Disappointment to my GP

well the visit to them today went well

Well I'm a disappointment to my GP as finally seen one to get blood test results and blood pressure medication prescription which I'm not going to take.

Pre-diabetic (41) so basically not diabetic then.

Cholesterol is 6.4 - high she says but when I said lower all-cause mortality at that level than between 4 and 5 you want so it's OK she went silent.

She mentioned statins and when I said "I'm not taking anything that lists dementia as a side effect" she didn't know that and is going to look up the FDA having this listed on package inserts now (thanks whoever on the Reddit group lockdownsceptics for linking to this a while back) and the effects of lowering cholesterol on increasing dementia rates.

Blood pressure was a bit high on the readings and needs "precautionary medication".

Told her to use the values from the 2nd page of readings not the top 15 when I was at medicals as there was a hell of a difference. She went on about NICE standards so I asked why did the definition of high blood pressure suddenly change after Ramipril etc was patented? No answer.

Told her the GP's own blood pressure clinic only uses the last 15 readings averaged (she never knew this) so it came out at 134/100 so not that bad. Told her I'd try lifestyle changes before medication forever and I've already started - she was interested in a few books I mentioned she had not heard of before.

The 100 may need checked as creatine level was marginal so I will keep monitoring.

May need to have a blood test in 3-6 months to check kidney function protein/creatine as creatine level was on the high side but they cannot do it for a while as I've started losing the weight and so on so it needs time to stabillise my blood pressure blah blah blah so nothing to compare it against.

Said to cut down on salt - said I'm working in the Middle East outside 12 hours a day, it's hot, I'm sweating and I take enough salt to stop me getting cramps. Want me to cut down and maybe die? Silence.

She ignored the recent blood pressure readings of 138/92, 125/83, 128/88 120/87, 123/95 and 119/100 as they don't fit in with the "you need medication until you die or you'll die" scenario.

She went on about QRisk3 - which I knew about which shocked her - and when I asked "so if I take all the medications you want me to how much longer will I live?" as Dr Malcolm Kendrick suggested she answered exactly as he said she would - blah blah blah waffle waffle waffle.

Basically had no idea about increased lifespan for the medications so when I said someone had worked out the difference between taking statins and not taking them based on the one and only study that is used to justify their use was 3 months she was stumped I asked "worth risking dementia for?" before Mrs Awkward kicked me not too surreptitiously.

I asked about the inflammation reading test result only to be told that they didn't do it and don't do it as not a reliable indication of how likely a heart attack will be, everything in context of everything else and so on (it is the most reliable indicator) blah blah blah. Said that I was told differently by a private doctor when getting blood test results for a work visa and researched what we said. Got silence.

Also asked why work has gone totally doolally about heart attacks, AEDs, training for the same and so on in the past 2 years? What could be causing the big increase in guys at work collapsing and/or dying from heart attacks and strokes?

Silence.

So mid-to-late 50s, BMI 39 and dropping, OK cholesterol, OK blood pressure, OK lung function test (pass mark for me is 70%, I scored 97-130%), ECG fine and so on.

All in all not too bad a visit - may go in 6 months to repeat the bloods plus might get a private Vitamin D (can buy this in Boots off the shelf), inflammation, albumin, potassium/sodium ratio and D-dimer test as our GP and the NHS do not do these as a matter of routine.

Probably because they are better markers of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and general health that the tests they do run.