Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Personal Physiology Results

Earlier this week, I obtained some personal physiology results: basic blood tests and a DEXA body composition scan.

I have these results by stroke of fortune and opportunity: not because I have an excess of money and an obsession to move higher in the ectomorphic pantheon of unpaid ultramarathon running; rather I was paid for these results as part of an ongoing research study (more on that when I can discuss more about it).

These test were at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, where I am fortunate to be employed in a research fellowship. Lately I have had more time to wander the hallways of the hospital, both as part of my own budding research as well as this study, and I am even more impressed with the highly-talented and motivated staff who are both enthusiastic and willing to discuss research and share data with me. Along those lines, I am making these raw data public for anyone else that might be interested, as I am a physiologic data geek.

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Personal observations:
- My blood pressure (not shown) is, again, prehypertensive (13x/9x). I will again monitor this, as it has been slightly high in the past. Exercise is known to reduce blood pressure, but a physician yesterday told me that this effect lasts only up to 18 hours, which could have affected my results. This may well also be an inherited salt-sensitivy. I cook most of my own food and use salt sparingly, having to intercept fresh food before liberal salt is dumped on by my wife and others, but I can be more diligent about that. I love bananas already, but can investigate how to add more potassium to my diet.
And as much as it pains me to say it -- I may have to rethink cheese.
- BMI of 19.8
- Body comp through DEXA shows 9.8% body fat, about 1% higher than the last time I had it measured with calipers (for free at work, and I was probably the same BMI). DEXA is more accurate. Interesting assymetries which I'm curious to learn more about.
- Hemoglobin is on the low end. This can happen during intense training. I try to be mindful of my Iron intake since I don't eat red meat, but I can easily add more spinach and kale.
- I can gain or lose weight and still be perfectly healthy, but I'm comfortable at this weight (have been for 3-4 years) and feel healthy (get sick 0-1 times per year, never get headaches or have to take any sort of drugs). Awkwardly, a few acquaintances make weird comments occasionally about (me) being skinny, although I think very little about my own weight, much less theirs.
- Very happy with my cholesterol: HDL is nearly equal to my LDL, which seems to be an off-the-charts ratio. In 9th grade, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol!

11 comments:

  1. a) Does hypertension run in your family -- parents, grandparents -- ?

    b) Hope you have a FEW hobbies. Sounds like you have DECADES ahead of you :-)

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  2. Grandpa Al did, and was told to restrict his salt, but that was the old-school days when it was prescribed for everyone. Not everyone is salt-sensitive, but my casual observations (we had a blood-pressure cuff at HP) was that I could lower my BP if I really watched it.

    Decades, yes, but going for quality over quantity! *Real* longevity is from doing and eating very little -- very little stress on the body. No thanks!

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  3. Have you tried taking your own BP when you might be a bit more relaxed?

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  4. I use to have access to a BP machine at work. I tried to keep it consistent by measuring in the afternoon, but it may have been slightly affected by that day's activity. I did get it down to a completely normal reading for a bit after really focusing on salt, but otherwise it was consistently a tad high.

    There is other research saying that 'prehypertensive' doesn't lead to anything worse.

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  5. I was noted as prehypertension as a recent work related physical. However, when I have checked my BP in several other settings ... it is normal. I am not clear how much variance there can be from reading to reading based on diet (salt) and stress.

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  6. Even if it isn't Mike's situation, the phenomenon is pretty well documented:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension

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  7. Mike - What GZ said. As I think I told him, I bought a home BP monitor and found my pressure is reliably 110-115 at home, whereas it's 125-130 at the doc's.

    As far as sodium goes, I wonder if that's really a factor for someone who will lose a lot through sweating. At least that's what I tell myself.

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  8. Thanks guys, I thought I've controlled for this effect when I used to measure it at HP. I would even focus on calming my HR down before taking the measurement, especially if I had just gone for a run at lunch or something. I was surprised to find it lower after running occasionally, but that makes sense if exercise only has a temporary protective effect (which would add up over time).

    Otherwise, Jeff, you're right about the salt thing being tricky, as I just came home with the classic pattern of salt crystals all over my shorts!

    I'm not as interested in analyzing myself to death, but I do think/wonder if the dynamics of blood pressure are different for endurance folks (versus normals versus power/strength athletes).

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  9. A number of years ago, I got surprised at having borderline high blood pressure. It wasn't affected by sodium (thank goodness). I went on the DASH diet and my blood pressure went down to 106/64 from 122/81. Then, when crewing at Leadville and not taking any fluids, I hit 74/47, so it can drop precipitously when running sometimes. When getting measured, it's important to sit for a full five minutes before the reading; my readings drop minute by minute as I relax.

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  10. Visiting the in laws at 10k feet and I took my blood pressure (they have one of those digital cuffs). Prior to dinner it was 114/65, post dinner it was 132/78.

    It was a good dinner. Pulse was 48 pre dinner and 72 post.

    I was evaluated as pre hypertension for a work physical (one in which I had to fast the night, AM before). It was something like 12high over 80 or something.

    ... whatever.

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  11. Yeah, I don't know what to make of all this, thanks for the data though guys.
    @SteveQ, doesn't the lowering after DASH suggest that there was some salt sensitivity?
    I know you cook, so you've probably got a good sense of what you're doing.
    I guess it's nice to have a "reserve" for Leadville, though, huh?!

    @GZ: *Never* pass up an opportunity to use the phrase post-prandial! =) My last test was also fasting, though I wasn't (and rarely ever am) decaffeinated -- which is something else to consider. I agree that we're all probably just fine, though!
    And...I would love to have in-laws at 10k feet!

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