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On Ageism

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CellarDweller:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 16, 2018, 01:11:27 pm ---When I pointed this out, the doctor said that because of my age, I now fall within the higher risk category. That's it, just because of my age. I'm not going to go on strong meds just because of a statistic!
--- End quote ---

I don't blame you one  bit.  there is no reason for you to take meds for something that "may" happen to you, just because it happens to other people. 

brianr:
My cholesterol was always between 5 and 6 (Possibly US measurements are different, not unusual) and the recommendations are about 3 to 4. I did not worry as my mother always had high cholesterol (yet died at 97 and not from heart problems). Then mine shot up to 9 so I began taking tablets. It has come back and stayed around 5 to 6. I cannot get it any lower despite using cholesterol lowering margarine and avoiding fatty foods and I exercise quite a lot, even when working as a teacher I was mainly on my feet. I do not panic if I miss my tablet, being at night it is easy to forget. Some time (perhaps 15 to 20 years ago) a colleague suggested I take Lipitor and I had reactions (cannot remember what) but my medical records say to avoid Lipitor. I take Simvastatin, The only problem is I must avoid grapefruit and I love grapefruit.  I occasionally sneak some in a hotel when on holidays.  :)

Before I began taking cholesterol reducing tablets, I began on blood pressure tablets. I was having dizzy fits driving to work and after some experiment I have been on 2 tablets each morning(which is easy to remember as I also take 4 or 5 vitamin tablets with my fruit juice before breakfast). I would make sure I never miss these and the only times my blood pressure has been slightly up at my 3 monthly visit, I have been able to guess the reason, some stressful situation. When I gave up full time work I suggested to my then doctor that I could drop the tablets but she said "No way"

My other main tablet is for reflux and I am having problems with that but that is another long story.
It probably helps that in NZ I only have to pay $5 for 3 months supply of a prescription tablet.
In the last year my sugar levels have gone to borderline pre-diabetic which has been more difficult as I have a very sweet tooth. I gave up sugar in my 4 cups of coffee a day and none on my breakfast cereal (which is sugar free)and it went back down but has crept up again.
It was fairly easy to reduce fat and I never add salt in cooking but sugar is very difficult.
However 20 points up for cholesterol sounds a lot but I guess the measurement is different.

Old age is no fun. I have been walking on Monday afternoons with elderly people since I moved to NZ eight years ago. Gradually they have got slower and slower and now they are mainly in their late 80's and the walk is painful. I am the baby (at 73) of the group. I no longer want to go (I walk with a group my own age on Tuesdays)/ I would like to stop or reduce to once per month but they rely on me for transport and look forward to their "walk".

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: CellarDweller on January 16, 2018, 11:43:13 pm ---Tthere is no reason for you to take meds for something that "may" happen to you, just because it happens to other people.  

--- End quote ---

Family history is important. If you have a very close relative, especially a parent, who has or had a particular condition, such as heart disease, statistically, you are more at risk for developing the same condition. Of course, that does not mean you will develop the condition, but your risk is greater. (I once shocked a cardiologist by mentioning that you cannot say that something will happen to an individual based on a group statistic; he responded, "You get that!")

Because of my father's severe heart disease, on my doctor's recommendation, I've been taking an 81-mg aspirin a day for more years than I can now remember, and I think nothing of it.

By the same token, so far I have never had a colonoscopy because there is absolutely no history of gastrointestinal cancer in my family. My mother died of a stroke, and my father, as I mentioned above, has severe heart disease. In my own opinion, I am at greater risk for heart disease than I am for gastrointestinal cancer.

I guess my father's pancreatic cancer qualifies as "gastrointestinal," since he's now under the care of a gastroenterologist, but that has nothing to do with his stomach or intestines, and in March he will be 88 years old. My own opinion is that it's more likely that his heart disease will kill him before the pancreatic cancer will.

Of course, anyone has the right to refuse to go on any medication (my father refuses chemotherapy for his pancreatic cancer), but that does not mean the doctor is wrong about risk because of age, especially if a parent had the condition in question.

In my opinion, this is not an example of ageism. This is responsible medical practice.

ETA: I should have said that my comments are based on what I see on my job. However, I stand by my opinion that this is not an example of ageism.

Front-Ranger:
Sometimes I wonder why I seem to be invisible, or I'm in a group and say something and it just seems to go into a black hole. This is particularly true in my permaculture group. I'm the president and all but one of the other board members are 20- or 30-somethings. And the other person is a 50-something. They don't really ask my opinion on issues most of the time but of course I give it anyway. It just seems to fly into thin air. Looking back later, I have to remind myself that I'm a different generation than these people and a woman, to boot (permaculture is sadly dominated by men). It's something I just have to accept. But when I look at the group in my mind's eye, I see myself as their peer. I have the same values as 30 years ago, but more experience. Way more experience. But I still have the enthusiasm and experience has not made me bitter.

Jeff Wrangler:
Practically all of my life I've been invisible in groups. Even in my leather club, when I was the presidential officer, unless I was presiding over a meeting, I was practically invisible.  :(  Your point is well-taken, FRiend, but in my own case I can't attribute the invisibility to age. For me, it's always been that way.


--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 17, 2018, 05:28:44 pm ---But when I look at the group in my mind's eye, I see myself as their peer. I have the same values as 30 years ago, but more experience. Way more experience. But I still have the enthusiasm and experience has not made me bitter.

--- End quote ---

I don't wish to seem harsh, but with regard to your "invisibility" in this group, it seems to me that the important thing may not be how you see yourself, but how the 20-to-30-somethings see you--and this I would, indeed, call ageism.

I've only ever met one person in that age range who seems to see me as a peer, and that's because he's an Old Soul in a 30-year-old body.

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