Just currious.
I had my BP taken the other day and the lady told me I had perfect BP. (110/70 if I remember correctly)
Not that I’m complaining, it just seems to me that I should have less than perfect BP as I sure do like my bugers and french fries.
Did you leave out an “r” or a “g”?
No. My cholesterol is “great” (my doc used the word great) but my BP is high.
No, he didn’t leave out an “r”, he put it in “currious.”
And I’m the opposite - my blood pressure is excellent, my cholesterol is a concern. I quoted Spider Robinson to my family doctor (‘Imagine having little nano-bots in your blood stream that race around and convert things like cholesterol into something more pleasant, like alcohol.’) and his response was that if I had the equivalent level of alcohol in my bloodstream, I would be too pissed to get out of bed.
Nope, mrAru has crappy cholesterol but great BP, and I have craptastic BP, but fantastic cholesterol.
I also seriously hork down salt, and drink almost a gallon of water a day, but don’t have fluid retention issues … and other than diuretics making me pee my damn brains out, they have no effect on my BP though it makes me almost double my water intake because of the cotton mouth issues [nothing like not being able to actually swallow without having taking a mouthful of water first…]
Your BP has nothing to do with your cholesterol, unless the very LDL cholesterol has oxidized and form blockages in your arteries, causing an increase in BP. If your arteries are clear, your BP will be normal, all other factors being equal. When you talk about cholesterol, you must distinguish between the different types. HDL cholesterol is beneficial as it removes “junk” from your arterial walls. LDL is bad, and very LDL is worse. When oxidized, they form irregularities in the artery walls. So, the total cholesterol count is not very useful. You must also know the total HDL, LDL, and very low-density. The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL should be no more than 4:1, but, of course, a lower ratio is desirable, such as 3:1 or even 2:1.
I have low ideal blood pressure (110/60) and low cholesterol (156). I know hypertension and high blood cholesterol levels are linked, but you can have one and not the other.
I derive 70-80% of my total daily calories from fat, mostly saturated. Fat intake doesn’t necessarily determine your blood cholesterol levels.
I have good BP, and high cholesterol due to my thyroid disease. It should be going down due to treating the disease, we’ll see at the next appointment.
No discussion of blood pressure and cholesterol is complete without at least a passing allusion to the so-called Metabolic Syndrome.
A key part of the syndrome derives from the observation that people who are resistant to the effect of insulin to lower their blood sugar seem to have more high blood pressure, worse cholesterol levels, a heightened tendency to heart attacks and atherosclerosis, and a number of other, generally undesirable, associations.
There are zillions of sites on the Metabolic Syndrome out there in addition to the American Heart Organization’s linked to above. In this regard, the MedicineNet’s article on it looks helpful as an introduction.
I have good BP, but my cholesteral is somewhere between 666 and 911. I go back for retesting this month.
If you’re lucky!