"high Blood"

[Steve & Myrlita]

I take Neobloc which is branded for Metoprolol 50 mg 2x a day. At Sincere Pharmacy, it's P3.72 each and it works good. 110-120/70-80 average.

 

Metformin 500 mg for type 2 diab. 1 with each meal. P1.25 each.

 

Very cheap for life saving meds. IMHO.

[sonjack2847]

At the end of the day will they listen to anybody about medication? I don`t think  so and will they change their eating habits?

[Thomas]

There really needs (in my opinion) to be a way to get at least some kind of meds in these good folks to extend their life. BP related meds need to be available to everyone-but, again, it's all about the $. Do you agree?

Well. It can be solved just by better diet. 

Seems like every local I know has "high blood", and "high sugar". The diet here is pretty bad. I keep hearing people say how healthy the food is here, but I have not seen it. It can be healthy - but it is not.

Yes. Rice and vegs SOUND healthy,

BUT it's WHITE rice (add risk for diabetes) and much FRIED food (clugg the veins > high blood pressure)...

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Yeah, some guy was trying to tell me how healthy all the rice is... by telling me that all the Filipinos live to be 90.  I had to tell him (he had not been here) that sure, every clan may have 1 or 2 90 year olds - but almost every one else is lucky to get past 50!

 

...and have you seen the salt content in soy sauce?!  Ouch!   :tiphat:

[davewe]

Where we might get faked out is in watching Filipinos. They seem happy and easy going, which in our Western way of thinking means less stress. I don't think it's so. They just deal with (or avoid) stress by smoking, drinking, singing, etc. 

 

My FIL has ulcers. For a moment I foolishly and arrogantly wondered what he had ulcers for - it's not like he's some kind of corporate executive. But's he's got 10 kids and a wife to feed and take care of - that'll give ulcers to anyone.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Where we might get faked out is in watching Filipinos. They seem happy and easy going, which in our Western way of thinking means less stress. I don't think it's so. They just deal with (or avoid) stress by smoking, drinking, singing, etc. 

 

My FIL has ulcers. For a moment I foolishly and arrogantly wondered what he had ulcers for - it's not like he's some kind of corporate executive. But's he's got 10 kids and a wife to feed and take care of - that'll give ulcers to anyone.

 

 

Yeah, my wife complains of stress all the time. I asked her what stress.  We got a house, paid for.  Neither of us has to work, but we have money.  We are certainly not rich, but we got enough money to get by....   what stress?  Apparently there is a lot of family drama she gets sucked into.  They don't speak much English so I don't hear any of it... and don't care anyway.  I would not get sucked into family drama in my own family.  I certainly won't with hers. 

 

I have got to teach her to say 'f* it' and relax...   :tiphat:

[Larry45]

  I keep hearing people say how healthy the food is here, but I have not seen it. It can be healthy - but it is not.  Dying in your sleep in your mid 40's seems to be the norm.

 

"The food here is not only very healthy, it's the most delicious in the whole world. "

 

I seriously had a local tell me that yesterday.  If they said it, it must be true.     :lol:

[Larry45]

 

Where we might get faked out is in watching Filipinos. They seem happy and easy going, which in our Western way of thinking means less stress. I don't think it's so. They just deal with (or avoid) stress by smoking, drinking, singing, etc. 

 

My FIL has ulcers. For a moment I foolishly and arrogantly wondered what he had ulcers for - it's not like he's some kind of corporate executive. But's he's got 10 kids and a wife to feed and take care of - that'll give ulcers to anyone.

 

 

Yeah, my wife complains of stress all the time. I asked her what stress.  We got a house, paid for.  Neither of us has to work, but we have money.  We are certainly not rich, but we got enough money to get by....   what stress?  Apparently there is a lot of family drama she gets sucked into.  They don't speak much English so I don't hear any of it... and don't care anyway.  I would not get sucked into family drama in my own family.  I certainly won't with hers. 

 

I have got to teach her to say 'f* it' and relax...   :tiphat:

 

Trust me on this one.....but it's not easy being married to guys like us.    :cheersty:

[Midniterider]

I have found Filipinos are culturally adverse to any sort of doctor's visits ie care primarily due to cost and fear of paying for necessary tests and/or meds. This keeps the visits ridiculously cheap for me since there's never any "gringo discount" involved (pardon me but I've been  familiar with Latin American culture for many years).  Similarly I can pay for my meds in cash and will be hoping to get my medical expenses reimbursed by TRICARE in the near future. Tests are also cheap. So is surgery. 

The "first come, first served" system used for doctor's office visits is the same as Latin America. But I've observed hardly anyone is waiting in the halls of the best hospitals in Cebu. I lament the lack of adequate private offices but it does keep the cost down to 400-500 pesos a visit. I retired from FDNY*EMS having seen all the hospitals in the NYC metropolitan area, worked in a suburban hospital and among my several MOS I was an Army medic and Operations Sergeant of a 250 bed Combat Support Hospital. Same for a dentist although most family I see have rarely if ever seen one and several have few teeth. 

I pay for a couple of relatives' meds because they wouldn't stay on a regimen without someone paying for it. Cheap to keep them alive this way so I don't mind actually. The doctors here are highly educated and strive to keep up their qualifications and certifications. Some are second to none. The cardiologist I saw in Dumaguete had been educated in the US and her brother who is a urologist told me their family is also native to New Jersey. 

High blood pressure runs in my family here and a grandfather was reportedly also resistant to medical care and was found deceased in his fishing boat. Mine has been under control for years but it is an insidious disease as is diabetes and both maladies will cause significant damage if not caught in time and even by then a lot of damage will already possibly been done. Eyes and kidneys come to mind as they are highly vulnerable to HBP. 

The food and diet are variable but I hate the former while the latter seems ok for adults but terrible for children. I'm impressed by Filipinos general knowledge of their environment including what Westerners might cite as botany and also they know what foods are good and healthy but are seemingly addicted to those salty and spicy things posters have mentioned. Excessive use of "caliente" ingredients will end up frequently needing treatment for esophagitis among other things as I have witnessed in several West Indian and South American friends and my family here. Rampant alcoholism must be a contributory factor to liver cancer and incidentally the scarring of the liver is a known common cause of esophageal varices. So knowledge is not health. 

But to remain focused on the top 2 killers that are heart disease and stroke in the Philippiines that are related to HBP is a worthy cause. Secondly childhood malnutrition might be a major concern when roughly 1 in 4 Filipino children is affected to the extent that stunting is common here and keeps them so short ("First 1000 Days" campaign) Weird for a country that loves basketball so much; you'd think they'd take better care of their children's diet but they think hot dogs and rice make a nutritious breakfast. Again, cost is cited as the limiting factor.

I'm a G.I. so the more I bitch about something that means the more I care about it. 

 

 

 

 

 http://www.interaksyon.com/article/78396/doh-heart-attack-stroke-and-cancer-remain-top-causes-of-death-among-filipinos

 

http://www.blogph.net/2015/05/top-ten-killer-diseases-in-philippines.html

 

http://www.philstar.com/cebu-lifestyle/2015/05/04/1451051/top-10-common-cancers-philippines

 

http://health.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Top_10_Causes_of_Death_in_the_Philippines_in_2010

[Jack Peterson]

I have found Filipinos are culturally adverse to any sort of doctor's visits

 

 "WHAT" you are joking of course, "Check up, Later only & No Budget" are Everyday Words.

Jack :lol: