johnh wrote:
I guess I was thinking more of the bit of the Med where I live – southern France, Italy. Much less obesity/overweight than in northern parts. Not THAT much fatty food – croissants but most people eat them only occasionally. It’s legendary that French women are much less likely to be overweight than others. It’s true for men also – of course not universally, but much less near-universal than e.g. the UK.
I always felt very well in the South of France, both on the Cote d’ Azur and further West, Languedoc all the way down to Perpignan. If I was not bound to other places I guess that is where I’d love to spend much more time.
Peter wrote:
They are present anyway. I think especially in dairy, which is intended to make the recipient animal grow.
We get all our dairy locally (literally, the dairy herd is 10 minutes walk from my house). Manx dairy/beef does not include growth hormones, meat farming here is non intensive (pasture farming).
Biology: There is variation within species. Variation between offspring of the same parents. This is what Natural Selection acts on.
Medics: If something improves longevity in 70% of a sample, everyone should use it.
Populations which have been unmixed for centuries will have had natural selection acting in different ways.
BMI is a crazy measure, and known to be so for 80 years.
Maoraigh wrote:
BMI is a crazy measure, and known to be so for 80 years.
Absolutely… yet it is (mis) used quite a lot to cathegorize, demonize and often disqualify. Even for aviation medicals there are hard limits. (30 for Class1, 35 for Class 2).
I really wonder how useful or valid blood pressure measurements are, based on my own very recent experience.
Prompted by this thread, I dusted off my Omron tester, which I bought on my doctor’s advice a couple of years ago but haven’t used in a while. The first measurement was horrifying – well into “you need to do something about this” territory. I didn’t understand why – nothing in my lifestyle has changed since I last tested myself frequently, when I was getting 135-140/80-85 – not ideal, but not bad for my age.
The next morning I did the test again, much the same result. I spent a long while looking up hypertension, treatments, and implications for flying. One article I read pointed out that before the test you should relax for at least 5 minutes, and sit in the right position (i.e. not hastily and on the edge of the bath as I had before). I was feeling pretty relaxed, so I did the test again, doing deep breaths etc. The first result was WAY better, 145/88. Then I repeated three times. The last one was 122/75!
At the first measurement I decided to go into serious diet control mode – I could do with losing a few kg so it’s not a bad idea anyway. No alcohol, <1000 kcal/day, etc.
This morning’s measurements were from 135/85 to 120/70!
If the measurement can vary by this much, I really wonder what value it has?
This is why you don’t just use a single measurement. My QardioArm takes 3 measurements a configurable time apart (I have it set to 45 seconds apart) then averages them. The first reading is always higher than the subsequent readings, if it’s significantly higher I cancel the measurement and wait another minute and start again (if your arm is not completely relaxed you’ll get a high reading – any blood pressure mis-reading I’m told will be a high one).
If you suspect you’ve got high blood pressure you don’t just do it once either, do the same procedure twice a day for at least 7 days and average, remembering the “first day rule” (the first day, if you’re not regularly taking blood pressure measurements, might be high for a number of reasons, not properly relaxed, anxiety about the reading, etc – and if it’s an outlier, discard the first day’s measurement from the averages).
So if I were johnh, I’d do morning and evening for 7 days and average before drawing any conclusions.
When BP testing, you need to support your back (otherwise your middle bit constricts the blood flow to support the upper body; weight lifters get a BP of something over 200, briefly) and your feet need to be on the floor, and your thighs on a chair.
A lot of doctors don’t follow the above requirements, especially the back support.
Mine is very consistent, about 140/83, but only if I follow the above.
No talking during the test, think of rabbits running around in the grass, don’t think of your ex wife, or any family members, etc 
And testing the right hand produces about 3/3 less BP because it is further from the heart.
120/70 is excellent.
I noticed that one factor affecting the BP result is the time the measurement is taken at… early morning being the best, end of afternoon the worst, at least in my case…
johnh wrote:
At the first measurement I decided to go into serious diet control mode – I could do with losing a few kg so it’s not a bad idea anyway. No alcohol, <1000 kcal/day, etc.
Applause
johnh wrote:
If the measurement can vary by this much, I really wonder what value it has?
My impression (correct me if I’m wrong, @MedEwok and @Tango) is that BP measurements are really for screening. If you are suspected of actually having too high blood pressure, you’ll get an automatic BP meter and carry it for 24 hrs. I got that last year after the doctor felt that (for other reasons) a BP at the limit between normal and high wasn’t good enough. The 24 hr average was very different – 117/68 compared to 140/90 when the doctor measured it.
24hr measurement can work for you or against you, for an aviation medical.
