If you stop and think about cholesterol, there's the good, the bad and the ugly.
Naturally produced in the liver, the body needs cholesterol to build cell walls, convert sunlight into Vitamin D, and make bile salts that help break down fat. That's the good cholesterol -- the HDL (high density lipoprotein) type that actually prevents clogged arteries.
But if you collect too much of the bad LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol that comes with eating fatty foods, you could be headed for an ugly outcome because LDL causes plaque that plugs arteries.
Knowing about my own family's history of heart attacks and strokes, being a typical male who avoids going to the doctor, I had no idea if my cholesterol count was high or low, good or bad.
My curiosity got the better of me when I walked up to the Northern Health men's health screening clinic at Pine Centre Mall.
When registered nurse Rae Schouwenburg offered to answer my health questions with a simple stab of my finger for a blood test, how could I resist? Unlike the agonizing test it was in biology labs, Schouwenburg's steady hand made me bleed painlessly.
With 50 on the horizon for me next month, I don't smoke, drink alcohol rarely, and I exercise regularly. But until you get tested, how do you know for sure?
As it turned out, my HDL (good) cholesterol count was 1.22 millimoles per litre, and anything above 1.5 is considered ideal. Schouwenburg suggested I could raise the count by getting more fibre in my diet and eating less red meat or fatty muffins. My LDL (bad) cholesterol count was 2.48, nearly ideal. The cholesterol test also tests for triglycerides, a blood sugar linked to heart disease and diabetes. My triglycerides level of 1.05 and my total cholesterol reading of 4.18 were well within the desirable range.
My blood pressure -- 136 over 79 -- was slightly above normal for the systolic count and near optimal for the diastolic. If your systolic blood pressure (pressure of the blood when your heart contracts) is greater than 140, or your diastolic blood pressure (when your heart is at rest) is more than 90, you've got hypertension.
That means you're at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke or kidney diseases and you need to see a doctor. To lower your blood pressure, stop smoking, reduce your weight, exercise more, lower salt and protein intake, cut caffeine, get sufficient rest and don't oversleep.
Low blood pressure is when the systolic pressure drops below 90 and the diastolic is less than 60. That can lead to a feeling of being tired and weak or dizziness and fainting and you should also seek medical help.
High blood sugar can lead to ketoacidosis, which happens when the body doesn't have enough insulin. Without insulin, the body can't use glucose for energy, and starts to break down fats instead. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) occurs when blood glucose drops below normal and it could be a sign of diabetes.
Having eaten only an apple since breakfast for my late afternoon test, my blood sugar count was 4.5 mmol/L. Ideal for a fasting patient is anything four to seven mmol/L. That marked the end of the screening session and Schouwenburg had good news for me. My test results were good enough. I didn't need a follow-up visit with my family doctor.
Northern Health has targeted men's health in its preventative health campaigns, knowing the cost to society when unhealthy men are unable to work. That leads to stress, crime, unemployment, domestic violence and direct health care costs.
Statistically, men in northern B.C. are less likely than women to access the health care services and as a result, many men suffering from hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol counts go undiagnosed until they are brought in to hospitals with serious health concerns.
"We're trying to get men more involved in their own health, traditionally they're not," said Schouwenburg. "Some of it is because of lack of knowledge and some of it is because of where they work and accessibility to the health care system. If you're out in the mines or the oilfields or the bush, who wants to go to the doctor when you come back for your two or four days off."
Schouwenburg suggested I start having regular annual physical check-ups and a prostate exam. She then handed me a little sack containing two golf balls with instructions on how to perform regular testicle self-examinations.
"If they're this hard and this large, that's not normal," she said.
The good nurse also reminded me that men who hit 50 need to get tested for colon cancer with a colonoscopy at least every five years.
I can hardly wait.
