So, I finally went and had a bunch of blood work drawn up, and had my AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) order the tests, etc. I see him many more times than I see my GP, so why not?
Top of the list is the "Lipid Panel," which is where you get all your cholesterol and the like information. All measurements are in mg/dl.
Total Cholesterol - 180 (125-200)
HDL - 36 (>= 40)
Triglycerides - 157 (<150)
LDL - 113 <130)
The 'normals' range for those is the number in parenthesis afterwards. So my total cholesterol is right in range, no problems. My HDL or 'good' cholesterol is low. Higher is better. Triglyceride count is a little bit high, and my LDL or 'bad' cholesterol is low. The Ratio for my cholesterol is 5.0, with the toleration being (<= 5.0)
All of my other 'numbers' are fine, with the exception of 1 of them.
My fasting (12 hours, in my case) blood glucose was 104. "Normal" range is 65-99. 100-126ish is considered pre-diabetic.
Kidding, right?
O.k... let's look at this from real science point of view.
First, if we are measuring something, we want to be exact, but we need to know how exact our measurements can even be to begin with. For instance, if I am measuring a wall of a room, and I use a 1 foot ruler, placed over and over on the wall to measure it, that will most likely not be as accurate as simply pulling a tape measure across the wall. Less room to make repeat errors, etc. So it is important to know how accurate you can even begin to measure.
For total cholesterol, the Standard Deviation is 17. It is entirely normal for cholesterol levels to change over the course of days and weeks to at LEAST that amount. So it would be normal for me given this test result to have total cholesterol reading from 163-197. Double that amount, (35,) and then you can start talking about statistical possibility of something having actually changed.
And, btw, I am calling it 'cholesterol' because that is the normal, popular convention. I am fully aware that it is a measurement of the protein that is carrying cholesterol, not the cholesterol itself. I am actually not worried about my cholesterol per se, but I wanted to see the numbers.
That blood sugar thing, though. Hmmm..
So, I went to my local Walgreens, and purchased a blood glucose monitor. My idea was to track my fasting blood sugar every morning, and then read my level when starting a meal, and then post-prandial (after eating) levels at the 1 hour, 2 hour, and 3 hour mark. Far more so than fasting blood sugar, your ability to 'clear,' or clean up your blood after a meal is very important.
Normal levels, with high glycemic index foods (sugary, or foods that dump sugars into your blood,) would be around 145-160 at an hour, 160 at 2 hours, and then a steady decline to normal blood sugars within an hour or so.
Every morning, my blood sugar has consistently been in the 100 range. Morning 1, I had 3 eggs in butter and bacon, and my blood sugar never rose above 95. No surprise there, neither of those has any kind of glycemic load. Lunch was a banana with peanut butter, and the band sent me up to 105 after an hour, but it came right back down again. Dinner was salmon and asparagus, and no spike.
Morning 2, eggs, bacon, this time with a big glass of milk, and I peaked at 106, but it came down in under an hour.
How in the world does my blood sugar elevate when I am not eating?!?!
So, I continued this for the week. On an overnight and out with a friend, I had a fresh baked pretzel with my lunch of a large salad with a 5 oz steak, with bleu cheese, walnuts, and dried apricots.
Zing... an hour later my blood sugar was 145. 2 hours later it was 165, and 3 hours later it was still 160. Yikes... not clearing that wheat and those apricots...
Believe it or not, breads can have quite a bit higher sugar load, because they are carbohydrate loaded like you would not believe. The standard is 'table sugar,' but there are a few things that load you up more than that... and all that sugar has to be cleaned out of your blood.
Bread is off my list, I guess.
So how did I get this way? Pre-Diabetic is a function of a number of things, and you don't need all of these, but you need a couple in the right combinations.
Fasting blood sugar of 100 or more.
Overweight.
Inactive.
45 or older.
High Blood Pressure.
Family history of Type 2 (no way to know, I am adopted.)
HDL <35. (hhmm... close, within the margin of error (Stan Dev of 9 for HDL.)
TRI > 250 (High, but not even in the neighborhood.)
Regularly sleep less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours a night. (eh... debatable.)
Increased Thirst
Frequent urination
Fatigue
Blurred vision (high blood sugars are brutal on the eyes.)
So... over 100 on the sugars, low HDL, but not terrible... the rest is kind of a wash.
So, I started reading up on blood sugar levels, how they can be moved around, what causes certain things in your body, connections with disease, etc.
So, here is my "perfect storm." Written as a timeline (sorta.)
Most of my life, I have been a white bread, coke or pepsi drinking, boxed food type. A good portion of my diet for the last 20 years has included High Fructose Corn Syrup one way or another. Listen, if it comes in a box from a store, it probably has it in there. 45,000 items in a major grocery store, 33,000 will have it. Gotta love subsidizing the corn industry! It is the cheap-o sweetener of choice.
5+ years ago, on our honeymoon in Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia, somehow I managed to get Hepatitis E. So we come home, and I am sick... flu-like symptoms, but the characteristic tea-colored urine gave it away to my doctor. The 'interesting' thing, is that "E" type is mostly harmless. You have it for about 3 weeks, and then it goes away. The only thing it leaves behind is whatever it did to your liver while it was visiting, and you can never give blood again.
Having had Hep E makes you far FAR more susceptible to fatty liver and other diseases of the liver. It elevates your triglycerides (the fat deposits in your liver inhibit recycling them in the normal course of liverly functioning,) and leads to gallstones and can lead to pancreatitis (more on this in a bit.)
Recent and not-so-recent- studies are showing that life long extensive exposure to HFCS in the diet leads to reduced Triglyceride processing by the liver, gallstones, etc... etc....
So.....
Getting Hep E in SE Asia in 2006 may have led to me having pancreatitis in 2008, through fatty liver problems and gallstones, aggravated from a life long exposure to HFCS from a crappy food diet.
I had acute necrotic pancreatitis. The necrosis was roughly half my pancreas. The pancreas is where your beta cells that make insulin are located. I can't make as much insulin as the next person, neither as much nor as fast.
My liver has some damage from the Hep E, and fatty deposits from the processing of all that yummy HFCS, so I cannot detox my blood as fast as normal people.
Ergo----
Low HDL
High TRI
High fasting blood sugar.
Great, what does this mean.
Well, for the past year I have mostly had a 'paleo' diet. I have eliminated soft drinks, most foods that contain processed sugars, etc, pastas, breads, all the 'added' sugar foods.
Well, during sailing season, it was pretty hard to avoid, and I am positive I had more booze than I should. What's the harm, right?
Thankfully, switching my eating pattern a year ago may have helped insulate me from problems. There is no doubt that that style is the way I should be eating. So here is what I get to do....
No more alcohol.
No soft drinks (or really, anything with added sugars.)
Skip the pastas, breads, and other wheat- or cereal grain- based foods.
Generally avoid fruits, especially bananas (boo,) grapes, apples.
So... I am not 'diabetic,' but my body is trying to drag me there. Yes, I will still have the occasional glass of bubbly at a wedding (I have a few this year, etc...) but....
That's what's new.
More funner blog posts to come!
