Let's get physical

Let's get physical, physical,
I wanna get physical!


Today,  I went for my quarterly physical checkup at the government polyclinic.
Actually it was more for the doctor consultation as I went for the blood and urine tests last week with the results only being released today.  And what's the prognosis?

Here it is, for the world to see...

Click for a more detailed image.

I underwent an ECG test at the same time and the above chart show everything's normal with the my ticker. Except for some signs of left ventricular hypertrophy, which is still OK.

More important to me were the results for the Big Three! (Diabetes- Hypertension-Cholesterol).

At my last visit to the doctor in August, I had my cholesterol medication changed from Lipitor to Simvastatin, the more generic form of medicines (statins) to control cholesterol, and was anxious to see if it had worked. The earlier Lipitor medication had brought my cholesterol levels down from a high of 200+ to 145 (even down to 139 mmol/L at one stage). If it had not worked for me, I would have requested a switch back to Lipitor despite the higher cost.

Here is the official lab report.

Lab Results
CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
Dipstick, U			Reference
	Glocuse, U	Negative
	Bilirubin, U	Negative
	Ketone, U	Negative
	Specific Gravity	1.025
	Blood, U	Trace intact
	pH, U	5.5	5.0-8.0
	Protein, U	Negative
	Urobilinogen, U	0.2	0.2-1.0 mg/dL
	Nitrite, U	Negative
	Leucocytes, U	Negative
Hypertensive Panel
	Sodium	140	135-150 mmol/L
	Potassium	4.3	3.5-5.0 mmol/L
	Creatinine	86	65-125
	Cholesterol	3.8 (145)	Desirable <5.2 mmol/L
			Borderline High 5.2-6.1 mmol/L
			High >= 6.2 mmol/L
	Triglycerides	1.79	Desirable<1.7 mmol/L
			Borderline High 1.7-2.2 mmol/L
			High 2.3-4.4 mmol/L
			Very High >=4.5 mmol/L
	HDL-C	0.97 (38)	Low <1.0 mmol/L
			Desirable 1.0-1.5 mmol/L
			High >=1.6 mmol/L
	LDL-C	2.02 (77)	Optimal <2.6 mmol/L
			Desirable 2.6-3.3 mmol/L
			Borderline High 3.4-4.0 mmol/L
			High 4.1-4.8 mmol/L
			Very High >=4.9 mmol/L
	Chol: HDL Ratio	3.92	>4.5 High Risk for CHD
	Glucose Fasting	5.7	3.0-6.0 mmol/L
	ALT	23	10-70 U/L
	AST	21	10-50 U/L

In short, my cholesterol has remained stable at 145 mg/dL (3.8 mmol/L).
Glucose level is in the optimal range.
Just to watch my salt intake and exercise a bit more!

The cost of the tests and consultation? S$66.14 but I only paid $38.40 for everything, inclusive of 3 months medication, as the rest was covered by Medisave.

My next quarterly check is due at the end of January 2011.
Stay healthy, eat healthy and live long!

A clean bill of health for 2010

What a year 2009 had been for me, medically speaking.

I am now fully recovered from my spinal surgery done in 2007.
I'll be going for a follow up with my orthopedic surgeon, Prof Hee Hwan Tuck at NUH in the coming month. My L4 & L5 vetebrates should be now fused together as a single bone.

Wonder if I need to remove the pins?
That'll mean going through another round of surgery! argghh

I can't feel the implants at all and it doesn't discomfort me in the slightest.
The implants were supposed to be made from platinum I was told. Hmmm, maybe I should get it out and get it re-forged into some jewelry? Do my part and recycle stuff to save the earth? Or perhaps recover some cost? Maybe sell it and go for another holiday?? Hmm, I wonder.

Early in 2009 when the H1N1 outbreak hit Singapore, I did come down with flu. But by that time, the H1N1 had reached the mitigation stage and hospitalization was not required. Just isolation and rest at home. But even then, it wasn't proven that I had H1N1. I probably just had a case of the common flu. There was no test done as my case was not classified as severe. Anyway, that came to pass...

The whopper came in early October when I had my routine blood test and the glycaemic (blood sugar) result show 19 on the scale. Anything over 7 is considered having diabetes!
My GP and I went into panic mode. More tests, scans and medication followed. (see my earlier blogs below)


Tests results came back showing everything seemingly normal but blood sugar was still elevated. Thus, I was diagnosed as probable Type 2 Diabetic and went on a course of medication, basically, Glipzide 5mg daily before meals.

And bi-weekly monitoring of blood sugar levels.



Diet was completely revamped voluntarily (actually no choice, it's do or die!)
No more sugars, no more alcohol, no starchy food, reduce, reduce, reduce!
Well meaning and caring friends advised "eat more bitter gourd, drink celery juice," etc, etc, etc.
I was really touched by all my friends' concern, thank you guys!
And I really did follow up on the bitter gourd advice.

For the past 3 months, I've had bitter gourd soup, bitter gourd omelettes, bitter gourd stew, fried bitter gourd, grilled bitter gourd, stuffed bitter gourd, baked bitter gourd and bitter gourd whatever.
Thanks to my dear wife who so lovingly prepared all these and sacrificing her own preferences. She hates bitter gourd and never eats them, but luckily, I LOVE bitter gourd!
But was it really effective for diabetes or just old wives tales?

Last week I went for my 3rd blood test since the initial diagnosis and the result came back just yesterday. Here it is for you to see...

Test Name	Results	Reference
HL2-Liver Function
Total Cholesterol	139	140-200
HDL-Cholesterol	42	40-70
LDL-Cholesterol	79	0-130
Total/HDL Ratio	3.3	0.0-4.0
Triglycides	88	20-200
Bilirubin (Total)	0.7	0-1.5
Alkaline Phosphatase	70	25-105
GGT	36	0-50
Total Protein	7.8	6.0-8.2
Albumin	4.6	3.5-5.0
Globulin	3.2	2.5-3.6
DP1: Glycemic
Fasting Blood Sugar	75	65-110

It a clean bill of health! Yeaaaaa!!!!!!

Blood sugar is 75 mg/dl or 4 mmol/L. Remember the shocking 19? I went from 19 to 4 in 3 months! Level 4 is regarded as non-diabetic. Yeaaa.
However, I am still on medication to ensure that there's no relapse.
Even my cholesterol had dropped from 179 to 139 which is even below the 'healthy' benchmark.
Maybe the bitter gourd does work after all !

This is the best way to end the old year 2009.
So to everyone, here's to you all.

Have a Happy New Year 2010 and stay healthy.

The prognosis is .......

These are the results of my HBS scan.



And these are the scans, for the curious, or the learned who can interpret.
(click on the image for a detailed view)



The Doc said, according to the scan, everything is normal.
So do I have diabetes?
Blood glucose test result was 7.9 mmol/L (143 mg/dL)
Technically, yes I do. The acceptable threshold being 7.

But this is way below the 19 mmol/L that shocked both me and my GP last week. This was the reason for the scan and further blood tests. Just 2 months ago in August, the blood glucose was OK at 110 mg/dL (6 mmol/L). What made it shoot up to 19 in a matter of 2 months?
Glucose level 19 meant severe renal problems which , thank God, I don't have.
Was the previous test result faulty? not likely as it came from a reliable test lab.

My own take on the episode was that prior to the blood test which I did 2 weeks ago, I had indulged somewhat in larger intake of sweet stuff during the past week. These included milkshakes, Andersen ice cream (their booth is just outside my office!), and lattes and cappuccinos from Coffebean. I am sure these contributed to the high glucose readings as a result. My own fault I guess.

During this past week, while being prescribed Glipizide to lower the blood sugar, I had also cut out all sugary and starchy foods. Diet had changed immediately and I have lost 2 kgs in weight already.

Next is to get the feet moving outdoors for more exercise. That is the tough part!
Stay in touch for more updates on my health.