Read on Twitter
Looks can be deceiving. After all, as I've mentioned before on Twitter, I've lost around 50 lbs over the last two years with diet and exercise, ride my bike 50+ miles a week, and as a result have greatly decreased my doses of antihypertensives.
https://twitter.com/CherTobs/status/1316389279350878208
https://twitter.com/CherTobs/status/1316389279350878208
Three years ago, this anonymous Twitter troll might have had a little bit of a point. I wasn't that healthy. I was overweight and on fairly high doses of antihypertensives as I entered my late 50s. No more.
Unfortunately, family history being family history, it's become clear, that I can't get completely off BP meds. After my last dose titration downward, my BP is a little higher than guidelines say it should be, which means my doctor will probably up the dose back to where it was.
Of course, what this demonstrates is that science-based medicine does NOT reject diet and exercise. Science-based diet and exercise are part of SBM, but are often not enough by themselves. Often drugs are *still* required. SBM should and usually does embrace all modalities.
I mean, I'm about as thin as I was when I was a resident 25 years ago, but even as thin as I've become again family history still dictates that I still need at least one antihypertensive to keep my blood pressure in the optimal range.
