Steel Cut Oats?

[Longboard]

I am going to print this comment to show it to my Dr on my 101'st birthday because I might forget when the time comes.

BTW, Jimmy Buffett is on the radio as we speak singing Margaritaville I am 100% that he's barefoot.

Print it out in Esperanto though just to be safe.
I've seen Jimmy in concert many times, and the only footwear he ever wore were Margaritaville brand flip flops to ride a bicycle on to the stage after which he immediately kicked them off for the remainder of the entire event.

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Print it out in Esparanto ah, what's Esparanto?
I've seen Jimmy in concert many times, and the only footwear he ever wore were Margaritaville brand flip flops to ride a bicycle on to the stage after which he immediately kicked them off for the remainder of the entire event. Nice! I bet it was fun.[/quote]

 

[Longboard]

Esperanto (help·info) is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language.[1] Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto ("Esperanto" translates as "one who hopes"), the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, on July 26, 1887. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy-to-learn and politically neutral language that transcends nationality and would foster peace and international understanding between people with different regional and/or national languages.

 

[Sid]

Your doc can't advise you to skip the statin despite high LDL just because a scan shows otherwise....but I can!

This makes it seems like the jury is still out on statins for women?
Women May Benefit Less From Statins

 

[Longboard]

OK, I followed the link:

Many studies have found that statins reduce the risk for recurring cardiac problems, but not the risk for death. Now an analysis suggests that the drugs may reduce mortality significantly only in men.
For the report, which appears in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers reviewed 11 randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies of statins that included 43,191 people, one-fifth of them women. For both sexes, statins were effective compared with placebos in preventing cardiovascular events and led to lower rates of coronary mortality and heart attacks.
But two of the five trials that reported on “all-cause mortality” showed a reduced risk for men, while none did for women. Over all, statins did not reduce stroke in women, but were linked to a 16 percent lower risk for men.
The scientists said the disparity might be explained by technical factors like less vigorous recruitment of women or a worse cardiovascular profile for those women, or by the undertreatment of women for other conditions that could contribute to disease.
“Our intention is not to have women stop using statins,” said the lead author, Dr. Jose Gutierrez, a clinical instructor in neurology at Columbia. “For overall secondary prevention, statins work for women. But for two outcomes — stroke and all-cause mortality — they are not as beneficial.”

As is typical with most studies, the media headline is usually much more dramatic than even the researcher's own conclusions.
If I were a woman with a bad scan I would take a statin.......but I would still stick with a good IPA over white wine.

 

[randicoot]

You can have a blockage of 95% or more in one or more coronary arteries and have a perfect EKG as long as enough blood is flowing to keep the muscles from dieing.

Thanks, LB.

 

[Sid]

OK, I followed the link:
...
If I were a woman with a bad scan I would take a statin.......but I would still stick with a good IPA over white wine.

Thanks!
I found this on niacin. So, maybe it's not so helpful.

Well, I'm in my late 30's, so rather than doing anything radical, I think I'll just keep an eye on the BP. I don't think I'll be able to convince anyone to scan me at this age without symptoms. No family hx of heart disease either. Who knows? Maybe in 20-30 years, they'll have figured out the whole lipids vs. inflammation thing.

 

[Longboard]

Thanks!
I found this on niacin. So, maybe it's not so helpful.

Well, I'm in my late 30's, so rather than doing anything radical, I think I'll just keep an eye on the BP. I don't think I'll be able to convince anyone to scan me at this age without symptoms. No family hx of heart disease either. Who knows? Maybe in 20-30 years, they'll have figured out the whole lipids vs. inflammation thing.

Coronary artery disease kills more Americans than all cancers, infectious diseases, accidents, and other heart diseases combined.
The #1 most common first indication of the condition is sudden death.
At 40 years of age a scanning facility would actually urge you to get one...it's not covered by insurance and is a quick easy test costing around $300. It is a high speed CT scan that can image the calcium build-up in the coronary arteries. When it shows something like a Widow Maker (blockage in one of the two main coronary arteries before it even branches out) the corrective surgery can easily double your life span.
A friend of mine that was a mixed martial arts fighter and police officer died a month and a half ago from a massive heart attack in his car in the parking lot of his gym following a workout at age 48, leaving his wife and three kids behind.
This non smoking much feared fighter and experienced police officer never knew what hit him, but a scan at age 35 would have clearly detailed the condition and preventive measures could have been taken. His father had no heart disease.

 

[Sid]

Coronary artery disease kills more Americans than all cancers, infectious diseases, accidents, and other heart diseases combined.

Yes, but that's because it's the most likely of all organs to go in the elderly. I'm thinking it's like all people get Alzheimer's by 110, and all men get prostate cancer by 100, or so I've been told by professors.

At 40 years of age a scanning facility would actually urge you to get one...it's not covered by insurance and is a quick easy test costing around $300. It is a high speed CT scan that can image the calcium build-up in the coronary arteries.

I suppose it doesn't hurt to look into it. I'm not a big fan of radiation, though.

This non smoking much feared fighter and experienced police officer never knew what hit him, but a scan at age 35 would have clearly detailed the condition and preventive measures could have been taken. His father had no heart disease.

If inflammation is truly the cause, then probably all police officers should get scanned. I've never known any officers who weren't under stress.

All in all, a lot of food for thought. This calcium scan merits investigation. Thanks!

 

[Longboard]

I'm not a big fan of radiation, though.

Nobody is, and that's one of the reasons NOT to get testing too often.
I am not a believer in full body preventive scans, but a one time calcium scoring exam at around age 40 for men seems to make sense from a cost or radiation trade-off because CAD is so common and silent.
Full body scans probably do more damage than good because they find so many benign tumors that end up requiring surgical excision for biopsy, and dose you with so much radiation. Also, how often would one get a scan? A tumor can develope at any time. It's like colonoscopy...is once every 10 years enough? Every seven? Five? Three? No radiation there, but plenty of medical cost if EVERYONE had one once every three years!
The calcium scoring can be done as a one time screening in middle aged men to predict the susceptability to CAD, and whether or not certain preventive measures should be taken that otherwise wouldn't be.

 

[Sid]

The calcium scoring can be done as a one time screening in middle aged men to predict the susceptability to CAD, and whether or not certain preventive measures should be taken that otherwise wouldn't be.

This brings to mind the question of calcium supplementation. I think there were some articles about a year ago, warning people not to take calcium due to CAD. Though, I was told by a professor to take them regularly. I'm wondering if the difference is in healthy active people vs. inactive sedentary people with high inflammation.

Maybe the calcium in active people gets deposited in bones and in inactive people gets deposited in arteries? I don't know. I'm wondering if taking calcium reduced my risk of stress fractures when transitioning to barefoot.

Edit: Maybe calcium supplements don't increase CAD?
Calcium intake is not associated with increased coronary artery calcification: the Framingham Study

 

[Sid]

possibly inflamation reduction in the vessels

If stress and inflammation is truly the cause, and LDL is a red herring, then perhaps all people under high stress should be screened?

I have to say this is one of my favorite articles.
Napping May Be Good for Your Heart

 

[RunningPirate]

I've seen Jimmy in concert many times, and the only footwear he ever wore were Margaritaville brand flip flops to ride a bicycle on to the stage after which he immediately kicked them off for the remainder of the entire event.

See, I've been to 15 of his concerts and I can't remember that much detail

 

[Longboard]

See, I've been to 15 of his concerts and I can't remember that much detail

The pre-tailgate started at 11:0o a.m. at the Holiday Inn parking lot, the real tailgate at 1:30 p.m. at Tinley Park, and by the time Jimmy came on after 8:00 p.m. I was a sober as could be!

 

[Longboard]

Edit: Maybe calcium supplements don't increase CAD?
Calcium intake is not associated with increased coronary artery calcification: the Framingham Study

[/quote]

The process starts with a roughening of the arterial walls, then your body deposits cholesterol plaques in the rough areas. The soft plaques calcify but in no way proportional to calcium intake or serum calcium levels.
Similar process as with tooth plaque and calculus ("tarter"), in which case food debris becomes infested with normal mouth bacteria and turns into soft plaque, which then calcifies from the calcium in saliva......but each person has a different susceptability to plaque formation as well as calcification....independent of calcium intake.

 

[Longboard]

I think there were some articles about a year ago, warning people not to take calcium due to CAD.

There was also the ferritin craze, where high iron intake was believed to be responsible for CAD. Everyone wanted to drop iron fortification from food products as a result. It was also believed that pre-menapausal women were immune from CAD because of monthly blood letting reducing the ferritin levels.
It took about a year or so for the researchers to say "never mind".
Then there was the homocystein revolution....forget LDL, HDL, Triglycerides....turns out it's high homocystein levels and they must be brought down with mega doses of folic acid. My doc had me up to 2 grams/day after I had the rarely done test and was shockingly high. Took about four years for the medical community to abandon that notion. I still have the hardcover book though!
Cortisol /stress connection to CAD.....it's in vogue now......but I've seen many more hypotheses come and go through the years. Meanwhile genes, smoking, and diabetes remain the only three proven causes

 

[RunningPirate]

The pre-tailgate started at 11:0o a.m. at the Holiday Inn parking lot, the real tailgate at 1:30 p.m. at Tinley Park, and by the time Jimmy came on after 8:00 p.m. I was a sober as could be!

Now, conversely, one show I went to, started tailgating at 3pm at The Sports Page in Mt. View (can't tailgate at Shoreline parking lot) and I was still drunk the next morning...

 

[Tristan]

Learn from my mistake! I acted the same way, controlling my blood pressure naturally became my hobby. I learned how to relax and slow down my heart rate and expand my vessels.......for long enough to pass every FAA flight surgeon's exam with flying colors.
I owned several different cuffs and listening devices in order to get accurate readings, I timed exercise with readings just right in order to achieve the lowest numbers I could.
I lived as sodium free as possible, abstained from caffein and alcohol.
My cholesterol numbers always were excellent, and I only started on the BP meds when my personal physician and friend had to examine me on emergency one day in my forties and was shocked to learn of my "borderline" high BP. He said I had for sure been damaged by it after all these years, and my scan results confirmed it....despite great lipid studies I had coronary artery disease, possibly brought on by over 20 years of "borderline" hypertension.
Ultrasound studies of my heart also revealed structural damage.
My attitude of keeping things under control naturally screwed up my health!
It (diet and excercise) made me LOOK fit and healthy, but it was just that..a look.
I now take an ACE inhibitor for BP and am always 120/80 regardless of what I eat or drink, and I take a statin NOT for improvment in numbers (which it does, I have ridiculously excellent numbers now) but for a reduction in the chance of heart attack through it's other unknown mechanism.

Thanks for the info LB! I am going to have to a more serious stance of controlling my BP. Since I started seing docs in my 20's I am bordeline prehyper/stage1. I havent had an official one done in a few years but I routinely check the automagic machine here at work... usually averages around 140/90. Heart problems do run in the family, my grandmother on my dads side had multiple heart surgies and died of some kind of massive failure in her 70's. My dad, just a few years ago, had a heart attack (think he was ~48 at the time). I dont smoke, but I am under a bunch of stress, namely my flip flopping nights and days on my shiftwork, and plenty of stress at home as well.

What was this thread about anyways? Oh, oats.. lol Yeah I actually had steel cut outs a couple days ago for the first time I am aware of. I didnt do anything fancy to fix em, just in water in the pot on the stove for 20 whatever minutes it was and I really like em! I like the texture a little better, and I dont know if its in my head but flavor seems fresher too. I suppose they arent magical or anything, but I'd think they would retain more nutrients atleast compared to the instant packet versions I am used to eating.