I was watching my 10 year old son the other evening. We had gone to a restaurant with some friends from America who gave him their extra French fries from their plates. It was almost as if he had entered a competition to see how many fries he could pick up with one hand, and then how many of those he could cram into his mouth at one time. A prime example of gluttony.
In his case, gluttony might kill as he could have choked to death. Not that he would have minded. Death by French fry is probably more acceptable to a 10 year old mind than death from gluttony at age 44.
Unfortunately, our diets are far from healthy these days, and that includes both food and drink, especially the kinds of drinks that come in dark green or brown bottles. I am sure you know the types.
The problem here is the fact that being overweight puts a strain on the cardiovascular system, which sends the blood pressure up. That in turn affects all the organs and systems, and everything goes pear-shaped from there on, as well as your body shape.
In these situations, the combined effects can be life threatening. We call it co-morbidity and is also called ‘Syndrome X’ and is also possessed by around 40 percent of adults over 40. Nice numbers you should remember. The combination of diabetes and obesity, for example, can be a disaster waiting. The combination of diabetes, smoking, obesity, hypertension and high triglycerides (blood fats) is cardiac dynamite. Your conclusive heart attack is a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. The risk factors stemming from all those conditions become not a case of simple addition, but should be multiplied together.
The problem from your point of view is that most of these factors come on very slowly, and become part of your daily living. You’ve smoked for years and never had a smoker’s cough, so why stop now? Every time you get some trousers made the waistband has to be that little larger. Your belt has been let out two more holes over the past two years. Your doctor said you had a “Little bit of blood pressure” three years ago, but you haven’t been back to check, as you feel quite OK in yourself. Your ‘triglycerides’? “My what?” Your blood sugar? “It was OK last time it was checked five years ago!”
The big problem is that the “Little bit of blood pressure”, even say 150/100, can produce a very dangerous situation when the person with that BP has elevated blood sugar as well. Or smokes. It is the multiplication effect again. Whereas you can (almost) ignore mild elevations like 150/100 if you have absolutely nothing else wrong, ignoring it when there are other conditions co-existing brings up that co-morbidity problem again. And the likelihood of a cardiac calamity at age 44.
Likewise, a “little bit of extra weight” that we all excuse ourselves for carrying, may (just ‘may’) be fine for someone with no other medical conditions, but represents an enormous risk factor for someone with the Syndrome X.
For those who like figures with their information, here are some chilling ones. Between 87-100 percent of people with fatal coronary heart disease, or a non-fatal heart attack, had at least one of the following risk factors – smoking, diabetes, increased blood fats and high blood pressure. Syndrome X is characterized by having diabetes, increased blood pressure, and raised blood fats. Can you now see the importance of doing something about weight, blood fats and blood pressure? I for one would not like to be sitting with a condition that gives me between 87-100 percent chance of a cardiac problem.
So what is this week’s message? Quite simply, if you have diabetes, do something about the other risk factors. If you are overweight, do something about it. Stop smoking and get your BP and blood fats checked. If you don’t even know what your blood sugar level is, then get a check-up and find about all of it! Gluttony can kill.
In the meantime, take 100 mg of aspirin each morning. It is known to be cardio-protective. I do!
