yes, i have a heart. see, i have proof.get this, i am part of a high risk group for potential heart disease at the hospital that work for, go figure.
maybe i should exercise more???
yup i am in the top 30 of all 500 or so employees. how about them apples???
let me set a little background information for you...
you see there was some program that was done a few years ago that some doctor (i forget all the names) that took an agressive non-invasive approach to reduce the risk factors for patients that could possible be approaching a potential heart attack.
these patients did things like changing their diet, set up an exercise program, did yoga, and became educated in reducing stress managment. the result of the study was fantastic. a huge percentage of the patients reduced their risk without surgical intervention.
so, our hospital is doing the same thing except we were also put through the CT scanner to do a Cardiac Scoring to actually look at the major arteries on the heart. oh, we got blood work also obviously. oh, there is no cost to me. we are the test group. if i had to pay for this 12 week program it would run close to $10,000.
why am i one of the lucky few??? well my blood pressure for one, borderline high. i have watched it creep up as i have gotten older. second my overall chlorestoral... through the fricken' roof. 319 (high is considered anything above 200). but what 4 cardiologists and my primary don't understand is my HDL. (the good chlorestoral) is 215 mm/dl. normal range is 40-89 mm/dl. my LDL is within normal limits, 87 mm/dl (range 60-129 mm/dl). oh, the triglycerides was 83 mm/dl (range 35-150 mm/dl)
the doctor that is heading the program called me a freak. literally, a freak. he wouldn't say that normally, i just work for the hospital that is all.
the risk ratio has a range of 4.0-6.7, mine 1.5, low risk.
so i went to the first session tonight. got a huge three ring binder with stuff like diet change ideas. arrrrrgghhhhhh, what??? NO CAFFINE!!! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. other stuff like no eggs, butter, red meat, you got it, all the good stuff (sorry Michelle, i know you already do this). and for you ladies, NO CHOCOLATE. sorry had to throw that out there. let me see, i bought a chocolate bar about a month ago, still sitting in the cupboard. it will just have to sit there a bit longer.
we get to exercise too. you would be proud of me, i learned how to walk on the treadmill today.
so anyway, the 1st picture is of my heart and one of the major arteries, the LAD. (left anterior decending) and the really small pictrues are of axial images in one millimeter increments above and below the little blue tick mark. (you would have to mag the image to see the blue tick mark). of course there are other pictures of the RCA, Ramus, PDA, Circ, AM, D1, etc.
the below pictures are of the left ventricle. one in the relaxed state and one after contraction. the difference between the two is the Ejection Fraction. normal range is 55%. mine was 73%.
oh, i had a stress test also. i had one done about two months ago also at a major hospital near me. both times i went longer than anybody previously to reach 95% of maximum heart rate.
oh, the best score of all was my cardiac calcium score was Zero. that's right yellow brick road travelers, no calcium buildup in the arteries that feed the heart.
if you click on the above pictures, look in the bottom right to see what artery is being looked at.
so there it is boys and girls of kansas. non-caffinated tom signing out.
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