A friend of mine takes a statin each day to lower his cholesterol. More than once I heard her say “I ate too much! I'll have to take an extra pill.”
Never mind that it doesn't work that way — an additional statin pill won't make much of a difference to his cholesterol or his health. And never mind that you just shouldn't adjust your medication dosage yourself (check with your doctor before making any medication dosage changes).
But my friend's excess raises the query of whether starting medications for conditions like hypertension or high cholesterol might force people to pay less attention to healthy lifestyle selections. Was my friend more likely to overeat? First Was he began on a statin?
What exactly do lifestyle changes do after the medication is prescribed?
The thought might go like this. If your cholesterol or blood pressure isn’t ideal, your doctor will likely recommend that you just change your eating regimen, exercise repeatedly, and lose more weight, as these measures lower cholesterol and blood pressure in many individuals. will But if it doesn't work well enough, a drug could also be prescribed. Once the medication is doing its job, plainly continuing the eating regimen and exercise routine isn’t as essential.
Oh A new study Published in Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that this fashion of considering could also be widespread: People with hypertension (hypertension) or high cholesterol begin to slide from their healthy habits once they start taking the medication.
Researchers collected data on weight, smoking, physical activity and alcohol consumption from greater than 40,000 adults with no history of heart disease. Compared to those that were no Medications prescribed for prime cholesterol or hypertension
- There was an inclination to achieve more weight. In fact, they were 82 percent more more likely to be obese.
- Less exercise. They were 8 percent more more likely to be physically inactive.
Not all of the news was bad. People who start medication drink less alcohol and quit smoking more often than those that don't take medication.
If you're taking a statin or blood pressure pill, it's not okay to slack off on lifestyle changes like eating regimen and exercise.
These results could be interpreted in several ways. Perhaps individuals who start doping up find that they not have to be so careful about their food or other lifestyle selections. It's also possible that those that ultimately needed medication were less careful about practicing healthy lifestyles before they were prescribed — and this may occasionally at the very least partially explain why they were prescribed the medication in the primary place. Why was medicine needed as a substitute? Or, it could be that individuals who need drug therapy inherit genes that put them at greater risk for future obesity.
Whatever the reason, individuals with hypertension or high cholesterol should maintain a healthy weight and get regular physical activity, no matter whether medications are prescribed. In fact, it could be much more essential for individuals who were prescribed the drugs, because if their conditions were severe enough to warrant a prescription, they were more more likely to experience complications (akin to a heart attack or stroke). The risk could also be higher in individuals who can avoid medication. .
The bottom line
For many conditions, a drug can only achieve this much. Healthy lifestyle habits can improve the probabilities that the drug will likely be effective.
There are must-have medications for individuals with hypertension, high cholesterol, and plenty of other conditions. Besides that Lifestyle changes, no as a substitute of Not only will these lifestyle selections improve the probabilities that your medications will work to lower blood pressure or improve cholesterol, but they arrive with a protracted list of other health advantages, akin to Better mood, lower risk of diabetes, and lower risk of certain cancers. . And in the event you persist with the approach to life changes, chances are high you'll have the option to stop taking the medication in the longer term.
If you've been prescribed a medicine after trying eating regimen, exercise, or other lifestyle changes, ask your doctor if it's still essential to concentrate on those lifestyle aspects. And don't be surprised if the reply is yes.
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