A friend of mine takes a statin every single 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 (seek advice from 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 decisions. Was my friend prone 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 is just not 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, it appears that evidently continuing the eating regimen and exercise routine is just not as essential.
Oh A new study Published in Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that this manner 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 top cholesterol or hypertension
- There was an inclination to achieve more weight. In fact, they were 82 percent more prone to be obese.
- Less exercise. They were 8 percent more prone 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 may be interpreted in several ways. Perhaps individuals who start doping up find that they now not should be so careful about their food or other lifestyle decisions. It's also possible that those that ultimately needed medication were less careful about practicing healthy lifestyles before they were prescribed — and this may increasingly at the very least partially explain why they were prescribed the medication in the primary place. Why was medicine needed as an alternative? Or, it might be that folks 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 might be much more essential for many who were prescribed the drugs, because if their conditions were severe enough to warrant a prescription, they were more prone to experience complications (equivalent 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 accomplish that 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 an alternative of Not only will these lifestyle decisions 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, equivalent to Better mood, lower risk of diabetes, and lower risk of certain cancers. . And for those who keep on with the approach to life changes, likelihood is you'll find a way to stop taking the medication in the long run.
If you've been prescribed a drugs 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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