any kind of real financial security, ensures that the best talent remains available to us, loyal to us, and gives above-and-beyond to us on a regular basis.

      The fact that this stresses them all out, shortening their lives and also causing a lot of suffering, is not our concern.

      Oh your key employee who was critically important to your new product development just dropped dead from stress?

      Not my fucking concern bitch. You were too goddamn greedy and shortsighted to avoid that premature loss of your most valuable asset.

    58. Re: Well... by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      How old are you?

      Because I guarantee you the beer and pizza will catch up with you eventually. I actually love beer, but loathe pizza which makes for a strange health case.

      Salads and vegetables and fruits as well as a good dose of protein in the form of meat actually make me feel better than eating crap like pizza - and I also feel healthier without the beer, but I do love it so much.

      And yeah, sometimes I hate eating my vegetables but I feel better overall when I eat them.

    59. Re:Well... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      anti-smoking prevention? You must be joking. Smoking rates for Europe and Japan are MUCH higher than the US. It amazes me that that doesn't translate to worse outcomes. I suspect it does and nobody wants to admit it.

      There really isn't anything wrong with American food labeling. It's quite good actually. It's just that Americans don't actually want to bother. "Better" labeling won't help. It will just get ignored like the old labeling.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    60. Re:Well... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      You're pushing a false dichotomy and it's bullshit.

      You can let "loose on" special occasions without completely destroying the efficacy of your normal routine.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    61. Re: Well... by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      He's a jackass. His "red state" example was obviously from some sort of fair or festival with a bunch of carnie food booths. Fairs are like that everywhere, not just red states. European carnie food is probably like that too.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    62. Re: Well... by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      There are lots and lots of flavours other than sweet, salty, and fatty. It's really unfortunate that so many Americans are conditioned to think there aren't.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    63. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well for those of us who do like to read labels, I'm all for even better labels. People that want to remain ignorant can choose to remain so.

    64. Re:Well... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      List of countries by cigarette consumption per person: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      The US is middle of the pack, not too dissimilar to several European countries. I must admit I'm surprised. Places like the UK where big gains have been made must have started from a much worse position.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    65. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just get a buddy that has nothing going on, jump in your car and starting hitting places up. Record each visit and ideally make a podcast out of it. Space out your recordings and you can get a backlog so if something comes up, you can go back to it while still looking busy.

      Alas, if you are already an indentured slave that family and responsibility, sorry.

    66. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That statistics sure could use showing number of people who are daily/weekly smokers. Smoking daily regardless if it is 1 or 10 cigarettes is very detrimental to health. And considering the average cigarettes per day and adult is 3 and i don't know anyone smoking cigarettes, I suppose the people who do smoke would smoke in excess of 2 packs per day...

    67. Re:Well... by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

      In the end it is exclusively nature's fault for not adjusting fast enough to our changes in lifestyle.

    68. Re:Well... by geekmux · · Score: 1

      The problem is that too many American's let their health go to shit and then demand some kind of pill to fix the problem.

      Hate to point out the obvious, but the true problem is Americans being too fucking lazy to maintain their health through diet and exercise. If they simply did this, there would be no reason to be demanding magical pills to fix a preventable problem.

      High blood pressure is something that can be treated with changes to diet and exercise for the vast majority of people. Using medication should only be reserved for a very limited number of cases or for people who have particular medical conditions that make other approaches impossible.

      Those making these guideline changes already know that Americans aren't going make any changes to diet and exercise. They rarely do it no matter how life-threatening the prognosis is. I fully believe this new guideline was driven by Big Pharma who will rake in obscene profits by perpetually prescribing more pills to the additional 14% of the population who are now diagnosed with Stage-1 hypertension.

      People like to complain about how awful the American health care system is, but I'd argue that it's easily one of the best in the world. I can't imagine many other systems that could manage to keep alive a group of people as chronically unhealthy as the Americans. That the first thought is that this is being done so that there can be more prescriptions handed out for medication shows just how unhealthy the thinking about health care in America has become. The summary even ends by stating that medication isn't recommended for people who now fall into this new category of high blood pressure, but the first thought is to reach for a pill to fix things.

      It's one of the best in the world for one reason; Obscene Profits.

      If it were not for that, it would be shit.

    69. Re:Well... by geekymachoman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > I did it; I dropped my blood pressure from 128/86 to 105/60, without medication, through diet and exercise. It's not that hard, but the reason I succeeded where many like me fail is that as a geek measuring, tracking and evaluating data comes naturally to me.

      The reason most people 'fail' is because they don't see results immediately. They lack patience, discipline and proper motivation (eg. it's not "i want to be sexy" or "handsome"). I was like this, my GF is like this, I have couple of friends that mentioned it.. etc. It's hard to simulate physical labor and "enjoy" it, or at least.. stick with it as a lifestyle.
      Modern exercise is a simulation of real physical work which comes natural to us. Most people can do physical work, the work itself is a motivation and whatever the product of that work is... but when you take away that work (hence the product) and put a person on a treadmill, there is no natural goal anymore.. and health seems so abstract and far away that most people give up after an hour or so of running aimlessly ( so they feel ). And you have to plan for this, schedule it.. gym memberships etc. which adds to an extra headache.

      I for one *hate* gyms. I don't like sharing space with other people, sharing sweat especially. I don't like locker rooms, public showers etc. either. You will not see me in a gym.

      Point is. You don't need calculations, statistics and mathematics to stick with exercise. That might work for you, but I wouldn't agree it works for most people.
      What people need is a sense of accomplishment, and health + muscle mass etc. to be a CONSEQUENCE, and a side effect, not the main goal.
      If it's like this, and if people do physical labor for proper reasons, then the boredom, and lack of motivation sill not be an issue anymore.

      > Controlling mild hypertension with prescriptions is a choice. You *can* do it with lifestyle changes.

      This not being the common sense is what the problem is with modern society, especially western ones where this way of thinking seem to be prevalent.
      I'm sure if we manage to not kill ourselves, this will be one of the things mentioned in the history books as that retarded thing people from 2000s thought it's ok.
      Like we think that people 2000 years ago were stupid, ignorant, barbaric, etc... this is going down in history as one of the things stupid people of 21 century did.

      Stuff yourself with crap fake food full of chemicals that are not supposed to be there (preservatives, colorings, etc.) that, naturally, effect body chemistry as you're ingesting these, and then take more chemicals to try to fix the consequence of your bad diet and lack of physical movement... and then go about thinking it's actually normal to live like this.

      Good luck to you all.

    70. Re:Well... by geekmux · · Score: 1

      To be clear no one has ever questioned the American healthcare's efficacy at keeping people physically healthy.

      The American healthcare system is not responsible for keeping people physically healthy. People are. The healthcare system has been reduced to dealing with people who are too damn lazy to maintain their health, which creates a multitude of issues to treat.

      The only black mark against it is it not only fails to keep them financially healthy but it is outright financially crippling.

      If the American healthcare system were not as obscenely profitable as it is, then it would be utter shit. That black mark tends to say a lot about its efficacy. The most efficient machines in the world are those that make a shitload of money.

      Like everything in America, fantastic if you have the privilege. Now give me another prescription, I have insurance baby!

      Putting up with obscene costs isn't a viable long-term solution, especially when even having insurance won't always prevent you from being financially crippled. You'll need your money to take care of your aging parents as well, for all the costs insurance doesn't cover.

    71. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So they're going to be using modified machines that lie? Whenever I have my blood pressure taken, the display is perfectly within view.

      When I went to my doctor for my annual physical last month I clearly saw 110/70, which I was told is "very good".

    72. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All the health nuts can be seen holding hands with antivaxxers. Big Pharma is here to _help_ you, why the resistance? /s

    73. Re:Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      lol that's hilarious! thanks

      I love Cornell

    74. Re:Well... by baegucb · · Score: 1

      I am in my 60s, and weigh about 15-20 lbs. more than I weighed in my 20s. I take a prescribed blood pressure pill daily. It works out to 30 cents a day iirc. In other words, seconds worth of my pay per day. It's not that expensive to me, I have no idea how much my health insurance covers, if any.

    75. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes... More money for the the big pharmacons...

    76. Re: Well... by BeaverCleaver · · Score: 1

      USA food labels have nutrition information listed "per serving" which makes it hard to compare two different products. In, for example, Australia, labels have a "per serving" column an a "per 100g" column so that foods with different serving size can be compared.

      USA labels also frequently seem to have a weird mix of imperial and metric units.

      Both of these differences lead me to believe that _someone_ is benefiting from it being hard to quantify what is in a food product, and also hard work compare two different food products.

    77. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just takes me around one to two hours to meal prep sunday night. It's hardly some huge time drain.

    78. Re: Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      If it wasn't big pharma then it must have been big sugar that payed Ansel Keyes to lure the recent generations into stopping eating meats and fats and replacing that with carbohydrates and sugar.
      Nobody needs carbohydrates. Fat and even protein can supply enough energy, so If you simply stop eating carbohydates, your insulin would not go up so much, you'd get less fat, loose your insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and even your diabetes type 2, your blood pressure lowers and your 'bad cholesterol' also.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    79. Re: Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Wrong. People do need salt. Take sea salt. Non bleached, that is.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    80. Re:Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      It's not 'health care', it's disease management. And they don't want you to get better.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    81. Re:Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      A complete misrepresentation of the solution.
      Eat as much and as bad as you like during the partie, then fast.
      1, 2, 10 days, 1 month, it's all possible.
      Of course you'd have to supplement the micro nutrients and vitamins.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    82. Re:Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      No no, you're doing it wrong.
      Many people have become fat because their body is more susceptible to developing insulin resistance, then obesity, then metabolic syndrome and diabetes type 2.
      The fact that 'they' don't seem to be able to stop eating is because they're simply feeling hungry, how strange it may sound.
      In the metabolic syndrome satiety signals are suppressed and the eating of carbohydrates triggers a kind of opioid reward signal in the brains.
      Also high fructose 'corn syrup' plays a very nasty role here.
      'Fat people', to use your dismissive term, need help as soon as they realize it, the right diet can help them come out of this problem.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    83. Re:Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Oh, wait, some names to consider looking up:
      Dr. Robert Lustig
      Dr. Eric Westman
      Dr. Jason Fung

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    84. Re:Well... by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Their stocks are owned by the same people.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    85. Re: Well... by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Well there'd be pros and cons to each way of doing it. It'd be disingenuous to have it broken down into 100 mL on a vending machine soda when most people will consume the whole thing, and if you were comparing instant potatoes to instant rice serving might be more helpful than per 100g. And when you buy fresh food you really don't know how much sugar or fiber are in a banana versus an apple or broccoli stalk.

    86. Re:Well... by Rutulian · · Score: 1

      Hate to point out the obvious, but the true problem is Americans being too fucking lazy to maintain their health through diet and exercise. If they simply did this, there would be no reason to be demanding magical pills to fix a preventable problem.

      The way I see it, there are three major contributors:
          1) The majority of new development in the US is centered around the automobile. We collectively spend way more time in our cars and our air-conditioned homes and office buildings than ever before. The best way to get people to exercise more is to make it easy and pleasant. Make cities more walkable, create green spaces, make neighborhoods more neighborhood-like (ie: less suburban sprawl and more local amenities and services). Do your kids walk/ride bikes to school, or do you drive them? It is no coincidence that older cities like New York, Boston, DC, etc have better stats with respect to obesity and diabetes occurrence.

          2) Childhood obesity. We learn our primary eating habits as children. Whatever you can do to encourage healthy eating for children, whether that be cooking lessons, less junk food, cucumbers and tomatoes instead of mac n' cheese for breakfast, is improvement. The problem is, if you are addicted to fast food, soda, and cheetos before you are 15 years old, it is really hard to change those habits when it starts catching up to you.

          3) Time to cook/eat proper meals. True fact: not everybody likes to cook and will do that. But, if you can reliably work a 40-hour week, you might actually be able to spend some time eating properly, rather than grabbing the high-salt high-carb heavily processed food so you can quickly eat and run. If you cook your own meals it is cheaper and healthier for you in the long run, but you don't have to cook to be healthy. You just need healthy options available and affordable, but that requires time.

    87. Re:Well... by SunTzuWarmaster · · Score: 1

      This. Over the last 2 years I resolved to a) get better at gymnastics and b) lose weight. I've shed 35 pounds, going from 188 to 153. The most common response I get when I tell people that is something like "Wow! You? You were one of the few people that didn't need to lose weight."

      Almost everyone in this country could stand to lose THIRTY pounds. Average body fat percentage for men is 25%, which is "flirting with obesity". It seems that only athletes and a minority of college students are in the 15% range.

      Look at the recent article (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/less-than-3-percent-of-americans-live-a-healthy-lifestyle/475065/) for "how many Americans are healthy" by the following criteria:
      1 - exercise moderately for 150 minutes per week.
      2 - body fat percentage sub 20%
      3 - not smoker
      4 - reasonable diet according to the 'healthy eating index' (8 oz of meat, a potato, a glass of milk, and a side of broccoli counts as 'healthy'. Another sample day is 10 oz of salmon, bowl of oatmeal, greek yogurt, 2 glasses of wine... Another is 2 cans of beans, a quarter stick of butter, and a glass of apple juice. Its not a tough requirement.)

      Less than 3% of Americans meet these criteria.

      In other news, 46% of the country has high blood pressure. No shit. Dropping 30 pounds, doing 3 hours of yard work on Saturday, and "actually having a diet" will put you in the top THREE percent of America. Everyone is simply letting their health go to shit.

    88. Re:Well... by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      To be clear no one has ever questioned the American healthcare's efficacy at keeping people physically healthy.

      The American healthcare system is not responsible for keeping people physically healthy. People are. The healthcare system has been reduced to dealing with people who are too damn lazy to maintain their health, which creates a multitude of issues to treat.

      The only black mark against it is it not only fails to keep them financially healthy but it is outright financially crippling.

      If the American healthcare system were not as obscenely profitable as it is, then it would be utter shit. That black mark tends to say a lot about its efficacy. The most efficient machines in the world are those that make a shitload of money.

      Like everything in America, fantastic if you have the privilege. Now give me another prescription, I have insurance baby!

      Putting up with obscene costs isn't a viable long-term solution, especially when even having insurance won't always prevent you from being financially crippled. You'll need your money to take care of your aging parents as well, for all the costs insurance doesn't cover.

      The American healthcare system is a fucking joke and you know it. Just the other day my three year old got sick, through no fault of his own or anyone else's, people do just get sick you know. As he's three and his breathing was very shallow we phoned the out of hours, had an appointment for an hour away, got down, in and out in a matter of no time and picked up the prescription on the way home. Total time from start to finish, less than two hours and didn't cost me a fucking penny. And that's in the NHS thats being gutted by the tories, just imagine how good it would be if they sorted it out properly. Well, I say it was free but it's already paid for by mine and everyone else's national insurance which no doubt cost a lot less than your individual insurance and covers a lot more. But please go on and tell me how the american system is best and nothing else works.

      --
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    89. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about just buying affordable healthy food? Buy a chicken, roast it. Buy some frozen peas. Buy a cabbage. Boil them. Buy sweet potato and pumpkin. roast them(no fat).

      Which part of that is beyond the culinary abilities of a 10 year old? Which part is expensive?

      In my neighborhood, that's an additional $1.75 plus about 90 minutes of your time on the bus and waiting for a transfer. Or $0 and about two and a quarter hours of walking.

      That time is expensive for a lot of people. Alternatively, one could buy a car, insure it, and find a place to park, while keeping up repairs. But obviously that is expensive as well.

      Also, how do you roast a chicken on a hot plate?

    90. Re: Well... by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Well there'd be pros and cons to each way of doing it. It'd be disingenuous to have it broken down into 100 mL on a vending machine soda when most people will consume the whole thing

      Not really, some basic math skills can fix that. Besides, I have a can of coke right here and it's values are listed in per 100ml and per 330ml, which is the whole can and %rda (for the full can)

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    91. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It could be argued, however, that if more people in your neighborhood were trying to buy healthy foods, someone would start offering them for sale closer to you. Part of the whole food desert problem is people not creating a demand for basic ingredients. Which is, I know, wrapped up in the whole pathology of poverty, but you have to start somewhere.

    92. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have lived in the UK and the US. I agree that the NHS does a very good job, and that it could be even better if a bit more were put into it. However, in the US there are a lot of things like MRIs which you'd need to get on a waiting list for in the UK; I can get a same day appointment to an MRI center within walking distance of my house in the US.
      Are people in the US getting good value for the roughly double the percent of GDP (which is higher in the US to start with) we spend on healthcare? No, we are not. Are there aspects of the US system which are better than almost anywhere else? Yes there are, not all of that money is wasted. To be clear, I would rather we had an NHS style system here but if you are not poor you are going to get generally decent healthcare in the US.

    93. Re: Well... by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      I suppose showing both values would be the best of both worlds.

    94. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BTW, productivity isn't that different in Europe -- Europeans tend to actually work 7-8 hours (not play on their phones), then go home and live life. A lot of time spent by Americans at "work" is spend slacking off -- but anyone who works hard, then leaves after 7 hours would be seen as not pulling the wagon enough.

      I'll up your bullshit with my anecdote: I've worked in Turkey, Germany, and the UK. Generally my coworkers are shocked by me and a few fellow Yanks because we come in and hit the work hard and fast. Your idea of work in the EU is a joke by US and Japanese standards.

      Now, should it be this way (the US toiling)? No. I'd like to see us go to a real 40 hour work week (e.g. not chained to phone, email, et al after hours), but as far as US laziness goes, you're just full of shit.

      Also, keep in mind that Germany is the only economy not hanging under the sword of Damocles at the moment while most western democracies are.. but that is going to stop with their inability to form a coalition government and lead. Let's face it: they've been taking the rest of Europe for a ride and it's coming to an end.

    95. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other news, 46% of the country has high blood pressure. No shit. Dropping 30 pounds, doing 3 hours of yard work on Saturday, and "actually having a diet" will put you in the top THREE percent of America. Everyone is simply letting their health go to shit.

      Yes you fucking shithead, because everybody has time to do that while working 2.5 McJobs. I came from that environment and know what it's like; if it weren't for the GI Bill and the US Army I'd still be screwed because you simply cannot get traction in man scenarios.

      Seriously, I'd punch you in the face if you ran your sewer like that in front of me.

    96. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is 100% true - I am a new diagnose-ee ( who was previously borderline) and was immediately perscribed medication without any talk of lifestyle change - it wasn't until I refused that the doctor told me lifestyle changes I can do after I was already doing them - and lo and behold I am back in the 'normal' range. moving the marker is straight up just a way to sell more drugs

    97. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It could be argued, however, that if more people in your neighborhood were trying to buy healthy foods, someone would start offering them for sale closer to you. Part of the whole food desert problem is people not creating a demand for basic ingredients. Which is, I know, wrapped up in the whole pathology of poverty, but you have to start somewhere.

      In my neighborhood, the grocery stores are close, but only if you drive. The Aldi's is six minutes away by car (including 1.5 minutes on the interstate). It's 67 minutes away by foot, or 51 minutes away by bus.

      The food desert is created by an infrastructure that assumes you will be moving around via a car, and a society where all, but the very poor, tend to drive. That allows most people to be serviced by the existing grocery stores, in a quick and convenient way. It's only for those who can't drive (either for health issues or for affordability reasons) that are stuck in a food desert.

    98. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Millions more will be diagnosed now that the numbers have been adjusted to sell more prescriptions.

      Should be rated "+10, True"

    99. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am in my 60s, and weigh about 15-20 lbs. more than I weighed in my 20s. I take a prescribed blood pressure pill daily. It works out to 30 cents a day iirc. In other words, seconds worth of my pay per day. It's not that expensive to me, I have no idea how much my health insurance covers, if any.

      Weight is only one factor to manage for a healthy lifestyle. Did you do anything to change other lifestyle habits to see if you could not be dependent on medication, or do you refuse to give up those "freedoms" in order to be chained to a prescription bottle for the rest of your life?

      Just curious, as it's common to find that a healthy diet can eliminate blood pressure issues.

      When it comes to cost, remember to also factor in the risk of medications and long-term side effects that won't be fully disclosed until thousands of people suffer and data is connected enough to blame a drug. Until then, you may never know if medication is ultimately harming you.

    100. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Respect.

    101. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're missing the point. The medical industry has been hijacked by fraudulent guidelines to sell drugs and dangerous procedures, while ignoring chronic conditions that are inconvenient, like Lyme disease, or any other chronic disease. Those have all been classified as mental illness and Munchhausen, to sell even more dangerous drugs, and blacklist problem patients that get in the way of profits for the industry. And to block perceived legal threats. Such as, people who have medical complications after being lied to about how routine, painless, or benign a procedure will be... with a robot, while neglecting to mention that a student will be preforming it. Or to block any negligence on the part of any doctor. Or if you're poor, or they just don't like you. Blacklisted.

    102. Re:Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, tell that to my mother-in-law. Oh nevermind, you can't. She died of a stroke because she stopped taking her BP meds because she thought they were too expensive...even though my brother-in-law, who just happens to be a Harvard med school grad, was paying for them.

      Yes, big Pharma sucks. That doesn't make the BP numbers and mortality statistics a conspiracy.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    103. Re: Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      You don't need an RN. Please google "how does salt increase blood pressure", and tell me again why everything there is wrong.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    104. Re: Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      You case doesn't make the others wrong. Low sodium (hyponatremia) can occur after long endurance activities.

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    105. Re:Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      It's a common problem here in the US. We apparently value long hours more than how much actually gets accomplished.

      Anecdote: I had a coworker who was great at fixing software bugs. He'd correct a bunch of problems then take a long break, at which point the boss would start giving him grief. He fixed that problem by correcting a pile of bugs early in the week, and then submitting them periodically for the remainder of said week. He still got more done than anyone else, and probably only worked about half of the actual time.

      --
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    106. Re:Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      "You *can* do it with lifestyle changes. I did it "

      Anecdote != evidence.

      Congratulations and good for you. We're not all equal. Age, family history, the type of work you do...a lot of factors come into play beside simply exercising and eating right. FWIW, I've been fighting my own demons with this...(really) bad family history, I'm 59 and I sit at a desk 40-50 hrs a week, along with another 10 hrs commuting. I still exercise 2-4 times a week, and do annual half-marathons...but I really need to get more active because the weight keeps ticking up, along with the BP. And, it's not likely to get fixed until I can retire and not sit on my ass all day.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    107. Re: Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1
      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    108. Re: Well... by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      You left out sour and umani...that's it when it comes to taste buds. Anything else is based upon smell...which I can tell you from personal experience at having lost my sense of smell for about a month after a serious nose injury, is very important.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    109. Re: Well... by boudie2 · · Score: 1

      Damn! I should have googled it first.

    110. Re: Well... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      I had a friend with seriously low blood pressure, who always used lots of salt. She had people coming up to her in restaurants to tell her she was using too much salt. She treated them with the courtesy they deserved.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    111. Re: Well... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It is quite obvious from the words I used that I've already done that research.

      Go out and do the search you recommend, then do a search that would uncover results similar to what I was claiming, and then get back to me with words that make it sound like you exposed yourself to both sides of the argument.

      Then you might have something to say. I already checked, and I already tried to educate you.

      Oh, and when you do your own recommended search, it will tell you right away that it is only a minority who is affected. Oh, also, when you're reading stuff talking about reductions of 2 points, look up if small reductions in blood pressure improve health outcomes. I gave that answer above, but don't believe me: look it up!

      As for myself, I can just do the simple challenge test: measure blood pressure. Eat a tablespoon(!) of salt. Wait 30 minutes. Take my blood pressure again. It is not a mystery. A small percent of people will experience a 10+ point jump, and for those people, reducing salt intake will likely add years to their lives. However, most people will only experience a 2 point increase, and that difference makes no positive difference at all to health outcomes! This is well established stuff, there is just a lot of bogus bullshit using important-sounding weasel words, including from weasels with letters next to their names. However, the study results are not actually in dispute; the entire dispute is over the PR benefits, over the question of if doctors should lie to the world when they think the PR will benefit people. You can look up if that is part of the public debate on this narrow issue, or not. (spoiler: it is)

    112. Re:Well... by tkotz · · Score: 1

      I think you also want to look at smoking rate, not cigarette consumption. I wouldn't be surprised if American smokers smoke more. As they say "Go big or go home."
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  2. Drug Companeis by avandesande · · Score: 0

    They aren't going to stop until we are all given pre-natal prescriptions.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  3. Life is a disease by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Death is the cure

  4. Re:wrong diet by DogDude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you're in the USA better to skip the whole grains altogether except as occassional treat, monsanto and company's franken-wheat causes many digestive disorders and elevated blood sugar levels.

    That's complete bullshit. There's zero science behind that.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  5. Re:wrong diet by John+Da'+Baddest · · Score: 2

    Let me know when the panic hits beer.

  6. Re:wrong diet by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

    Monsanto's alien organisms need a living human host to gestate in in order to reach maturity. Telling humans not to eat them is effectively genocide!

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  7. Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At age 25, I was 6' 3", 160 lbs, and exercised. I had high blood pressure and the doc wanted to put me on medication. I thought I was too young for high blood pressure medication. I instead started eating salads instead of sandwiches, quit eating deli meat, and avoid processed and high sodium foods. I'm now 35, still 160 lbs, and my blood pressure is well within a normal range. You don't need pills. Eat healthy instead.

    1. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Bartles · · Score: 0

      6' 3", 160lbs is nowhere near healthy.

    2. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What, exactly, is âoeeating healthyâ? Who is the âoeexpertâ on nutrition? Oprah? Michelle Obama? The USDA? Your near-god doctor? WHO?

    3. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, it's okay. You're just so used to fat westerners, your perception has been warped.

      https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2003nl/jul/030700puhowdoigainweight.htm

    4. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by ark1 · · Score: 1

      6'0 155lbs here with BP around 115/75. People always comment how skinny I look while it is right in the middle of BMI (I know I know, not the best measure) but reality is that was the norm a few decades ago. When I was 190-200lbs BP was 140/90. Yup healthy eating and exercise no magic pills.

    5. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 agreed, and to the parent post as well. No pills necessary; let the others go through the "rewards" of not listening: prescription medicine, paying for those meds, and so on.

      I survived a second stroke, and before I was discharged, one of the doctors boiled it down to this:How do you convince Americans to change their lifestyle? He was generalizing about eating all that fast food, salty, fatty, or processed food, no-vacation regardless of paid time off, etc.

      This news could be the start, if not the wake-up call.

    6. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Bartles · · Score: 1

      6'3" 160 is not.

    7. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Bartles · · Score: 1

      I'm 6' 250, I eat little fruit, very little grains, lots of leafy greens, lots of red and white meat, nuts, cheese. I can squat 425 lbs, run a mile in under 7 minutes, and last time I had my BP checked it was 118/70. Skinny does not always mean healthy.

    8. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously, bigotry is the most important source of medical advice.

    9. Re:Chang your diet, change your life by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      You don't need pills. Eat healthy instead.

      You do need pills if eating healthy doesn't lower your BP. Some people have ideopathic (doctor speak for: buggered if I know) hypertension.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    10. Re:Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While this is true it is a small percent in the face of those who currently are on medications.

      Yes, biology is not perfect. Yes, there are limited cases when the only realistic solution for some is pharmaceuticals. What's your point? Are you trying to claim that these cases are significant in a nation where the overweight (including obese and morbidly obese) make up more than 2/3rds of the population?

      Give me a fucking break. It's people like you with shitlogs flowing from your mouths that are trying to obscure the truth. You're a disservice to the human race and should be flushed like the turd you are.

    11. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      6'3" 160lbs is exactly what I'd expect the average weight to be of a person that height, even today! ... in North Korea!

    12. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What the fuck are you talking about. It's exactly perfectly in the middle of the healthy BMI range. The fact that you think otherwise it's quite telling.

    13. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm the parent AC. I agree that I am a bit under weight. My point was that even skinny people can have high blood pressure issues and a better diet can fix the issues. Taking a pill is the easy route, but doesn't solve the root cause. Sometimes people do need medication. Nothing wrong with that. Please try changing your diet first.

      It seems that the proper diet depends on the person. Some people do well with meat, dairy, FODMAPs, nightshades, nuts. Others have an intolerance or allergic reaction.

        I try to eat more (meats, carbs, not just salad). It's hard for me to gain weight. I tried eating 4000 calories a day and doing P90X. I ended up losing weight and hit 150 lbs. Not good.

    14. Re:Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck all you brainwashed pieces of hipster shit! Medicine is real, and helps people.

    15. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Aighearach · · Score: 0

      I don't know, perhaps you're translating from metric and losing a digit?

      Which category has the lowest death rate? That weight is not in the healthiest part of the range at all.

      Actually look at the chart again; it is closer to the bottom of the normal range than it is to the middle of the normal range. And remember, the healthiest people are in the range from the upper part of normal, to "overweight." The category titles are based on the fashion industry, not the health studies. What is unhealthy is to be obese, or underweight.

    16. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd love to see all these dipshit fuckfaces go without antibiotics for the rest of their lives.

    17. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I don't know, perhaps you're translating from metric and losing a digit?

      Yes. I'm translanting from metric ... On the US Department of Health and Human Services website.

      You pay taxes to allow you to educate yourself. You should take advantage of that privilage:
      https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/heal...

      And remember, the healthiest people are in the range from the upper part of normal, to "overweight." The category titles are based on the fashion industry, not the health studies

      Okay I get it, you're one of those fat lards on Tumblr who shame healthy people and think "fat is beautiful" and "if I love myself it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks". That's really the only way you can self justify going against every medical professional advice.

      By the way, being on the upper end of BMI is only healthy if you're on the lower end of body fat. But I'm sure you have some misguided belief that that is driven entirely by the sports industry.

    18. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Right, that is what I was saying; you're getting your categories from the fashion industry. That's why when I call you on it, you're so fucking clueless that you jump straight into talking about body image, combined with fat-shaming. Pretty moronic for you to be claiming to be a messenger of health information, while fat-shaming! LOL

      And BTW, since you can't read very well and don't understand American government data, the NIH website is a place the publishes everything. If it is published there doesn't mean it is true, or known to be true, it means it is one of the things that somebody with the correct letters next to their name is claiming. It is an amazing resource that I make frequent use of, but if you don't understand what it is then it is simply harmful to consume the data in that way.

      If you don't know that there is mainstream debate in the medical community over the whole BMI system and how it is interpreted, that's your own problem. I talked about actual death rates and health outcomes, you pointed at a chart you don't understand and presented an appeal to authority.

    19. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Right, that is what I was saying; you're getting your categories from the fashion industry.

      No you missed what I was saying: You are an idiot. Go deny climate change or something where you'd have at least some echo-chamber support for your stupid point of view.

    20. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry. I was rash. How about I call out your bullshit one line at a time:

      you're getting your categories from the fashion industry.

      You're right, I shouldn't have. I'm sorry that I followed that advice, I fully retract it. End result: Based on your own desire to remove that part of the category you are now EVEN MORE WRONG than you were before. Happy now? I am.

      And BTW, since you can't read very well and don't understand American government data

      Cute. You think this is "American government data" rather than a commonly accepted international standard by the health industry.

      If you don't know that there is mainstream debate in the medical community over the whole BMI system and how it is interpreted, that's your own problem.

      I do, and I did, and I pointed out a specific discrepancy that would favour your argument, but you shut it down.

      I really really wish you were with us in highschool debating competitions. ... for the other team. I really am glad we see eye-to-eye.

    21. Re: Chang your diet, change your life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep in mind that like what they just did with blood pressure ranges, over the years they've been playing with the BMI ranges too, gradually adjusting the numbers downwards so that once what was considered normal and healthy is now obese, and you have to be pretty skinny to meet the new standard of "healthy", especially if you are tall. This may still be fine for some body types, but pretty much if you work out at all the extra muscle mass will push you into the obese category pretty easily.

  8. Absolute Joke by DatbeDank · · Score: 1

    Let's just lower the standard so we spend more money on treating nothing.

    Might as well lower the weight and BMI that define obesity. God knows how many die each year from being a lard butt.

    1. Re:Absolute Joke by avandesande · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you don't want to get sick don't go to the doctor. Works for me!

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Absolute Joke by DatbeDank · · Score: 0

      If you don't want to get sick don't go to the doctor. Works for me!

      And before nitwits like yourself post asinine comments like this, instead of listening to your doctor who will prescribe you a litany of pills, how about you try the following:
      1. Drinking less caffeine (zomg, end of the world)***
      2. Drink more water
      3. Eat a varied and healthy diet
      4. Run/walk more***
      5. Lift some bloody weights

      ***- made the biggest difference
      And best yet, I didn't have to waste 8 years of my life to bring this wonderful factoid to you!

    3. Re:Absolute Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I lost all confidence in doctors and health care a few years ago. I'd asked for anti-anxiety medication to help me sleep, instead they put me on Ambian. Six months later, about 3 days before I was going to end my own life, I realized the Ambian was making me feel unbearably bad. It is now years later and I still have PTSD-ish symptoms, I doubt I'll ever fully recover. I will never trust doctors or health care again. The ruined my life.

    4. Re:Absolute Joke by avandesande · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nitwits read things into other peoples comments that they didn't say.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    5. Re:Absolute Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Calm yourself. You gave valid advice but the OP clearly was stating things with a bit of humorous wit. How about you beat up on the science denying fucks who claim that everything is a scam by big pharma instead of admitting that Americans are more unhealthy today than they've ever been by their own freewill. Sure, not many are dying from simple blood infections anymore but for all of our medical advancements you'd swear some of them are going out of their way to shorten their lives. And many of them, including some fuckers right on this message area, are denying science in an attempt to claim that good health is a scam run by the healthcare industry.

    6. Re:Absolute Joke by houghi · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of what one doctor told me about my great-aunt turning 115 and being the oldest in the word at that time: "She got that old despite us [doctors], not thanks to us."

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    7. Re:Absolute Joke by houghi · · Score: 1

      That is you problem right there : "I'd asked for anti-anxiety medication to help me sleep". You already thought you knew what you needed. You already did not trusted the doctors before you went. Self diagnosis ruined your life.

      Doctor, It hurst everywhere why I push.
      - Stop pushing then
      But when I push here; it hurts. (head); here as well (knee) and here (stomach) and here (leg)
      - Stop pushing, you have a broken finger.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  9. Re:wrong diet by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >That's complete bullshit. There's zero science behind that.

    Indeed. You don't need frankenwheat to elevate your blood sugar. Regular wheat will do.

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  10. try eating less salt by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Informative

    Let me fix that for you:

    try eating less crap! try to find a less hostile working environment. and most important, don't take on debt.

    Breath slow and deep. Learn how to work a defibrillator.

    You're welcome

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:try eating less salt by iggymanz · · Score: 1, Insightful

      less hostile working environment == not I.T. in these United States

      okay, got it

    2. Re:try eating less salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "less hostile work environment"? Good luck finding a less hostile environment anywhere in U.S., you can't drive a car without fear that some retard gets roadrage and pops one into you,

    3. Re:try eating less salt by avandesande · · Score: 0

      There's nothing wrong with reasonable amounts of salt

      https://www.scientificamerican...

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    4. Re:try eating less salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only one in four have the genetic defect that causes high blood pressure with high salt intake. Salts absolute relationship to high blood pressure is a myth promulgated by a few greedy scientists who decided to take their opinions to the legislature instead of their peers in the 70s. They were not even a majority much less representatives of a peer consensus. Don't push bad science!

    5. Re:try eating less salt by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      You might find that if you wipe the derp off your chin and shave your neckbeard, people will direct less hostility at you.

    6. Re:try eating less salt by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Of course there isn't. But there are also no foods that contain "reasonable" amount of salt.

  11. Re: wrong diet by Bartles · · Score: 1

    No kidding. This is dietary advice from the 1980's and all that grain and fruit sugar is not healthy. It's a typical American diet loaded with carbohydrates.

  12. Hysterical Hypertension by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Orgasms lower blood pressure. Americans aren't getting enough sex. Prescribe vibrators.

    1. Re:Hysterical Hypertension by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Orgasms lower blood pressure. Americans aren't getting enough sex. Prescribe vibrators.

      Prescribe a real sex life. Nothing beats the real thing.

    2. Re:Hysterical Hypertension by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Americans who work a hundred hours a week don't have time for a real sex life. Americans who work zero hours a week can't afford a real sex life. There's no middle ground.

    3. Re:Hysterical Hypertension by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      You are going to lose your medical licence...and likely catch something.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:Hysterical Hypertension by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Orgasms lower blood pressure. Americans aren't getting enough sex. Prescribe vibrators.

      Prescribe a real sex life. Nothing beats the real thing.

      Science says the health benefits don't even require a partner, simply completing the deed with frequency brings the benefits.

  13. Is systemd responsible? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is systemd responsible for this increased blood pressure? I know that any time I have to deal with a modern Linux installation that uses systemd, I tend to get very aggravated and I'm pretty sure my blood pressure shoots through the roof. Thankfully I have found a simple home remedy: FreeBSD. Nothing soothes anger as well as an OS that's simple, reliable, and that embodies the UNIX philosophy.

  14. This is why I never go to the doctor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    for routine physicals. A doctor will take some measurements and order some blood work, and BAM! he's got you on three subscription medications.... all covered under your employer's insurance plan, of course.

    But unnecessary medications are damaging to people's health.

    1. Re:This is why I never go to the doctor by techno-vampire · · Score: 2

      subscription medications

      Do I have to subscribe through my doctor's office, or can I get a discount rate from Publisher's Clearinghouse?

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
  15. Re:wrong diet by kaybee · · Score: 1, Insightful

    There is actually a ton of science behind it. I don't have time to dig much up, but a quick Google search returns, for example:

    https://www.ruled.me/can-low-c...

  16. Stay away from grains... by kaybee · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Vegetables sure, but grains? No way. Try looking into Keto; it virtually guarantees lower blood pressure.

    1. Re:Stay away from grains... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keto has been amazing for me, and i don't even target weight loss, i still eat as much as i want, when i want. Still lost 25lbs in the past few months, and feeling much better.

    2. Re:Stay away from grains... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The summary said "whole grains".

      It implies that there's a switch from non-whole grains to whole grains.

  17. Re: wrong diet by avandesande · · Score: 2

    Carbohydrates cause high blood pressure for the same reason salt does.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  18. If you read *one* thing, look at table 1 here: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Nutrition table overview (Diets of various tribes and their health.)
    Assuming honesty... this makes it blatantly obvious what the problem in.

    It's not fat. It’s not even carbs per se. But it' definitely something correlating with short acellular carbs.

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3402009/
    One thing still needs to be clarified though. As e.g. the Kitavans also cook their starchy taro roots for a long time. So they should be no better/worse than our potatoes. Yet the Kitavans are healthy. ... So what's different? Maybe our mass-produced potatoes are merely just bags of mostly starch and water, and the taro roots contain much higher quantities of micronutrients. Maybe some other ingredients.
    I wish I could do a simple difference analysis. E.g. with people from Peru, who eat lots of potatoes which still are very rich in micronutrients.

  19. They are wrong either way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Either 140/90 is high or 130/80. Tell us why we should believe you this time around?

    1. Re:They are wrong either way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe it because when my systolic pressure consistently exceeded 130, I felt like I had "bonus eruptus" every day of my life. Granted that is a fictional disorder where "the skeleton tries to leap out the mouth and escape the body" but the description is pretty close to reality. It felt like I was constantly on the verge of jumping out of my skin, I had mood swings, I was tired and impatient and irritable all the time, and I was tired of being tired.

      Doctors would do nothing to help me because 130 was a little high but not high enough.

      Eventually, with no assistance from anyone, I discovered my own solution to my own problem. What finally treated my condition was a daily aspirin regimen. Suddenly and quite literally a pressure was relieved from within me. My systolic pressure fell below 120, I was calmer than I could remember, not irritable, and no longer tired. In short, I felt normal.

      It might have been nice if any doctor had done anything to help me. But good luck finding a doctor who would prescribe plain ordinary generic over the counter aspirin.

  20. Re:wrong diet by Opportunist · · Score: 0

    Odd. Grain has been a staple for humans for ... well, pretty much all of civilization. Shouldn't that poison have killed us off far earlier?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  21. Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by chill · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but Big Pharma isn't getting rich on this one.

    I've been taking Lisinopril for high blood pressure for a couple years now and a 90 day supply (1 x 20 mg tablet) costs me $3.00 with insurance. Without insurance it is about 3x-4x higher, from what I've seen.

    At 1/3 of a penny per dose, *my cost*, that isn't exactly high profit margin. U.S. Patents expired in 2002, meaning right now it is one of the cheapest medications available. Over the counter aspirin costs more.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    1. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      20c profit times 1,000,000 patients = $200,000
      but if you redefine things and double your 'patients':
      20c profit times 2,000,000 patients = $400,000
      Whether that 20c is per patient per dose or per patient per week doesn't matter. Small number times larger numbers make significant numbers. Pharma shall profit, it is their only mantra. My quack, carefully sponsored, wined and dined by pharma reps wanted to plonk me on pills 3 years ago. A few adjustments on diet and exercise did the same job, even better. Because one pill leads to another... https://youtu.be/TRIv1Vlc3Wk

    2. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Just because your insurance pays for most of it, does not mean what you pay is what pharma gets.

      so 12$ for 3months, 150 million users, probably 80% profit margin, 4 sales annually per user leads to -> 5 760 000 000$ - not getting rich? I guess billions got to be chump change for you :)

    3. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by RhettLivingston · · Score: 2

      Many, if not most, are not able to tolerate those older generic medications. Also, many of the older medications have been shown either not to increase or even to decrease lifespan. It is an interesting fact that few blood pressure medications achieve a lifespan increase.

      The only one that I've found to lower my pressure while not suppressing my heart rate during exercise (and thus causing me to pass out) is Losartan. It costs $60 per month or $720 per year.

      At that rate, my medication is around low-midrange in cost. My mother's blood pressure medication costs her $270 per month.

    4. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I came here to say this. There are dozens of inexpensive, off patent, low side effect medicines for hypertension. There is almost no excuse to be on a high priced patented drug. IF anyone reading this is spending more than $10 a month for their meds, talk to your doctor and switch to an off-patent drug!

    5. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      150,066,260 is 46% of the US population. If 1/10 of that population was on Lisinopril with your insurance, that's still 180,079,512 USD a year.

    6. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The bottom line is, everyone needs to be on drugs.

    7. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

      . U.S. Patents expired in 2002, meaning right now it is one of the cheapest medications available. Over the counter aspirin costs more.

      Exactly.

      The profit margin went down after they lost their patent, so the only way to maintain their profit is to increase the volume.

      And the only way to increase the volume dramatically is to lobby the doctors to lower the guidelines.

      They did this with cholesterol a few years back too.

    8. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by dohzer · · Score: 1

      You forgot to factor in the economies-of-scale decrease in manufacturing costs.

    9. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by houghi · · Score: 1

      So they give it away for free? It is not about what they charge you. It is not even what they charge in total. It is about them making a profit or not and they are (together with the insurance company).

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    10. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only one that I've found to lower my pressure while not suppressing my heart rate during exercise (and thus causing me to pass out) is Losartan. It costs $60 per month or $720 per year.

      At that rate, my medication is around low-midrange in cost.

      I take Losartan (100 mg). I used pay $10 for a 90 day supply from the local supermarket pharmacy without insurance. I now pay a $0.00 for a 90 day supply with a zero dollar premium medicare advantage plan.

      You're paying too much. You need to shop around for a better price. Try using https://www.goodrx.com/

    11. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Try taking potassium instead. The generic one-a-day supplement usually suffices. It's basically what they give you at the emergency room for off-the-charts hypertension. Lemon juice works well too:

      https://www.highbloodpressurem...
      (written by a cardiologist)

      Works like magic in 4 minutes flat.

      Also, do a full thyroid workup. Low thyroid increases blood pressure. Extremely low sodium levels can do the same. (In fact, low sodium diets have been found to have a higher mortality rate.)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    12. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      So why doesn't my banana habit control my blood pressure better?

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    13. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Not enough salt in the diet (messed-up sodium/potassium balance), low thyroid, maybe other reasons I haven't come across, that not being the focus of my reading in the literature. But that's what I'd look at first.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    14. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Thanks.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    15. Re:Pharma Not Getting Rich On This by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Good luck, and health to you.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  22. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, you are saying celiac diseases and wheat allergies are not soaring (ten times the rate of europe) in the USA? Diabetes is not?

    you are doing fine as a shill for the food megacorporations with lawmakers in their pockets.

    Whole grain products are pretty common in Europe. While Monsanto is an asshole of a company there is really no backing for your claim. The high diabetes rate is usually blamed on the abuse of corn sirup in most products your food mega corps produce. You really have a sweet tooth compared to Europe.

  23. Yes and no. As usual, *all* "sides" are evil. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Millions more ARE sick.Frankly, pretty much EVERYONE is sick. They might be slender athletes... but look at their Leptin resistance, and you'll see that they are basically "fatasses" too, who are just starving themselves more. Their energy homeostasis is just as much ruined.

    But obviously, "solving" it with prescriptions is as stupid as taking painkillers while continuing to run, head-first, into the wall. Especially if the symptoms are only concealed as long as you pay.

    This was the most useful piece of info I ever read on the subject.
    (Including the article it accompanies.)

    1. Re:Yes and no. As usual, *all* "sides" are evil. by avandesande · · Score: 1

      For all of these people you mentioned, death is inevitable. This should be a national emergency!

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Yes and no. As usual, *all* "sides" are evil. by Shalhav · · Score: 1

      Definition of life: a sexually transmitted disease that is fatal.

  24. Now the nutrition experts emerge again by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And tell you that you eat all wrong and you have to eat ... well, whatever the latest eating craze is today. Eat this, eat that, and avoid this because it's poison. No matter that the next person recommends eating exactly that and only that, because what you just suggested is killing you within the year.

    You know what? Take your eating disorder in the making and stuff it. As we can see right now, whenever we manage to get healthier, we just move the goalpost on unhealthy. Lower number of heart diseases? Just invent a few new ones!

    We're getting older than ever before. And we die when we get to age 80 from diseases that didn't exist before because, guess what, we died from other diseases that we don't die from anymore. This is a GOOD thing people. Going on a diet that won't make you die at 80 because what you're eating now is slowly (insert bad thing for your body here) isn't going to do you any good if it gives you (bad thing that makes your organ fail) at 50. Then you won't die at 80 from (bad thing) but at 50 from (other bad thing).

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Now the nutrition experts emerge again by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Now the nutrition experts emerge again And tell you that you eat all wrong and you have to eat ... well, whatever the latest eating craze is today.

      The problem isn't nutrition experts, it's people who can't tell the difference between someone on late night TV trying to sell a snake-oil diet and actual nutrition experts.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Now the nutrition experts emerge again by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      You're right, I should've nutrition "experts" in quotes. But I guess you got what I wanted to say absolutely right

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Now the nutrition experts emerge again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The simple answer is to FUCKING EXERCISE!
      Your body will tell you it's fucking diet by how hungry it fucking makes you feel and will tell you to eat a fucking cow man!
      It really is that fucking simple!

    4. Re:Now the nutrition experts emerge again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The study tracked people over age 50, with a varying level of concern at different ages based on outcomes from previous studies. The typical concern is death within ten years. So the advice for 50 y.o. people is to reduce the risk of death before age 60, not age 80.

    5. Re:Now the nutrition experts emerge again by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      To an extent it is a bit of a psychological defense mechanism to believe that all you need to do is eat well and you'll be healthy. It plays a role in health, obviosuly, but like you I have noticed a bit of pseudo-religious thought to it all.

  25. I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by mark_reh · · Score: 1, Funny

    under the current administration. There's only one person to blame for that...

    1. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, you are to blame. You should have voted for Trump, because then you could rest easy knowing you had voted for the winner like everybody else. Being a loser hurts so much.

    2. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Troll

      Yes, you.

      Leftists seem to think that perchance they didn't call people racists, sexists, homophobes, and Islamophobes enough. Maybe if you just verbally shat upon the stupid, uneducated, hateful, and soon-to-be-extinct white masses in flyover country who put Trump over the top, you could have shamed enough of these irredeemable rubes into voting for a party and an ideology that clearly hates their guts.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    3. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      White men can't tech. That's why "DNS and BIND" had to be written by Asian techgod Cricket Liu, because DNS is too complicated for the white man's tiny mind.

      Fuck you, yellow gook.

    4. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by mark_reh · · Score: 0

      It doesn't hurt nearly as much as being ignorant.

    5. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by mark_reh · · Score: 1

      And you think that someone like Trump and the Republicans have anything but contempt for you?

      Never underestimate the power of denial...

    6. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ignorance is blissful euphoria.

    7. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you think Obama and Hillary actually work for you?

      My god man - Hillary rigged the primary election with Obama's blessing.

      Never ever underestimate the power of denial or Democrat hypocrisy.

    8. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

      and soon-to-be-extinct white masses

      Is that a threat!?

      http://images2.fanpop.com/imag...

      --
      I tend to rant.
    9. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      There's only one person to blame for that...

      ... and he sure does look sexy riding that pony around topless all the time!

    10. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you are one stupid faggot

    11. Re:I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has ticked up by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Whataboutism is a propaganda technique first used by the Soviet Union, in its dealings with the Western world.[1] When Cold War criticisms were levelled at the Soviet Union, the response would be "What about..." followed by the naming of an event in the Western world.[2][3] It represents a case of tu quoque (appeal to hypocrisy),[4] a logical fallacy that attempts to discredit the opponent's position by asserting the opponent's failure to act consistently in accordance with that position, without directly refuting or disproving the opponent's initial argument. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  26. Re:wrong diet by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 0

    That was natural, used-by-humans-for-thousands-of-years grain, not we-tested-10-people-for-3-months-and-we-say-it's-safe frankenstein Monsanto garbage.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  27. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I looked into the whole "modern wheat" is bad thing and was unconvinced. Basically there was a breeding program that introduced shorter stalked wheat but there was no convincing evidence that such change resulted in some horrid menace. What was notable was the infatuation with einkorn, spelt, emmer and such stating that these were good grains that existed before the evils of corporate wheat breeding. It was as if the proponents of the "modern wheat is murder" camp completely ignored the development of wheat over centuries that happened between these early grains and today's corporate menace. There may be some problems with Japanese short stalked strains having been introduced but there was zero evidence that any such thing was the case. The whole rest of the bad wheat argument was negated by human history over the past few millennia. If wheat is the menace some say it is, then the modern plagues attributed to it should have occurred much earlier in our history.. Now, we HAVE experienced huge changes in farming practice and living situation in sync with the modern plagues of celiac and diabetes. But the wheat plant itself isn't really all that different

  28. Re: try eating less capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You make a good point. The USSR, Mao-era China, North Korea today, and Venezuela today all prove that you're right. If the goal is to have almost no food, almost no jobs, and almost no economy, then rejecting capitalism in favor of socialism or Communism is definitely the way to go.

  29. they get you on the preex list for stuff like this by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    they get you on the preexist list for stuff like this

  30. Re: wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Increase in diagnosis does not mean increase in rates. It is often simply a result of better diagnostic tools and awareness.
    And also the result of fruitcakes self diagnosing bullshit, then convincing quack doctors to back up their psychosis.

  31. Food Pyramid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now it cones out = we all need to watch our diet = with respect to who's guidance?
    The USDA Food Pyramid?
    The American Heart Association's Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations?
    American College of Cardiology
    The USDA food Pyramid was built as much as a marketing tool for the food industry as it is a nutrition guide.
    You could try this Japanese Health and Nutrition information but there is no way to tell if it is actually better, or if the users that make that claim are suffering from confirmation bias.

  32. Dude sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Itâ(TM)s sugar. Stop eating so much freaking sugar. Also avoid low fat versions of everything (they have more sugar added!).

    Fat is fine, and vegetable fats are good for you.
    Protein is key, eat a lot of it
    Fiber. Eat the hell out of fiber!

    Eat fruit if you want something sweet, funnily enough fruits are sweet but have a ton of fiber, the sweeter the fruit the more fiberous. Itâ(TM)s like God knew what he was doing...

    Fructose is literally treated like a poison in your liver...

  33. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why rely on qualified scientists when you can get your advice from J Random Website where it must be true because well becuase ...

  34. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To the idiots moderating people flamebait when talking about Monsanto: you're taking for granted that we understand what the fuck we are doing with GMOs: we're not. Especially for companies like Monsanto, which are profit-driven, not safety-driven.

  35. Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder if this is related at all to the fact 46% of American's are now clinically obese.

    Hmm.

    Hmmmmmm.

    Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

  36. Re:wrong diet by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    the "wheat" in most U.S. products is not that, not even the same species

  37. Well, funny you should say that.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because even *thinking* about America nowadays, as a non native, raises my blood pressure no end. Glad I don't have to rely on their healthcare though.

  38. Could be a coincidence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But America has been consuming heavily processed foods longer than any other nation.

  39. sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is about nothing else than to sell more pills, and pills for those side-effects, and more for their side-effects.

    Stop eating sugar and carbs, add more salt and butter and oops your hypertension is gone

  40. Everything causes cancer by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    In a world where everyone has high blood pressure I suspect we will soon be seeing an uptick of nobody taking such diagnosis seriously amid general growing mistrust of the medical industrial complex for grievances real and imagined.

    Ultimately even if you ignore studies showing half of all academic papers are bullshit and work under the assumption there is technical merit to the conclusions it still might be prudent to consider real world implications and take a different tact than California did when declaring everything causes cancer.

  41. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I dunno. I have been eating wheat products (bread, pasta, cereal, etc) every day for my entire life here in America. I don't have high blood pressure, and am a veritable picture of health.

    I also eat other veggies, and I don't eat meat. That formula absolutely works for good health, whether Monsanto provisioned the seeds or not.

  42. All bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    physicians don't even have a standardised way to measure blood pressure. One measurement won't tell you much. You can't say my blood pressure
    is x/y. it can vary a lot and always depends on the circumstance it is measured. To say my blood pressure dropped by 3 points is stupid, because
    my estimate is that the margine of error is at least, depending on the method, between 5 and 10 mm/Hg and not only because of the error of the devices, but also because your physician is a factor for error. Add to that, the variance during the day, the fact that you are supposed to be at rest,
    which sometimes is not possible for some people, because physicians make them nervous.
    So in order to determine your blood pressure, you need at least several measurements a day, for maybe a week. And then you have to look at the curve and at the activity before after and during the measurement. So saying x/y is high blood pressure is stupid. But since medicine is not a science, but just some amateurs playing with statistics, what can you expect?

    1. Re:All bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's quite safe to conclude that someone who reads 150/115 at one reading has significantly higher blood pressure than someone who reads 120/75 at one reading. The rest of your post is about increasing precision, which, while nice, is not required to draw sound medical conclusions.

      Medicine deals with the balance between precise measurement and real-world convenience of measurement all the time. That doesn't invalidate it.

  43. Re:try eating less capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, it's "abolish capitalizing"...

  44. Trucking Industry Impacts: by Hartree · · Score: 1

    Truckers who drive semis and other large vehicles already have to have a medical certificate part of which is to not have high blood pressure over certain limits. This is to avoid strokes and heart attacks causing them to lose control of their vehicles. This is probably a reasonable precaution.

    The allowable levels currently set by regulation rather than the AHA guidelines, but there may be pressure from this to tighten those limits. Personally, I don't see this as needed.

    Are truckers who have 130/80 BP really a serious threat to our safety?

    (Full disclosure: I have a Class A CDL, but don't currently work as a trucker.)

    1. Re:Trucking Industry Impacts: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm convinced that heart attacks too fast onset to stop the truck are very rare.

  45. Re:wrong diet by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    That appears to be about carbs in general, not Monsanto's GMO wheat.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  46. Pressure acceptance please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You can be healthy at any pressure".

  47. Re:wrong diet by kaybee · · Score: 1

    Oh, I misunderstood then. Yes, pretty much all wheat is bad, GMO or not. Well, perhaps if you could actually dig up whatever wheat was 1,000 years ago before we made it so pleasant and easy to digest it wouldn't be so bad...

  48. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Regardless of your lack of understanding of the science, here in the US we have organic vegetables for sale at all the major groceries, and even more at the small local ones!

    BTW, the reason that organic is popular is because it is bad for the environment to dump all those chemicals that kills things into the ground! You have less weeds in the field, in the short term, but you also kill the established water plants while fertilizing the "pioneer" weeds!

    Also, exposure to concentrated pesticides causes serious health problems for farm workers, and they'll always be having to handle it in concentrated form.

    It isn't because the pesticides are directly bad for humans. The problem GMO is only that they then use increased amounts of pesticides.

    As an example, the river that runs through my city has a health warning; adults are recommended not to eat more than 2 8oz servings of fish per month because of the dangerously high levels of pesticides in the fish. That's because of farm runoff. But the level of pesticides on the vegetables from those farms is not a direct problem for human health!

  49. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    There are mostly only 2 types of American beer; the fancy expensive stuff which is made with quality organic ingredients, and the cheap stuff made from malted rice.

  50. 1) Too much work 2) Poor parenting 3) Bad system by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 0

    "I can't imagine many other systems that could manage to keep alive a group of people as chronically unhealthy as the Americans."

    One big reason U.S. citizens are "chronically unhealthy": They work too much.

    Another reason: Women in the U.S. are often anti-male. That results in children who have poor parenting. Those children become unhealthy adults.

    There seems to be a general agreement that U.S. health care is TERRIBLE. One article: Healthcare's Perfect Storm of Greed and Incompetence (Oct. 16, 2014).

    Quote: "As the U.S. healthcare system slips further into the cellar of metrics for quality and outcomes among the advanced nations of the world, and does it at more than twice the average per capita cost,..."

    That article links to 2014 Update: How the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally

    Result: Of 11 developed countries, the U.S. is last.

  51. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 2

    Wheat is also not one of the crops that is typically GMO! lol

    From wikipedia:

    As of 2013, 34 field trials of GM wheat have taken place in Europe and 419 have taken place in the US. ...
    As of 2015, no GM wheat had been approved for release anywhere in the world.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    As for "not even the same species,":

    Bread wheat is an allohexaploid (an allopolyploid with six sets of chromosomes: two sets from each of three different species). Of the six sets of chromosomes, two come from Triticum urartu (einkorn wheat) and two from Aegilops speltoides. This hybridisation created the species Triticum turgidum (durum wheat) 580,000–820,000 years ago. The last two sets of chromosomes came from wild goat-grass Aegilops tauschii 230,000–430,000 years ago.[6][9]

    Free-threshing wheat is closely related to spelt. As with spelt, genes contributed from Aegilops tauschii give bread wheat greater cold hardiness than most wheats, and it is cultivated throughout the world's temperate regions.
    History
    Common wheat was first domesticated in Western Asia during the early Holocene, and spread from there to North Africa, Europe and East Asia in the prehistoric period.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    Check the dates before deciding if it is really different to what they were eating prehistorically. ;)

    See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  52. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Personally, I look at the domain name of your source, and choose not to click on it. It isn't a journal, it isn't an educational institution, it isn't an encyclopedia, and it even has a propaganda-friendly name!

  53. Not that surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Take a walk trough any walmart and be amazed at how whales have somehow managed to drag themselves out of the ocean, dress, and learned how to drive mobility scooters.
    Evolution in action.
    Or perhaps the result of decades of "it's okay to be fat" messaging.

  54. Re:wrong diet by kaybee · · Score: 1

    Look, if you are not inclined to do your own research then so be it. I don't have any motivation to convince you otherwise. I have read through hundreds of studies and attended numerous talks from actual doctors and scientists on this topic.

    And don't get me wrong. Carbs are not inherently evil, but in the quantities that most Americans eat them it is just not good for our bodies. For some people they get away with it, and it probably depends on what they are actually eating and their genetic makeup.

    But if you are overweight, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or have type-2 diabetes, then you owe it to yourself to look into this, because you are being lied to by the USDA about grains being healthy.

  55. Re:wrong diet by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    Fun fact (I hope I'm right): we're the only great ape which can digest carbs. It's done by salivary amylase which turns starch into glucose. Interestingly, it popped up in the salivary system not the gut. It's an adaptation which allowed us to digest tubers and some seeds much better. We haven't had it especially long on evolutionary time scales.

    You can actually get much older wheat (spelt). It may well be better than modern wheat which has been intensively bread for productivity, but I expect if you ate lots of refined spelt it wouldn't do you much good. People don't though because spelt is less productive, so the more highly refined stuff is from normal wheat.

    Not really trying to many any point. Just interesting I think.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  56. This goes hand in hand with obesity by olddoc · · Score: 1

    If you have hypertension and are 20 pounds overweight, lose those pounds! This may be more important than eating a lot of vegetables or eating less salt. Another thing you can do is cut down your alcohol consumption. Drink one light beer instead of 3 pints of 10% alcohol craft beer a day and you blood pressure will be lower.

    --
    Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  57. Death is not bad. Suffering half your life is! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're using the same fallacy as so many, even in research...
    You're only counting death as a problem.
    But death is not bad. Because if you're dead, it doesn't hurt and you don't give a fuck.
    What is actually horrible, is being alive yet suffering!

    And currently, nearly every person starts to have loads of illnesses by the age of 40, 30, now even school kids. You'd be surprised how many can't even reproduce anymore without medical help.
    It has gotten so bad, that we now call many illnesses just "age-related". Implying that they are the result of age. But they're not. Those tribes in the table don't have any of them! No hair loss, no clogged arteries, no high blood pressure, no obesity.
    The are merely the result of decades of self-harming behavior. The body has an amazing capability to compensate and cope. But too much is too much.

    So go ahead: Ridicule, with those primitive thought-terminating clichees. And see if that makes your life any better when you’re >40.

    1. Re:Death is not bad. Suffering half your life is! by avandesande · · Score: 1

      I certainly don't want to eat the crap they eat.. I just listen to the dietary advise I got from gradma in the 70s. Starchy food makes you fat, eat your greens and avoid too much sugar. You know, common sense.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Death is not bad. Suffering half your life is! by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      The problem with this "common sense" is that it changes. Your "common sense" is based upon your experience, and isn't common to others. It was once common sense that eggs, liver, salt, and other items were good for you and then later bad for you. Where's the common sense in that? We've been told to cut fat from our diets, only to be told that once again, it's okay. Margarine was supposed to be the good replacement for bad butter...what happened there? The list goes on and on...nuts, bacon, potatoes. milk, red wine, coffee. Please tell us what the common sense is there.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    3. Re:Death is not bad. Suffering half your life is! by avandesande · · Score: 1

      Because none of that stuff was common sense, like ever? It was marketing bullshit from establishment. Hell look at the diabetes pyramid. If it looks ridiculous it's because it is! People need to stop letting others tell them how to live- they are being manipulated because they are afraid to die.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
  58. Well it worked for Lipitor by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

    Big Pharma is very good at scaring people into thinking they are sick. And the magical cure always seems to be some sort of pill. What big pharma is even better at is coming up with so called "maintenance drugs" that never actually cure anything. Lipitor is a prime example of this. You can take it for 10 years and it will help keep your cholesterol down but the moment you go off it your counts go right back where they were when you started. In other words, you are stuck taking this drug for life. Blood pressure medications work the same way.

    Some people might read this article and come to the conclusion that people are less healthy. In fact, all that has happened is that the medical industry (with some nudging I'm sure from big pharma) has lowered the bar. All of a sudden they have a new pool of patients to pitch their blood medication drugs to.

    The cold hard reality is that for many people these drugs are completely unnecessary. Blood pressure and cholesterol can be controlled by diet and exercise. But it seems that for many doctors the first course of action is to prescribe pills instead. The medical industry, just like nearly every other industry, has been corrupted by money.

  59. Re:wrong diet by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    No, you need to improve your reading comprehension and research skills. The wheat we have now took chromosomes from several of the species in your article and combined and mutated into a high yield strain the 1960s, work of Norman Borlaug.

    I repeat, the common wheat in the USA now is NOT any of the thousands of year old wheat types in your cut-and-paste.

  60. They did this with obesity in 1998 by Solandri · · Score: 1

    They adjusted down the range of BMI which qualified you as overweight or obese.

    I don't mind that they're doing this to encourage people to stay in a healthy range as they collect new data. I just wish there was a way the could do it without redefining what certain words mean.

  61. They just up and change the limit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and now almost all adults now have hypertension.

  62. This is a sham by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Several things are happening across America at present:

    - Adjusting the numbers to lower the threshold for things like high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol
    - "Forced" (higher premiums if you don't participate) annual physicals at work to keep insurance "affordable"
    - Nicotine tests annually to see who is a tobacco uses (higher premium if found to be a user)

    My job does all three. Starting this year (November open enrollment) everyone had to have a full physical with blood pressure, blood work, glucose/diabetes test, cotinine (nicotine) test, and fecal occult test. Failure to comply means a $50 insurance premium per month. Husbands and wives of employees on the plan are subject to the same requirements.

    I am refusing to play the game despite the higher premiums. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the thin edge of a wedge of what's to come. I will never comply even if it means I lose my job and end up mowing lawns with the illegals.

  63. Re: wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Read Wheat Belly. Do not skip the footnotes, since they contain, ya know, Science.

  64. Re:they get you on the preex list for stuff like t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ding ding ding! And the life insurance arms get to charge more now that what was normal range is now a high BP diagnosis.

  65. Boom! There go your insurance premiums by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    This is nothing more than a scam to get you to cough up more money in insurance premiums. It's about as useful as having non-engineers decide on CAFE standards.

  66. Stop eating animals. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Itâ(TM)s not that hard.

  67. This can change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If people would stop seeking comfort in food and learn how the body processes the different food items, then people would enjoy better health.

    The rules (reality much?):
    * If you can't catch it or grow it, don't eat it (You can't catch or grow candy, soft drinks, etc.)
    * Those who won't make time for fitness now will be forced to make time for illness later
    * Garbage in, garbage out
    * How many obese 70 year old people have you ever seen?

    You wouldn't pour mud in the gas tank and expect your car to run properly would you? Stop treating your stomach like a trashcan.

  68. This was guaranteed to happen eventually. by tlambert · · Score: 1

    This was guaranteed to happen eventually.

    Medicated blood pressure to reduce it is, definitionally, a weighted moving average, trending downward.

    Cholesterol is on the same slope.

    Blood pressure was considered normal at 140/90 in the 1970's; now 120/80 is "the new normal".

    Expect it to continue to decrease, as more medication is prescribed, because -- in fact -- the average will be lower over time, if you average it across all people, rather than just untreated people.

  69. I have *low* blood pressure ... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    ... but nobody ever tells me that I can eat more salt.

  70. Cured by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My blood pressure kept increasing and when it hit 40+, I started using grape seed extract. This brought it down and controlled it. I eventually discovered that Sweet and Low was causing it to increase. After stopping the use of Sweet and Low (only 5 packets in morning coffee), my blood pressure went back to normal and has remained around 110/70 to 125/80.

  71. They're all Slashdot users by TheOuterLinux · · Score: 1

    Shit...readers might notice something. Better distract them: "Appy app Trump leftist proletarian Luddites." *sigh of relief* Crises avoided.

  72. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    So why link to what I assume is some sort of blog site, if you've been exposed to a bunch of higher quality data? Is it that you reviewed higher quality sources and they said something different, or some better reason?

  73. you'd have it, too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You would have high blood pressure too if you were as worried as I am about the Democrats being in charge of the country again and this time completing the job of killing off whatever is left of the country and our freedoms.

  74. Hilarious by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

    "Congratulations! You now have a "pre-existing condition", so please enjoy the massive increase in your health insurance premiums!" - literally every insurance company in America

    I find it hilarious that this got modded as "Flamebait", as if insurance companies don't list high blood pressure as a pre-existing condition (and don't increase your premiums for it). They sure as shit do. Ask me how I know.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  75. Re:wrong diet by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, thank your for your reading from Iggypedia. If you ever make it to Earth, perhaps forward it to somebody so they can make updates.

    If your comprehension is so low you have to argue that my comprehension is bad in response to a link to information, well there is no cure for that. I know there are lots of theories, but there is really no cure. If you're making up for yourself what a species is, I don't care. Maybe you're right and the science is all wrong, but I don't care. I'm going to stick with Earth Science.

    It says right in the link I gave you what it is a hybrid of, and how long ago it was hybridized. You can't comprehend that knowledge, that's on you not me. My comprehension could be shit, and you still didn't understand how long ago that hybrid was created.

  76. just to sell more pills - our gov't is so punked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    let's see.. rat race. the joneses... the lack of fun, happy and cool in our hourly news...

    just unplug the boob tube... read the internet news like slash dot where shit is really cool....

    piss off american drug manufacturing pill pushers and your government players and politicians... bugger...

    i have 135 over 85 and they said I had high blood pressure... me.. read the pattern.. . 140/90, 130/80, 120/80, 170/95, 125/70, 105/60... hmmmm
    essential hyper tension .. and other stuff.. time of day...

  77. Re:wrong diet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is actually not a single mention of "Monsanto" or "franken-wheat" in the article you link to. So if I ignore the tinfoil part, of course wheat (starch) elevates your blood sugar, and you should be thankful for that because your brain needs sugar to operate. I've tried low carb, and it resulted in headaches and decreased cognitive performance. Of course I also like to run, and runners need lots of carbs, so YMMV (according to your mileage). But generally speaking I think that more exercise is better than cutting carbs.

  78. The body requires salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've always been told that I eat too much salt. So one day I decided to cut down. Food tasted bland for a few days, until I got used to the lower salt levels.

    But then it started. I would wake up every hour during the night, needing to pee and a very dry throat. Every f**king hour.

    This didn't happen immediately, so I didn't connect the dots. Not until much later, when I read that the body requires a certain salt/water balance, and I just happened to eat some salty snacks the same evening, and got a full nights sleep.

    Since then, I've been making sure to add more salt than I otherwise would when cooking, and even then, it appears I'm still a bit on the low side (I'm down to waking up once or twice per night, which becomes zero after a couple of nights when visiting my family).

    Turns out the whole "too much salt" is based on some UN recommendation that sets the MAX recommended salt intake to the lowest survivable amount, which is about half as much as what the body considers the minimum amount.

  79. Go vegan... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... no wait, that would be too much like actually solving the problem. Let's just talk about eating "more fruits and vegetables" without actually telling people that (obviously) humans aren't supposed to drink milk once weaned, certainly aren't supposed to ever drink the milk of another animal, aren't supposed to eat eggs, and aren't supposed to eat meat, seeing as we are physically incapable of catching and killing animals with our bare hands and teeth - and anybody who could do this would be viewed, quite rightly, as a complete psychopath, thus proving how unnatural this behaviour is.

    But no, Americans will carry on eating huge quantities of meat, become ill, and then expect somebody else to magically save them from their own greed and stupidity.

  80. Re:wrong diet by slashrio · · Score: 1

    Look up Seralini if you dare.

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  81. Re:wrong diet by slashrio · · Score: 1

    Yeah, ok, be combative, stay ignorant.
    Nobody really cares...

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  82. Re:Stop eating meat by slashrio · · Score: 1

    Yea... .. yawn

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  83. Re:wrong diet by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

    I was reading a book on the history of brewing in America and it was interesting to read that the rice, at the time Budweiser pilsner was 'invented', was a premium ingredient. I prefer more full bodied ales, myself, but it is actually pretty tricky to make crisp pilsners by comparison. There aren't enough flavors in there to cover any mistakes. Similarly, vanilla ice cream is made first at the factory and if it has problems then it is remade into chocolate ice cream because it can cover the flavor issues better.

  84. I am in control of my own medical care by Miser · · Score: 1

    Just because they artificially move the goal posts doesn't mean I have high blood pressure.

    Unless it's really high (under the old guidelines) I will not be taking an un-needed pharma pills.

    Nice try big pharma, but NO thank you.

    -Miser

  85. "Statistical averages" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    All these BP 'standards' are based on statistical averages and as such may or may not apply to any given individual. It's like BMI charts: also based on statistical models centered around a theoretical 'average person', and as such may tell you you're obese when in fact you just have a lot of lean muscle mass and/or very dense bones (like I have; DXA scan confirmed for both) making you heavier overall. Don't necessarily listen to the scare tactics your doctor may be feeding you, you may not need any medication at all if your BP is slightly higher than normal (like mine is, and always has been, since I was a kid; I'm an endurance athlete, vigorous exercise 5-6 days a week 52 weeks out of the year).

  86. Guidelines too narrow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thank several posters for clarifying that no one is profiting from these new standards,

    My concern on reading this is that blood pressure is extremely variable on a daily basis. During Cardiac Rehab we were constantly told that it can vary by as much as 20 mm over the course of a day. (The NIH seems to agree - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11769383.) So a variation of 10 mm changing you from normal to Stage 1 hypertension ignores the normal variations and is misleading the public.

    Needles to say these natural variations ignore the variations introduced by the method of measurement which have their own standard deviations (https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/158/12/1218/90767 and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jch.12005/pdf). Which further expand the normal range for a random blood pressure sample.

  87. Enalapril pill by NewYork · · Score: 1

    Take an Enalapril that helps reduce blood pressure and prevents/delays Kidney diseases

  88. Re:wrong diet by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    There's a distinct difference between researched data and some guy's internet site, and that's really what it is. But go ahead and claim someone else is ignorant because they choose to look for actual evidence instead of something spewed out of your anus.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  89. Re: wrong diet by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    NIH says " the precise mechanisms linking salt to high blood pressure are unresolved."...feel free to google it.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  90. Rats! by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Due to certain problems in my cranial arteries, my neurologist wants my blood pressure to be higher than that new hypertension standard. I guess I'll just have to be an outlier.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  91. Aging Population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With all of the boomers skewing the average adult age, is this really a shock?