Beginners and Beyond

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Public Service Announcement (Read 232 times)

Love the Half


    Two Public Service Announcements.

     

    PSA #1:  I turned 50 in October and one of the things recommended after turning 50 is a colonoscopy.  I had my colonoscopy today and while the prep (liquid diet + colon "cleansing" with SUPREP) and waiting around (>3 hours after my appointment time when they took me from the waiting room to the operating area) was a pain in the ass (couldn't resist), I am pleased to report that there were no polyps and nothing to biopsy so I shouldn't have to see the gastroenterologist again for a decade. If there are tests you need to have, even if they are a bit uncomfortable, please have them. Early detection is vital to your health.

     

    PSA #2: The staff at the GE's office seemed genuinely surprised that they were seeing a 50 year old who takes no medication and isn't under the care of any physician due to some chronic problem. Shoot, there's no secret. I exercise and I eat a fairly healthy diet. Along those lines, every website you look at regarding colon health mentions exercise, eating whole grains, and lots of fruit and veggies. If you exercise, you have a 16% lower chance of developing polyps in the first place and a 30% lower chance of developing large or advanced polyps. Among those who do develop colon cancer, those who exercise have a significantly higher chance of surviving.

     

    If you are just starting to run, you don't have to run marathons to get these benefits. Even brisk walking, 30 minutes per day (and it doesn't even have to be all at once as long as each bout is 10+ minutes), 5 days per week, will allow you to experience most of those reduced risks the studies associate with exercise. (I recognize that many conditions are genetic or otherwise not influenced by diet and exercise but many can be at least ameliorated if not eliminated).

     

    Or, as Doctor Mike Evans so eloquently put it, "can you limit your sitting and lying down to just 23 1/2 hours per day?"

     

    Oh yeah.  I am now convinced that the dumbest people on the planet are not those who try to run marathons on 20 miles per week but those who voluntarily undertake "cleansing" rituals.

    Short term goal: 17:59 5K

    Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

    Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).


    Hip Redux

      Good stuff.

       

      There was a report out recently that even 1 hour of working out doesn't compensate for sitting the rest of the 23 hours.   Yes, infinitely better than doing nothing for 24 hours/day, but the important thing to do is keep moving as much as you can, in addition to exercising.

       

      This wasn't the original article I saw, but it's the same basic stuff:

      http://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135575490/sitting-all-day-worse-for-you-than-you-might-think

       

      "Specifically, he found that men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity."

       

      For those of us who sit at a desk all day - I easily get 40 hours of "sedentary" time in a week!   

       

      Get up and move, it does a body good Smile

       

      LRB


        So far, I have only needed the one finger salute when I turned 42, and nothing else since.

         

        My doc is funny, he thinks I secretly want to tell him something when I go for my physical every year.  He says the majority of his patients are there because they have to be, not by choice.

           

          My doc is funny, he thinks I secretly want to tell him something when I go for my physical every year.  

           

          Yeah, how many times can they ask whether you have any questions? I guess we should appreciate how utterly boring these annual checkups are, I suppose it's not like that for most people of a certain age. Can't actually remember the last time I actually had a prescription, other than for my asthma. And I've never taken a vitamin; it's as if real foods seem to have vitamins built right into them.

           

          But assuming the sedentary time study is valid, that is a problem for me; when I am not exercising I am sitting around a lot, either at work or at home. Hopefully I have enough good things going to counteract that. Although how long does a person really need to live anyway?

          Dave

          MrNamtor


            I had a friend die of colon cancer at 53. If he'd gone for a colonoscopy at 50 he'd probably still be alive today.


            Sloooow.

              I wish I could get this through to my other half. He turned 49 this year, and would literally rather die than have someone go near his bottom. His father died of prostate cancer too.

                I wish I could get this through to my other half. He turned 49 this year, and would literally rather die than have someone go near his bottom. His father died of prostate cancer too.

                 

                If you have gone through childbirth, you can tell him he has no business complaining about people, ahem, getting in his business.

                Dave

                bingo_jenn


                  I would say the same for women!  Get checked early.

                   

                  My mom had polyps removed at 45.  She got them out and didn't have to go through any treatment.  Lucky me gets to go in in 5 years to start getting screened.

                   

                  As for the moving, I have an activity monitor from Weight Watchers.  I've found I can earn the same amount of activity on days that I'm moving around every hour and no run as I do on a lazy Saturday when I go for a short run and then lay around watching TV all day.   But I feel like I actually "did" something on the day I ran.

                  daisymae25


                  Squidward Bike Rider

                    So far, I have only needed the one finger salute when I turned 42, and nothing else since.

                     

                    My doc is funny, he thinks I secretly want to tell him something when I go for my physical every year.  He says the majority of his patients are there because they have to be, not by choice.

                     

                    Due to other health issues, DH has had this done couple of times since he turned 40 (he'll be 44 this year).  At least he's got some time before having to get the other done.


                    Mostly harmless

                       

                      But assuming the sedentary time study is valid, that is a problem for me; when I am not exercising I am sitting around a lot, either at work or at home. Hopefully I have enough good things going to counteract that. Although how long does a person really need to live anyway?

                       

                      This is why I convinced my employer that I have a bad back and needed to have one of these:

                       

                      "It doesn’t matter how often you do it or how much you accomplish, in general, not running is a lot easier than running." - Meb Keflezighi


                      Hip Redux

                        I got myself a standing desk too!

                         

                        GC100k


                          My wife made me go to the doctor for a checkup when I turned 40.  Then she made me go again when I turned 50.  Other than that I haven't been to the doctor or had any medical problems or been on any medication.  Everything checked out fine in the checkups.  I'm fat and I don't sleep much, but I have always exercised and eaten a decent quality (quantity is my issue) diet.  But don't know that I can take credit for it.

                           

                          My dad has been on serious medication his whole adult life.  He has a genetic heart/blood condition that killed his dad, uncles (except one), and every male in his lineage in their 50s until medication was found in the 70s (the developers won a Nobel prize for it).  He retired at 59, is now a pretty healthy 75, has had a bunch of heart "episodes" and a bypass, but has lived longer than he ever anticipated and is thrilled for every day he is alive.  I don't have that genetic condition.

                           

                          My wife will never die.  Her health measures are freaky good.  Her grandmother was active and healthy until age 103 and was cooking meals for "those poor elderly folk" (who were 20 years younger than her) in her church.  One day at her daughter's house Grandma said "well, I guess I oughta be getting up there, they'll be thinking that I missed it".  She wrote out birthday cards for all the grandchildren for the year, sat down and closed her eyes, and that was that.

                           

                          My wife's mom is 83, works full time as a university librarian, is a bundle of energy, and cleans houses and does laundry for the elderly in her church.  The church had to cancel a potluck when she was gone because she basically is the potluck.  We are moving to another state and she is checking the website of the college there to see if there are any jobs for her.  What would they think to get an 83 year old job applicant?  But hey, I'll probably retire before she does.  Most of her 20+ grandchildren and 20+ great-grandchildren are within a couple hours of where she is now, so I doubt she'll move.  Her five sisters are still alive, even the ones who led pretty destructive lifestyles.

                           

                          The doctor suggested I get a colonoscopy, but I haven't quite gotten around to it yet.  I better do it, huh?

                          Love the Half


                            I wish I could get this through to my other half. He turned 49 this year, and would literally rather die than have someone go near his bottom. His father died of prostate cancer too.

                             

                            Ask him if he'd rather be impotent and forced to wear a diaper.  Those are possible side effects of prostate removal.  However, if it is detected early, it can be treated and the side effects minimized.  My father had prostate cancer but it was caught early and treated.  I started getting screed for prostate cancer at age 40 because of that family history.

                             

                            That kind of excuse is the same excuse people really have for not exercising - "it's uncomfortable."  Well, yes it is a bit uncomfortable.  I won't deny that.  Unfortunately, too many people would rather take a pill every day for the rest of their lives than get out and do a brisk stroll 30 minutes each day.

                            Short term goal: 17:59 5K

                            Mid term goal:  2:54:59 marathon

                            Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life.  (I started running at age 45).

                            GC100k


                              I got the "one-finger salute" at my 40 year checkup (I think, maybe I did get one between 40 and 50).  I was psyching myself up for it in this checkup ("he does this every day, it's his job, mine is just another bottom..."), but he didn't do it.  He did the blood screening for the factor, but that was it.

                              LRB


                                I wish I could get this through to my other half. He turned 49 this year, and would literally rather die than have someone go near his bottom. His father died of prostate cancer too.

                                 

                                Just start bugging him about him.  I have friends who have not had it done, it is not uncommon with men where the subject is a prostate exam.

                                 

                                I had reservations as I approached 40 as well but looked at it like this; I am a provider and protector of my family, and would smash a brick into a million pieces over any of them.  The question was simple, would I seriously jeopardize being here for them in their darkest hour, over something so silly as not wanting to have my "manhood" violated?

                                 

                                There is actually quite a bit of humor to the whole thing for those who can laugh at themselves like I can.  I mean, it is easily the most awkward five seconds of your life lol!

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