Friday, April 26, 2013

Good numbers

My doctor wanted me to get my blood analyzed for triglyceride levels because my last annual test showed them to be a little higher than the safe/low risk level. He said that wine was the cause of the high numbers, so I decided not to drink wine for the two weeks before my follow-up analysis to test his theory.

Dandelion seeds.

He was right. My triglyceride levels plummeted by half and are now well within the normal range. But that's not the best part. While I was at the lab, I noticed a poster on the wall advertising that patients can now get their lab results on line. So I inquired. Sure enough, I got an ID number and a password, and that evening I was able consult and download my results via the internet. That saves me a trip back to the lab to pick them up.

17 comments:

  1. Online idea is great. Saves you having to listen to the doctor telling another patient over the phone what their test results show (patient confidentiality? pah! a namby pamby foreign idea...)

    So what are you going to do about your wine intake long term?

    Really beautiful photo of a dandelion clock.

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    1. susan, they don't tell patients their results, they're printed and handed to you in an envelope. The lab sends the results on to the doctor separately. So this saves having to go back over to the lab and waiting in line to pick up the paper. I think it's brilliant!

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    2. Same M.O. here . I am still reluctant to have all my health info on a central database for the province ( doctors, hospitals and any other health worker would know my history). I am wary of the insurance company(ies) tapping into it via some "workers". The health care system pays the basic or the minimum and then we have to rely on private insurance.

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  2. Stunning! Both the photo and your triglyceride levels.

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  3. My triglyceride level was very high for a few years, but suddenly it went down all by itself. I didn't change anything in my diet that I could pinpoint. Was it just an effect of age?

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    1. It may be the level of Carnitine in the food that you consume. You may not have changed your diet but eating more food with higher concentration ( beans or red meat)

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  4. Did you drink vodka instead?

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  5. that's criminal - no wine?!? what the hell, we all die anyway, so you may as well enjoy yourself and go out singing!

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  6. Beautiful shot Walt!
    Darn! What are you going to do about your wine consumption?

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  7. Congratulations Walt, but now you have a dilemma. Do you keep them down and avoid the wine or do you live for today?
    I shall conveniently forget your posting for an hour tonight while having dinner so I can partake! I found the French health service very good at keeping tabs on your readings and liked the fact that the report showed your historical readings as a point of reference.

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  8. Fantastic pic!

    Perhaps a small reduction in your wine intake would be sufficient as it would be hard to cut completely ;o(

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  9. This photo of the dandelion reminds me of a firecracker on the Fourth of July. Stunning.

    ...so every two weeks cut out wine then drink for two weeks, etc...???

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  10. Lab results online....another way the French are way ahead of the US!!!!

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  11. TG are more elevated by saturated fat.

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  12. Ur-spo and Beaver, thanks for that information. I think our doctor here sees wine as the source of most people's health problems. And he may be right. His first remark any time you have an ache, a pain, or an unusual result in a blood test is that you shouldn't drink so much wine. I'm not convinced there is a clear link between drinking wine and having high triglycerides. As I said, my levels were high for a couple of years when we first movd to Saint-Aignan, and then they dropped precipitously for no reason I could pinpoint. I remember thinking that the lab must have changed the way they tested for triglycerides (though that probably wasn't the case).

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